1. A fluid sensor for detecting refrigerant leakage from a refrigerant circuit of a refrigeration system, the fluid sensor comprising:
a sensor main body having two electrodes spaced apart from each other, the fluid sensor being configured such that the fluid sensor is connectable to an impedance measurement device to measure impedance between the two electrodes,
the sensor main body having a structure mountable so as to surround a pipe or pipe joint of the refrigerant circuit.
2. The fluid sensor according to claim 1, wherein the sensor main body has a fluid holder disposed between the two electrodes, and the fluid holder is configured to hold a refrigerant or a fluid resulting from refrigerant leakage.
3. The fluid sensor according to claim 2, wherein the fluid holder is paper.
4. The fluid sensor according to claim 1 , wherein the two electrodes in the sensor main body have a multilayered structure.
5. The fluid sensor according to claim 1, wherein the sensor main body is provided with a latching part configured to detachably latch to the pipe or pipe joint of the refrigerant circuit.
6. The fluid sensor according to claim 1, wherein the sensor main body has a flat plate-shaped structure.
7. The fluid sensor according to claim 2, wherein the fluid holder and the electrodes are covered by a casing of the sensor main body; and
the sensor main body includes a fluid-guiding member configured to lead a refrigerant or a fluid resulting from refrigerant leakage between the two electrodes, and the fluid-guiding member protrudes from an interior of the casing to an exterior of the casing.
8. The fluid sensor according to claim 7, wherein
the casing includes an opening formed therein that is configured to allow the fluid-guiding member to protrude from the interior of casing to the exterior of casing; and
the opening has a smaller opening size than an accommodating part covering the fluid holder and the electrodes.
9. The fluid sensor according to claim 8, wherein
a gap between the opening and the fluid-guiding member is filled with a sealant in a state in which the fluid-guiding member protrudes from the opening.
10. A refrigeration system including the fluid sensor according to claim 1, the refrigerant system further comprising:
a refrigerant circuit,
the fluid sensor being disposed in or in proximity to a portion of the refrigerant circuit where refrigerant leakage is detected.
11. The refrigeration system according to claim 10, further comprising
an impedance measurement device connected to the fluid sensor.
12. A fluid sensor for detecting refrigerant leakage from a refrigerant circuit of a refrigeration system, the fluid sensor comprising:
a sensor main body having two electrodes spaced apart from each other and a structure mountable so as to surround a pipe or pipe joint of the refrigerant circuit, the sensor main body further having
an impedance measurement unit configured to measure an impedance value between the two electrodes,
a leakage determination unit configured to determine whether or not refrigerant has leaked based on the impedance value measured by the impedance measurement unit, and
a signal output unit configured to output a result of the refrigerant leakage determination obtained by the leakage determination unit to an external device.
13. A refrigerant leakage detection device comprising:
sensor main body having two electrodes spaced apart from each other, the fluid sensor being configured such that the fluid sensor is connectable to an impedance measurement device to measure impedance between the two electrodes:
a second sensor having two electrodes spaced apart from each other, the second sensor being configured so that refrigerant or a fluid resulting from refrigerant leakage is not held between the two electrodes of the second sensor;
a calculation unit configured to calculate, based on a first difference between an output of the first sensor and an output of the second sensor, a change in electrostatic capacitance caused by the refrigerant or the fluid resulting from refrigerant leakage; and
a detection unit configured to determine whether or not refrigerant has leaked based on the change in electrostatic capacitance calculated by the calculation unit.
14. The refrigerant leakage detection device according to claim 13, further comprising:
a first oscillation unit configured to oscillate at a frequency corresponding toelectrostatic capacitance of the first sensor;
a second oscillation unit configured to oscillate at a frequency corresponding to electrostatic capacitance of the second sensor; and
an updown counter configured to count up an output of the first oscillation unit and to count down an output of the second oscillation unit; wherein
the calculation unit is further configured to calculate the first difference on the basis of values counted by the updown counter.
15. The refrigerant leakage detection device according to claim 14, further comprising:
a selection unit configured to select either the output of the first oscillation unit or the output of the second oscillation unit; wherein
either the output of the first oscillation unit or the output of the second oscillation unit selected by the selection unit is inputted to the updown counter.
16. The refrigerant leakage detection device according to claim 14, further comprising
a resetting unit configured to reset counted values of the updown counter in every predetermined cycle.
17. The refrigerant leakage detection device according to claim 13, further comprising:
a first resetting unit configured to output a first reset signal based on a time constant determined by the electrostatic capacitance of the first sensor;
a second resetting unit configured to output a second reset signal based on a time constant determined by the electrostatic capacitance of the second sensor;
a first counting unit configured to count a pulse signal having a predetermined frequency and to stop the counting of the pulse signal on the basis of the first reset signal;
a second counting unit configured to count the pulse signal and to stop the counting of the pulse signal on the basis of the second reset signal; and
a difference calculation unit configured to calculate a second difference between counted numbers counted by each of the first counting unit and the second counting unit until counting of the pulse signal is stopped; wherein
the calculation unit is further configured to calculate the first difference on the basis of the second difference.
18. The refrigerant leakage detection device according to claim 13, further comprising:
a first timer unit configured to output a first time duration elapse signal indicating that a time duration determined according to the electrostatic capacitance of the first sensor has elapsed;
a second timer unit configured to output a second time duration elapse signal indicating that a time duration determined according to the electrostatic capacitance of the second sensor has elapsed; and
an interval calculation unit configured to calculate a length of time during which either the first time duration elapse signal or the second time duration elapse signal is outputted from the first timer unit or the second timer unit; wherein
the calculation unit is further configured to calculate the first difference on the basis of the length of time calculated by the interval calculation unit.
19. A refrigeration system including the refrigerant leakage detection device according to claim 13, the refrigeration system further comprising:
a refrigerant circuit; and wherein
the refrigerant leakage detection device is configured to be disposed in or in proximity to a portion of the refrigerant circuit where refrigerant leakage detection is performed.
20. A refrigerant leakage detection method for detecting refrigerant leakage from a refrigerant circuit of a refrigeration system, the refrigerant leakage detection method comprising
providing a fluid sensor including a sensor main body having two electrodes spaced apart from each other and a structure mountable so as to surround a pipe or pipe joint of the refrigerant circuit, the fluid sensor being disposed in or in proximity to a portion of the refrigerant circuit where refrigerant leakage detection is performed; and
measuring impedance between the two electrodes with an impedance measurement device.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
What is claimed is:
1. A program product making a computer execute:
a process of obtaining a quantity to be displayed;
a process of associating the quantity with points in a virtual space;
a process of connecting points in a virtual space containing at least the points associated by said process, to one another point with curved lines, and
a process of rendering the curved lines.
2. A program product making a computer execute:
a process of obtaining a quantity to be displayed;
a process of associating the quantity with points in a virtual space;
a process of connecting points in a virtual space containing the points associated by said process and predetermined reference points, to one another point with curved lines; and
a process of rendering the curved lines.
3. A program product making a computer execute:
the process of obtaining a quantity to be displayed;
the process of converting the quantity into a parameter group containing two or more parameters;
the process of associating the respective parameters with points in a virtual space;
the process of successively connecting each of a group of points in the virtual space containing at least the points created by said process with curved lines to thereby create a closed curved surface surrounded by the curved lines; and
the process of rendering the closed curved surface.
4. The program product as claimed in claim 3, wherein said processing of associating the respective parameters with the points in the virtual space is the processing of associating the parameters with points on circumferences of respective circles having the same central axis.
5. The program product as claimed in claim 4, where in the group of points in the virtual space is contained a predetermined reference point provided on the center axis.
6. The program product as claimed in any one of claims 3, 4 and 5, wherein said processing of rendering the closed curved surface contains any one or more of the following: wire frame processing, shading processing and texture mapping processing.
7. The program product as claimed in any one of claims 3, 4 and 5, wherein the quantity to be displayed is variable with time, and the closed curved surface thus created is variable with variation of the quantity.
8. An information processing device comprising:
quantity obtaining means for obtaining a quantity to be displayed;
parameter conversion means for converting the quantity obtained by said quantity obtaining means into a parameter group containing two or more parameters;
three-dimensional coordinate associating means for associating the respective parameters converted by said parameter conversion means with three-dimensional coordinate points;
curved line calculating means for calculating a curved line connecting two points in the three-dimensional coordinate space; and
rendering means, wherein said curved line calculating means successively calculates a curved line connecting respective points in a group of points in the three-dimensional space containing at least the three-dimensional coordinate points determined by said three-dimensional associating means, and creates a closed curved surface surrounded by the curved lines, and said rendering means renders the closed curved surface.
9. A quantity display method using a computer, comprising:
a step of converting a quantity to be displayed into a parameter group containing two or more parameters;
a step of mapping the respective parameters to coordinate points in a three-dimensional space;
a step of successively connecting a group of points in a virtual space containing at least said coordinate points with curved lines to create a three-dimensional closed curved surface surrounded by the curved lines; and
a step of projecting the three-dimensional closed curved surface onto a two-dimensional plane.
10. A quantity display method using a computer image comprising:
a step of converting a quantity to be displayed into a parameter group containing two or more parameters;
a step of allocating the respective parameters to angles with respect to a reference position around a specific axis provided in a virtual space;
a step of separately arranging plural radius vectors rotating around the axis, wherein the directions of said plural radius vectors correspond to said angles respectively: and
a step of outputting the plural radius vectors as a computer image.
11. The program product according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein said product is a recording medium.