Optical sensor apparatus and method for remotely monitoring a utility meter or the like

An optical sensor apparatus for reading a meter having one or more dial settings representative of the meter reading;

• comprising:
• a. light source means for providing a source of light, the light source means directing the light generally toward a faceplate of the meter;
• b. reflecting means for providing contrast between operative parts of the meter by reflecting light received from the light source means;
• c. lens means for focusing the light reflected off the meter;
• d. optically sensitive image detector means including an array of light sensitive elements for receiving the light focused thereon by the lens means and retaining for a period of time a state indicative of the intensity of the light received;
• and
• e. control means operatively interconnected to the image detector means for receiving the output signals from the light detector means representative of the light intensity to which the light sensitive elements of the image detector means are exposed and for storing values represented by the output signals whereby a digitized image of the meter is stored, the control means including means for determining dial settings of the meter by interpretation of the digitized image stored in the memory means.

An optical sensor apparatus for remotely reading a multistage meter, each stage of the meter including a pointer member affixed to a rotatable shaft for rotation about an axis of rotation, adjacent pointer members being angularly displaced on a 10:1 ratio with respect to the pointer member of the next higher adjacent stage so as to record decimal readings and measurements, the optical sensor apparatus comprising:

• a. a support structure means for supporting at least some of the elements of the optical sensor apparatus on the meter under a transparent cover placed over the meter to enclose the stages;
• b. infrared light source means for providing a source of infrared light;
• c. mirror means for reflecting the infrared light generally toward a faceplate of the meter where the stages are positioned;
• d. retroreflective surface means disposed proximate the surface of the meter faceplate in back of the pointer members for reflecting the infrared light generally back toward the infrared light source means in the direction from which the light came, the pointer members reflecting less infrared light than the retroreflective surface means so as to provide an effective contrast therebetween;
• e. lens means for receiving the infrared light reflected from the retroreflective surface means and focusing the infrared light;
• f. optically sensitive dynamic RAM means including an array of individual light sensitive elements arranged in rows and columns for receiving the infrared light focused thereon by the lens means, each of the light sensitive elements providing a binary output signal having one of two binary values representative of the amount of light to which each of the individual light sensitive elements are exposed, a first value being representative of an exposure below a predetermined threshold value and a second value being representative of an exposure above a predetermined threshold value;
• g. control means operatively interconnected to the optically sensitive dynamic RAM means for receiving the binary output signals from the optically sensitive dynamic RAM means and for storing the binary values of the binary output signals in memory means whereby a binary image representative of the meter stages is stored in the memory means, the control means including:
• i. means for controlling the exposure of the optically sensitive dynamic RAM means to the infrared light;
• ii. means for determining the angular position of each of the individual pointers of the meter stages by correlating the binary image to predetermined geometric shape means;
• iii. means for converting the angular positions of the pointer members of the meter stages to numerical value representative of the meter reading;
• and
• h. transmission means operatively interconnected to the control means for transmitting the numerical value representative of the meter reading to a remote site.

An optical sensor apparatus for reading a meter having one or more indicators representative of the meter reading;

• comprising:
• a. light source means for providing a source of light, the light source means directing the light generally toward a faceplate of the meter;
• b. lens means for focusing the light reflected off the meter faceplate;
• c. optically sensitive image detector means for receiving the light focused thereon by the lens means including an array of light sensitive elements;
• and
• d. control means operatively interconnected to the image detector means for receiving signals from the image detector means representative of the light intensity to which the light sensitive elements of the image detector means are exposed and for creating a digitized image of the meter faceplate based on the signals received from the image detector means, said control means further including storage means for storing the digitized image of the meter faceplate, said control means including shutter means for controlling the exposure of the image detector means to the reflected light.