Automatic cylinder changeover device for monitoring gas installation

1. An automatic cylinder changeover device, comprising:

a left gas inlet and a right gas inlet, for mounting gas cylinder banks;

a gas outlet through which gas is discharged;

a valve, wherein the valve connects the left gas inlet with the gas outlet to form a first connection, and connects the right gas inlet with the gas outlet to form a second connection, the valve automatically reversibly switching between said first connection and said second connection; and

an indicator for being set exclusively manually in one of two distinct positions, one of the positions indicating the left gas inlet and the other of the positions indicating the right gas inlet,

wherein the device comprises at least one sensor for detecting the position of the indicator,

wherein the position of the indicator is unrelated to the inlet of the actual gas bank used as a gas source at a given moment,

wherein the at least one sensor for detecting the position of the indicator comprises pairs of a first element and a second element selected from the group consisting of: a magnet and a magnetic sensor, an inductive means and an inductive sensor, and a pair of contacts, and

wherein the first element and the second element are located and arranged with respect to each other such that the second element detects a presence of the first element, when the first element is adjacent to the second element, and

the device further comprising a knob and wherein the first element is mounted in a ring located under the knob.

2. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the indicator is for being manually set in one of the two distinct positions independently from the position of the valve.

3. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the device further comprises means for setting the indicator only in one of the two distinct positions.

4. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the second element is located under the knob.

5. The device according to claim 1 , further comprising at least one electrical switch mounted in the device for reading two marginal positions of the knob.

6. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the indicator is integrated with the knob.

7. The device according to claim 1 , the device further comprising:

transmitting means for transmitting the signal c) and at least one of the signal a) and a signal b), wherein:

the signal a) is a left inlet signal a), containing information whether or not the indicator is in the position indicating the left gas inlet;

the signal b) is a right bank signal b), containing information whether or not the indicator is in the position indicating the right gas inlet; and

the signal c) is a reserve signal c), containing information whether or not the gas outlet is connected to the same gas inlet as indicated by the indicator at a given moment.

8. The device according to claim 3 , wherein the means for setting the indicator only in one of the two distinct positions is a mechanical means comprising a spring.

9. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the first elements comprises the magnet or the inductive means.

10. The device according to claim 4 , wherein the second element comprises the magnetic sensor or the inductive sensor.

11. The device according to claim 1 , further comprising two electrical switches mounted in the device for reading two marginal positions of the knob.

12. The device according to claim 7 , wherein the transmitting means transmits the signal c) and both of the signals a) and b).

13. The device according to claim 7 , wherein the left inlet signal a), the right bank signal b) and the reserve signal c) are binary signals.