초록 ▼

An approach for digitally measuring temperature in support of a monitoring application is disclosed. Multiple probes, according to one embodiment, are deployed for sensing environmental parameters (e.g., temperature, liquid level, flow). Each probe has a thermally conductive cylindrical housing cont

An approach for digitally measuring temperature in support of a monitoring application is disclosed. Multiple probes, according to one embodiment, are deployed for sensing environmental parameters (e.g., temperature, liquid level, flow). Each probe has a thermally conductive cylindrical housing containing one or more digital temperature sensors. In addition, one of the probes includes analog inputs (e.g., Brix probe, level sensor, and flow sensor). The probes share a common fixed size bus and communicates data from the sensors to a controller. Based upon the collected data, the controller can initiate, for example, a pump-over in a winemaking process. The controller can interface with a data network to a monitoring system configured to store and analysis the collected data. The monitoring system supports access of the stored data over a public data network, such as the global Internet.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A system for sensing temperature in a tank, comprising: a plurality of probes being situated in the tank, each probe having a housing containing a digital temperature sensor, wherein one of the probes is a center probe including a plurality of digital temperature sensors arra

What is claimed is: 1. A system for sensing temperature in a tank, comprising: a plurality of probes being situated in the tank, each probe having a housing containing a digital temperature sensor, wherein one of the probes is a center probe including a plurality of digital temperature sensors arranged vertically; a bus having a fixed size for coupling the probes; and a controller coupled to the probes via the bus for collecting temperature information from each of the probes, wherein the center probe is situated at approximately a central position of the tank coupling to the bus for transferring data to the controller, and wherein the plurality of probes are hot-swappable such that each of the plurality of probes can be plugged and unplugged from the system without disrupting thermometric operation of the system. 2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the probes are arranged in a vertical sequence near an inner side wall of the tank for determining temperature gradient based on depth of the tank. 3. A system according to claim 1, further comprising: another controller coupled to a second plurality of probes that are deployed in another tank for collecting temperature information from each of the second plurality of probes, wherein the controllers interface with a data communication network for transmitting the temperature information to a monitoring system. 4. A system according to claim 3, wherein the temperature information is transmitted from the data communication network to a remote host via a web-based interface. 5. A method for monitoring temperature of a liquid in a tank, comprising: immersing a plurality of probes in the liquid, each probe having a housing containing a digital temperature sensor, wherein the probes couple to a fixed size bus for transmitting temperature data to a controller; immersing a center probe, which includes a plurality of digital temperature sensors arranged vertically, in the liquid at approximately a central position of the tank, wherein the center probe couples to the bus for transferring temperature data to the controller, and wherein the plurality of probes are hot-swappable such that each of the plurality of probes can be plugged and unplugged from the system without disrupting thermometric operation of the system; and collecting the temperature data from the controller over a data network. 6. A method according to claim 5, wherein the plurality of probes are arranged in a vertical sequence near an inner side wall of the tank for determining temperature gradient based on depth of the tank. 7. A method according to claim 5, further comprising: activating a pump to mix the liquid in the tank in response to the collected temperature data. 8. A method according to claim 5, wherein one of the plurality of probes includes a Brix sensor for outputting Brix data, the method further comprising: activating a pump to mix the liquid in the tank in response to the collected temperature data and the Brix data. 9. A method according to claim 5, wherein the liquid is wine and the plurality probes provide temperature data during the wine fermentation process. 10. A method according to claim 5, wherein each of the sensors within one or more of the probes is hot pluggable. 11. A method according to claim 5, wherein the center probe includes a fixed sized bus that couples to the corresponding digital temperature sensors, and the center probe has a length that spans about the height of the tank. 12. A method according to claim 5, further comprising: collecting temperature data from another controller coupled to another set of probes that are deployed in another tank over the data network. 13. A method according to claim 12, wherein the controllers interface with the data network for transmitting temperature data to a monitoring system. 14. A method according to claim 13, wherein the temperature data is transmitted from the data network to a remote host via a web-based interface.