System for monitoring environmental conditions of a tobacco curing site

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9795162-B2
Application number	US-201615018342-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 8, 2016
Priority date	Feb 8, 2016
Publication date	Oct 24, 2017
Grant date	Oct 24, 2017

Abstract

A system for monitoring environmental conditions of a tobacco curing site within which tobacco is cured is provided. A power supply of the system may include a supercapacitor configured to provide power, and a photovoltaic cell connected to and from which the supercapacitor may be chargeable. A temperature and humidity sensor may be positioned proximate the tobacco curing site and configured to measure a temperature or humidity within the tobacco curing site, and generate a signal corresponding to the temperature or humidity so measured. A local control unit may have a distal position relative the tobacco and be configured to receive the signal, and generate corresponding measurement data, and wirelessly transmit the corresponding measurement data to a remote control unit configured for display or analysis.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A tobacco curing site comprising:
a housing;
a plurality of laths contained within the housing and configured to carry tobacco;
a curing mechanism contained within the housing and configured to cure the tobacco carried by the plurality of laths; and
a system for monitoring an environmental condition of the tobacco, the system comprising:
a temperature and humidity sensor contained within the housing, positioned proximate the tobacco, and configured to measure a temperature or humidity of an environment within the housing as the tobacco is cured, the temperature and humidity sensor being configured to generate a signal corresponding to the temperature or humidity so measured;
a power supply including a supercapacitor configured to provide power, and a photovoltaic cell connected to and from which the supercapacitor is chargeable; and
a local control unit having a distal position relative to the tobacco, operatively coupled to the temperature and humidity sensor, and powered by power supply, the local control unit being configured to receive the signal from the temperature and humidity sensor, and wirelessly transmit corresponding measurement data to a remote control unit for display or analysis.

2. The tobacco curing site of claim 1 , wherein the curing mechanism includes at least one of an air-curing mechanism, fire-curing mechanism, or flue-curing mechanism.

3. The tobacco curing site of claim 1 , wherein the housing includes a pitched roof, and the temperature and humidity sensor is positioned between an eave and peak thereof.

4. The tobacco curing site of claim 1 , wherein the power supply further includes a secondary power source configured to provide power, and the local control unit is switchably powered by the supercapacitor or secondary power source.

5. The tobacco curing site of claim 1 , wherein the local control unit is rated at a maximum operating temperature that is less than a temperature at which the tobacco is cured.

6. The tobacco curing site of claim 1 , wherein the power supply further includes a DC-to-DC converter connected to the supercapacitor, between the supercapacitor and local control unit, and configured to regulate a discharge current from the power supply to the local control unit.

7. The tobacco curing site of claim 1 , wherein the local control unit has an active mode and an inactive mode, and the system further comprises a power supply timer operatively coupled to the power supply and configured to decrease a current discharge rate thereof when the local control unit is in the inactive mode, in at least one instance the inactive mode being triggered by the temperature so measured being below a predefined threshold.

8. The tobacco curing site of claim 1 , wherein the local control unit is configured to wirelessly transmit the corresponding measurement data to the remote control unit configured to generate a log including the measurement data.

9. The tobacco curing site of claim 8 , wherein the local control unit is configured to wirelessly transmit the corresponding measurement data to the remote control unit configured to timestamp each instance of the corresponding measurement data, and store the log including the timestamped measurement data in a local memory of the remote control unit, or in remote data storage communicably coupled to the remote control unit.

10. The tobacco curing site of claim 1 , wherein the local control unit is configured to wirelessly transmit the corresponding measurement data to the remote control unit configured to generate an alert in at least one instance in which the corresponding measurement data indicates that the temperature or humidity is outside a predefined specification of the curing site.

11. The tobacco curing site of claim 10 , wherein the system further comprises an alarm, and the local control unit is configured to receive the alert from the remote control unit, and activate the alarm in response thereto.

12. A system for monitoring environmental conditions of a tobacco curing site within which tobacco is cured, the system comprising:
a power supply including a supercapacitor configured to provide power, and a photovoltaic cell connected to and from which the supercapacitor is chargeable;
a temperature and humidity sensor contained within the tobacco curing site, positioned proximate the tobacco, and configured to measure a temperature or humidity of an environment within the tobacco curing site as the tobacco is cured, the temperature and humidity sensor being configured to generate a signal corresponding to the temperature or humidity so measured;
a local control unit having a distal position relative to the tobacco, operatively coupled to the temperature and humidity sensor, and powered by power supply, the local control unit being configured to receive the signal from the temperature and humidity sensor, and wirelessly transmit corresponding measurement data to a remote control unit for display or analysis.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the power supply further includes a secondary power source configured to provide power, and the local control unit is switchably powered by the supercapacitor or secondary power source.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the local control unit is rated at a maximum operating temperature that is less than a temperature at which the tobacco is cured.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the power supply further includes a DC-to-DC converter connected to the supercapacitor, between the supercapacitor and local control unit, and configured to regulate a discharge current from the power supply to the local control unit.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein the local control unit has an active mode and an inactive mode, and the system further comprises a power supply timer operatively coupled to the power supply and configured to decrease a current discharge rate thereof when the local control unit is in the inactive mode, in at least one instance the inactive mode being triggered by the temperature so measured being below a predefined threshold.

17. The system of claim 12 , wherein the local control unit is configured to wirelessly transmit the corresponding measurement data to the remote control unit configured to generate a log including the measurement data.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the local control unit is configured to wirelessly transmit the corresponding measurement data to the remote control unit configured to timestamp each instance of the corresponding measurement data, and store the log including the timestamped measurement data in a local memory of the remote control unit, or in remote data storage communicably coupled to the remote control unit.

19. The system of claim 12 , wherein the local control unit is configured to wirelessly transmit the corresponding measurement data to the remote control unit configured to generate an alert in at least one instance in which the corresponding measurement data indicates that the temperature or humidity is outside a predefined specification of the curing site.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the system further comprises an alarm, and the local control unit is configured to receive the corresponding alert from the remote control unit, and activate the alarm in response thereto.

Assignees

• Reynolds Tobacco Co R

Inventors

• Sur Rajesh

Classifications

• F26B21/20

  Circulating air or gases in closed cycles, e.g. wholly within the drying enclosure · CPC title

• A24B3/12 Primary

  Steaming, curing, or flavouring tobacco · CPC title

• F26B9/066

  the products to be dried being disposed on one or more containers, which may have at least partly gas-previous walls, e.g. trays or shelves in a stack (F26B9/003 takes precedence; in combination with duct systems F26B21/00) · CPC title

• F26B25/16

  mainly closed, e.g. drum · CPC title

• F26B2200/22

  Tobacco leaves · CPC title