RU2732678C1 - Temperature and humidity monitoring and control system during storage and transportation of perishable cargoes - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: measurement.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to measuring equipment. Perishable cargo condition monitoring and monitoring system consisting of an external sealed module with a satellite tracker and a data transmission modem with built-in antennae and a battery installed outside the refrigerator section, and connected to it an internal sealed module with a repeater, which is installed inside a refrigerator section. Repeater has own temperature and/or humidity sensor and provides polling with preset periodicity of wireless sensors of temperature and/or humidity located in range of its action and transmits said data to a satellite tracker with a built-in or external data transmission modem, which in turn, via wireless or wire communication channels transmits them to a remote monitoring server. Monitoring and control system software is configured to assign a set of measurement equipment to a refrigerator or refrigerating chamber, or storage, and wireless temperature and/or humidity sensors, which are installed according to their identification number.

EFFECT: timely warning on perishable cargo damage.

27 cl, 5 dwg

Description

The invention relates to measuring technology, namely, to systems "online" monitoring and control of the actual temperature and humidity of the cargo inside refrigerators and refrigeration units (chambers) during the transportation and storage of perishable goods. The cargo (goods) subject to temperature control mainly includes food products, pharmaceuticals and certain types of chemicals and electronic components. Thus, the claimed system is intended for "online" monitoring and control of the actual temperature and / or moisture content of the cargo (goods) stored or transported by rail, road, sea or air transport in refrigerators or refrigeration units. From the prior art, application RU 2017132146 A is known, published 19.03. 2019, in which a system for remote control of vehicles is disclosed, comprising: a single center for control, route selection and control; one or more mobile phone service providers; one or more transport service providers; one or more vehicles capable of performing assigned tasks and to be activated remotely, automatically or manually, with parameters that are controlled and checked automatically and continuously by the automatic vehicle control system, a single command center, route selection and control, and mobile phone service provider are: height; speed; geographical position; route, from point to point; humidity; temperature; acceleration and deceleration; a magnetic field; and the cellular network is configured to maintain open, in real time, communication channels for voice and / or data between the vehicle and the mobile telephone service provider.

The disadvantage of this solution is that the system that controls the temperature in the vehicle is complex and transmits an excessive amount of data, as a result of which collisions and failures are possible, due to the cumbersomeness of the monitoring system, and this system also lacks the ability to control the temperature of the cargo or products directly. due to insufficient measurement accuracy of stationary standard control systems that measure the air temperature directly at the sensor installation site - on the floor, wall, ceiling, but not on the surface of the transported cargo. In addition, this system is limited to a set of control sensors and transmission channels, both from sensors to data transmission devices and from data transmission devices to the monitoring server.

The objective of the declared solution is to create an “online” system for monitoring and controlling the actual temperature and / or humidity during the transportation and storage of perishable goods.

The technical result is the prevention of damage and loss of perishable goods through the implementation of "online" monitoring and control of the stored and / or transported goods, through the use of a cloud server with specialized software, a custom mobile application for smartphones and tablet computers with IOS and / or Android operating systems for reading and entering data into the monitoring and control system and using specialized measuring and transmitting equipment located in boxes with cargo and / or, directly, on the surface of the cargo, and / or in pallets with cargo, as well as on the floor, ceiling and walls of the refrigerator sections (chambers), for monitoring the actual values of temperature and / or humidity, remote detection of critical conditions, and, as a consequence, timely troubleshooting of problems in the operation of refrigeration equipment.

This technical result is achieved by the fact that the system for monitoring and control of temperature and / or humidity during storage and transportation of goods includes an external sealed module with built-in antennas, an autonomous battery, a data transmission modem with a satellite tracker that collects the current coordinates of the vehicle using at least 4 satellite constellations, moreover, the external sealed module is installed outside the refrigerator section, and is connected via a wire channel to the internal sealed module, namely, a repeater, which is installed inside the refrigerator section, or a combined sealed repeater module connected to a satellite tracker is used and a data transmission modem in one single housing, which is installed inside the refrigerator section or outside the refrigerator section with corresponding external or internal antennas.

Moreover, in all the above versions of the design and fastening of the modules, the repeater has its own built-in wired temperature and / or humidity sensor, and provides automatic connection with the wireless temperature and / or humidity sensors located inside the refrigerator, refrigerator, store or warehouse within its range of action. which are interrogated by radio at frequencies of the unlicensed range of 433 MHz and 868 MHz at a given frequency and, then, transmits the received data to the tracker using one of the interfaces required by the consumer RS485, RS422, RS232, CAN or Ethernet, which, in turn, transfers them to a remote cloud monitoring server via a data transmission modem using a GPRS channel or a satellite communication channel Inmarsat, Iridium, or Thuraya. Moreover, the tracker, the data transmission modem and the repeater are connected to the on-board network of the refrigerator section, and the monitoring and control system software is designed to assign a set of measuring equipment to one or another refrigerator or refrigerating chamber, and wireless temperature and / or humidity sensors have a number of various special designs that allow them to be installed, according to their identification number, for their unique identification in boxes with cargo, and / or, directly, on the surface of the cargo, and / or in pallets with cargo, as well as on the floor, ceiling or walls refrigerator section.

The activation of the operating mode of the temperature and / or humidity sensors is carried out by initiating the data transfer process by creating a magnetic field, by bringing a miniature magnet in the area of the normally open reed switch, which switches the switch to the closed position and wakes the sensor controller out of sleep mode.

Data transmission between the repeater and control sensors is carried out at a frequency of 433 MHz and / or 868 MHz. Also, on the wireless temperature and / or humidity sensors, a specialized barcode and / or QR code is applied, which makes it possible to unambiguously identify (determine) the type of sensor, its article and identification number, and by scanning them and communicating with the server, it is possible to assign sensors this or that refrigerator. Moreover, scanning the barcode and QR code allows the user to automatically trigger the download of the corresponding mobile application on a smartphone or tablet computer, and then, to bind one or another sensor to a specific account. Each sensor, when polled, transmits the following data: namely, the identification (ID) number of the sensor, network number, battery level, and temperature and humidity values. In addition, the system contains a wireless door opening sensor that transmits information to the tracker via a repeater. The repeater is designed to transmit data transmission data via RS485, RS422, RS232, CAN or Ethernet interfaces to a tracker or modem, which then transmit data to a remote monitoring and control server using GPRS, 3G, 4G, SMS data transmission technologies or via satellite channels communications Inmarsat, Iridium, Thuraya.

In another embodiment, the repeater is configured to transmit data via any of the RS485, RS422, RS232, CAN or Ethernet interfaces for connection to existing onboard satellite, GSM, NB-IoT and / or LoRaWAN equipment or the Internet via an Ethernet gateway, for subsequent data transmission to the monitoring server.

The system is made with the ability to save (archive) the measurement results on the monitoring server for an unlimited period of time, as well as, with the functions of visualizing the measurement results, setting critical temperature thresholds for various groups of goods, generating appropriate notifications by e-mail, in the form of pop-up messages or sending SMS to authorized persons, as well as, with the possibility of generating selective and scheduled reports on the actual temperature conditions of transportation and storage for a selected period of time, displaying the route, temperature and / or humidity of each sensor in accordance with its location in a particular cargo or refrigeration chamber. Additionally, the system provides the ability to use wireless temperature and humidity sensors with an additional NFC, UHF and / or BLE channel to transmit data to an RFID reader, smartphone or tablet computer with the user's IOS and / or Android operating system, and also provides the ability to print the results measurements by connecting via Bluetooth to a mobile printer.

The creation of this system is caused by the need to organize automatic control of the cold chain, namely, approved for different types (commodity groups) of products, temperature and humidity regimes for the transportation of perishable food cargo, medicines and specialized chemicals to various regions, in order to comply with temperature and humidity conditions, along with tight deadlines for staying in the transport chain due to the tightening of requirements for the transportation of such goods.

Brief Description of Drawings:

The general scheme of interaction of the system components is shown in Fig. 1.

The layout of the equipment in the vehicle and data transmission to the server is shown in Fig. 2.

The options for reading the tags by means of scanners (phone / smartphone) are shown in Fig. 3.

A variant of the layout of the equipment (with EZPU) in the vehicle and data transmission to the server is shown in Fig. 4.

Variants of readers and EZPU and possible frequencies of their operation are shown in Fig. five.

The system includes the following main components:

Satellite Glonass / GPS tracker 1 - located outside or inside the refrigerator section in a sealed case, has built-in or external antennas and a battery that provides autonomous operation of the device up to 12 hours. Regular power supply of tracker 1 is provided by connecting the refrigerator section to the on-board network. Tracker 1 receives data from the wireless sensors inside using a repeater, via a data transmission interface - RS485, RS422, RS232, CAN or Ethernet, and transmits them to a remote monitoring server 2, including one equipped with cloud storage and services implemented using cloud technologies for remote access to this information for both end users and dispatchers to constantly monitor the condition of the cargo.

Tracker 1 contains a satellite receiver that can work with different satellite systems, for example, GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, with which it determines its current coordinates, as well as an integrated or external modem 3 for NB-IoT, LoRaWAN and / or GSM transmitting data using GPRS technology, SMS or a satellite communication modem Inmarsat, Iridium or Thuraya for sending information to the monitoring and control server 2 with preinstalled special software. In addition to the satellite receiver and data transmission modem 3, an important technical element of tracker 1 is a satellite antenna, which can be either external or built into the tracker; rechargeable battery to ensure autonomous operation; built-in memory for storing data, if it is impossible to send them to the server due to the lack of a communication channel.

Repeater (hub) 4 - located in a sealed case, which is installed inside or outside the section, has its own temperature and / or humidity sensor, built-in or external antenna, and, additionally, provides polling at a given frequency of autonomous wireless temperature sensors located within its range 5. The repeater 4 transmits the obtained results to the tracker 1 through the data transfer interface - RS485, RS422, RS232, CAN or Ethernet.

Wireless temperature sensors (tags) 5 have a number of different designs and are located directly inside boxes, packages, on or in a load, in a pallet with a transported cargo, on the floor, ceiling, walls of a refrigerator or refrigeration unit, and carry out temperature measurements and transfer of the obtained results to the repeater 4 with a basic frequency from 1 time every 5 seconds, up to any given time period. The number of sensors that transmit data to the repeater 4 depends on the cargo being transported, the size of the refrigerating chamber and the customer's technical specifications (from 1 to 64 pcs). Sensors 5 transmit an eight-digit identification (ID) number of the sensor, network number of the sensor, battery level, temperature and / or humidity values (optional).

Depending on the type of product, the monitoring system controls the following main temperature ranges:

+ 4… + 10 ° С - for storage and transportation of vegetables, fruits and confectionery products;

+ 2 ... + 8 ° С - for medicines;

+ 2 ... + 7 ° С - for chilled meat, fish and dairy products;

-25 ... -15 ° С - for ice cream;

-18 ° С - for frozen meat, fish, poultry and semi-finished products;

-45 ° С - for instant frozen products.

The system monitors and controls humidity in the range from 20 to 99%.

At the same time, the system is configured to send alarm messages to the user to a pre-selected number by sending notifications via SMS, in the form of an e-mail (e-mail), or by means of a pop-up PUSH message in your personal account on a cloud server, in case of approaching a critical mark threshold value of temperature and humidity, which is preset manually by the dispatcher and / or the user of the system or automatically, using the monitoring server software 2, depending on the selected type of transported cargo. Sending messages can be realized directly through the satellite tracker 1 or from the monitoring server 2 using specialized equipment and software.

An external sealed module containing tracker 1 is permanently fixed on the outside of the refrigerator section and connected to the on-board network. A repeater 4 is permanently located inside the section and is connected by a cable through a through hole with tracker 1.Using a universal (local) radio reader, the status of tags (battery level, signal level and the fact of data exchange) is checked before being issued to the driver or forwarder.

Optionally, with the help of specialized software installed on a stationary personal computer, it is possible to scan a barcode and / or QR code of a wireless temperature sensor and automatically "assign" a tag to one or another refrigerator (truck, cold store, warehouse), as well as , monitoring the exchange of packets between the sensors (3-8) and the repeater 4 and monitoring the receipt of data on the cloud server of the monitoring system 2. Thus, this monitoring and control system allows you to receive and analyze information about the route or location, temperature and humidity of the cargo, the state of the operating modes of the refrigerator and / or refrigeration unit in a given time period, as well as timely generate notifications about violation of the conditions of transportation and / or storage, or approaching the critical threshold values of temperature and humidity of cargo transported by road or rail, as well as, finding located in stationary facilities - shops, warehouses and logistics distribution centers.

Also, the system has the following important functionalities:

- Systematization and analysis of the received data;

- Visualization of measurement results in the user's "personal account";

- Setting the critical temperature limits;

- Setting up notifications;

- Formation of reports on the actual temperature conditions of transportation for the selected period;

- Administration, assignment of a set of measuring equipment to a particular vehicle and user account;

- Storage and archiving of the received data.

In addition, thanks to the use of the WEB-interface, access to data is possible from any point of access to the Internet, both for dispatchers and authorized persons of transport companies, and for end users of transported goods. The variant of execution of the combined repeater module 4 with tracker 1 in one box with protection IP67 or IP68 is possible. Also, it is possible to use a temperature sensor (tag) 5 with an additional channel NFC (13.56 MHz), UHF (860-960 MHz) or BLE (2.4 GHz) to transfer recorded data (log) and current data to a stationary or handheld RFID reader 6 or smartphone (tablet computer) 7 user or driver. In addition, it is possible to provide a data transfer protocol via one of the RS485, RS422, RS232, CAN or Ethernet interfaces for connection to the existing onboard GLONASS / GSM equipment on the vehicle. And also, the ability to print the results of temperature measurements through a mobile printer 8, for example, using a smartphone or tablet computer with the IOS and / or Android operating system and a specialized mobile application.

The system contains a wireless sensor 9 of the current status of the door, which determines the fact of opening or closing, and transmits information through a repeater to a satellite tracker or data transmission modem and then to a monitoring server.

The use of the system provides the necessary monitoring and control over the observance of the required temperature and humidity conditions for specific categories of cargo, and also allows detecting cases of malfunction of the refrigerator and / or refrigerating chamber.

Claims (27)

1. A system for monitoring and controlling the state of perishable goods during storage or transportation, consisting of an external sealed module with a satellite tracker and a data transmission modem with built-in antennas and a battery, and the external sealed module is installed outside the refrigerator section, and an internal sealed module connected to it with repeater, which is installed inside the refrigerator section, or from a combined sealed repeater module connected to a satellite tracker in one housing, which is installed inside the refrigerator section or outside the refrigerator section, and in all versions the repeater has its own temperature and / or humidity sensor and provides polling with a given frequency of wireless temperature and / or humidity sensors within its range and transmits the specified data to a satellite tracker with a built-in or external data transmission modem, which, in turn, wirelessly m or wired communication channels transmits them to a remote monitoring server, and the tracker, modem and repeater are connected to the on-board network of the refrigerator section, and the monitoring and control system software is designed to assign a set of measuring equipment to one or another refrigerator, or refrigeration chamber, or warehouse , and wireless temperature and / or humidity sensors, which are installed according to their identification number for their unique identification in boxes with cargo, and / or directly on the surface of the cargo, and / or in pallets with cargo, as well as on the floor, ceiling or walls of the refrigerator section, or refrigerating chamber, or in a warehouse. 2. The monitoring and control system according to claim 1, characterized in that a barcode and / or QR code is applied on the surface of the wireless temperature and / or humidity sensors, allowing to uniquely identify the sensor type, its article and identification number, and barcode scanning -code and QR-code allows the user to automatically trigger the download of the corresponding mobile application on a smartphone or tablet computer, and then, to bind this or that sensor to a specific refrigerator or warehouse, as well as to the user account. 3. The monitoring and control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that each sensor, when polled, in one way or another, transmits a set of data, namely: sensor identification number, network number, current and stored temperature and / or humidity values in the place of sensor installation with time stamp, charge level of the built-in battery, level of data transmission signal. 4. Monitoring and control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the system contains a wireless sensor of the current status of the door, which determines the fact of opening or closing and transmits information through a repeater to a satellite tracker or data transmission modem and then to a monitoring server. 5. Monitoring and control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the repeater transmits the received data to the satellite tracker, GSM, NB-IoT and / or LoRaWAN modem via one of the built-in CAN and / or RS485, RS422, RS232 interfaces with using the industrial data transfer protocol Modbus RTU. 6. The monitoring and control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the repeater transmits the received data to the Internet via a TCP / IP connection to the Ethernet gateway of the network using the industrial data transfer protocol Modbus TCP. 7. The monitoring and control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the satellite tracker, by means of a GSM and / or NB-IoT modem, transmits data to a remote server via cellular channels using the GPRS 2G / 3G packet data technology, and / or 4G, and / or by sending SMS, and / or using the NB-IoT network. 8. Monitoring and control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the repeater and / or satellite tracker transmits data to the LoRaWAN network using the industrial data transfer protocol LPWAN. 9. Monitoring and control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the satellite tracker transmits data to a remote server via satellite communication channels Inmarsat, Iridium or Thuraya. 10. Monitoring and control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the repeater is designed to transmit data via one of the built-in RS485, RS422, RS232, CAN or Ethernet interfaces for connection to existing onboard satellite and / or GSM equipment for subsequent data transmission to the monitoring server. 11. The monitoring and control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the system is made with the ability to save the measurement results and visualize the results by using a remote monitoring server, as well as with the ability to configure the critical temperature and / or humidity limit values, and the corresponding notifications by each of the methods: by sending an SMS message from a pre-trusted phone or smartphone number or by sending the appropriate command from the user's personal account from the WEB-site of the cloud monitoring server, as well as with the ability to generate reports on the actual modes of transportation for the selected period of time with the route and parameters of each sensor - identification number, network number, temperature, humidity and charge level of the built-in battery and the level of data transmission signal. 12. Monitoring and control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the system provides for the use of wireless sensors (tags) with an additional NFC channel with a frequency of 13.56 MHz for directly programming critical temperature thresholds and reading sensor parameters through a mobile application smartphone or tablet computer with the user's IOS and / or Android operating system, as well as the possibility of subsequent transmission of the received data via Bluetooth for printing the measurement results via a mobile printer. 13. Monitoring and control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the system provides for the use of wireless sensors with an additional UHF channel with a frequency of 860-960 MHz, carrying out data transmission using the ISO 18000-6C protocol, or similar, to ensure fast and simultaneous data reading of a significant number of temperature tags using a stationary or manual RFID reader, at a distance of 1 to 15 meters, which then transmit the data to a monitoring and control server, via a cable connection of the reader to the Internet, or wireless data transmission via a Wi-Fi channel -Fi network to the access point, or via a mobile application with the IOS and / or Android operating system. 14. Monitoring and control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the system provides for the possibility of using a temperature tag with an additional BLE channel - BluetoothLowEnergy with a frequency of 2.4 GHz, for directly programming critical temperature and humidity thresholds and reading sensor parameters through mobile application of a smartphone or tablet computer with the user's IOS and / or Android operating system, as well as the possibility of subsequent transmission of the received data via Bluetooth to print the measurement results via a mobile printer. 15. Monitoring and control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the system provides the ability to control the current battery charge level built into the wireless sensor, thus a device that receives data from the sensors, namely: repeater, RFID reader, smartphone or a tablet computer, records the battery level of each tag and, if it drops to less than 30%, generates an alarm message to the monitoring server to send a notification to the user about the need to replace the battery of the sensor itself in the system. 16. The monitoring and control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the system provides the ability to control the current signal level of the temperature tag RSSI, thus a device that receives data from the temperature tag - a repeater, RFID reader, smartphone or tablet computer - records the signal level of each tag, namely the range of values of stable signal reception from -24 to -124 dBm, and if it falls to a level less than -124 dBm, generates an alarm message to the monitoring server to send a notification to the user about the need to check and / or change the installation location sensor to ensure stable signal reception. 17. Monitoring and control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the system components used, namely: a repeater, a tracker, a data transmission modem and temperature and / or humidity sensors, as well as sensors for the status of the refrigerating chamber doors, may have different external dimensions, various types of fasteners - using bolts, screws and / or magnets - as well as various types of built-in replaceable or rechargeable batteries, depending on the required tasks, environment and period of use, for example batteries with a long life cycle and a capacity of 1 up to 14500 A / h and batteries with a short life cycle and a capacity from 3 mA to 1 A / h. 18. The monitoring and control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the wireless sensors used contain a digital temperature and / or humidity sensor in the form of an integrated circuit with a digital data transfer interface I2C and / or SPI and ensuring the temperature measurement accuracy is not worse than + / -0.5 degrees Celsius and humidity not worse than +/- 1% in the measurement range from -40 to +125 degrees Celsius and humidity from 20 to 99%. 19. Monitoring and control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the used wireless sensors in case of impossibility of data transmission to the reader - repeater, RFID reader, smartphone or tablet computer - log data in their own internal memory, recording the measured values temperature and / or humidity on a cumulative total, with the obligatory fixation of the time of each measurement point, and upon filling the memory with data, new data is written to the place of the older data, and when the transmission channel is restored, the data log is completely transferred to the reader. 20. Monitoring and control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the wireless sensors used can be made in the format of a thin-film substrate with a thickness of no more than 3 mm, on which an NFC and / or UHF antenna profile is applied, unpackaged crystals of the sensor's integrated circuits are installed temperature, Cortex-M0 controller, NFC and / or UHF data transmission interfaces, and this autonomous temperature marker is powered by a thin-film paper battery or a battery based on manganese dioxide and zinc chloride or based on a highly conductive polymer electrolyte Zn-MnO ₂ , and the miniature size, as well as the presence of a sticky layer on one of the surfaces of this type of temperature mark, makes it easy to install it on the controlled surface or inside the controlled cargo. 21. The monitoring and control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the used wireless sensors and the repeater can, to indicate their state, contain LED indicators and / or LCD liquid crystal indicators and / or OLED indicators based on organic light-emitting diodes, or E-Ink display. 22. Monitoring and control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the wireless sensors used have built-in non-infectious batteries with a limited service life, with the possibility of their replacement by the user or without it, in the case of, for example, using batteries with soldered contacts. 23. Monitoring and control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the wireless sensors used have built-in rechargeable batteries, and charging can be carried out using an external cable connected to the sensor connector on one side and the converter on the other, or by placing sensor on the surface of the wireless charger using Qi standard inductive charging technology. 24. The monitoring and control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the used repeater can be self-contained in the form of an electronic locking and sealing device containing a modem for data transmission, a tracker for fixing coordinates and a radio module for interrogating wireless sensors via radio channel 433 MHz or 868 MHz, and the EZPU is installed outside the refrigerating chamber and, together with the interrogation of wireless sensors, also performs the function of recording the facts of opening the refrigerator doors and the integrity of the locking mechanisms. 25. The monitoring and control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it implements the ability to read wireless sensors by using at least one of the following types of readers, namely: a manual or stationary reader, a smartphone or an electronic lock - a sealing device using at least one of the technologies, namely: Bluetooth, NFC, UHF and / or RF. 26. The monitoring and control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that one or more of those listed in clauses can be used as part of one set. 4-25 technologies. 27. The monitoring and control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the activation of the operating mode of the temperature and / or humidity sensors is carried out by initiating the data transmission process by creating a magnetic field in the area of the normally open reed switch, and activation is performed by on the outside of a miniature magnet that moves the switch to the closed position and wakes the sensor controller out of sleep mode.

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