Sealed container sensor device

• US 10,254,265 B1
• Filed: 04/07/2016
• Issued: 04/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/10/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rezayat, Mohsen
• Original Assignee: Rezayat, Mohsen
• Inventors: Rezayat, Mohsen
• Primary Examiner(s): Enad, Christine A
• Application Number:
  US15/093,109
• Time in Patent Office: 1,097 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/143 containing sugar
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/146 containing alcohol
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

A system for managing and monitoring a small or large collection of sealed containers, such as wine bottles, barrels, medicine containers, or bags, as well as individual grapes, batches of must, and other liquids, whose contents may be volatile and difficult to access without destroying the seal and the contents or risking contamination of the liquid. The system performs automated monitoring tasks by communicating with specially manufactured bottles or traditional bottles that have had a sensor installed. Sensor installation can be accomplished with unmodified commercial available equipment.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

(a) a sensor body, the sensor body comprising a sensor processor, a memory, a power source, and a wireless communication device;

(b) a probe extending outwards from the sensor body, the probe comprising a tip at the distal end, an opening on a side exterior of the probe proximate to the tip, a tip chamber accessible via the opening, and a sensor intake within the tip chamber, wherein a first side of the sensor intake is accessible via the tip chamber and a second side of the sensor intake is within a capillary that is sealed from the tip chamber;

(c) a user device comprising a user device processor, a display, a user input, and a second wireless communication device; and

(d) a micro-sensor within the capillary and proximate to the second side of the sensor intake, the micro-sensor situated to contact a substance entering the sensor intake from the tip chamber, wherein the micro-sensor comprises a measuring sensor and a reference electrode;

wherein the sensor processor is configured to;

(a) receive a set of sensor data from the micro-sensor;

(b) transmit the set of sensor data via the wireless communication device; and

wherein the user device is configured to;

(a) receive the set of sensor data via the second wireless communication device; and

(b) display a subset of sensor data via the display; and

wherein the tip is adapted for piercing a container seal of a container, wherein the container seal is a cork, to allow the substance in the container to enter the tip chamber through the opening and contact the sensor intake while also maintaining the container seal around the probe so that it prevents contact between the ambient environment and the substance within the container.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein

(a) the sensor body is configured to be affixed to a bottle, the bottle comprising a body and a spout extending from the body;

(b) the body of the bottle is the container seal, and the probe is installed before the bottle is filled with the substance; and

(c) the tip is situated within an interior of the bottle.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein:

(a) the sensor body further comprises a cylindrical housing with a bottom portion and a top portion;

(b) the probe extends outwards from the sensor body at least about 2 inches;

(c) after piercing the container seal, the probe is positioned entirely within the container and the sensor body is positioned entirely outside the container; and

(d) the sensor intake is a porous membrane adapted to allow a portion of the substance to pass from the first side to the second side and contact the micro-sensor.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the micro-sensor comprises a plurality of micro-sensors that may be selected for use by removing the probe and installing a new probe, from a set of at least four probes, on the sensor body, and wherein each probe from the set of at least four probes is capable of measuring a different one of:

(a) oxygen content;

(b) acidity;

(c) tannin content;

(d) sugar content;

(e) pH; and

(f) phenol content.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a remote data source, wherein the user device is further configured to:

(a) receive a set of comparable data from the remote data source;

(b) perform a comparison of the set of sensor data and the set of comparable data; and

(c) generate a user alert based upon the comparison; and

wherein;

(a) the set of comparable data is a set of characteristics measured from the contents of a first bottle of wine;

(b) the set of sensor data is a set of characteristics measured from the contents of a second bottle of wine;

(c) the comparison determines a level of similarity between the first bottle of wine and the second bottle of wine; and

(d) when the level of similarity does not exceed a configured threshold, the user alert indicates that the second bottle of wine is dissimilar to the first bottle of wine.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the substance is wine, and wherein the user device is further configured to:

(a) associate the set of sensor data with a first time period;

(b) receive a second set of sensor data via the wireless communication device;

(c) associate the second set of sensor data with a second time period;

(d) compare the set of sensor data with the second set of sensor data to determine a change in the wine from the first time period to the second time period; and

(e) when the change in the wine exceeds a threshold for normal change, generate a user alert indicating that the wine is undergoing spoilage.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the substance is wine, wherein the set of sensor data describes a set of wine characteristics, and wherein the user device is further configured to:

(a) receive via the user input a set of optimal measurements, wherein each optimal measurement of the set of optimal measurements describes a user defined preference for one wine characteristic of the set of wine characteristics;

(b) after the set of sensor data is received, determine if a wine characteristic matches an optimal measurement that describes it; and

(c) when a match is determined, generate a user alert indicating that one or more characteristics of the wine match the user defined preference.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensor processor is configured to:

(a) disable the wireless communication device and enter a low power mode;

(b) maintain the lower power mode for a user configured time;

(c) after the passage of the user configured time, disable the low power mode and enable the wireless communication device; and

(d) transmit the set of sensor data from the memory via the wireless communication device only when the low power mode is disabled.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensor body is adapted to fit within a cork holder of a bottle corking device, and wherein the bottle corking device may be operated to cause the probe to lower and pierce a cork of a wine bottle, wherein the sensor body is of near identical dimensions to the cork such that each of the cork and the sensor body fit within the cork holder, and wherein the sensor body has a diameter of about 0.9375 inches.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the set of sensor data is associated with a bottle of wine, wherein the user device is configured to:

(a) receive via the user input a signal requesting that the bottle of wine be posted for sale on a remote marketplace; and

(b) transmit a bottle listing to the remote marketplace, the bottle listing comprising a description of the bottle of wine, a price for the bottle of wine, and the set of sensor data.

11. The of claim 1, wherein the set of sensor data comprises a first measurement describing a liquid characteristic from a first period of time and a second measurement describing the liquid characteristic from a second period of time, wherein the user device is configured to:

(a) associate a bottle identifier with the container, wherein the bottle identifier is a uniquely assigned identification data;

(a) determine an elapsed time between the first period of time and the second period of time;

(b) determine a characteristics change between the first measurement and the second measurement; and

(c) where the characteristic change during the elapsed time exceeds a fraud threshold, provide an indication to a remote server that the contents of the container associated with the bottle identifier have been intentionally altered or changed in a suspicious manner based on the elapsed time.

12. The of claim 1, wherein the set of sensor data comprises information describing a liquid characteristic over a period of time of at least one year, and wherein the user device is configured to:

(a) associate a bottle identifier with the container, wherein the bottle identifier is a uniquely assigned identification data;

(b) determine a characteristic change of the liquid characteristic during the period of time; and

(c) where the characteristic change exceeds an improper storage threshold for the period of time, provide an indicate to a remote server that the contents of the container associated with the bottle identifier have been improperly stored during the period of time.

13. An apparatus comprising:

(a) a probe needle comprising a probe casing, a probe tip, and a base, wherein the probe tip comprises at least one tip opening;

(b) a capillary comprising an inner sensor tip and an inner sensor base, wherein the inner sensor tip has a porous membrane, wherein the capillary is situated within the probe casing, wherein the inner sensor tip extends into the probe tip, wherein inner sensor base is proximate to the base, and wherein a first seal and a second seal are placed at the inner sensor tip and the inner sensor base such that a vacuum exists within the probe casing between the seals;

(c) a sensor wire cylinder situated within the capillary, the sensor wire cylinder having a sensor output proximate to the base, and a measuring sensor electrode that extends towards the porous membrane, and a reference electrode, wherein a remainder of the capillary contains an electrolyte solution;

(d) a sensor body comprising a base receiver, a processor, a memory, and a sensor input;

(e) a second probe needle comprising a second base;

wherein the base may be coupled with the base receiver to cause a connection between the sensor output and the sensor input, and wherein a signal generated at the sensor electrode is transmitted to the processor and the memory via the sensor input;

wherein the probe tip is capable of piercing through a container seal of a container to allow a substance in the container to enter the tip opening while also maintaining the container seal so that it prevents contact between the ambient environment and the substance within the container; and

wherein;

(i) the processor and the memory receive input describing a first set of characteristics of the substance when the base is coupled with the base receiver;

(ii) the processor and the memory receive input describing a second set of characteristics of the substance when the second base is coupled with the base receiver; and

(iii) the first set of characteristics and the second set of characteristics are disjoint and do not have any elements in common.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein:

(a) the measuring sensor electrode is positioned with a distal end about 10 μ

m from the porous membrane,

(b) the inner sensor tip has a diameter of between about 10 μ

m and about 20 μ

m,

(c) the outer diameter of the capillary is about 1 mm, and

(d) the signal generated at the sensor electrode indicates a concentration of dissolved oxygen within the probe tip.

15. A method for measuring attributes of a substance comprising the steps

(a) receiving a probe body, the probe body comprising a sensor processor, a memory, a power source, a wireless communication device, and a probe, the probe having a tip, an opening on a side exterior of the probe proximate to the tip, a tip chamber accessible via the opening, a sensor intake within the tip chamber, and a micro-sensor within a capillary proximate to the sensor intake, wherein:

(i) a liquid that enters the tip chamber via the opening is received by a first side of the sensor intake that is within the tip chamber,

(ii) the liquid contacts the micro-sensor at a second side of the sensor intake that is within the capillary,

(iii) the capillary is sealed from the tip chamber, and

(iv) the micro-sensor comprises a measuring sensor and a reference electrode;

(b) installing the probe body on a container by piercing the probe tip through the container seal so that the liquid inside the container enters the tip chamber, wherein the container seal prevents the liquid from being exposed to the ambient environment when the probe is within the container seal;

(c) receiving, via the wireless communication device, a liquid identifier from a user device, wherein the liquid identifier is a uniquely assigned identification data;

(d) activating the micro-sensor to measure one or more characteristics of the liquid and generate a set of sensor data;

(e) transmitting, via the wireless communication device, the set of sensor data to the user device;

(f) at the user device, associating the set of sensor data with the liquid identifier; and

(g) displaying a subset of the sensor data and the liquid identifier via a display of the user device.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the liquid is selected from the group consisting of:

(a) a wine, wherein the container is a sealed container;

(b) a juice, wherein the container is a grape;

(c) a grape must in the container; and

(d) a wine, wherein the container is a barrel.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising the steps:

(a) at the user device, receiving a set of comparable data from a remote data source;

(b) performing a comparison of the set of sensor data and the set of comparable data; and

(c) generating a user alert based upon the comparison;

wherein;

(a) the set of comparable data is a set of characteristics measured from the contents of a first bottle of wine;

(b) the set of sensor data is a set of characteristics measured from the contents of a second bottle of wine;

(c) the comparison determines a level of similarity between the first bottle of wine and the second bottle of wine; and

(d) when the level of similarity does not exceed a configured threshold, the user alert indicates that the second bottle of wine is dissimilar to the first bottle of wine.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the liquid is a wine, further comprising the steps:

(a) associating the set of sensor data with a first time period;

(b) receiving a second set of sensor data via the wireless communication device;

(c) associating the second set of sensor data with a second time period;

(d) comparing the set of sensor data with the second set of sensor data to determine a change in the wine from the first time period to the second time period; and

(e) when the change in the wine exceeds a configured threshold for acceptable change, generate a user alert indicating that the wine is undergoing spoilage.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the substance is a wine, wherein the set of sensor data describes a set of wine characteristics, further comprising the steps:

(a) receiving via the user input a set of optimal measurements, wherein each optimal measurement of the set of optimal measurements describes a user defined preference for one wine characteristic of the set of wine characteristics;

(b) after the set of sensor data is received, determining if a wine characteristic matches an optimal measurement that describes it; and

(c) when a match is determined, generating a user alert indicating that one or more characteristics of the wine match the user defined preference.

20. The method of claim 15, further comprising the steps:

(a) at the sensor body, disabling the wireless communication device and entering a low power mode;

(b) maintaining the lower power mode for a user configured time;

(c) after the passage of the user configured time, disabling the low power mode and enabling the wireless communication device; and

(d) transmitting the set of sensor data via the wireless communication device only when the low power mode is disabled.