Patent Grant
11801980
The disclosure relates generally to systems and methods for providing a controlled environment for object storage, and more particularly to self-contained controlled environment storage and enhancement systems and methods with improved features and characteristics.
Various containers have been developed to facilitate storage of items. Typical storage containers/vessels include the storage container itself and a removable lid. Various modes of interaction of storage containers and associated lids are known.
In certain applications, there is a need to maintain items in a controlled environment in terms of, for example, temperature, humidity, odor control, and/or safety when they are stored in a container assembly.
It is desirable to address the current limitations in this art.
By way of example, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not to scale unless otherwise indicated.
Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the following description of the present invention is illustrative only and not in any way limiting. Other embodiments of the invention will readily suggest themselves to such skilled persons, having the benefit of this disclosure, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein. Reference will now be made in detail to specific implementations of the present invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The same references and reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or like parts.
A controlled environment system according to aspects of the present invention is a self-contained storage and/or enhancement system for organic and/or non-organic objects that may benefit from a controlled environment. Suitable organic objects may include, without limitation, plants, herbal medicines, culinary herbs, food products, dried food, fruits, vegetables, flowers, leaves, tobacco, cannabis, meat, flours, sugar, cheese, cigars, alcohol, milk, and the like. Suitable non-organic objects may include, without limitation, coatings, paints, paintings, chemicals, metals, and the like, that may benefit from a controlled environment to allow for curing or to prevent oxidation. Benefits of the controlled environment system according to aspects of the present invention may include longer storage times based on providing a better environment for storage, drying items, ripening and curing items, optimizing flavor, increasing aroma and potency while eliminating or reducing odor, and preventing mold and bacteria growth during long-term storage of payloads. Other applications for the controlled environment system according to aspects of the present invention may include curing meats, preserving artwork (e.g. paintings), preserving documents, and the care of sensitive seedlings, such as cannabis seedlings, both in a steady environment as well as during transport. In some applications, prior to placing payload into the controlled environment system according to aspects of the present invention, the enclosure may require “seasoning” which may be performed by the system; for example, saturating the enclosure material to a certain moisture content. The system may perform the “seasoning” as part of a Seasoning Mode, which may or may not be performed with power conservation as a goal. During “seasoning,” a significant amount of water may be absorbed by the enclosure; for example, the wood lining of a new humidor.
The system in at least one application is substantially airtight. Airtightness is important in certain embodiments because it prevents contents from oxidizing (e.g., in the case of cannabis this is called decarboxylation) and allows for better control of the internal environment. Airtightness is also important for preventing odors from exiting the controlled environment (e.g., sealed mason jar, box enclosure, etc.) and preserving the internal environment. Eliminating or reducing odor leakage from the controlled environment is important in the cannabis market as well as many other markets, such as paint curing, where the odors may be particularly strong or in some cases toxic.
The controlled environment system according to aspects of the present invention may control at least one of the following conditions: temperature, humidity, payload moisture content, solar radiation, magnetism, microwave, light illumination, and the like. The payload chamber environment may be controlled in an effective and power efficient manner in certain embodiments, but in other embodiments may be controlled in a less efficient manner so as to decrease the time to reach target parameters.
In certain embodiments, the architecture of the controlled environment system according to aspects of the present invention consists of various subassemblies. These subassemblies work together to create a controlled environment for the item (payload) being stored within. Aside from the controlled environment, one of the main goals of the system in certain embodiments is power efficiency so as to maximize battery life and/or time between battery charges.
As can be seen from
Controlled environmental parameters may include at least one of the following: temperature, humidity, payload moisture content, solar radiation, magnetism, microwaves, or light illumination. In certain implementations, the system includes a payload chamber and a self-contained lid-integrated environmental control unit (ECU) that may be coupled to the payload chamber using a substantially airtight seal. In certain embodiments, the ECU may include a condenser, a humidity controller, a liquid tank and a power source. Certain embodiments may include a warmer, temperature and/or humidity sensors, and/or a lock. Various combinations of the foregoing components and features may be incorporated, depending on the requirements of each particular implementation.
For example, the specific controlled environment system of
Aspects of the architecture and the different subassemblies in certain embodiments will be discussed below.
The payload chamber may be any variety of space that may be separated from the environment external to it. The separation may range from complete isolation (temperature, humidity, gasses, solar radiation, light illumination, EMI, etc.) to only partial isolation (e.g. an uninsulated, clear container that may allow humidity, air, light, or temperature to follow, at least partially, the external environment).
The materials that the enclosure may be composed of include, but are not limited to, glass, ceramic, plastic, wood, stone, rubber, metal, or any other materials or combinations thereof. The type of material may be chosen for its cost properties, insulative properties, thickness, aesthetics, weight, a combination of properties, or other. Multiple materials may be combined to build a payload chamber such as a Faraday cage, mason jar, enclosure box, etc.
The shape of the enclosure may be either dependent, partially dependent, or independent of the item to be stored inside. The dimensions and shape may be any size or geometry, such as a mason jar, a rectangular enclosure, a square enclosure, octagon enclosure etc.
The enclosure may enclose items that require a controlled environment. These may include organic substances (e.g. wood, plants, leaves, vegetables, fruits, etc.) or non-organic substances (metals, plastics, films, etc.) that require control of one or more aspects of their environment.
In the exemplary implementation depicted in
Mason jars may also have custom logos added to them by adhering labels, painting, embossing or by any other attachment process in the manufacturing of the jar or after the manufacturing of the mason jar. The jar even may be manufactured with the logo built into the jar material or some combination of materials on the jar
The mason jars may be any suitable size, such as 4 oz, 8 oz, 12 oz, 64 oz, 128 oz, etc. They may even be any geometric shape such as circular, rectangular, square, triangular, etc. Mason jars, regardless of volume, typically utilize a standard opening size of about 70 mm.
The payload chamber may be a non-mason jar, depending on the particular requirements of each implementation. The payload chamber may be any suitable geometric shape, such as a square or rectangular enclosure, etc. In these other configurations the environmental control unit (ECU) may be at least partially inserted, fully inserted or placed on or within any side of the unit such as the sides, bottom, or top of the payload chamber. There may be multiple ECUs used to control the environment and multiple remote sensors.
The exemplary implementation (ECU),
The ECU may be designed to not impact the exterior features of the payload chamber such that payload chambers may be efficiently stacked upon each other to maximize space utilization.
In addition to isolating the external environment from the payload chamber environment, the ECU is responsible for controlling one or more aspects of the internal environment (e.g. temperature, humidity, light illumination, pressure, etc.). The following subsections will discuss the main components of the ECU.
The ECU may be designed to maximize power efficiency to extend battery life and/or time between charging of the batteries. The ECU may generate a signal to indicate to a user that battery or charge level has decreased to the point requiring change of batteries or recharging.
The ECU may be powered, see
The Power Management Unit (PMU) may be a part of the microcontroller board or the microcontroller, or on a separate board within the Controlled Environment System. The PMU may receive energy from the internal batteries as well as the power connector and selects which power source to use for the ECU. The PMU may be responsive to control from the microcontroller and is also responsible for generating and distributing voltages and current to control the electronics within the ECU.
The PMU may also be responsible for charging any rechargeable batteries and prioritizing which power source to use as well as generating notifications and alarms when energy levels fall below user set thresholds. The PMU may make the current energy state available to the microcontroller for statistics, reporting, and alarm purposes.
A generic microcontroller board, also shown in
The microcontroller board contains various hardware and software components, such as, flash, RAM, switches, a microcontroller, wired and wireless interfaces and associated ICs, power devices and other standard devices that may be found on such a board. The microcontroller board may also contain motion and gravity sensors such as gyros, accelerometers, etc. to detect and respond to motion of the Controlled Environment System. Given the presence of wireless communication components on the microcontroller board, antennas may be included on the board or interface to the board.
As can be seen in
The LED ring may have the ability to produce one or more solid colors, may generate one or more colors flashing or fading in and out at one or more rates, and may be able to cycle through colors to convey information. The possible combinations of colors, on/off durations, cycling, etc. are limitless. The environment may be monitored and feedback may be provided to the user by the LED ring. As an example, the LED ring may be green for the status of the payload if conditions are within tolerance, and may be red if there is an issue with the unit or the environment.
The user may program the unit remotely as well as locally. Locally may be performed by using the LCD and/or the buttons. Remote programming may be accomplished by connecting an electronic device to the unit either through a wired interface via the communication port or through a wireless interface. The wired and wireless interfaces may also be used for downloading applications, control information, and data, uploading of software or data, and performing firmware updates.
The ECU may implement one or more wireless interfaces, such as a WiFi interface or other wireless interface (e.g. Bluetooth, Zigbee, BLE, cellular, etc.) so as to be able to interface to user devices such as computers and cell phones as well as databases that may be stored in the Cloud.
The ECU interface may incorporate biometric security for locking and unlocking in addition to an LCD or button type interface where a key sequence is entered. The biometric interface may include a fingerprint reader, eye scanner, facial recognition, or other type of biometric. It may also use a combination of any of the biometric interfaces or the LCD or button interfaces.
A biometric security interface may also be used to obtain access to the Controlled Environment System's data or to be able to control it.
The ECU may be coupled to the Payload chamber via a threaded coupler, shown in
In some applications the ECU may be attached to the payload chamber at the factory and not allowed to be separated in the field by the user. In this instance as well in other instances, there may be another access point for inserting and removing payload from the payload chamber. This access point may be on the bottom, the top or any surface of the controlled environment system. This access point may be removable or connectively hinged.
The coupler may be made from any type of materials such as wood, metal, ceramic, etc. The coupler may also have custom logos added to it by painting, embossing or by any other attachment process. The coupler may even be manufactured with the logo or some combination of materials.
Not shown here are various containers that may hold the payload that are constructed to be different form factors, such as, a rectangular or square box along with a lid that is rectangular or square. It is obvious to one skilled in the art that any form factor or material may be used as the container and the lid. In these other configurations, the ECU, which at least partially houses the electronics, may be positioned at a different location such as on the bottom of the payload chamber or on the side of or external to the payload chamber. There may even be multiple ECUs used within a single controlled environment system. Each of these can be programmed to function together as a single unit or function separately to control multiple environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, pressure, etc. One ECU can be used to control temperature while another one may be used to control humidity, or each ECU can control both of these independently or in unison.
One purpose of the ECU coupler is to ensure that the ECU and payload chamber are at least partially isolated from the external environment. In the case where the ECU fits into the mouth of the mason jar, the ECU, as shown in
There are also multiple other ways of ensuring an adequate seal. It also may be that the seal comprises two similar type surfaces touching each other, such as when a wooden box is closed with a wooden top, with potential air gaps allowing a partial isolation between the payload chamber and the external environment.
An ECU is capable of fitting various type of enclosures. This is accomplished by using expansion adapters or “lids” that the ECU assembly may be inserted into. This may be, for a mason jar example, a flat cover with a circular cut-out of about 70 mm and which effectively expands the lid's top surface to allow the use of the assembly for containers of various forms and sizes. This expansion adapter may be any shape or size unit. Therefore, the ECU may fit into a square, rectangular, circular, etc. shape environment.
A fan may be used to pump air from the payload chamber through the ECU and back to the payload chamber. The fan may be single speed or variable speed and may be on all the time or used only when required. The fan may be designed to be low noise and may be managed by the microcontroller board so as to increase the overall power efficiency of the Controlled Environment System. Depending on the usage, multiple fans may be used instead of one as depicted.
Air travels up the warmer duct after exiting the condenser duct and is redirected at the top by the outlet duct to blow back down the sidewall cavity (wall removed in figure) of the ECU and back down into the payload chamber. As the air goes down the sidewall cavity, a UV-C LED, which may be attached within the cavity, may sterilize the air prior to flowing down into the payload chamber. Details on the condenser, warmer, Water Tank, and other components of the system will be provided in a later section.
Airflow through the ECU is intended to be as smooth and laminar as possible, reducing any turbulence and dead spots, so as to maximize the efficiency of air treatment and correspondingly, consumed power.
The purpose of the condenser (shown in
On the opposite side of the condenser and heat pump, shown in
The heat pump may be a thermoelectric device such as a Peltier heat pump. A Peltier heat pump is a solid-state active heat pump which transfers heat from one side of the device to the other, with consumption of electrical energy, depending on the direction of the current. It uses the Peltier effect to create a heat flux between the junction of two different types of materials.
An example heat pump that may be used is the CP60440 from CUI, Inc. The performance for the CP60440 in terms of dT_C (temperature difference between first-side and second-side of a Peltier module) vs. HeatPump_W (Q_W is the amount of heat energy pumped from first-side to second-side of a Peltier module), and DT_C vs. Input Voltage is shown in
These graphs sufficiently characterize the Peltier modules to determine the heat pumping performance of the heat pump when operating conditions are given.
The following two examples show heat pumping performance is better when dT_C is smaller.
When Pin_W (wattage consumed by Peltier based on input voltage and current) is held constant, for example at ˜57 W, an increase of 5 C in temperature differential results in a heat transfer flow of 4 W less being pumped by the heat pump. Another way to think about it is at dT_C=10, the amount of input power applied to the heat pump yields better pumping action and may thus save more energy, since for a given amount of desired heat transfer, the pump may be run for a shorter time period and hence less energy would be required. It therefore, may be advantageous to create a configuration where the dT_C is kept as small as practical.
1°
Sensors are placed at various locations within the ECU to provide information to the various control loops such that environmental conditions may be set, adjusted, and monitored. The air path within the ECU, shown in
Sensors located at the inlet duct measure the payload chamber's current temperature and humidity. Using these sensors, the current conditions can be ascertained as well as the impact of treating the environment with the ECU. At the condenser, a temperature sensor may be mounted on the condenser heat exchanger fins to evaluate the temperature set by the heat pump so as to properly set the dew point temperature. The warmer heat exchanger also may have a temperature sensor mounted to it. The sensor allows the coefficient of performance of the heat pump to be properly controlled and monitored. The water tank may utilize other types of liquids other than water.
The water tank may have one or more sensors within it to detect the level of the water so as to alert the user to too much or too little water within the tank as well as the fill level. Sensors may also be used to detect the state of the water with respect to water quality. Sensors may include, but are not limited to, magnetic floats and hall-effect sensors.
In addition to sensors for monitoring the air path and water level, the microcontroller board may have additional sensors for detecting controlled environment system movement and position, among other information.
Remote sensors, connected either wired or wirelessly to the ECU, may be placed into one or more locations within the payload chamber for more accurate readings of payload conditions when the enclosed space is large enough to warrant it or the density of the payload area is high enough. Placing remote sensors may allow the control loops in the main unit to get a better feedback on how moisture is spreading throughout the payload chamber by using the temperature and relative humidity data that the remote sensor modules may provide.
At the base of the condenser and warmer may be a water tank, shown in
The water in the water tank may be purified to eliminate the potential for bacterial or other organic growths within the tank. This is accomplished by using one or more UV light (wavelength 265 to 285 nm) sources over the water tank, possibly embedded in the water tank lid. The light may be on continuously or cycle depending on the application. The UV light may also be located in other places (e.g. ducting), to treat the air as it passes instead of, or in addition, to the water. The water tank or other parts of the ECU may be made from one or more materials, including materials enhanced with antimicrobial additives. The water may contain antimicrobial additives to slow or stop the growth of bacterial or other organic growths.
As can be seen from
The water level in the tank may be monitored. The water level measurement may report continuous levels or may be limited to specific thresholds (e.g. to warn of being almost full or nearly empty, full, and empty). This may be done using a magnetic float and sensors. Other approaches may be used to accomplish the same task.
In certain embodiments, the ECU contains two actuators as shown in
One servo controls the Locking Mechanism described in the next section, while the other controls a shutter that directs the flow of air through the ECU. Both actuators are controlled by the Control Board. In addition to its normal activity, the shutter servo may be quickly activated if the ECU detects that the chamber is about to tip over so as to prevent water spillage from the water tank. There may be other servos for other actions such as controlling a lid opening and closing, etc.
In some applications it may be required to prevent unauthorized opening of the payload chamber. In the mason jar example, the ECU, as seen in
The locking mechanism may prevent the removal of the payload but may or may not preserve the controlled environment within the payload chamber. It may be used as a child safety lock to prevent children from gaining access to the payload (i.e. cannabis, painted product, food, etc.). The locking mechanism may be locked or unlocked locally and/or remotely from the Cloud or a user application found on an electronic device that may be either wired to or wirelessly connected to the ECU. To unlock the locking mechanism in some applications, it may need remote command(s) as well as a local command(s) to unlock.
The electronic device application may allow the user/owner to send an electronic “key” to authorized people to be able to unlock and lock the unit. Authorized people may in turn use their electronic device, such as a smart phone, computer, etc. to unlock the device (i.e. jar) to gain access to the payload or to lock the payload within the environment. It may also be locked and/or unlocked based on a date and/or time in the future.
The locking mechanism may fit fully inside the mason jar and may be found at a level below or above the neck of the jar. Different types of locking mechanisms may be used that do not fit fully inside the mason jar or other housing configurations, or may actually reside on the outside of the Controlled Environment System. The locking mechanism example of
As can be seen in
Other implementations of the locking mechanism are possible and would be apparent to those skilled in the art. If the Safety Lock Assembly is tampered with, the ECU may generate an alarm or notification to indicate that the lock has been tampered with. This may be in addition to alarms and notifications indicating that the controlled environment system is being tampered with.
Mounted at the bottom of the exemplary implementation is an air grating or guard,
In some applications there may be a removeable filter inserted between the guard and the ECU to protect the electronics from finer grain particles.
The guard may be made from any material that meets the requirements of the application. The top of the guard, shown in
The grating design used in the guard may be slanted, concave, vertical, or any other configuration desired. Many different designs are possible and would be obvious to those skilled in the art.
The ECU, and also Cloud, are capable of generating (e.g. LED flashing, screen indicator, alerts to remote devices, etc.) alarms and alerts based on detected conditions as well as predictions of future conditions. The alarm and alert mechanisms will inform the user about various scenarios including but not limited to the following examples:
Some of these alarms may be dependent on a motion sensor, such as a gravitational sensor, a MEMS sensor, an accelerometer, or a combination of these or similar type sensors.
A chemical sensor may also be implemented to determine the presence of and/or amount of mold in the environment or the number of bacteria in the environment. An alarm may be dependent on this sensor as well as other sensors.
There may be an odor sensor (detector) on the outside of the Controlled Environment System. This may detect an odor that exceeds a predetermined threshold. If this occurs, an alarm may be generated for the user.
There may also be an odor sensor (detector) on the inside of the Controlled Environment System. This may detect an odor that exceeds a predetermined threshold. If this occurs an alarm may be generated for the user.
There may be a light sensor that measures the duration and/or intensity level of light that the payload is subject too.
At least one camera may be coupled to the Controlled Environment System. The camera may be remotely accessible for control and data download. Pictures or video may be taken of the inside of the payload chamber as well as the outside of the payload chamber. The video and pictures taken may be continually taken or may be performed when the user requests as well as when an alarm is generated or at a predetermined time period. This data may be fed into a database for analysis or may be routed to a user or a set of application users.
Spectral/chemical analysis of the payload and/or payload chamber environment may be performed. Spectroscopy is a powerful technique for recognizing and characterizing physical materials in various phases, including but not limited to, solid, liquid, gas, or plasma, and may be light emitting or light absorbing. Such analysis may be performed using Texas Instruments (TI) DLP Near-Infrared (NIR) technology. Near-Infrared (NIR) products may be optimized for 700 nm to 2500 nm wavelengths and may deliver high SNR. Spectral/chemical analysis may then enable the ECU to determine tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)/cannabichromene (CBC) levels within cannabis flowers and determine how best to control the environment to obtain the desired results.
In certain embodiments, the ECU may operate in many different modes, depending on the requirements of each particular implementation. Three of the possible modes may be Idle mode, Economy mode, and Turbo mode. Sub-modes of Economy and Turbo modes may be Humidify and Dehumidify.
In Idle mode, housekeeping functions may be performed by the ECU but the environment of the payload chamber may not be actively treated. In Economy mode, the environment of the payload chamber may be controlled but at a slower rate so as to conserve power. In Turbo mode, the environment of the payload chamber may be controlled in a manner so that the programmed environmental conditions may be attained more quickly.
In certain embodiments, in order for the ECU to be effective and efficient, as well as to have a low acoustic signature, the air flow through the ECU should be orderly, unidirectional and free of turbulence. Airflow through the condenser and the warmer fins should be laminar, experiencing few changes in direction and speed. Backflow, where airflows of differing speeds or differing temperatures may be unintentionally mixed, should be avoided. As can be seen in
At the bottom of the condenser, the air may be smoothly redirected into the warmer where the air may be directed up through the warmer heat exchanger. The top of the warmer then smoothly redirects the air down and back into the payload chamber. In the case of humidification (with the shutter in the humidification position), air may be directed into the water tank, below the water tank cover, instead of into the warmer. It then travels through the water tank and exits below the warmer where it may be directed back to the payload chamber.
Preventing the mixing of air entering the ECU with air exiting the ECU is at least partially due to the physical relationship of the air inlet and air outlet on opposite sides of the ECU. As seen in
In certain embodiments, the ECU contains a shutter (seen in
Table 1 below shows the settings for each of the ECU modes:
Establishing laminar airflow begins with the use of a transversally mounted fan located at the bottom of the Inlet Duct,
Another relevant factor is that the acoustic signature of a fan increases dis-proportionally with the rotational rate of the propeller. To reduce the acoustic signature of the fan, the rotational rate of the propeller within the fan, may be substantially reduced. To maintain the fan's airflow, the angle-of-attack of the propeller blade's airfoil is normally increased. But as angle-of-attack increases, the airfoil becomes inefficient. A low noise design maintains airflow, airfoil efficiency, and utilizes low rates of propeller rotation.
As the fan's thickness may not be constraining, maintaining airflow and airfoil efficiency may be accomplished by substituting increasing the airfoil's angle-of-attack with increasing the airfoil's chord-length.
The fan is controlled by the control board firmware and may be run at one speed, different speeds, or as a variable speed fan. The ECU Control Algorithm determines the velocity of airflow required through the ECU based on several factors, such as mode (Economy or Turbo), whether humidity needs to be added to or removed from the payload chamber, the amount of humidity to be added or removed, whether the temperature needs to be changed, whether air is being circulated just for monitoring, and to minimize the DC power consumption.
The rotational rate of the propeller within the fan, is set to produce only as much air flow as necessary to accomplish the required tasks. Determining the optimal amount of air flow may be accomplished by measuring the temperature differential between the condenser temperature and the warmer temperature. The measurements are provided to the control board which may be running a feed-back control loop that optimally sets the rotational rate of the fan by adjusting its supply voltage.
Not all scenarios require the use of payload chamber temperature control. In the case of needing to modify temperature, the heat pump may be used to increase or decrease temperature. The temperature between the ambient air and the condenser fins can be kept above the dew point to cool the air without decreasing humidity. In the same manner, the control of the heat pump may be reversed so as to warm the air on the condenser side instead of cooling it. In addition to the previously mentioned approach, additional heat pumps may be added to regulate temperature.
If the environment is at the desired state, no adjustments necessary, then the unit may enter the Idle state. The Idle state may be when the water tank is sealed and the heat pump is off. This will cause the environment's humidity level to stay relatively the same unless conditions change, such as outside influencers of the environment or the payload absorbed or released moisture.
If an event that may impact functionality occurs, then the unit may enter the Idle state; for example, if the unit tips over, the unit is tampered with, the tank is about to overflow or run dry, etc.
The Controlled Environment System's main tasks are to monitor as well as control the level of the humidity within the payload chamber. The tasks are performed as efficiently as possible to meet the conditions set by the user. The user may select to operate in one of at least two different modes: Turbo and Economy.
The water tank, as shown in previous figures (e.g.
However, conventional humidity control systems implement a coarse methodology to change humidity levels by boiling all liquid contained in a reservoir to make any change in humidity level (large or small). These systems fail to modify the amount of liquid boiled based on the desired change in humidity, thus are inefficient and wasteful.
Water in an enclosed chamber (whether it be the water tank when the shutter is closed or the payload chamber when the shutter is in the humidification position) tends to evaporate and saturate its environment. The process of evaporation in a substantially closed container will proceed until there are as many molecules returning to the liquid as there are escaping. At this point the vapor is said to be saturated, and the pressure of that vapor (usually expressed in mmHg) is called the saturated vapor pressure. Since the molecular kinetic energy is greater at higher temperature, more molecules can escape the surface and the saturated vapor pressure is correspondingly higher. If the liquid is open to the air, then the vapor pressure is seen as a partial pressure along with the other constituents of the air. The temperature at which the vapor pressure is equal to the atmospheric pressure is called the boiling point.
The water tank, shown in
In certain embodiments, the controlled environment system may use various liquids for humidity control, such as water or another aqueous solution. The water tank therefore can hold any aqueous solution that may be used for the particular application.
The maze area within the water tank in certain embodiments is meant to maximize the water surface area that air is blown over before exiting the tank and returning to the payload chamber. By maximizing the surface area the air is exposed to, the amount of moisture the air can collect and take back into the payload chamber is increased. To increase the humidity levels in the environment, airflow and no airflow can both raise humidity. When in Economy mode, the fan may be off or may cycle on or off for short time periods to attain the setpoint humidity. The duration between ‘on’ time periods may be based on the payload chamber temperature and humidity and the amount of time it takes for evaporation to occur in the water tank. In Turbo mode, the fan may run continuously, in bursts, at low speed, high speed or in between.
The control algorithm determines how to use the fan and how to use the shutter door based on the environmental conditions. If the humidity level within the environment is too low, then humidity may be added by moving the shutter into the humidification position (
If the humidity level within the environment is too high, then humidity needs to be removed. This is accomplished by removing liquid vapor from the air by using the process of condensation. This is accomplished by moving the water tank shutter to the dehumidification (see
The condenser,
Water vapor in the atmosphere will condense from gas to liquid when the temperature of the atmosphere cools to the dew point temperature. Condensation and the onset of advection fog occurs in a distributed case when the temperature of the whole atmosphere lowers to the dew point temperature due to uniform cooling by a large heat exchanger. Condensation also occurs in a local case when the temperature of a portion of the atmosphere reaches the dew point temperature due to local cooling by a small heat exchanger. The temperature differential at which water vapor condenses from the atmosphere is dependent upon the existing conditions. In certain useful combinations of temperature and humidity, the temperature differential is small.
The temperature of the atmosphere increases or decreases when heat energy is transferred between the gaseous atmosphere and the solid heat-exchanger. Energy transfer is described by transfer direction and transfer rate. Cooling the atmosphere, necessitates establishing the direction of flow of energy from the atmosphere to the heat exchanger. The rate of cooling can be optionally established with temperature differential or established with contact surface area. The condenser hardware design manages the temperature of the atmosphere while maintaining a small temperature differential by use of a high contact surface-area heat exchanger.
Managing the location of condensation avoids undesirable effects including, but not limited to, damaging sensitive electronic components, pools of liquid where bacteria flourishes, obscuration of transparent surfaces, and the loss of the liquid water which could be reused to add humidity to the atmosphere. As shown in
The size of the drip funnel opening into the water tank may be small enough to minimize moisture escaping from the tank. The opening may be large enough so as to not trap water droplets in the opening due to water surface tension.
An effective condenser design ensures that the temperature differential between the gaseous atmosphere and the solid heat exchanger is precisely held small (at or just below the dew point), allowing the removal of humidity from the atmosphere. Energy expended on condensing too much gaseous water and freezing liquid water to solid ice is an extraneous task and unnecessarily consumes energy. An efficient design ensures that the temperature differential between the gaseous atmosphere and the solid heat exchanger may be precisely controlled and kept small, allowing for condensation but not freezing of the water vapor.
Peltier heat pumps have a coefficient of performance trend. The trend is that heat pumping ability is significantly better with low control voltages than with high control voltages. This trend can be loosely summarized as stating that Peltiers have better low-end torque. Control methods where a Peltier heat pump is subjected to voltage modulation between high voltage and no voltage may be inconsistent with optimal performance. A power efficient design ensures that Peltier based heat pumps are controlled with stable and low control voltages.
In certain embodiments, since the controlled environment system according to aspects of the present invention is a substantially enclosed design, energy that is consumed is distributed into the payload chamber. The payload chamber, depending on the material, may or may not absorb or dispel energy from/to the external environment. Since Peltier heat pumps function more efficiently when delta T, the temperature differential, between the cold side and hot side of the heat pump, is kept minimized. After the air passes through the condenser for dehumidification, it passes to the warmer. The relationship of the elements, condenser and warmer, are in-line with each other where the warmer follows the condenser. The condenser removes humidity from the air stream while the warmer increases the temperature of the air stream. This relationship causes the returned airflow to have a lower relative humidity than just with the condenser alone, resulting in improved dehumidification of the payload.
The warmer may be a heat exchanger based on the hot side of the Peltier. The cooler air coming from the condenser passes through the warmer in a laminar flow and absorbs heat from the heat exchanger. By passing the same air that was cooled to the warmer, the delta T is kept at a minimum and the heat pump can operate at a better coefficient of performance possible for the given conditions. Other factors that impact the delta T include the fan speed and desired rate of condensation.
A control algorithm is presented for a closed-cycle humidity controller (CCHC), such as the ECU, that may, in certain embodiments, ensure effective and efficient humidification and dehumidification of a substantially enclosed area while minimizing the growth of microorganisms. When developing humidity controller designs for low microorganism applications, three goals may be identified.
The first goal is that the design should be effective at adding water vapor to the atmosphere for humidification and removing water vapor from the atmosphere for dehumidification in a sanitary fashion.
The second goal is that the design should be efficient. The desire is for the design to consume only as much energy as may be necessary to complete the task while requiring minimal user maintenance.
The third goal is that the design should be simple. A simple closed-cycle regenerative design minimizes rates of failure and eases maintenance. The algorithm enables the use of low-cost sensors with methods of calibration and the use of low-cost fans with methods of failure detection.
The Closed-Cycle Humidity Controller Control algorithm determines the amount of gaseous water to add or remove from the atmosphere to maintain a set relative humidity level. The addition of gaseous water may be by causing a state change of liquid water to gas by evaporation (or other approach) within the humidifier sub-assembly. The removal of gaseous water may be by causing a state change from gaseous water to liquid by condensing with the condenser subassembly.
The Closed-Cycle Humidifier and Dehumidifier (Humidification and Dehumidification subassemblies), CCHD, when combined with the control software comprises a Closed-Cycle Humidity Controller (CCHC), or more generally, an exemplary implementation (ECU). The Microprocessor queries the humidity of the payload chamber from the ambient humidity sensor located in the inlet duct. Using a closed-loop control algorithm implemented in the Control Software, the humidity of the payload chamber may be driven to the set-point by controlling the amount of liquid water converted to gaseous water for increasing the humidity and the amount of gaseous water converted to liquid water for decreasing the humidity.
In certain embodiments, the Control Software operates in at least two modes, the Control Mode and the Calibration mode.
In Control Mode, the Control Software addresses the three goals for producing a closed-cycle humidity controller with low microorganism design. These goals are efficacy, efficiency, and simplicity. During implementation, the design recognizes two key relevant factors.
First key relevant factor for effective and efficient closed-cycle humidity controllers (CCHC) for low microorganism applications is that the amount of liquid water needed to control the humidity for a given volume of atmosphere is very small; for example, with 816.3 liters of air at 15 C, increasing the relative humidity from 85% to 95%, requires evaporating approximately 1 gram (1 mL) of water. Decreasing the relative humidity by the same percentage requires condensing the same 1 gram of water from the payload chamber. An effective and efficient design ensures that energy is conserved by evaporating or condensing the optimal amount of liquid water.
The second key relevant factor for effective and efficient closed-cycle humidity controllers (CCHC) for low microorganism applications is that microorganisms can be spread throughout the payload area during the humidification process. Microorganisms can be disinfected with the application of ultra-violet light with a wavelength of approximately 265 nm to 285 nm.
Managing the payload chamber's humidity is by use of a feedback control loop. The process variable is the measured humidity at the air inlet. The process set-point is the user-selected humidity which may be dependent upon the item being stored. The process controller-output is either the supply voltage to the fan when the task is to increase the humidity or the supply voltage to the heat pump when the task is to decrease the relative humidity.
While driving the process variable to the process set point, the process control output may engage the humidifier and dehumidifier. The humidifier converts liquid water to gaseous water with evaporation while illuminating the liquid and gaseous water with ultra-violet light to kill any organisms. The dehumidifier converts gaseous water to liquid water by locally cooling the atmosphere low enough to cause condensation. When the control loop has converged, the three goals for low microorganism designs; efficacy, efficiency, and simplicity; have been accomplished.
Flowcharts for the control algorithm are shown in
4.1.1.3 Heat Pump—Control Algorithm
In certain embodiments, precisely managing the temperature/humidity of the payload chamber and differential temperature may be accomplished by the use of a Proportional, Integral, and Derivative (PID) control loop, shown in
Managing the payload chamber relative humidity may be by use of a feedback control loop. The process variable is the measured ambient humidity of the payload chamber. The process set point is a relative humidity which may be selected depending upon the payload item. The process controller output may either be the supply voltage to the heat pump when the task is to decrease the relative humidity or may be the supply voltage to the fan when the task is to increase the relative humidity. When the control loop has converged, the three goals for low microorganism designs, efficacy, efficiency, and simplicity may have been accomplished.
Table 12 cross-references parameters used in the flow diagrams and the simplified diagram of the control loop, shown in
In Calibration Mode, algorithms are exercised to measure temperature characteristics of various elements. With the measurements, calibration tables are produced which improve the accuracy of the elements which in turn improve the efficacy and efficiency of the design.
In Calibration Mode, the control software configures the hardware elements to a pre-determined state and measures differential imbalances of the temperature sensors.
With the use of calibration and differential measurements during Operational Mode, low cost temperature sensors with their expected variation in temperature reporting accuracy due to production process variation may be used.
Calibration of the dehumidifier sub-assembly is accomplished by calibration of the condenser subassembly. The algorithm for calibration for dehumidification is shown in
The flow chart for humidifier calibration is shown in
The level of water present in the water tank may be an important aspect of evaluating the conditions within the payload chamber. It may also be important to maintaining the functionality of the system; for example, if the water level is getting low, a notification may be sent to the user to indicate that the water tank may need filling soon; if the water level is too high, a notification may also be sent to the user and the ECU may need to cease operations until the water level is reduced so as to avoid spillage into the payload chamber. Other examples are possible for the many different level states within the water tank.
One of the challenges faced by the water tank level-sensing system is how to detect the fill level within a possibly shallow reservoir while minimizing ambiguity caused by closely spaced sensors. Precise detection of the fill level in a shallow reservoir allows reporting actionable status more granular than the “Full Warning” and the “Empty Warning”. With precise detection, fill level Warnings are supplemented with fill level Watches. While warnings indicate that the reservoir is full or empty, the watches indicate that the reservoir is almost full or almost empty. Following nomenclature of the National Weather Service, Warnings indicate “immediate action required” while Watches indicate “possible action required”. Reporting a “no action required” is also available.
The hardware and software designs consist of ten elements. The ten elements may be a shallow reservoir, gauge tube, fill port, vent port, magnetic sensor-top, magnetic sensor-bottom, buoyant vessel, magnetic emitter, microprocessor, and detection software as described in
Six primary elements, Shallow Reservoir 1110, Gauge Tube 1120, Fill Port 1130, Vent Port 1140, Magnetic Sensor—Top 1150, and Magnetic Sensor—Bottom 1160 may be in physical relationship with each other. Two secondary elements, Buoyant Vessel 1210 and Magnetic Emitter 1220 may be in physical relationship with each other as well as with the primary elements. Two additional elements, portions of the microprocessor 2000 and Detection Software 2010 may not be in significant physical relationship with the primary nor secondary elements.
The following sections describe the relationship of the primary elements and secondary elements.
The relationship of the primary elements addresses the goal for producing a precise electronic fill gauge for shallow reservoir applications. During implementation, the design recognizes two key relevant factors. The first key relevant factor influences the relationship of the primary elements, while the second key relevant factor influences the relationship of the secondary elements.
First key relevant factor for precise fill level detection may be that a magnetic emitter enclosed within a buoyant vessel will remain at or near the surface of the liquid if it displaces more weight in liquid than the weight of the magnetic emitter and weight of the buoyant vessel combined. With the magnetic emitter remaining at or near the surface of the liquid, detection of the emitted magnetic field with a magnetic sensor located near the top of the shallow reservoir may indicate that the level of the liquid is near the top of the reservoir. Similarly, detecting the emitted magnetic field with a magnetic sensor located near the bottom of the reservoir may indicate that the level of the liquid is near the bottom of the reservoir.
Magnetic sensors, possibly of the Hall Effect type, require close proximity to the magnetic emitter for consistent detection. In small form-factor applications like with shallow reservoirs, the movement of the magnetic emitter must be constrained along the X-axis and the Y-axis to maintain close proximity between the magnetic emitter and the magnetic sensors, but unconstrained along the Z-axis. With these considerations, the primary elements have the following relationship:
The Gauge Tube 1120 may be located outside of the Shallow Reservoir 1110 oriented vertically where the top of the Gauge Tube 1120 is substantially level with the top of the Shallow Reservoir 1110. The bottom of the Gauge Tube 1120 is substantially level with the bottom of the Shallow Reservoir 1110. The Fill Port 1130 connects the bottoms of the Gauge Tube 1120 and Shallow Reservoir 1110 allowing the free-flowing of liquid between the two elements. The Vent Port 1140 connects the tops of the Gauge Tube 1120 and Shallow Reservoir 1110 allowing the free-flowing of gas between the two elements. The secondary elements Buoyant Vessel 1210 and Magnetic Emitter 1220 are located within the Gauge Tube 1120.
The Magnetic Sensor-Top 1150 may be located near the top of the Gauge Tube 1120 and oriented such that the sensor optimally detects the magnetic fields generated by the Magnetic Emitter 1220. For the DRV5032 Ultra-Low-Power Digital-Switch Hall Effect Sensor produced by Texas Instruments, optimal detection is by orienting the body of the integrated-circuit package substantially horizontal in the X-Y plane. The Magnetic Sensor-Bottom 1160 is located near the bottom of the Gauge Tube 1120 and similarly oriented for optimal detection of the magnetic field.
All primary elements may be constructed of non-ferrous materials like plastic, glass, wood, certain metals, etc.
In an alternate embodiment, the gauge tube is located within the reservoir, but still constrains the movement of the magnetic emitter along the X-axis and the Y-axis but does not constrain movement along the Z-axis.
The relationship of the secondary elements addresses the goal for producing a precise electronic fill gauge for shallow reservoir applications. The second key relevant factor influences the relationship of the secondary elements.
Second key relevant factor for precise fill level detection may be that emitted magnetic fields have polarities. The magnetic flux exits the emitter from the North Pole and re-enters the emitter in the South Pole. Certain magnetic sensors separately detect the Northern polarity from the Southern polarity. For the DRV5032 Ultra-Low-Power Digital-Switch Hall Effect Sensor produced by Texas Instruments, versions DU and FD when in the X2SON 4-pin package, separately indicate detection of Northern magnetic poles from Southern magnetic poles. The DU and FD version are referred to as having Unipolar Magnetic Response while the FA, FB, FC, AJ, and ZE versions are referred to as having Omnipolar Magnetic Response. Sensors with Omnipolar Magnetic Response cannot differentiate between Northern and Southern magnetic poles. With these considerations, the primary elements have the following relationship;
The Magnetic Emitter 1220 may be located within the Buoyant Vessel 1210 and adhered to the Buoyant Vessel 1210 such that the combined center of gravity is substantially apart from the combined center of pressure. The emitter is adhered to the vessel such that the North Pole rigidly points towards the center of pressure while the South Pole rigidly points away from the center of pressure. With this relationship, when the combined emitter and vessel are floating at or near the surface of the liquid, the center of gravity will be lower than the center of pressure. This results in the orientation of the emitter being consistent and that the North Pole is facing up while the South Pole is facing down.
In an alternate embodiment, the emitter could be adhered to the vessel such that the North Pole rigidly points away from the center of pressure while the South Pole rigidly points towards the center of pressure. In an alternate embodiment, the emitter could be adhered to the outer surface of the vessel. Either of these alternate embodiments still results in a consistent magnetic pole facing up when the vessel is floating in the liquid.
In
In
The detection software is responsible for receiving the status from the magnetic sensors and reporting actionable status to higher processes.
Table 18 relates status received from the magnetic sensors to actionable status for reporting to higher processes.
Conditions within the payload chamber are not necessarily set as a single target goal. The user may enter a profile that dictates certain conditions for a certain amount of time after which a second set of conditions and duration are followed. This process may be repeated to allow for multiple sets of conditions and durations.
Another method which may be implemented with the assistance of a Cloud connection is the detection of the current state of the payload. As the payload progresses from one state to another (e.g., ripening to curing to drying to preservation), the environmental conditions may be modified to promote the process occurring in that state. This device may also be connected to a database that contains setup information, history of performance, data from other units as well as the ability for importing of the data or exporting the data to a database.
Users may set humidity and/or temperature (if controlled) targets for payload. They may also set a target over time or a cycle for harvest drying, curing and long-term storage. The user may be able to set and control a complex schedule of set points over a time period (create a control mask (envelope) of inputs over time) to allow the payload to rejuvenate old and/or over-dried cannabis by adding moisture, as one example. Another example is that this system may take cannabis flowers through all stages of preparation for use: drying, curing and long-term storage, etc. There may be other types of payloads that have multistage environment requirements in order to generate a finished product such as curing for 10 days, drying for 2 days, etc. of a painted product, for example.
This interface system may allow for programming a set of multi-time period (e.g. hours, days, weeks, months, etc.) environmental conditions (e.g. temperature, humidity, light illumination, solar radiation, vibration, shock, etc.) for automated and/or semi-automated operation. For example, this may allow the user to program multi-month environmental conditions for a payload.
The user may also be able to remotely monitor the payload as well as the environmental conditions. The user may get status updates, alarms, or other user selectable information and may obtain them in many selectable formats (raw data, tabular, graphical, etc.).
The user may program the controlled environment system remotely as well as locally. Locally may be performed by using the LCD and/or the buttons. This may also be completed by connecting an electronic device to the unit either through a wired interface or through a wireless interface. Wireless control or monitoring may be accomplished by use of the Cloud. It may also be accomplished by using an application or by using a combination of these (cloud and application).
The control of this device may include informing the user that the battery is about to be depleted, or inform the user how much battery life is left, for example, in number of hours left, percentage left, etc.
The unit, Cloud, or a combination of both, may contain algorithms that can predict exactly, or with some margin of error, adverse conditions and/or when the payload will reach the optimum (or set point) of target environment, such as, humidity/moisture, temperature setting, etc. The unit and/or Cloud may perform this either alone, in conjunction with a Cloud application component, or the algorithms may be completely contained in the Cloud. In addition to adverse conditions, crowd-sourced or device-sourced data collected by the Cloud may be analyzed and used to perform payload model statistical updates to hone the prediction accuracy of how long, for example, it may take for a user's payload to finish curing, drying, etc. Graphs or curves, to be shown to a user, may be generated showing the predicted moisture content over time and how long it will take for the payload to reach the ideal moisture content. Overlaid on or in addition to these graphs, different scenarios may be drawn to show the impact of various settings the user may change to impact when the payload may be ready; for example, engaging or disengaging Turbo mode, increasing humidity in an earlier part of the cycle and decreasing it in a later part of the cycle. Prediction models may enable the user to make intelligent choices with respect to battery life and when the payload may be ready. For instance, it may be desired by the user to have the payload ready to use for an important social event or party.
An application may be used with an electronic device, belonging to the user, that is coupled to the unit. The electronic device may be a laptop, mobile phone, or any other computer-type device. This application can recommend settings to a user based on the type of payload that is being stored in the environment. For example, if cannabis were being stored, the application may recommend a temperature setting and/or a humidity setting, as well as other settings for best storage results. The application may then even program the unit with these settings. The user may also take these recommendations and enter them into the unit using the LCD, the buttons, or a combination of these to program the setpoint for storing the payload.
The user, while using the application, may also receive various advertisements. The advertisements may be general in nature or they may have some commonality with the unit itself or the payload. For example, if the user is storing cannabis, they may receive an ad to buy cannabis, or they may receive a coupon to buy cannabis at a discount. The application may generate revenue based on these advertisements.
The Cloud may feature additional resources including education; such as, cannabis education, storage of food education, curing of products education, identification of stains, recipes, etc. The information may be provided to the application via a Cloud server which gathers crowd-sourced recipes, temperature/humidity profiles, and other payload specific information.
The application, as well as the ECU, may gather statistics and meta data as well as other types of data that are then provided to a Cloud server which may perform statistical analysis and data mining on how all the different controlled environment systems are performing and what they are storing. This information can be used to improve the product and/or provide general market insights; for example, how people are using the controlled environment system and what are their results, how people are using cannabis, how people are curing painted products, what kind of cheese people are serving at a party, etc. and then used to improve the user experience.
For example, data may be collected from the payload chamber so that statistical analysis may be performed. This analysis may be used to enhance the storage process or assist later in a future process by the user or anyone that has access to this analysis.
Certain figures in this specification are flow charts illustrating methods and systems. It will be understood that each block of these flow charts, and combinations of blocks in these flow charts, may be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions that execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus create structures for implementing the functions specified in the flow chart block or blocks. These computer program instructions may also be stored in computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction structures that implement the function specified in the flow chart block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that the instructions that execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flow chart block or blocks.
Accordingly, blocks of the flow charts support combinations of structures for performing the specified functions and combinations of steps for performing the specified functions. It will also be understood that each block of the flow charts, and combinations of blocks in the flow charts, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based computer systems that perform the specified functions or steps, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
For example, any number of computer programming languages, such as C, C++, C #(CSharp), Perl, Ada, Python, Pascal, SmallTalk, FORTRAN, assembly language, and the like, may be used to implement aspects of the present invention. Further, various programming approaches such as procedural, object-oriented or artificial intelligence techniques may be employed, depending on the requirements of each particular implementation. Compiler programs and/or virtual machine programs executed by computer systems generally translate higher level programming languages to generate sets of machine instructions that may be executed by one or more processors to perform a programmed function or set of functions.
In the foregoing descriptions, certain embodiments are described in terms of particular data structures, preferred and optional enforcements, preferred control flows, and examples. Other and further application of the described methods, as would be understood after review of this application by those with ordinary skill in the art, are within the scope of the invention.
The term “machine-readable medium” should be understood to include any structure that participates in providing data that may be read by an element of a computer system. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical or magnetic disks and other persistent memory such as devices based on flash memory (such as solid-state drives, or SSDs). Volatile media include dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and/or static random access memory (SRAM). Transmission media include cables, wires, and fibers, including the wires that comprise a system bus coupled to a processor. Common forms of machine-readable media include, for example and without limitation, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, a hard disk, a solid-state drive, a magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, a DVD, or any other optical medium.
The data structures and code described in this detailed description are typically stored on a computer readable storage medium, which may be any device or medium that can store code and/or data for use by a computer system. This includes, but is not limited to, magnetic and optical storage devices such as disk drives, magnetic tape, CDs (compact discs) and DVDs (digital versatile discs or digital video discs), and computer instruction signals embodied in a transmission medium (with or without a carrier wave upon which the signals are modulated). For example, the transmission medium may include a communications network, such as the Internet.
In certain embodiments, a client 4220 may connect to network 4210 via wired and/or wireless connections, and thereby communicate or become coupled with server 4200, either directly or indirectly. Alternatively, client 4220 may be associated with server 4200 through any suitable tangible computer-readable media or data storage device (such as a disk drive, CD-ROM, DVD, or the like), data stream, file, or communication channel.
Network 4210 may include, without limitation, one or more networks of any type, including a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), a telephone network (e.g., a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and/or a wireless network), a local area network (LAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network, a private network, the Internet, an intranet, a cellular network, and/or another type of suitable network, depending on the requirements of each particular implementation.
One or more components of networked environment 4230 may perform one or more of the tasks described as being performed by one or more other components of networked environment 4230.
Processor 4350 may include, without limitation, any type of conventional processor, microprocessor, or processing logic that interprets and executes instructions. Main memory 4310 may include, without limitation, a random-access memory (RAM) or another type of dynamic storage device that stores information and instructions for execution by processor 4350. ROM 4320 may include, without limitation, a conventional ROM device or another type of static storage device that stores static information and instructions for use by processor 4350. Storage device 4330 may include, without limitation, a magnetic and/or optical recording medium and its corresponding drive.
Input device(s) 4380 may include, without limitation, one or more conventional mechanisms that permit a user to input information to computing device 4300, such as a keyboard, a mouse, a pen, a stylus, handwriting recognition, voice recognition, biometric mechanisms, touch screen, and the like. Output device(s) 4370 may include, without limitation, one or more conventional mechanisms that output information to the user, including a display, a projector, an A/V receiver, a printer, a speaker, and the like. Communication interface 4360 may include, without limitation, any transceiver-like mechanism that enables computing device 4300 to communicate with other devices and/or systems. For example, communication interface 4360 may include, without limitation, mechanisms for communicating with another device or system via a network, such as network 4310 shown in
As described in detail herein, computing device 4300 may perform operations based on software instructions that may be read into memory 4310 from another computer-readable medium, such as data storage device 4330, or from another device via communication interface 4360. The software instructions contained in memory 4310 cause processor 4350 to perform processes that are described elsewhere. Alternatively, hardwired circuitry may be used in place of, or in combination with, software instructions to implement processes consistent with the present invention. Thus, various implementations are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.
Details regarding the foregoing components, which may be implemented in a single computing device or distributed among multiple computing devices, are described throughout this document.
Those skilled in the art will realize that embodiments of the present invention may use any suitable data communication network, including, without limitation, direct point-to-point data communication systems, dial-up networks, personal or corporate intranets, proprietary networks, or combinations of any of these with or without connections to the Internet.
While the above description contains many specifics and certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative of and not restrictive on the broad invention, and that this invention not be limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, since various other modifications may occur to those ordinarily skilled in the art, as mentioned above. The invention includes any combination or sub-combination of the elements from the different species and/or embodiments disclosed herein.
This application claims the benefit of Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/824,810 filed on 27 Mar. 2019, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes.
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