TANK SENSOR ARRAY FOR INVENTORY SIGNALING IN A TANK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

摘要

A tank inventory signaling apparatus that has gas cylinder tanks stored on a pad having an array of spots to mark tank placement. Tanks are placed directly over the spots in a grid of rows and columns. Sensors below each spot act as weight or proximity sensors indicating the presence or absence of a tank. The sensors are connected to logic that monitors the state of all sensors. Tank inventory is inferred by changes of state of the sensor grid since it is necessary to change sensor state to remove a tank. Sensor states are reported to a remote server having associated tank management and supply software and route management software. In this manner, local tank usage can be tracked at remote locations for resupply of tanks and delivery of replacement tanks can be optimized.

主权项

1. A tank inventory signaling system comprising:
a planar pad with visually perceptible spots indicating storage locations for an array of gas cylinder tanks; a sensor associated with each spot, the sensor having a first logic state indicating tank presence and a second logic state indicating tank absence, the changes in logic state associated with tank placement and removal from a spot; a networked local server in communication with the sensors for receiving the logic states of the sensors and changes in logic states associated with tank placement and removal from the spots; and a remote server in communication with the local server having tank cylinder management software whereby tank placement and removal from the spots is monitored by the status of the logic states.