RS-485 is just another serial comms interface , like the RS-232. Normal serial ports in computers and devices are RS-232. The main difference between the RS-232 and RS-485 are...
RS-232 topology is a point to point protocol with a max distance of about 15m at 9600bps
whereas the RS-485 is a multi-point topology - You can connect several receivers and transmitters, usually up to 32 devices in a segment and can cover 1200m distance. Also RS-485 with 2 contacts operated in half duplex, with 4 contacts operate in full duplex.
Usually these sensors are Modbus compatible, a very old protocol used in the PLC devices, originally developed by Modicon.
Your sensor hardware manufacturer will possibly provide the comms software to read the data.