System and method for monitoring manufactured pre-prepared meals
First Claim
1. A method for monitoring assembled pre-prepared meals which are arranged on a shelf such that the shelf supports both a meal to be heated and a meal or beverage not to be heated on said shelf, said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) automatically storing meal-specific data on a data carrier which is coupled to the shelf;
(b) automatically reading out said data from said data carrier at at least one reading station; and
(c) heating the meal to be heated by controlling a device for heating the meal to be heated using said data stored on said data carrier and read out in a contactless manner, wherein said data carrier is configured for storage of data and for reading out of data at the at least one reading station, as well as the writing of data to the data carrier when the shelf is in a transport mode, said data comprising data on heating conditions and the respective position of the meal to be heated and of the meal or beverage not to be heated that are supported on the shelf, said heating device being controlled such that said heating device carries out heating only locally in a selective manner at a location of said shelf at which the meal to be heated is located and does not carry out heating at a location of said shelf at which the meal not to be heated or the beverage not to be heated is located, said meal specific data including data indicative of expiry of a maximum shelf life, said device further being controlled based on said meal specific data such that no heating of a meal can take place in said device after the expiry of the shelf life of the meal, andwherein said method for monitoring further includes;
(i) automatically recording data at the reading station or at a central data processing unit on when the meal has been heated, such to update information by the reading station or at the central data processing unit as to which meals have already been heated, and(ii) preventing any reheating of a previously heated meal, with updated status, while supported on the shelf.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Described are a system and method for monitoring pre-prepared meals which can be assembled as a plurality of portions. Assembled pre-prepared meals can be monitored starting from their assembly up to the ultimate consumption. Pre-prepared meals are arranged on tray-like containers and a data carrier is fastened which contains meal-specific data. These meal-specific data can be read out at at least two reading stations to be able to keep a record of the conditions of manufacture, storage and/or cooling.
29 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method for monitoring assembled pre-prepared meals which are arranged on a shelf such that the shelf supports both a meal to be heated and a meal or beverage not to be heated on said shelf, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) automatically storing meal-specific data on a data carrier which is coupled to the shelf; (b) automatically reading out said data from said data carrier at at least one reading station; and (c) heating the meal to be heated by controlling a device for heating the meal to be heated using said data stored on said data carrier and read out in a contactless manner, wherein said data carrier is configured for storage of data and for reading out of data at the at least one reading station, as well as the writing of data to the data carrier when the shelf is in a transport mode, said data comprising data on heating conditions and the respective position of the meal to be heated and of the meal or beverage not to be heated that are supported on the shelf, said heating device being controlled such that said heating device carries out heating only locally in a selective manner at a location of said shelf at which the meal to be heated is located and does not carry out heating at a location of said shelf at which the meal not to be heated or the beverage not to be heated is located, said meal specific data including data indicative of expiry of a maximum shelf life, said device further being controlled based on said meal specific data such that no heating of a meal can take place in said device after the expiry of the shelf life of the meal, and wherein said method for monitoring further includes; (i) automatically recording data at the reading station or at a central data processing unit on when the meal has been heated, such to update information by the reading station or at the central data processing unit as to which meals have already been heated, and (ii) preventing any reheating of a previously heated meal, with updated status, while supported on the shelf. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for monitoring a pre-prepared meal assembly arranged on a shelf such that the shelf supports both a meal to be heated and a meal or a beverage not to be heated on said shelf, said method including:
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(a) automatically storing meal-specific data on a data carrier which is coupled to the shelf; (b) automatically reading out said data from said data carrier at at least one reading station; and (c) heating the meal to be heated by controlling a device for heating the meal to be heated using said data stored on said data carrier and read out in a contactless manner, said data comprising data relating to heating conditions and the respective positions of the meal to be heated and of the meal or beverage not to be heated on the shelf, said heating device being controlled such that said heating device carries out heating only locally in a selective manner at a location of said shelf at which the meal to be heated is located and does not carry out heating at a location of said shelf at which is located the meal or the beverage not to be heated; and (d) wherein said method further includes heating a plurality of said shelves each supporting a meal to be heated and a meal or beverage not to be heated, and said plurality of said shelves being positioned in a stack within a meal trolley positioned on a mobile means of transportation on which consumers of the pre-prepared meals are located; and wherein, following heating; (i) the data carrier of a respective, heated shelf is automatically adjusted to reflect an “
already heated”
state relative to a heated meal in the stack of container shelves in the meal trolley during transport on the mobile means of transportation;
or(ii) a step of identifying with identification information the meal that went from a to-be-heated to a “
already heated”
state in the stack is carried out during transportation on the mobile means of transportation, and(e) wherein the method further comprising preventing any heating of the already heated meal, while the already heated meal is supported on the shelf, based on an identification that the meal has achieved the “
already heated”
state. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification