Meal lifecycle management system

• US 10,267,671 B2
• Filed: 10/13/2017
• Issued: 04/23/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/17/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bradley Charles Ashmore
• Original Assignee: Bradley Charles Ashmore
• Inventors: Ashmore, Bradley Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): Breene, John E
• Assistant Examiner(s): Morgan, Jeffrey C
• Application Number:
  US15/783,189
• Publication Number:
  US 20180106663A1
• Time in Patent Office: 557 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 19/4146 for controlling caloric intake, e.g. diet control
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 19/415 combined with recording means
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 19/42 for counting by weighing G01G19/387 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 21/22 Weigh pans or other weighing receptacles; Weighing platforms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/0092 Nutrition
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/60 relating to nutrition control, e.g. diets
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems

Abstract

A pressure-sensitive device and a computing device are configured to register various steps of a meal lifecycle, including one or more of food purchasing, meal preparation, the serving and consumption of a meal, use of leftovers, management of food inventory, the transferring of a food item from one container to another, the transferring of a food item into a container, the transferring of a portion of a food item into a container. A food item may be automatically identified based on a weight and footprint of the food item. In some instances, a database associates a food item with multiple footprints such that a food item may be identified regardless of its orientation on the pressure-sensitive device.

Claims

1. A non-transitory machine-readable medium for a food preparation system comprising a pressure sensitive device, a controller and a first datastore, the non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor of the controller, cause the processor to:

determine a weight and a first footprint of a food item based on first measurements from the pressure sensitive device;

determine an identity of the food item based on the weight and the first footprint of the food item;

determine, based on second measurements from the pressure sensitive device, the first footprint being replaced with a second footprint having a footprint outline different from that of the first footprint, and the weight of the food item being unchanged;

determine a change in at least one of an orientation or a structure of the food item based on the determination of the first footprint being replaced with the second footprint having the footprint outline different from that of the first footprint, and the weight of the food item being unchanged; and

store in the first datastore an association between the identity of the food item, the first footprint and the second footprint.

2. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the weight and the first footprint of the food item are received by the controller from the pressure sensitive device.

3. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1, wherein a first footprint pressure distribution of the food item is received by the controller from the pressure sensitive device, and the non-transitory machine-readable medium further comprises instructions that cause the processor to compute the weight of the food item by integrating the first footprint pressure distribution over the first footprint.

4. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the identity of the food item is determined by searching a second datastore for a food item identifier that is associated with the weight and the first footprint of the food item.

5. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first footprint corresponds to a right-side-up orientation of the food item, and the second footprint corresponds to an up-side-down orientation of the food item.

6. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 5, wherein determining a change in the orientation of the food item comprises determining the food item has been flipped upside down.

7. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1, wherein determining a change in the structure of the food item comprises determining the food item has been cut into portions.

8. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising instructions that cause the processor to subsequent to determining, based on third measurements from the pressure sensitive device, the second footprint being replaced with a third footprint and the weight of the food item being unchanged, determine another change in at least one of the orientation or the structure of the food item and store in the first datastore an association between the identity of the food item, the first footprint, the second footprint and the third footprint.

9. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the food item is a bottle, a jar, a can, a carton, a vegetable or a piece of fruit.

10. A method for a food preparation system comprising a pressure sensitive device, a controller and a first datastore, the method comprising:

determining by the controller a weight and a first footprint of a food item based on first measurements from the pressure sensitive device;

determining by the controller an identity of the food item based on the weight and the first footprint of the food item;

determining, based on second measurements from the pressure sensitive device, the first footprint being replaced with a second footprint having a footprint outline different from that of the first footprint, and the weight of the food item being unchanged;

determining by the controller a change in at least one of an orientation or a structure of the food item based on the determination of the first footprint being replaced with the second footprint having the footprint outline different from that of the first footprint, and the weight of the food item being unchanged; and

storing in the first datastore an association between the identity of the food item, the first footprint and the second footprint.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising receiving the weight and the first footprint of the food item from the pressure sensitive device.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving a first footprint pressure distribution of the food item from the pressure sensitive device; and

computing the weight of the food item by integrating the first footprint pressure distribution over the first footprint.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the identity of the food item is determined by searching a second datastore for a food item identifier that is associated with the weight and the first footprint of the food item.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the first footprint corresponds to a right-side-up orientation of the food item, and the second footprint corresponds to an up-side-down orientation of the food item.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein determining a change in the orientation of the food item comprises determining the food item has been flipped upside down.

16. A food preparation system comprising a pressure sensitive device, a controller and a first datastore, the controller comprising a processor and memory, the memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

determine a weight and a first footprint of a food item based on first measurements from the pressure sensitive device;

determine an identity of the food item based on the weight and the first footprint of the food item; and

determine, based on second measurements from the pressure sensitive device, the first footprint being replaced with a second footprint having a footprint outline different from that of the first footprint, and the weight of the food item being unchanged;

determine a change in at least one of an orientation or a structure of the food item based on the determination of the first footprint being replaced with the second footprint having the footprint outline different from that of the first footprint, and the weight of the food item being unchanged; and

store in the first datastore an association between the identity of the food item, the first footprint and the second footprint.

17. The food preparation system of claim 16, wherein the memory further stores instructions that cause the processor to receive the weight and the first footprint of the food item from the pressure sensitive device.

18. The food preparation system of claim 16, wherein the memory further stores instructions that cause the processor to:

receive a first footprint pressure distribution of the food item from the pressure sensitive device; and

compute the weight of the food item by integrating the first footprint pressure distribution over the first footprint.

19. The food preparation system of claim 16, wherein the identity of the food item is determined by searching a second datastore for a food item identifier that is associated with the weight and the first footprint of the food item.

20. The food preparation system of claim 16, wherein the first footprint corresponds to a right-side-up orientation of the food item, and the second footprint corresponds to an up-side-down orientation of the food item.