Ice machine with remote monitoring
First Claim
1. A system for monitoring the status and/or ice production of an ice making device that comprises a hot gas valve and an ice storage bin, said system comprising:
- a microprocessor based controller for determining said status and/or ice production of said ice making device, thereby producing detected status and/or ice production data;
optionally, a data storage device for storing said status and/or data; and
a transmitter for communicating said status and/or data.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A commercial ice making machine having an electronic monitoring device which captures the operating status and production history of the ice machine. The ice production history of the machine is communicated via telephony and/or the Internet on a regular recurring basis to a remote computer. The production history is used to generate invoices to the user of the ice machine, so that the user is charged based on his or her actual ice consumption. Failure of the ice machine is detected by the monitoring device and communicated immediately to a service company so that the ice machine can be repaired before the end user realizes the machine has failed.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A system for monitoring the status and/or ice production of an ice making device that comprises a hot gas valve and an ice storage bin, said system comprising:
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a microprocessor based controller for determining said status and/or ice production of said ice making device, thereby producing detected status and/or ice production data; optionally, a data storage device for storing said status and/or data; and a transmitter for communicating said status and/or data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10)
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5. The system according to claim 5, wherein said ice production data comprises at least an identification of said ice making device and at least one additional parameter selected from the group consisting of:
- freeze/harvest cycle time and cycle count.
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11. A system for monitoring the status and/or ice production of an ice making device, said system comprising:
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a microprocessor based controller for determining said status and/or ice production of said ice making device, thereby producing detected status and/or ice production data; and a transmitter for communicating detected status and/or ice production data. - View Dependent Claims (8, 12)
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13. A method for monitoring the status and/or ice production of an ice making device, said method comprising:
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determining said status and/or ice production of said ice making device, thereby producing detected status and/or ice production data; and communicating said status and/or ice production data, wherein said determining step comprises; determining the freeze and/or harvest times for said ice making device to freeze and/or harvest ice during an ice making freeze/harvest cycle and/or the number of the freeze/harvest cycles; and generating said status and/or ice production data.
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14. The method according to claim 14 further comprising communicating the said status and/or ice production data from said microprocessor to a service provider.
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15. The method according to claim 15, wherein said service provider is at least one provider selected from the group consisting of:
- ice making device repair provider and ice supplier.
- View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22)
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20. The method according to claim 20, wherein said ice making device fault alert is at least one selected from the group consisting of:
- when the freeze cycle time exceeds a predetermined maximum freeze cycle time limit, when the freeze cycle time is less than a predetermined minimum freeze cycle time limit, when the harvest cycle time exceeds a predetermined maximum harvest cycle time limit, and when the harvest cycle time is less than a predetermined minimum harvest cycle time limit.
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23. A method for monitoring the status and/or ice production of an ice making device, said method comprising:
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determining said status and/or ice production of said ice making device, thereby producing detected status and/or ice production data; and communicating said status and/or ice production data.
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24. The method according to claim 24, further comprising generating an invoice or having an invoice generated based upon said status and/or ice production data from said microprocessor and wherein said invoice comprises at least one charge selected from the group consisting of:
- ice making device repair service charge, bagged ice charges and ice production charge.
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25. A method for monitoring an ice making device, said method comprising:
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determining the freeze and/or harvest times for said ice making device to freeze and/or harvest ice during an ice making freeze/harvest cycle and/or the number of the freeze/harvest cycles; and generating said status and/or ice production data.
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26. An electronic device which is capable of monitoring an ice making machine comprising:
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a microprocessor for determining the freeze and/or harvest times for said ice making device to freeze and/or harvest ice during an ice making freeze/harvest cycle and/or the number of the freeze/harvest cycles; and a data storage device which is capable of producing said status and/or ice production data.
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Specification