System for Remotely Controlling and Monitoring a Food Refrigerator and its Content

• US 20090282859A1
• Filed: 04/05/2007
• Published: 11/19/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/05/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Smartfreeze SRL
• Original Assignee: Smartfreeze SRL
• Inventors: Cogliano, Davide Del, Santis, Corrado De, Glielmo, Luigi
• Application Number:
  US12/296,067
• Publication Number:
  US 20090282859A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 62/440
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2700/08 Sensors using Radio Frequency Identification [RFID]
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 29/00 Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

System (20) for remotely controlling and monitoring a food refrigerator (1) of the type intended to be given in rental or in free loan from a manufacturer to a vendor of cold products, comprising a control unit (2) for checking and storing a plurality of functioning parameters of the food refrigerator (1), an RFID reader (3) intended to read data stored in a plurality of RFID tags attached to the cold products, a communication unit (4) for interconnecting an external device, the RFID reader (3) comprising means for retrieving the data from the RFID tags when the cold products are stocked inside the food refrigerator (1) and the communication unit (4) comprising localization means for transmitting information to the external device on a geographical localization of the food refrigerator (1).

Claims

1. A system for remotely controlling and monitoring a food refrigerator of the type intended to be given in rental or in free loan from a manufacturer to a vendor of cold products, the system comprising:

a control unit a for checking and storing a plurality of functioning parameters of said food refrigerator;

an RFID reader intended to read data stored in a plurality of RFID tags attached to said cold products;

a communication unit structured to be installed in said food refrigerator and bi-directionally communicating with a remote server;

said RFID reader comprising means for retrieving said data from said RFID tags when said cold products are stocked inside said food refrigerator and said communication unit comprising a GSM/GPRS unit for transmitting information to said remote server including identifiers of GSM/GPRS cells indicative of a geographical delocalization of said food refrigerator.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein said RFID reader comprises means for a transmission of radio frequency signals at predetermined time intervals in order to activate said RFID tags to read said data.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein said control unit is included inside said food refrigerator.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein said communication unit is included inside said food refrigerator for sending and receiving said plurality of functioning parameters to/from said control unit.

5. The system according to claim 3, wherein;

said food refrigerator is a conventional food refrigerator;

said communication unit is connected to said conventional food refrigerator and

said communication unit comprises an interface for sending and receiving said plurality of functioning parameters to/from said control unit.

6. The system according to claim 4, wherein an additional food refrigerator comprising a respective communication unit and control unit is connected to the communication unit of said food refrigerator.

7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the communication units of said food refrigerator and said additional food refrigerator are connected in a same local area network (LAN).

8. The system according to claim 1, characterized by comprising a plurality of box-cases for housing said cold products.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein said box cases are disposable boxes or plastic wrap.

10. The system according to claim 1, wherein said GSM/GPRS unit provides a detection of delocalization data from a connection between said communication unit and a set of transmission cells of a GSM/GPRS network.

11. The system according to claim 1, wherein said communication unit and said remote server are connected through a wireless interface.

12. The system according to claim 1, wherein said communication unit and said remote server are connected through a wire line interface.

13. A method for remote control of a food refrigerator of the type intended to be given in rental or in free loan from a manufacturer to a vendor of cold products, comprising

a phase of checking, through a control unit, a plurality of functioning parameters of said food refrigerator;

a phase of reading, through an RFID reader, data stored inside a plurality of RFID tags attached to said cold products;

a phase of installing in said food refrigerator a communication unit bi-directionally communicating with a remote server, said communication unit including a GSM/GPRS unit interconnected to the remote server;

said reading phase being executed when said cold products are stocked inside said food refrigerator and said communication unit communicating to said remote server information including identifiers of GSM/GPRS cells indicative of a geographical delocalization of said food refrigerator.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein said data are grouped in an inventory data file of said remote server, comprising a number of cold products sold and/or their permanence inside the food refrigerator and/or their production date and/or their sale date.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein said inventory data file is transmitted at predetermined time intervals from said communication unit to said remote server.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein said functioning parameters are sent at predetermined time intervals from said communication unit to said remote server.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein said communication unit communicates to said remote server the identifiers of GSM/GPRS cells whereto said communication unit is connected inside a geo-referencing database of said remote server.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the interconnection between the GSM/GPRS unit and the remote server comprises an execution of a delocalization check in order to verify if the refrigerator has been moved and re-located to a non authorized location.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein said delocalization check comprises a long-range delocalization check for detecting if said food refrigerator has been moved in a range greater than an average GSM/GPRS cell range.

20. The method according to claim 18, wherein said delocalization check comprises a short range delocalization check for detecting if the refrigerator has been moved inside a retailer shop area.

21. The method according to claim 19, wherein said delocalization check comprises a filter step for checking if a time interval between a power off and a power on of said control unit is grater than a predetermined threshold value.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein said delocalization check comprises a comparison step for comparing the identifiers of GSM/GPRS cells connected to the communication unit before a power off of the control unit and the identifiers of GSM/GPRS cells connected to the communication unit after a power on of such control unit, a list of the identifier being stored in said geo-referencing database.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein said delocalization check comprises a verify step for checking, in said georeferencing database, if at least one GSM/GPRS cell is connected for a first time to said communication unit.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein said short-range delocalization check comprises:

associating a short-range RFID reader to said food refrigerator,

coupling a special marker in proximity of said RFID reader, intended to be detected by said RFID reader.

25. The method according to claim 18, wherein said remote server stores a log file, comprising said functioning parameters of said food refrigerator, relative to corresponding functioning periods.

26. The method according to claim 25, wherein a transmission of said inventory data or functioning parameters to said remote server is triggered by a fault detected by said control unit.

27. The method according to claim 26, further comprising transmitting a delocalization message, from said communication unit to said remote server, when a change of transmission cells of a GSM/GPRS network is detected by said communication unit after a power fault.

28. The method according to claim 27, wherein a transmission of said inventory data or functioning parameters to said remote server is triggered by sending a phone call to said control unit.

29-30. -30. (canceled)