FOOD HOLDING CABINET POWER SUPPLIES WITH DOWNLOADABLE SOFTWARE
First Claim
1. A temperature-controlled food holding cabinet (food holding cabinet), the food holding cabinet comprised of:
- an electrically-powered heat transfer element (element) thermally coupled to a food holding compartment (compartment);
a computer controlled power supply for the element, the power supply being comprised of;
a first computer (first computer), which executes program instructions stored in a memory device;
a first memory device coupled to the first computer and storing executable program instructions for the first computer therein;
an electrical power control device coupled to;
an electric power source;
the first computer; and
the element;
the electrical power control device controlling electric power delivered to the element from the electrical power source in response to at least one signal received from the first computer; and
a second computer operatively coupled to the first computer, the second computer being capable of obtaining of providing to the first computer as a download, at least one of;
data; and
executable program instructions for the first computer.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A universal food holding cabinet has multiple compartments, the temperatures of which are under software control by microprocessors or microcontrollers located on power supply circuit boards for corresponding compartments. Each compartment can have different temperature control requirements with different requirements being met by different programs in different processors, or different operating parameters for the same program. The cabinet is configured to prevent the power supply boards from being installed incorrectly, to provide an address to a power supply circuit board when it is installed and by which a power supply circuit can be addressed by a master controller to receive downloads of executable instructions and/or data.
93 Citations
48 Claims
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1. A temperature-controlled food holding cabinet (food holding cabinet), the food holding cabinet comprised of:
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an electrically-powered heat transfer element (element) thermally coupled to a food holding compartment (compartment); a computer controlled power supply for the element, the power supply being comprised of; a first computer (first computer), which executes program instructions stored in a memory device; a first memory device coupled to the first computer and storing executable program instructions for the first computer therein; an electrical power control device coupled to; an electric power source; the first computer; and the element; the electrical power control device controlling electric power delivered to the element from the electrical power source in response to at least one signal received from the first computer; and a second computer operatively coupled to the first computer, the second computer being capable of obtaining of providing to the first computer as a download, at least one of; data; and executable program instructions for the first computer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A temperature-controlled food holding cabinet (food holding cabinet), configured to maintain food items, at a different temperatures, for a plurality of different holding times, the food holding cabinet comprised of:
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a plurality of food holding compartments (compartments); at least one electrically-powered heat transfer element (element), thermally coupled to a corresponding compartment and effectuating a temperature inside the corresponding compartment; a computer bus, configured to carry computer signals around the food holding cabinet; a plurality of computer-controlled power supplies (power supplies), each power supply coupled to at least one element and being comprised of; a circuit board; a first computer (first computer) attached to the circuit board and coupled to the bus through a first type of connector attached to the circuit board; a first memory device coupled to the first computer and storing at least one of; data for the first computer; and executable program instructions for the first computer, an electric power control device attached to the circuit board and operatively coupled to; an electric power source; the first computer; and the element; the electric power control device controlling electric power provided to the element in response to a control signal from the first computer; and a second computer operatively coupled to a plurality of the first computers via the bus, the second computer being capable of providing a download to a plurality of first computers via the bus. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A method of storing a plurality of different food items, at a plurality of different holding temperatures in a food holding cabinet having a plurality of different food holding compartments, each compartment'"'"'s temperature being controlled by electrical energy provided to a corresponding electrical heat transfer element by a computer, each heat transfer element being controlled by program instructions executed by a first, slave computer, which is coupled to a second master computer via a bus, the method comprised of:
downloading to a first slave computer from the master computer, at least one of;
a first set of data and a first set of executable program instructions.- View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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48. The method of claim 49, wherein the step of receiving executable program instructions includes the step of receiving said instructions from at least one of:
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a USB port; an optical storage device; a magnetic storage device; a semiconductor memory device; and a wireless interface.
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Specification