Monitoring food products

• US 9,477,962 B2
• Filed: 07/30/2014
• Issued: 10/25/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Disney Enterprises Incorporated (The Walt Disney Company)
• Original Assignee: Disney Enterprises Incorporated (The Walt Disney Company)
• Inventors: Jones, Brian R., Gray, Jo, Francus, David A., Worrall, John David, Stepniewicz, Peter
• Primary Examiner(s): Marshall, Christle I
• Assistant Examiner(s): Habib, Asifa
• Application Number:
  US14/446,396
• Publication Number:
  US 20160034907A1
• Time in Patent Office: 818 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 1/022 for recording
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 3/04 in respect of time
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/018 Certifying business or products

Abstract

Systems, methods, and computer program products to improve food safety in a food and beverage supply chain. Embodiments disclosed herein utilize prepared product tags to continuously monitor food and beverage temperatures. The temperatures and other associated data may be wirelessly transmitted to centralized locations for aggregation and storage. Mobile devices may directly communicate with the product tags to receive the temperature data. A host of management applications may utilize the data in order to ensure that safety rules and guidelines are met, while also providing valuable business insight.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a computer processor; and

a memory containing a program which when executed by the processor performs an operation comprising;

receiving transmissions from each of a plurality of receiver devices, wherein each transmission comprises;

(i) a unique identifier of a product tag of a plurality of product tags, (ii) a temperature of a food product the product tag is monitoring, (iii) a timestamp of the temperature of the food product, and (iv) a location of the food product, wherein each of the plurality of product tags reads, by a temperature sensor of the product tag, the temperature of the food product the respective product tag is monitoring, wherein each of the plurality of product tags wirelessly transmits the temperature, the timestamp, and the unique identifier by a wireless data transmitter of the product tag, wherein a first product tag of the plurality of product tags is disposed on a food product vessel, and wherein a second product tag of the plurality of product tags is disposed on a food product service utensil;

storing the received data; and

upon determining, based on at least one of the temperature, the timestamp, and a duration of time, that at least a first rule related to at least a first food product has been violated, generating an indication that the first rule has been violated for the first food product.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein a respective external display device is communicably coupled to each product tag located in a food service location, wherein each display device is configured to output one or more attributes of the food product the respective product tag is monitoring.

3. The system of claim 1, the operation further comprising:

determining that a second rule related to a second food product, a third rule related to a third food product, a fourth rule related to a fourth food product, and a fifth rule related to a fifth food product have been violated,

wherein the first rule is based on a recipe of a prepared food product, wherein the second rule is based on a safety guideline for storing unprepared food products, wherein the third rule is based on a safety guideline for storing prepared food products, wherein the fourth rule is based on a shelf life of the food product, and wherein the fifth rule is based on a required quality of a served food product, wherein the rules related to the food products are dynamically selected based on at least one of;

(i) a state of the respective food product, and (ii) a stage in a lifecycle of the respective food product.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the product tags are configured to transmit the data according to predefined time intervals, wherein the location of the first food product comprises a storage location, wherein the location of the second food product comprises a preparation location, and wherein the location of the third food product comprises a service location.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the temperature sensor comprises a probe sensor configured to read the temperature of the food product and an ambient sensor configured to read a temperature of the air surrounding the food product.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein a scale is configured to weigh a prepared food product prior to service to customers and subsequent to service to customers, wherein the weights are used by the computing system to determine an amount of waste for the prepared food product.

7. A computer program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied therewith, the computer-readable program code executable by a processor to perform an operation comprising;

receiving, at predefined timing intervals and from each of a plurality of product tags, data describing attributes of a respective food product each product tag is configured to monitor, wherein the attributes comprise a temperature of the food product, a time corresponding to the temperature, and a unique identifier of the respective product tag, wherein each of the plurality of product tags comprises a wireless data transmitter, the unique identifier, and a temperature sensor, wherein a first product tag of the plurality of product tags is disposed on a food product vessel, and wherein a second product tag of the plurality of product tags is disposed on a food product service utensil; and

upon determining, based on at least one of the temperature, the timestamp, and a duration of time, that at least a first rule related to at least a first food product has been violated, generating an indication that the first rule has been violated for the first food product.

8. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein each product tag in a food service location is communicably coupled to a respective external display device, wherein the each external display device is configured to output information related to the food product the respective product tag is configured to monitor.

9. The computer program product of claim 7, the operation further comprising:

determining that a second rule related to a second food product, a third rule related to a third food product, a fourth rule related to a fourth food product, and a fifth rule related to a fifth food product have been violated,

wherein the first rule is based on a recipe of a prepared food product, wherein the second rule is based on a safety guideline for storing unprepared food products, wherein the third rule is based on a safety guideline for storing prepared food products, wherein the fourth rule is based on a shelf life of the food product, and wherein the fifth rule is based on a required quality of a served food product, wherein the rules related to the food products are dynamically selected based on at least one of;

(i) a state of the respective food product, and (ii) a stage in a lifecycle of the respective food product.

10. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the product tags are configured to transmit the data according to predefined time intervals, wherein the location of the first food product comprises a storage location, wherein the location of the second food product comprises a preparation location, and wherein the location of the third food product comprises a service location.

11. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein a receiver device is configured to:

receive the data from the product tag; and

transmit the temperature, the unique identifier, the timestamp, and the location of the food product to a computing system for aggregation and storage.

12. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein the temperature sensor comprises a probe sensor configured to read the temperature of the food product and an ambient sensor configured to read a temperature of the air surrounding the food product.

13. A method, comprising:

receiving, at predefined timing intervals and from each of a plurality of product tags, data describing attributes of a respective food product each product tag is configured to monitor, wherein the attributes comprise a temperature of the food product, a time corresponding to the temperature, and a unique identifier of the respective product tag, wherein each of the plurality of product tags comprises a wireless data transmitter, the unique identifier, and a temperature sensor, wherein a first product tag of the plurality of product tags is disposed on a food product vessel, and wherein a second product tag of the plurality of product tags is disposed on a food product service utensil; and

upon determining, based on at least one of the temperature, the timestamp, and a duration of time, that at least a first rule related to at least a first food product has been violated, generating an indication that the first rule has been violated for the first food product.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein each product tag in a food service location is communicably coupled to a respective external display device, wherein the each external display device is configured to output information related to the food product the respective product tag is configured to monitor.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

determining that a second rule related to a second food product, a third rule related to a third food product, a fourth rule related to a fourth food product, and a fifth rule related to a fifth food product have been violated,

wherein the first rule is based on a recipe of a prepared food product, wherein the second rule is based on a safety guideline for storing unprepared food products, wherein the third rule is based on a safety guideline for storing prepared food products, wherein the fourth rule is based on a shelf life of the food product, and wherein the fifth rule is based on a required quality of a served food product, wherein the rules related to the food products are dynamically selected based on at least one of;

(i) a state of the respective food product, and (ii) a stage in a lifecycle of the respective food product.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the product tags are configured to transmit the data according to predefined time intervals, wherein the location of the first food product comprises a storage location, wherein the location of the second food product comprises a preparation location, and wherein the location of the third food product comprises a service location, wherein the temperature sensor comprises a probe sensor configured to read the temperature of the food product and an ambient sensor configured to read a temperature of the air surrounding the food product.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein a receiver device is configured to:

receive the data from the product tag; and

transmit the temperature, the unique identifier, the timestamp, and the location of the food product to a computing system for aggregation and storage.

18. A system, comprising:

a computer processor; and

a memory containing a program which when executed by the processor performs an operation comprising;

receiving transmissions from each of a plurality of receiver devices, wherein each transmission comprises;

(i) a unique identifier of a product tag of a plurality of product tags, (ii) a temperature of a food product the product tag is monitoring, (iii) a timestamp of the temperature of the food product, and (iv) a location of the food product, wherein each of the plurality of product tags reads, by a temperature sensor of the product tag, the temperature of the food product the respective product tag is monitoring, wherein each of the plurality of product tags wirelessly transmits the temperature, the timestamp, and the unique identifier by a wireless data transmitter of the product tag;

storing the received data;

upon determining, based on at least one of the temperature, the timestamp, and a duration of time, that at least a first rule related to at least a first food product has been violated, generating an indication that the first rule has been violated for the first food product; and

determining that a second rule related to a second food product, a third rule related to a third food product, a fourth rule related to a fourth food product, and a fifth rule related to a fifth food product have been violated,

wherein the first rule is based on a recipe of a prepared food product, wherein the second rule is based on a safety guideline for storing unprepared food products, wherein the third rule is based on a safety guideline for storing prepared food products, wherein the fourth rule is based on a shelf life of the food product, and wherein the fifth rule is based on a required quality of a served food product, wherein the rules related to the food products are dynamically selected based on at least one of;

(i) a state of the respective food product, and (ii) a stage in a lifecycle of the respective food product.

19. A computer program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied therewith, the computer-readable program code executable by a processor to perform an operation comprising;

receiving, at predefined timing intervals and from each of a plurality of product tags, data describing attributes of a respective food product each product tag is configured to monitor, wherein the attributes comprise a temperature of the food product, a time corresponding to the temperature, and a unique identifier of the respective product tag, wherein each of the plurality of product tags comprises a wireless data transmitter, the unique identifier, and a temperature sensor;

upon determining, based on at least one of the temperature, the timestamp, and a duration of time, that at least a first rule related to at least a first food product has been violated, generating an indication that the first rule has been violated for the first food product; and

determining that a second rule related to a second food product, a third rule related to a third food product, a fourth rule related to a fourth food product, and a fifth rule related to a fifth food product have been violated,

wherein the first rule is based on a recipe of a prepared food product, wherein the second rule is based on a safety guideline for storing unprepared food products, wherein the third rule is based on a safety guideline for storing prepared food products, wherein the fourth rule is based on a shelf life of the food product, and wherein the fifth rule is based on a required quality of a served food product, wherein the rules related to the food products are dynamically selected based on at least one of;

(i) a state of the respective food product, and (ii) a stage in a lifecycle of the respective food product.