Temperature-controlled display case maintenance cart system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10980359-B2
Application number	US-201916370994-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 30, 2019
Priority date	Apr 3, 2018
Publication date	Apr 20, 2021
Grant date	Apr 20, 2021

Abstract

Examples provide a smart maintenance cart for cleaning temperature-controlled display cases. The maintenance cart includes a main body including a set of water tanks, a pump, a vacuum, a set of hoses, a drain hose filter, a set of rollers, a memory, and a processor. A smart maintenance controller analyzes the sensor data using a set of per-case, customized performance thresholds. The smart maintenance controller generates a set of priority rankings for a set of temperature-controlled display cases based on a result of the analysis of the sensor data. The smart maintenance controller identifies a highest priority case in the set of temperature-controlled display cases for maintenance based on the set of priority rankings. The smart maintenance controller outputs a maintenance task notification to a user, the maintenance task notification comprising a case identifier associated with the highest priority case for cleaning.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for dynamic temperature-controlled display case maintenance, the system comprising:
a data storage device storing maintenance schedule data associated with a plurality of temperature-controlled display cases;
a smart maintenance cart, the smart maintenance cart comprising a main body housing at least one of a hose, a tank, a vacuum, a vacuum hose, a stop track cleaner, a pump, or a drain hose filter, a memory including the data storage device, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory;
a communications interface component, implemented on the at least one processor, obtaining sensor data from a set of sensor devices via a network, the set of sensor devices associated with one or more condensers of the plurality of temperature-controlled display cases, the set of sensor devices including at least one of a heat exchange performance sensor and a pressure sensor;
an analysis component, implemented on the at least one processor, that identifies at least one display case in the plurality of temperature-controlled display cases having an operational level outside a per-case acceptable threshold operational range based on an analysis of the sensor data;
a scheduling component, implemented on the at least one processor, that analyzes the maintenance schedule data to identify an elapsed time since a previous maintenance task associated with the identified at least one display case and triggers an unscheduled maintenance task associated with the identified at least one display case on condition the elapsed time is within a threshold time-period; and
a prioritization component, implemented on the at least one processor, that generates a set of priority rankings including a ranking for each case in the plurality of temperature-controlled display cases based on the obtained sensor data and a result of the analysis; and
the scheduling component, implemented on the at least one processor, that identifies a highest priority condenser associated with the plurality of temperature-controlled display for cleaning based on the set of priority rankings.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the set of sensor devices further comprises at least one power utilization sensor, and further comprising:
the analysis component, implemented on the at least one processor, that identifies the at least one display case in the plurality of temperature-controlled display cases having a power utilization outside a per-case acceptable power draw threshold range based on an analysis of the sensor data, including power utilization data, obtained from the set of sensor data.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the smart maintenance cart further comprises:
a set of image capture devices coupled to the smart maintenance cart; and
an image recognition component, implemented on the at least one processor, that analyzes image data generated by the set of image capture devices to verify a completed maintenance task.

4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a maintenance controller, implemented on the at least one processor, that receives scan data from a scan device, the scan data corresponding to a barcode associated with at least one temperature-controlled display case and filters the scan data with display case data to identify the at least one temperature-controlled display case and retrieve a maintenance history associated with the at least one temperature-controlled display case, the maintenance history including a date of previous maintenance activity associated with the at least one temperature-controlled display case within a predetermined time-period.

5. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
an inspection component, implemented on the at least one processor, that triggers a repair inspection on condition the elapsed times is outside the threshold time-period.

6. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
the scheduling component, implemented on the at least one processor, that analyzes the maintenance schedule data associated with the at least one display case to identify a number of maintenance tasks performed on the at least one display case within the threshold time-period;
the scheduling component, implemented on the at least one processor, that triggers the unscheduled maintenance task associated with the at least one display case on condition the number of maintenance tasks is within a threshold maintenance task range for the time-period; and
an inspection maintenance component, implemented on the at least one processor, that triggers a repair inspection on condition the number of maintenance tasks is outside the threshold maintenance task range.

7. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a machine learning component, implemented on the at least one processor, that analyzes unscheduled maintenance and repair data associated with the plurality of temperature-controlled display cases using pattern analysis and generates a per-case updated maintenance schedule for at the at least one display case based on the analysis.

8. A maintenance cart for cleaning temperature-controlled display cases, the maintenance cart comprising:
a main body comprising a set of water tanks, a pump, a vacuum, a set of hoses, a drain hose filter, and a set of rollers attached to a bottom surface of the main body;
a memory;
at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory; and
a smart maintenance controller, implemented on the at least one processor, that:
receives sensor data from a set of sensor devices via a network, the set of sensor devices associated with one or more condensers of the temperature-controlled display cases, the set of sensor devices including at least one of a heat exchange performance sensor and a pressure sensor;
analyzes the sensor data using a set of per-case performance thresholds;
generates a set of priority rankings including a ranking for each display case in the temperature-controlled display cases based on a result of the analysis;
identifies a highest priority condenser associated with the temperature-controlled display cases for maintenance based on the set of priority rankings; and
outputs a maintenance task notification, the maintenance task notification comprising a case identifier associated with the highest priority condenser for cleaning.

9. The maintenance cart of claim 8 , further comprising:
a fan housing lift tool associated with the maintenance cart for lifting a fan housing during cleaning of the highest priority condenser.

10. The maintenance cart of claim 8 , further comprising:
a machine learning component, implemented on the at least one processor, that analyzes unscheduled maintenance and repair data associated with the temperature-controlled display cases using pattern analysis and generates a per-case updated maintenance schedule for at least one display case based on the analysis.

11. The maintenance cart of claim 8 , further comprising:
a data storage device storing maintenance schedule data and maintenance history data associated with a plurality of temperature-controlled display cases, wherein the smart maintenance controller updates the maintenance history data in response to receiving user input indicating completion of a maintenance task associated with the highest priority case.

12. The maintenance cart of claim 8 , further comprising:
a user interface component, wherein the maintenance task notification is output via the user interface component.

13. The maintenance cart of claim 8 , further comprising:
a transmitter device, wherein the transmitter device sends the maintenance task notification to a user device via a network.

Assignees

• Walmart Apollo Llc

Inventors

• Billings Lacrecia Lynn
• Mitchell Jeremy

Classifications

• G05B19/042 Primary

  using digital processors (G05B19/05 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A47F3/0408 Primary

  with forced air circulation · CPC title

• G06Q10/20

  Administration of product repair or maintenance · CPC title

• F25D17/08

  using ducts · CPC title

• A47F3/0426

  Details · CPC title