Compartmentalized smart refrigerator with automated item management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9449208-B2
Application number	US-201414559727-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 3, 2014
Priority date	Dec 3, 2014
Publication date	Sep 20, 2016
Grant date	Sep 20, 2016

Abstract

A smart refrigerator system includes a plurality of compartments for storing food items and one or more tag readers. The smart refrigerator system may read a tag coupled to a food item using one of one or more tag readers. The smart refrigerator system may determine an identity of the food item, an associated date of the food item, and/or a compartment containing the food item. The smart refrigerator system may track item information that includes the identity of the food item, a state of the food item, and/or a compartment location of the food item. The smart refrigerator system may receive item usage information indicating when a user plans to use the food item and change a temperature of the food item. The smart refrigerator system may also generate a notification regarding freshness and/or a spoilage level of the food item and present it to the user.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A smart refrigerator system, comprising:
a plurality of compartments, each of the compartments having an independent temperature setting and configured to contain one or more items;
one or more tag readers configured to read one or more tags;
a network interface component coupling the system to a network;
a non-transitory memory; and
one or more hardware processors coupled to the non-transitory memory and configured to read instructions from the non-transitory memory to cause the system to perform operations comprising:
receiving item information corresponding to the one or more tag readers reading a tag associated with an item in a first compartment;
determining, in response to the receiving the item information, a target temperature for the item;
adjusting a temperature setting of the first compartment to a first temperature based on the target temperature;
receiving, via the network interface component from a user device, item usage information indicating a time the item is to be used;
determining the item requires a second temperature to facilitate usage; and
adjusting the temperature setting of the first compartment to the second temperature based on the time the item is to be used.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the compartments comprise at least one of the one or more tag readers, and wherein the operations further comprise determining the first compartment contains the item based on which of the one or more tag readers read the tag.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the receiving of the item information comprises transmitting a radio signal to the tags and receiving a modulated signal from the tags.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein a temperature setting of a second compartment is set at a different temperature from the first temperature.

5. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a conveyor system configured to move the first compartment, and wherein the adjusting of the temperature setting of the first compartment to the second temperature comprises moving, by the conveyor system, the first compartment to an area with the second temperature.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first compartment is further configured to release the items, and wherein the operations further comprise releasing, by the first compartment, the item thorough a chute system configured to guide the released item to an area.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the item usage information indicates that a user plans to use the item at the time or that the user is expected to use the item at the time based on an item usage history or a user input of the user.

8. A smart refrigerator system, comprising:
a plurality of compartments, each of the compartments operable to be selectively coupled to an air passage and configured to contain one or more items;
one or more tag readers configured to read one or more tags;
one or more chemical sensors configured to detect spoilage-produced gas;
a non-transitory memory; and
one or more hardware processors coupled to the non-transitory memory and configured to read instructions from the non-transitory memory to cause the system to perform operations comprising:
receiving item information corresponding to the one or more tag readers reading a tag associated with an item in a first compartment;
tracking a state of the item;
detecting the item has spoiled based on the one or more chemical sensors detecting the spoilage-produced gas from the item; and
sealing, in response to the detecting the item has spoiled, the first compartment such that the first component is sealed from the air passage.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein:
the state of the item comprises a freshness level of the item, a spoilage level of the item, or both;
the state of the item is based on an associated date, a length of time after the associated date the item is usable, a length of time the item is in the first compartment, a temperature in the first compartment, a time at which the item is opened, a number of times the item is taken outside the first compartment, a length of time the item is outside the first compartment, a temperature outside the first compartment while the item is outside the first compartment, or a combination thereof; and
the associated date comprises an expiration date, a use by date, a best before date, a sell by date, or a combination thereof.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein each of the compartments comprise at least one of the one or more chemical sensors, wherein the detecting the item has spoiled is based on which of the one or more chemical sensors detected the spoilage-produced gas, and wherein the state of the items is further based on whether the spoilage-produced gas is detected.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the system further comprises a network interface component coupling the system to a network, and wherein the operations further comprise:
generating a notification based on the status of the item; and
transmitting, via the network interface component, the notification to a user device.

12. A method, comprising:
reading, by a processing system using one of one or more tag readers, a tag coupled to an item in a first compartment of a refrigerator;
determining, by the processing system in response to the reading, a target temperature of the item;
adjusting, by the processing system, a temperature setting of the first compartment to a first temperature based on the target temperature, wherein each compartment of the refrigerator has independent temperature settings;
determining, by the processing system, item usage information for the item indicating a time the item is to be used;
determining, by the processing system, the item requires a second temperature to facilitate usage; and
changing, by the processing system, a temperature of the item to the second temperature based on the time the item is to be used.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
tracking, by the processing system in a non-transitory memory system, item information comprising an identity of the item, a state of the item, a location of the first compartment containing the item, or a combination thereof;
generating, by the processing system, a notification based on the state of the item; and
presenting, by the processing system, the notification on a refrigerator display panel or a user device.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein:
the state of the item comprises a freshness level of the item, a spoilage level of the item, or both;
the state of the item is based on an associated date, a length of time after the associated date the item is usable, a length of time the item is in the first compartment, a temperature in the first compartment, a time at which the item is first taken out of the refrigerator, a number of times the item is taken outside the refrigerator, a length of time the item is outside the refrigerator, a temperature outside the refrigerator while the item is outside the refrigerator, or a combination thereof; and
the associated date comprises an expiration date, a use by date, a best before date, a sell by date, or a combination thereof.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein each compartment comprises at least one of the one or more tag readers, and wherein the method further comprises determining the first compartment contains the item based on which of the one or more tag readers read the tag.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein the tag comprises a near field communication (NFC) tag or a radio field identification (RFID) tag, wherein the one or more tag readers comprise one or more N

Assignees

• Paypal Inc

Inventors

• Luk Bryant Genepang
• Tang Yu
• Bates Richard Chapman

Classifications

• F25D29/005

  Mounting of control devices · CPC title

• G06K7/10415 Primary

  the interrogation device being fixed in its position, such as an access control device for reading wireless access cards, or a wireless ATM (banking machines in general G07F19/00) · CPC title

• F25D2500/06

  Stock management · CPC title

• F25D29/00

  Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices · CPC title

• F25D2700/08

  Sensors using Radio Frequency Identification [RFID] · CPC title