Shelf life expiration date management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9547851-B2
Application number	US-201514934147-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 6, 2015
Priority date	Apr 28, 2011
Publication date	Jan 17, 2017
Grant date	Jan 17, 2017

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, system and computer program product for shelf life expiration date management for smart refrigerators. In an embodiment of the invention, a method for shelf life expiration date management for smart refrigerators is provided. The method includes identifying a consumer during a point of sale transaction for purchasing different food items by a point of sale computer system, for example by scanning a bar code or reading a magnetic strip of a loyalty program card or reading a radio frequency identification (RFID) dongle. A list of the different food items can be provided to the smart refrigerator, for example from storage in the loyalty program card or RFID dongle, or as transmitted from the point of sale computer system to the smart refrigerator over a computer communications network. Finally, expiration dates can be determined for the food items in the list and stored in the smart refrigerator.

First claim

I claim:

1. A method for shelf life expiration date management for smart refrigerators, the method comprising:
receiving, over a computer communications network, a list of different food items and expiration dates for different food items in the list of different food items by a smart refrigerator comprising a refrigerator and a computer with a memory and at least one processor;
prompting, by the smart refrigerator, the consumer to indicate whether a food item on the list of different food items replaces the food item on a second list of different food items already stored in the smart refrigerator upon determining that the food item on the list of different food items already appears on the second list of different food items;
updating, by the smart refrigerator, only an expiration date of the food item on the second list of different food items in response to receiving a response from the consumer indicating the food item replaces the food item on the second list of different food items; and,
storing, by the smart refrigerator, the expiration dates and the list of different food items in the smart refrigerator.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
alerting, by the smart refrigerator, the consumer when a food item in the smart refrigerator has an expiration date that has lapsed.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying a consumer during a point of sale transaction for purchasing different food items by a point of sale computer system; and,
selecting, by the point of sale computer system, an address of the smart refrigerator corresponding to the identified consumer.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein identifying the consumer during the point of sale transaction for purchasing different food items by the point of sale computer system, comprises scanning a point of sale loyalty program card of the consumer.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein identifying the consumer during the point of sale transaction for purchasing different food items by the point of sale computer system, comprises reading a radio frequency identification (RFID) dongle for a point of sale loyalty program card of the consumer.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
updating, by the smart refrigerator, both an expiration date of the food item on the list of different food items and also the list of different food items in response to the consumer indicating the food item does not replace the food item on the list of different food items.

7. A smart refrigerator data processing system comprising:
a smart refrigerator comprising a refrigerator and a host computer with memory and at least one processor, and configured for communicative coupling to a point of sale system over a computer communications network; and,
an expiration date client executing in the memory of the host computer, the expiration date client comprising program code enabled to receive a list of different food items purchased by a consumer at the point of sale system, to prompt the consumer to indicate whether a food item on the list of different food items replaces the food item on a second list of different food items already stored in the smart refrigerator upon determining that the food item on the list of different food items already appears on the second list of different food items, to update only the expiration date of the food item on the second list of different food items in response to receiving a response from the consumer indicating the food item replaces the food item on the second list of different food items, to store the expiration dates and the list of different food items in the smart refrigerator, and to generate an alert when a food item in the refrigerator has an expiration date that has lapsed.

8. The system of claim 7 , further comprising:
a second host computer with memory and at least one processor, the second host computer coupled to the point of sale system and the expiration date client; and,
an expiration data manager executing in the memory of the second host computer, the expiration data manager comprising program code enabled to identify the consumer during a point of sale transaction for purchasing different food items by the point of sale system, to select an address of the smart refrigerator corresponding to the identified consumer, and to transmit the list of different food items and expiration dates for different food items in the list of different food items directly from the point of sale computer system to the smart refrigerator.

9. The system of claim 8 , further comprising:
a loyalty program card identifying the consumer and storing the list of different food items purchased by the consumer at the point of sale system.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the expiration data manager further comprises program code enabled to update both the expiration date of the food item on the list of different food items and also the list of different food items in response to the consumer indicating the food item does not replace the food item on the list of different food items.

11. A computer program product for shelf life expiration date management for smart refrigerators, the computer program product comprising:
a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith that executes in conjunction with a smart refrigerator, the computer readable program code comprising:
computer readable program code for receiving, over a computer communications network, a list of different food items and expiration dates for different food items in the list of different food items by the smart refrigerator comprising a refrigerator and a computer with a memory and at least one processor;
computer readable program code for prompting the consumer to indicate whether a food item on the list of different food items replaces the food item on a second list of different food items already stored in the smart refrigerator upon determining that the food item on the list of different food items already appears on the second list of different food items;
updating only an expiration date of the food item on the second list of different food items in response to receiving a response from the consumer indicating the food item replaces the food item on the second list of different food items; and,
storing the expiration dates and the list of different food items in the smart refrigerator.

12. The computer program product of claim 11 , further comprising:
computer readable program code for alerting the consumer when a food item in the smart refrigerator has an expiration date that has lapsed.

13. The computer program product of claim 11 , further comprising:
computer readable program code for updating both an expiration date of the food item on the list of different food items and also the list of different food items in response to the consumer indicating the food item does not replace the food item on the list of different food items.

14. The computer program product of claim 11 , further comprising:
computer readable program code for identifying a consumer during a point of sale transaction for purchasing different food items by a point of sale computer system; and,
computer readable program code for selecting, by the point of sale computer system, an address of the smart refrigerator corresponding to the identified consumer.

15. The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the computer readable program code for identifying the consumer during the point of sale transaction for purchasing different food items by the point of sale computer system, comprises computer reada

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Brown Peter

Classifications

• G06Q30/0226

  Incentive systems for frequent usage, e.g. frequent flyer miles programs or point systems · CPC title

• G06Q30/06

  Buying, selling or leasing transactions · CPC title

• G06Q20/203

  Inventory monitoring · CPC title

• G06Q10/087 Primary

  Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders · CPC title

• F25D2700/08

  Sensors using Radio Frequency Identification [RFID] · CPC title