Remote control for ice making machines

Abstract

A wireless mobile hand-held secure system for controlling and monitoring ice making machines which is preferably comprised of a single hand-held master selector device that transmits up to eight discrete bits of data to, and receives up to eight discrete bits of data from, one of numerous remote devices using secure data encoded on an RF signal, and a remote device installed in the ice making machine. The remote device electrically detects the operating status of up to eight designated functions of the ice making machine and when requested, transmits the status of said functions to the hand-held master selector device using secure data encoded on an RF signal, and decodes the secure data received from the hand-held master selector device and electrically controls up to eight designated functions of the ice making machine based on the operator supplied input to the wireless mobile hand-held master selector device.

1 . A process comprising: 
 remotely controlling a function of an ice making machine;    wherein the ice making machine is inside a building; and    wherein the function of the ice making machine is remotely controlled from outside the building.    
   
   
       2 . The process of  claim 1  wherein said remotely controlling a function comprises disabling ice making machine operation.  
   
   
       3 . The process of  claim 2  wherein the ice making machine is leased by an entity with an overdue account.  
   
   
       4 . The process of  claim 1  wherein said remotely controlling a function comprises transmitting a signal to the ice making machine via radio waves.  
   
   
       5 . The process of  claim 1  further comprising monitoring a status of the function by receiving a signal from the ice making machine via radio waves.  
   
   
       6 . The process of  claim 2  further comprising monitoring, after said remotely controlling a function, of a status of the function to confirm said disabling has been accomplished.  
   
   
       7 . The process of  claim 2  wherein the function is production of ice and controlling the function comprises causing the ice making machine to report that an ice bin is full and thereby to stop producing ice.  
   
   
       8 . The process of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 monitoring a status of the function by receiving a signal from the ice making machine via radio waves;    wherein the function is selected from the group consisting of ice making mechanism run, high speed mechanism, and freeze mechanism, and controlling the function comprises changing a control input.    
   
   
       9 . The process of  claim 6  wherein said controlling and said monitoring are done via signals embedded in radio frequencies below one gigahertz.  
   
   
       10 . The process of  claim 9  wherein the signals are embedded in radio frequencies greater than 300 MHz.  
   
   
       11 . The process of  claim 3  comprising, after said disabling of ice making machine operation, verifying that the overdue account has been paid and entering the building and controlling said function to enable ice making operation.  
   
   
       12 . The process of  claim 2 , comprising providing a plurality of said ice making machines leased by the entity, and remotely controlling a function of fewer than all of said plurality to disable ice making machine operation of said fewer than all of the plurality.  
   
   
       13 . The process of  claim 12 , further comprising, after said controlling to disable ice making machine operation of said fewer than all of said plurality, verifying that the overdue account has been paid, and entering the building and controlling said function to enable ice making operation.  
   
   
       14 . A process of remotely controlling an ice making machine, the process comprising: 
 providing an ice making machine inside a building or a room of an entity leasing said ice making machine, wherein the ice making machine comprises a plurality of controls adapted for operation of the ice making machine and a receiver device in electronic communication with said controls;    determining whether said entity has an overdue lease account, and if so, signaling the receiver device, from outside of said building or room, to effect a change in said controls that stops ice production.    
   
   
       15 . The process of  claim 14 , wherein said signaling the receiver device is done by a remote master device transmitting radio frequencies.  
   
   
       16 . The process of  claim 14  wherein the receiver device causes said controls to sustain an ice-bin-full signal and thereby to stop producing ice.  
   
   
       17 . The process of  claim 16  wherein, after said receiver device causes said controls to sustain the ice-bin-full signal, the receiver device signals the remote master device with a status confirming the ice-bin-full signal.  
   
   
       18 . A system for controlling an ice making machine comprising: 
 a remote master selector device;    a receiver device connected to the ice making machine;    wherein the master selector device is configured to send a first signal to the receiver device and receive a second signal from the receiver device;    wherein the receiver device is configured to receive the first signal from the master selector device and change a function of the ice making machine based on the first signal; and    wherein the receiver device is configured to detect a status of the function and send the status to the master selector device via the second signal;    wherein the first signal and second signal are sent via radio waves.    
   
   
       19 . The system of  claim 18  wherein the first and second signals are sent at frequencies below one gigahertz.  
   
   
       20 . The system of  claim 19  wherein the first and second signals are sent at frequencies above 300 MHz.  
   
   
       21 . The system of  claim 18  wherein the receiver device is configured to cause the ice making machine to stop producing ice because the ice making machine detects that the ice making machine is full.  
   
   
       22 . The system of  claim 18  wherein the ice making machine is leased by an entity with an overdue account.  
   
   
       23 . The system of  claim 18  further comprising: 
 receiver devices installed on multiple ice making machines;    wherein the multiple ice making machines are inside one building or room; and    wherein one of the ice making machines is disabled by the system for controlling an ice making machine.