System for Remotely Controlling and Monitoring a Food Refrigerator and its Content

Abstract

System ( 20 ) for remotely controlling and monitoring a food refrigerator ( 1 ) of the type intended to be given in rental or in free loan from a manufacturer to a vendor of cold products, comprising a control unit ( 2 ) for checking and storing a plurality of functioning parameters of the food refrigerator ( 1 ), an RFID reader ( 3 ) intended to read data stored in a plurality of RFID tags attached to the cold products, a communication unit ( 4 ) for interconnecting an external device, the RFID reader ( 3 ) comprising means for retrieving the data from the RFID tags when the cold products are stocked inside the food refrigerator ( 1 ) and the communication unit ( 4 ) comprising localization means for transmitting information to the external device on a geographical localization of the food refrigerator ( 1 ).

1 . A system for remotely controlling and monitoring a food refrigerator of the type intended to be given in rental or in free loan from a manufacturer to a vendor of cold products, the system comprising:
 a control unit a for checking and storing a plurality of functioning parameters of said food refrigerator;   an RFID reader intended to read data stored in a plurality of RFID tags attached to said cold products;   a communication unit structured to be installed in said food refrigerator and bi-directionally communicating with a remote server;   said RFID reader comprising means for retrieving said data from said RFID tags when said cold products are stocked inside said food refrigerator and said communication unit comprising a GSM/GPRS unit for transmitting information to said remote server including identifiers of GSM/GPRS cells indicative of a geographical delocalization of said food refrigerator.   
   
   
       2 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein said RFID reader comprises means for a transmission of radio frequency signals at predetermined time intervals in order to activate said RFID tags to read said data. 
   
   
       3 . The system according to  claim 2 , wherein said control unit is included inside said food refrigerator. 
   
   
       4 . The system according to  claim 3 , wherein said communication unit is included inside said food refrigerator for sending and receiving said plurality of functioning parameters to/from said control unit. 
   
   
       5 . The system according to  claim 3 , wherein;
 said food refrigerator is a conventional food refrigerator;   said communication unit is connected to said conventional food refrigerator and   said communication unit comprises an interface for sending and receiving said plurality of functioning parameters to/from said control unit.   
   
   
       6 . The system according to  claim 4 , wherein an additional food refrigerator comprising a respective communication unit and control unit is connected to the communication unit of said food refrigerator. 
   
   
       7 . The system according to  claim 6 , wherein the communication units of said food refrigerator and said additional food refrigerator are connected in a same local area network (LAN). 
   
   
       8 . The system according to  claim 1 , characterized by comprising a plurality of box-cases for housing said cold products. 
   
   
       9 . The system according to  claim 8 , wherein said box cases are disposable boxes or plastic wrap. 
   
   
       10 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein said GSM/GPRS unit provides a detection of delocalization data from a connection between said communication unit and a set of transmission cells of a GSM/GPRS network. 
   
   
       11 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein said communication unit and said remote server are connected through a wireless interface. 
   
   
       12 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein said communication unit and said remote server are connected through a wire line interface. 
   
   
       13 . A method for remote control of a food refrigerator of the type intended to be given in rental or in free loan from a manufacturer to a vendor of cold products, comprising
 a phase of checking, through a control unit, a plurality of functioning parameters of said food refrigerator;   a phase of reading, through an RFID reader, data stored inside a plurality of RFID tags attached to said cold products;   a phase of installing in said food refrigerator a communication unit bi-directionally communicating with a remote server, said communication unit including a GSM/GPRS unit interconnected to the remote server;   said reading phase being executed when said cold products are stocked inside said food refrigerator and said communication unit communicating to said remote server information including identifiers of GSM/GPRS cells indicative of a geographical delocalization of said food refrigerator.   
   
   
       14 . The method according to  claim 13 , wherein said data are grouped in an inventory data file of said remote server, comprising a number of cold products sold and/or their permanence inside the food refrigerator and/or their production date and/or their sale date. 
   
   
       15 . The method according to  claim 14 , wherein said inventory data file is transmitted at predetermined time intervals from said communication unit to said remote server. 
   
   
       16 . The method according to  claim 15 , wherein said functioning parameters are sent at predetermined time intervals from said communication unit to said remote server. 
   
   
       17 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein said communication unit communicates to said remote server the identifiers of GSM/GPRS cells whereto said communication unit is connected inside a geo-referencing database of said remote server. 
   
   
       18 . The method according to  claim 17 , wherein the interconnection between the GSM/GPRS unit and the remote server comprises an execution of a delocalization check in order to verify if the refrigerator has been moved and re-located to a non authorized location. 
   
   
       19 . The method according to  claim 18 , wherein said delocalization check comprises a long-range delocalization check for detecting if said food refrigerator has been moved in a range greater than an average GSM/GPRS cell range. 
   
   
       20 . The method according to  claim 18 , wherein said delocalization check comprises a short range delocalization check for detecting if the refrigerator has been moved inside a retailer shop area. 
   
   
       21 . The method according to  claim 19 , wherein said delocalization check comprises a filter step for checking if a time interval between a power off and a power on of said control unit is grater than a predetermined threshold value. 
   
   
       22 . The method according to  claim 21 , wherein said delocalization check comprises a comparison step for comparing the identifiers of GSM/GPRS cells connected to the communication unit before a power off of the control unit and the identifiers of GSM/GPRS cells connected to the communication unit after a power on of such control unit, a list of the identifier being stored in said geo-referencing database. 
   
   
       23 . The method according to  claim 22 , wherein said delocalization check comprises a verify step for checking, in said georeferencing database, if at least one GSM/GPRS cell is connected for a first time to said communication unit. 
   
   
       24 . The method according to  claim 23 , wherein said short-range delocalization check comprises:
 associating a short-range RFID reader to said food refrigerator,   coupling a special marker in proximity of said RFID reader, intended to be detected by said RFID reader.   
   
   
       25 . The method according to  claim 18 , wherein said remote server stores a log file, comprising said functioning parameters of said food refrigerator, relative to corresponding functioning periods. 
   
   
       26 . The method according to  claim 25 , wherein a transmission of said inventory data or functioning parameters to said remote server is triggered by a fault detected by said control unit. 
   
   
       27 . The method according to  claim 26 , further comprising transmitting a delocalization message, from said communication unit to said remote server, when a change of transmission cells of a GSM/GPRS network is detected by said communication unit after a power fault. 
   
   
       28 . The method according to  claim 27 , wherein a transmission of said inventory data or functioning parameters to said remote server is triggered by sending a phone call to said control unit. 
   
   
       29 - 30 . (canceled)