Household consumable item automatic replenishment system including intelligent refrigerator

A method for automatically maintaining a desired inventory of household consumable items, the method comprising the steps of:

• removing items from at least one of a refrigerated compartment and an unrefrigerated compartment via an indoor access thereof;
• sensing information representative of an inventory of the refrigerated compartment and the unrefrigerated compartment;
• processing information representative of the inventory of the refrigerated compartment and the unrefrigerated compartment so as to make a list of items which are to be replenished;
• automatically communicating at least a portion of the list to at least one vendor to effect automatic ordering;
• and
• restocking at least one of the refrigerated and the unrefrigerated compartments via an outdoor access thereto.

An intelligent refrigerator comprising:

• a refrigerated compartment for storing perishable food items;
• an automated inventory system comprising:
• a plurality of sensors configured to provide information representative of an inventory of the refrigerated compartment, at least one of the sensors further configured to trigger a start of a storage time in the refrigerated compartment;
• and
• an inventory processor coupled to the sensors for processing the information representative of the inventory of the refrigerated compartment so as to make a list of items which are to be replenished, the inventory processor being configured to add an item to the list after the item has been in the refrigerated compartment for a predetermined length of time.

A method for automatically maintaining a desired inventory of consumable items in a refrigerator, the method comprising the steps of:

• sensing information representative of an inventory of the refrigerator;
• trigerring a start of storage time for the inventory of refrigerator;
• and
• processing information representative of the inventory of refrigerator so as to make a list of items which are to be replenished, the inventory processor being configured to add an item to the list after the item has been in the refrigerator for a predetermined length of time.