System for remote refrigeration monitoring and diagnostics

#The present invention relates to food retailers and more particularly to a system for monitoring and evaluating the food inventory and equipment of a food retailer.

#Produced food travels from processing plants to retailers, where the food product remains on display case shelves for extended periods of time. In general, the display case shelves are part of a refrigeration system for storing the food product. In the interest of efficiency, retailers attempt to maximize the shelf-life of the stored food product while maintaining awareness of food product quality and safety issues.

#For improved food quality and safety, the food product should not exceed critical temperature limits while being displayed in the grocery store display cases. For uncooked food products, the product temperature should not exceed 41° F. Above this critical temperature limit, bacteria grow at a faster rate. In order to maximize the shelf life and safety of the food product, retailers must carefully monitor the food product stored therein. In general, monitoring of the temperature of the food product enables determination of the bacterial growth rates of the food product. To achieve this, refrigeration systems of retailers typically include temperature sensors within the individual refrigeration units. These temperature sensors feed the temperature information to a refrigeration system controller. Monitoring of the food product involves information gathering and analysis.

#The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

#FIG. 1 is a schematic overview of a system for remotely monitoring and evaluating a remote location, in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

#FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an exemplary refrigeration system according to the principles of the present invention;

#The following description of the preferred embodiments is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses.

#With reference to FIG. 1A, the present invention provides a system 10 for remote monitoring and diagnosis and prognosis of food inventory and equipment of a food retailer. The system 10 includes a management center 12 in communication with a remote location 14, such as a food retail outlet, having food inventory and equipment, such as a refrigeration system, HVAC system, lighting and the like, therein. A communication network 16 is provided for operably interconnecting the management center 12 and the remote location 14 enabling information transfer therebetween. The communication network 16 preferably includes a dial-up network, TCP/IP, Internet or the like. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, that the management center 12 may be in communication with a plurality of remote locations 14 through the communication network 16. In this manner, the management center 12 is able to monitor and analyze operation of multiple remote locations 14.

#The management center 12 gathers operational data from the remote location 14 to analyze performance of several aspects of the remote location 14 through post-processing routines. Initially, the management center 12 may process temperature information for calculating food safety and food quality indices, FSI, FQI, respectively, as described in further detail below. Calculated values for FSI and FQI may be used by the management center 12 to alert a remote location 14 of food safety and quality performance. In this manner, the remote location 14 is able to adjust the operation of its systems to improve performance.