초록 ▼

A system and method for managing food production, inventory and delivery in a restaurant by automatically monitoring the types and quantities of food types that have been cooked and are in a cooked food holding area. Food holding trays are equipped with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, an

A system and method for managing food production, inventory and delivery in a restaurant by automatically monitoring the types and quantities of food types that have been cooked and are in a cooked food holding area. Food holding trays are equipped with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, and holding cabinets are equipped with RFID interrogators. The type and quantity of food items are determined manually or by machine vision or weighing systems, and the data is stored on the RFID tags and in a controller. The system manages the use of food items on a first-in, first-out basis, alerts operators when the inventory of an item is nearing exhaustion, and alerts operators when food items in the holding area must be discarded. The system manages movable trays of food no matter where in the facility they are located.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed: 1. A method for managing the handling of food items in a restaurant, comprising:preparing a plurality of one type of a food item at a food preparation station;automatically identifying the type of the prepared food item based on at least one attribute of the food item and automatica

What is claimed: 1. A method for managing the handling of food items in a restaurant, comprising:preparing a plurality of one type of a food item at a food preparation station;automatically identifying the type of the prepared food item based on at least one attribute of the food item and automatically counting the number of the prepared food items, by identifying means located at the food preparation station;providing at least one prepared food holding device;placing the prepared food items in the holding device;recording the time at which the food items were placed in the holding device;tagging the holding device with an RFID tag;providing at least one RFID interrogator for reading data from and writing data to the RFID tag on the holding device;encoding, by the interrogator, the RFID tag with the recorded time and with data from the identifying means to identify the type and number of food items; andproviding a controller for receiving data from the identifying means and for sending data to and receiving data from the RFID interrogator.