Ice machine with remote monitoring

Abstract

A commercial ice making machine having an electronic monitoring device which captures the operating status and production history of the ice machine. The ice production history of the machine is communicated via telephony and/or the Internet on a regular recurring basis to a remote computer. The production history is used to generate invoices to the user of the ice machine, so that the user is charged based on his or her actual ice consumption. Failure of the ice machine is detected by the monitoring device and communicated immediately to a service company so that the ice machine can be repaired before the end user realizes the machine has failed.

1 . A system for monitoring the status and/or ice production of an ice making device that comprises a hot gas valve and an ice storage bin, said system comprising:
 a microprocessor based controller for determining said status and/or ice production of said ice making device, thereby producing detected status and/or ice production data;   optionally, a data storage device for storing said status and/or data; and   a transmitter for communicating said status and/or data.   
   
   
       2 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein said transmitter communicates said detected status and/or data to a service provider. 
   
   
       3 . The system according to  claim 2 , wherein said service provider is at least one provider selected from the group consisting of: ice making device repair provider, ice making device manufacturer, leasing agent and ice supplier. 
   
   
       4 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein said detected status data comprises at least an identification of said ice making device and said ice making devices status. 
   
   
       5 . The system according to  claim 5 , wherein said ice production data comprises at least an identification of said ice making device and at least one additional parameter selected from the group consisting of: freeze/harvest cycle time and cycle count. 
   
   
       6 . The system according to  claim 2 , wherein said transmitter is at least one selected from the group consisting of: Internet, wired telephony, wireless telephony, cable, and any other device capable of communicating said status and/or ice production data from said detector to said first microprocessor and/or from said first microprocessor to said service provider. 
   
   
       7 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein said status and/or ice production data is at least one selected from the group consisting of: freeze cycle time, harvest cycle time, count of completed freeze/harvest cycles, and ice making device fault alert. 
   
   
       8 . The system according to  claim 11 , wherein said ice making device fault alert is at least one selected from the group consisting of: when said freeze cycle time exceeds a predetermined maximum freeze cycle time limit, when the freeze cycle time is less than a predetermined minimum freeze cycle time limit, when the harvest cycle time exceeds a predetermined maximum harvest cycle time limit, and when the harvest cycle time is less than a predetermined minimum harvest cycle time limit. 
   
   
       9 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein said status and/or ice production data communicated is at least one selected from the group consisting of: identification of said ice making device, cycle time for said ice making device to complete a freeze and/or harvest cycle, the number of cycles which said ice making device has completed during the detection period, and status of said ice making device. 
   
   
       10 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein said microprocessor is capable of transmitting at least one data selected from the group consisting of: identification of said ice making device, location of ice making device, owner contact information, cycle time for said ice making device to complete a freeze and/or harvest cycle, the number of cycles which said ice making device has completed during the detection period, other operation data, status of said ice making device, operational history of ice making device, identification of parts likely to be need to repair ice making device, and probable cause of alert problem. 
   
   
       11 . A system for monitoring the status and/or ice production of an ice making device, said system comprising:
 a microprocessor based controller for determining said status and/or ice production of said ice making device, thereby producing detected status and/or ice production data; and   a transmitter for communicating detected status and/or ice production data.   
   
   
       12 . The system according to  claim 8 , wherein said microprocessor is capable of generating an invoice or having an invoice generated based upon said detected status and/or ice production data and wherein said invoice comprises at least one charge selected from the group consisting of: ice making device repair service charge, bagged ice charges and ice production charge. 
   
   
       13 . A method for monitoring the status and/or ice production of an ice making device, said method comprising:
 determining said status and/or ice production of said ice making device, thereby producing detected status and/or ice production data; and   communicating said status and/or ice production data, wherein said determining step comprises:
 determining the freeze and/or harvest times for said ice making device to freeze and/or harvest ice during an ice making freeze/harvest cycle and/or the number of the freeze/harvest cycles; and 
 generating said status and/or ice production data. 
   
   
   
       14 . The method according to  claim 14  further comprising communicating the said status and/or ice production data from said microprocessor to a service provider. 
   
   
       15 . The method according to  claim 15 , wherein said service provider is at least one provider selected from the group consisting of: ice making device repair provider and ice supplier. 
   
   
       16 . The method according to  claim 15 , wherein said status data comprises at least an identification of said ice making device and said ice making devices status. 
   
   
       17 . The method according to  claim 15 , wherein said ice production data comprises at least an identification of said ice making device and at least one additional parameter selected from the group consisting of: freeze/harvest cycle time and cycle count. 
   
   
       18 . The method according to  claim 15 , wherein said communicating steps are at least one selected from the group consisting of: Internet, wired telephony, wireless telephony, cable, and any other device capable of communicating said status and/or ice production data from said detector to said microprocessor and/or from said microprocessor to said service provider. 
   
   
       19 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein said status and/or ice production data is at least one selected from the group consisting of: freeze cycle time, harvest cycle time, count of completed freeze/harvest cycles, and ice making device fault alert. 
   
   
       20 . The method according to  claim 20 , wherein said ice making device fault alert is at least one selected from the group consisting of: when the freeze cycle time exceeds a predetermined maximum freeze cycle time limit, when the freeze cycle time is less than a predetermined minimum freeze cycle time limit, when the harvest cycle time exceeds a predetermined maximum harvest cycle time limit, and when the harvest cycle time is less than a predetermined minimum harvest cycle time limit. 
   
   
       21 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein said status and/or ice production data communicated is at least one selected from the group consisting of: identification of said ice making device, cycle time for said ice making device to complete a freeze and/or harvest cycle, the number of cycles which said ice making device has completed during the detection period, and status of said ice making device. 
   
   
       22 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein said microprocessor is capable of transmitting at least one data selected from the group consisting of: identification of said ice making device, location of ice making device, owner contact information, cycle time for said ice making device to complete a freeze and/or harvest cycle, the number of cycles which said ice making device has completed during the detection period, other operation data, status of said ice making device, operational history of ice making device, identification of parts likely to be need to repair ice making device, and probable cause of alert problem. 
   
   
       23 . A method for monitoring the status and/or ice production of an ice making device, said method comprising:
 determining said status and/or ice production of said ice making device, thereby producing detected status and/or ice production data; and   communicating said status and/or ice production data.   
   
   
       24 . The method according to  claim 24 , further comprising generating an invoice or having an invoice generated based upon said status and/or ice production data from said microprocessor and wherein said invoice comprises at least one charge selected from the group consisting of: ice making device repair service charge, bagged ice charges and ice production charge. 
   
   
       25 . A method for monitoring an ice making device, said method comprising:
 determining the freeze and/or harvest times for said ice making device to freeze and/or harvest ice during an ice making freeze/harvest cycle and/or the number of the freeze/harvest cycles; and   generating said status and/or ice production data.   
   
   
       26 . An electronic device which is capable of monitoring an ice making machine comprising:
 a microprocessor for determining the freeze and/or harvest times for said ice making device to freeze and/or harvest ice during an ice making freeze/harvest cycle and/or the number of the freeze/harvest cycles; and   a data storage device which is capable of producing said status and/or ice production data.