Patent Publication Number: US-2021166585-A1

Title: Printed tags for heated food items

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/875,976 filed Oct. 6, 2015, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Field of the Disclosure 
     The present subject matter relates to the service of heated food items. More particularly, the present subject matter relates to printed tags used to identify the time at which a heated food item was prepared. 
     Description of Related Art 
     This invention relates to identification of in-process hot food holding. Per governmental regulation, all potentially hazardous foods, except for those prepared for immediate consumption by a patron, shall be maintained in such a fashion as to prevent the growth or development of bacteria. Per USDA regulations, hot holding equipment must be able to keep foods at a temperature of 140° F. (60° C.) or higher. After up to 4 hours at this temperature, the food must be discarded. 
     In order to track when a food item was placed into holding, Food Safety Standard Operating Procedures have recommended developing a colored tag indicating when the item was prepared. For example, mashed potatoes prepared at 8:00 am have a blue hard tag hung on the oven rack. Best practices would also call for a wall chart indicating the meaning of the different colors. All employees must be trained in the practice of properly labeling food placed into hot holding. 
     Potential disadvantages of such a system include the common practice of discarding food placed into hot storage before the hot holding time limit due to shift changes in order to comply with the Food Safety guidelines. Colored dots or tags also have the limitation of indicating fixed time intervals, thereby requiring the food service personnel to correctly choose the correct one and increasing the potential for wasted food due to disposal prior to the regulated time. Preprinted tags or labels also have these issues. Other limitations include a lack of visible marking of the food service personnel that prepared the food and/or the station at which the food was prepared. 
     Any detailed information and record keeping is limited to manual recording, which may not be consistently carried out by all personnel. Hand written tags may suffer from illegible written and inaccuracies in data transcribing. Furthermore, these methods can introduce failure points in the creation of Food Service logs of critical tracking point information including business process, time, date, location, personnel, and item. 
     SUMMARY 
     There are several aspects of the present subject matter, which may be embodied separately or together in the devices and systems described and claimed below. These aspects may be employed alone or in combination with other aspects of the subject matter described herein, and the description of these aspects together is not intended to preclude the use of these aspects separately or the claiming of such aspects separately or in different combinations as may be set forth in the claims appended hereto. 
     In one aspect, a system and method are provided for tagging food items in a hot holding unit. The system includes and the method provides a user interface, a printer, and a controller associated with the user interface and printer. The controller is programmed to instruct the user interface to display a prompt for an operator to input information identifying one or more characteristics of a food item positioned within or to be placed into a hot holding unit. The controller receives the information from the user interface and instructs the printer to generate a tag identifying the food item and the time at which the food item is to be removed from the hot holding unit and discarded. 
     In another aspect, there is provided a tag for use in a hot holding unit for storing a heated food item on a rack. The tag includes a perimeter defining a display area and a support area. The display area includes information identifying the food item and the time at which the food item is to be removed from the hot holding unit and discarded. The support area includes at least one slit associated with the perimeter and configured to receive a rod of the rack. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of components of a system for creating on-demand printed tags for food items in a hot holding unit according to an aspect of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a diagrammatic flow chart illustrating an embodiment using the system and method of the disclosure to create a printed tag; 
         FIG. 3  is a diagrammatic flow chart illustrating another embodiment using the system and method of the disclosure to create a printed tag; 
         FIG. 4  is a diagrammatic flow chart of initially configuring the system and method of the disclosure for use at a food preparation facility; 
         FIG. 5 ,  FIG. 6  and  FIG. 7  each illustrate an exemplary format for a printed tag created by the system and method of the disclosure; 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of an example of a printed tag created by the system and method of the disclosure, supported by the rack of a hot holding unit; 
         FIG. 9  is front elevational view of a sheet of tags for use by the system and method of the disclosure; 
         FIG. 10  illustrates an exemplary format of an electronic log entry generated by the system and method of the disclosure; and 
         FIG. 11  illustrates an exemplary format of a printed log file generated by the system and method of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS 
     As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriate manner. 
     To address the disadvantages of known systems, it has been found to be convenient to use on-demand printing for tagging food items in hot holding. In particular, the use of on-demand printing provides for accurate timing of when a food item has been placed into hot holding while decreasing waste or the early disposal of heated food items. 
     Briefly, a system may be provided to allow food service personnel to enter information regarding any one of a number of applicable operational processes, such as preparation of a heated food item or placement of a heated food item into hot holding. The printer would then create a tag or label format based upon the business process selected (e.g., hot food storage) and, after receiving sufficient information from the operator or elsewhere, produce an on-demand printed tag. The printed tag may then be placed adjacent to the heated food item within a hot holding unit (e.g., supported on a rack of the hot holding unit). An internal electronic log entry or record of the transaction may be generated and stored, with the record containing information regarding the food service personnel, business process, food item, and/or time. The record may be kept in any suitable format (such as EPCIS format) and may be made available via a searchable (including Internet-accessible) storage location. 
       FIG. 1  shows an exemplary system, generally represented by reference number  100 , which may be provided as a thermal printer or, more particularly, as a thermal barcode printer. The system  100  may include any of a number of components, which may have a wide range of functionality. In the illustrated embodiment, the system  100  includes a user interface  101 , which allows an operator to interact with the system  100 . In one embodiment, the user interface  101  is a touchscreen, but it is also within the scope of the present disclosure for the user interface  101  to be differently configured (e.g., by comprising a screen that displays prompts to an operator, with one or more associated buttons and/or a keyboard or mouse that allows the operator to input information and commands). The illustrated system  100  also includes a printer  105 , where on-demand printed tags created by the system  100  are printed and made accessible to an operator. The illustrated system  100  also includes a second printer  110  that may be loaded with receipt paper (which is not necessarily configured for placement into a hot holding unit) for printing a smart log for record retention. The system  100  also includes a controller (not illustrated), such as a microprocessor, that is associated with the other components of the system  100 . The system  100  receives data or information (e.g., receiving the information entered by an operator using the user interface  101 ) and issues commands (e.g., instructing the printer  105  to generate an on-demand printed tag) to the other components of the system  100 . 
       FIGS. 2 and 3  illustrate two exemplary methods carried out by a system  100  according to the present disclosure may be used, while  FIG. 4  illustrates an exemplary method by which such a system  100  may be initially configured for use at a food preparation facility. It should be understood that the illustrated methods are merely exemplary and that the order of operations may be varied, selected steps may be omitted, and/or additional steps may be included without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Also, it should be understood that two or more steps may be carried out simultaneously, rather than the steps being performed sequentially. 
     According to the method illustrated in  FIG. 2 , an operator begins at  201  by logging in, which may involve entering his or her name and/or an identification number or providing some other form of identification (e.g., a thumbprint or similar biometric identifier or an identification card with a barcode or similar machine-readable portion) using the user interface  101 . This data entry may be encouraged by a prompt appearing on the user interface  101 . It is also within the scope of the present disclosure for an operator to initiate the creation of an on-demand printed tag without logging in, although it may be advantageous to verify that the system  100  is being used by a properly authorized individual. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the operator enters his or her name and/or employee number, which may be recorded and retained by the system controller, as at  205 . The system and method then waits for the user to interact with the user interface  101 , such as by depressing a button or an icon to select a business process (e.g., preparation of a heated food item or placement of a heated food item into hot holding), as shown at  210  and  215 .  FIG. 2  shows the operator selecting a “place food in hot holding” operational process by depressing a button associated with the user interface  101  at  240 . 
     After selecting the operational process, the system and method proceed to obtain information about the food item, as at  235 . This information may be obtained from an item database that is accessed by the system controller after the operator enters basic information about the food item (e.g., the name of the food item or a code number or some other identifying characteristic, etc.) using the user interface  101 , although it is also within the scope of the present information for the selected operational process to include the necessary basic information about the food item (e.g., “place fried chicken in hot holding” or “place small mashed potatoes in hot holding”). The system and method may prompt the operator to enter the time at which the food item was placed into hot holding or may otherwise estimate the time at which the food item was placed into hot holding (e.g., assuming that the food item was placed into hot holding at approximately the time at which the operator initiated the tag-creation process at step  201 ). The information obtained about the food item may vary without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the controller may obtain information regarding the number of times that the same item that has been prepared that day (e.g., determining that the fifth order of small mashed potatoes has been prepared). 
     A batch number is created at  230 , which refers to the number of times that the particular heated food item has been prepared. This may be stored in non-volatile memory and be increased from 1 to an upper value (e.g., 999) before rolling back over to 1. A transaction number may also be created (as at  225 ), which may be a combination of the last six digits of the device MAC address and an eight-digit non-volatile number that will roll over when incremented from 99999999 to 00000001, for example. These numbers may be stored by the system controller in a database or other electronic storage location. 
     If the food preparation facility includes more than one hot holding unit, then the system and method may prompt the operator to enter the identity (e.g., an identifying number) of the hot holding unit into which the food item has been placed, as at  220 . 
     The system controller is programmed with various tag formats, which correspond to the particular operational process that is selected at  215 .  FIG. 5  shows an exemplary tag format that is used by the system controller (at  245 ) when the “hot holding” process is selected (at  215  and  240 ). It should be understood that the tag format may vary without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, but in the illustrated embodiment, the tag format includes a food item description at  501 , the time at which the food item is to be removed from hot holding and discarded at  505 , and the date and time at which the food item entered the hot holding unit at  510 . 
     Other possible tag formats are shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , which are possible if the system  100  is configured to generate barcodes or other readable codes including an electronic beacon or RFID inlay. In the embodiment of  FIG. 6 , the tag format includes a food item description at  601 , the time at which the food item is to be removed from hot holding and discarded at  605 , information regarding the individual that prepared the food item at  610  (e.g., an employee number), the date and time at which the food item entered the hot holding unit at  615 , and a GS1 barcode at  620 . The barcode may include application identifiers referencing any information, such as the item GTIN, expiration date and time, and/or batch number. 
     The tag format of  FIG. 7  is similar to  FIG. 6 , with a food item description at  701 , the time at which the food item is to be removed from hot holding and discarded at  705 , information regarding the individual that prepared the food item at  710  (e.g., an employee number), the date and time at which the food item entered the hot holding unit at  715 , and a barcode at  720 . The tag format of  FIG. 7  differs from the tag format of  FIG. 6  because the barcode  720  is provided as a datamatrix barcode. Similar to the barcode  620  of  FIG. 6 , the barcode  720  of  FIG. 7  may include any of a variety of information, such as the GITN, global location number of the food preparation facility, the date and time at which the food item must be removed from hot holding, and the unique batch/item number. 
     With the proper tag format selected, the log information and the hot holding tag or ticket are sent to the printer  105  (at  250 ).  FIGS. 8 and 9  show the general shape that an on-demand printed tag may take, while  FIGS. 10 and 11  show exemplary formats for an electronic log entry and printed log file (respectively), although it should be understood that printed tags, electronic log entries, and printed log files according to the present disclosure may be differently configured without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The on-demand printed tags, electronic log entries, and printed log files will be described in greater detail herein. 
     If there is an error in sending the log information and hot holding tag or ticket to the printer  105  (which is checked at  255 ), then the process will proceed back to  250  and resend the data. On the other hand, if there is no error, then the process continues to  260 , where the electronic log information is created and stored in a local database or similar memory location by the system controller. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the electronic log information may include: a description of the event (e.g., the date and time the food item went into the hot holding unit, the Global Location Number and/or store number, the identity of the hot holding unit used, and the unique batch/item and transaction numbers). The electronic log may include additional or alternative entries as well. 
     With the hot holding tag successfully created, a prompt may appear on the user interface  101  to tell the operator to place the hot holding tag or ticket in the hot holding unit (at  265 ).  FIG. 8  shows one way in which an on-demand printed tag may be secured in place within a hot holding unit, although there are other ways in which the tag may be positioned within a hot holding unit, as will be described below. 
     The system and method may then return to  210  to wait for another button depress or similar interaction of the operator with the user interface  101 . If the operator selects to exit or end the process rather than creating another on-demand printed tag, then the process terminates at  270 . 
       FIG. 3  illustrates tag-creation process that is similar to the process of  FIG. 2 , with the steps of  FIG. 3  having a “3” leading numeral corresponding to the steps of  FIG. 2  having a “2” leading numeral (e.g., steps  301  and  345  of  FIG. 3  corresponding to steps  201  and  245  of  FIG. 2 , respectively) and the above description, unless otherwise noted. In particular, the process of  FIG. 3  differs from the process of  FIG. 2  at  335  and  360 , which differ from the corresponding steps  235  and  260  of  FIG. 2 . At  335 , the controller reads the item attributes associated with the heated food item from the Global Data Synchronization network and then compares the item information to the data in the item database, rather than only obtaining the information from the item database, as in  235  of  FIG. 2 . At  360 , the electronic log information is posted in a remote location (which may be Internet-accessible), rather than being stored locally, as in  260  of  FIG. 2 . The tag format used in the process of  FIG. 3  may be the same as in  FIG. 2  (e.g., one of the formats shown in  FIGS. 5-7 ) or may be different if additional information is obtained at  335  compared to  235 . 
       FIG. 4  shows an exemplary process for initially configuring the system for use at a food preparation facility. The process begins at  401 , where the system is powered on and enters into a startup routine or protocol. At  405 , the user is prompted to enter the store/facility information. If the user chooses to enter such information, then the process proceeds to  410 , with the user entering the requested information (e.g., store number and name, address, and/or Global Location Number); otherwise, the process proceeds to  415  in preparation for the next configuration item. 
     In  420  the user is prompted to enter employee information. The user can enter the employee name and employee number or the system and method can assign a sequential employee number based off of a unique combination with the MAC address of the unit. The user can continue to enter as many employees as desired until indicating to the system  100  that there are no additional employees to be added, at which time the process proceeds to  430  in preparation for the next configuration item. 
     At  435 , the user is prompted for configuration of the hot holding unit(s). If the user does not want to configure the hot holding unit(s) they exit the process at  450 ; otherwise, the user may enter the hot holding unit name and/or number at  440 , with additional units being added (at  445 ) until the user chooses to exit the setup routine at  450 . 
     Turning back now to the on-demand printed tag  801  created by the system and method,  FIG. 8  shows one way in which the tag  801  may be positioned within a hot holding unit, such as an oven. Among the challenges addressed in producing an on-demand tag or label for hot holding is the need for a print/substrate combination that can withstand exposure to 140° F. (or 60° C.) for up to 4 hours. For thermal direct printing, it may be advantageous to use substrates and printing inks or toners that are formulated for extended-time elevated-temperature uses, or comparable materials suitable for creating an on-demand printed tag  801  capable of being mounted from and displayed within a hot holding unit rack, oven and/or heating unit. 
     As shown in  FIG. 8 , the tag  801  may be oriented substantially vertically for clear visibility from a position outside of the hot holding unit. In the illustrated embodiment, the tag  801  is substantially rectangular, with a perimeter  810  defining a display area  815  (onto which the tag format of  FIGS. 5-7  or the like may be printed) and at least one support area  820  (to support the tag  801  on the rack). In the embodiment of  FIG. 8 , the display area  815  is associated with an upper edge  825  and center of the tag  801 , while the single support area  820  is associated with the lower edge  830  of the tag  801 . In other embodiments, the tag may be differently configured without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. 
     The support area  820  includes at least one rod-receiving formation or slit  835 , which is associated with and opens at the perimeter  810  (at the lower edge  830  in  FIG. 8 ). The slit  835  receives a rod of the rack of the hot holding unit to secure the tag  801  in place with respect to the rack. In the illustrated embodiment, with the slit  835  associated with the lower edge  830  of the tag  801 , the tag  801  may be pressed down toward the rack (with the lower edge  830  pointed downwardly and the upper edge  825  pointed upwardly) to advance a rack rod into the slit  835 , such that the tag  801  rests above the rack in a substantially vertical orientation.  FIG. 8  shows a tag  801  with a support area  820  having a plurality of slits  835 , each associated with the lower edge  830  and receiving a different rack rod. This may be advantageous for improved stability of the tag  801  mounted on the rack, but it is also within the scope of the present disclosure for the support area  820  to have only one slit  835 . Additionally, while  FIG. 8  shows two substantially identical slits  835 , it is also within the scope of the present disclosure for the slits  835  to be differently configured. 
       FIG. 9  shows a sheet of material from which a plurality of tags  900  may be cut or otherwise formed.  FIG. 9  shows all of the tags  900  being substantially identical, but it is within the scope of the present disclosure for differently shaped or configured tags to be used. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, each tag  900  is substantially rectangular, with a perimeter  905  defining a display area  910  (onto which the tag format of  FIGS. 5-7  or the like may be printed) and a pair of support area  915  and  920  (to support the tag  900  on the rack of a hot holding unit). In the embodiment of  FIG. 9 , the display area  910  is associated with a center section of the tag  900 , while one support area  915  is associated with the lower edge  925  of the tag  900  (similar to the support area  820  of  FIG. 8 ) and the other support area  920  is associated with the upper edge  930 . In other embodiments, the tag may be differently configured without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, such as having only a single support area associated with the upper end of the tag. 
     Each support area  915 ,  920  includes at least one rod-receiving formation or slit  935 , which is associated with and opens at the perimeter  905  (at the lower edge  925  for the slits  935  of the lower support area  915  and at the upper edge  930  for the slit  935  of the upper support area  920 ). All of the slits  935  may be identically shaped, but (as in the illustrated embodiment) it is also within the scope of the present disclosure for two or more of the slits  935  to be differently shaped. 
     Each slit  935  is configured to receive a rod of the rack of the hot holding unit to secure the tag  900  in place with respect to the rack. Typically, as in the illustrated embodiment, the slit(s)  935  of only one of the support areas  915 ,  920  is used to mount the tag  900 , while the slit(s)  935  of the other support area  915 ,  920  is not used. However, it is within the scope of the present disclosure for the slits of multiple support areas to be used when mounting the tag within a hot holding unit. 
     The tags  900  of  FIG. 9  may be mounted onto the rack of a hot holding unit in one of two ways. First, the tag  900  may be mounted as in  FIG. 8 , with the slits  935  of the lower support area  915  receiving rack rods. To so mount a tag  900 , the tag  900  may be pressed down toward the rack (with the lower edge  925  pointed downwardly and the upper edge  930  pointed upwardly) to advance a rack rod into the slits  935 , such that the tag  900  rests above the rack in a substantially vertical orientation. Alternatively, the tag  900  may be hung below the rack, with the slit  935  of the upper support area  920  receiving a rack rod. To so mount a tag  900 , the tag  900  may be pressed upwardly toward the rack (with the lower edge  925  pointed downwardly and the upper edge  930  pointed upwardly) to advance a rack rod into the slit  935 , such that the tag  900  hangs below the rack in a substantially vertical orientation. One approach may be preferred to the other to more closely position the tag  900  to the associated food item, depending on where the associated food item is located within the hot holding unit. 
       FIG. 10  shows two examples of an electronic log file that may be generated by the system  100  for each transaction. Exemplary electronic log file  1001  shows the type of data (e.g., print date, discard date, event description, facility information, etc.) that could be stored in a flat file for collection at the end of the day, while exemplary electronic log file  1005  is the XML posting of the log information to a remote host. 
       FIG. 11  is an example of the printed log file on receipt paper that could be printed by the second printer  110 . In the illustrated example, the printed log file includes an indication  1101  that the transaction involved a Hot Holding business process. The printed log file also includes a food item description at  1105 , the operator name and/or employee number at  1110 , a unit of measure from the item information  1115 , a quantity  1120 , a transaction ID  1125 , a barcode  1130 , the date/time the log was printed at  1135 , and the discard date for the log at  1140 . The barcode  1130  (which is illustrated as a datamatrix, but may be differently configured) may include any information, such as the item number, GLN number and supplemental number for the oven, GLN source number, the time at which the food had to be discarded from the hot holding unit, and/or the lot number assigned by the unit. 
     It will be understood that the embodiments described above are illustrative of some of the applications of the principles of the present subject matter. Numerous modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the claimed subject matter, including those combinations of features that are individually disclosed or claimed herein. For these reasons, the scope hereof is not limited to the above description but is as set forth in the following claims, and it is understood that claims may be directed to the features hereof, including as combinations of features that are individually disclosed or claimed herein.