Patent ID: 7908875

Claim:
A monitoring system for determining when a refrigeration unit, having a refrigeration compartment, is not functioning properly, the monitoring system comprising: an input device configured to receive reference data, where the reference data includes a temperature of a compressor start point and a standard operating temperature range of the refrigeration unit at a particular location point when the compressor is running; and a controller for reading the temperature of at least one sensor located along the refrigeration unit at such particular location point and the internal temperature of the refrigeration compartment; the controller further configured to initiate a microcontroller to read the temperature of the at least one sensor within a predefined time period after it is determined that the temperature in the refrigeration compartment has reached the temperature of the compressor start point and further configured to determine whether the temperature of the at least one sensor falls outside the standard operating temperature range of the refrigeration unit at a such particular point.