US 12,085,579 B2
Mobile connected autonomous refrigerator
Michael Heydlauf, Cary, NC (US)
Assigned to Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Inc., Tarrytown, NY (US)
Appl. No. 18/699,137
Filed by Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Inc., Tarrytown, NY (US)
PCT Filed Sep. 29, 2022, PCT No. PCT/US2022/077310
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Apr. 5, 2024,
PCT Pub. No. WO2023/064682, PCT Pub. Date Apr. 20, 2023.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/262,404, filed on Oct. 12, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2024/0264184 A1, Aug. 8, 2024
Int. Cl. G01N 35/00 (2006.01); F25D 11/00 (2006.01); F25D 25/04 (2006.01); G06Q 10/087 (2023.01)
CPC G01N 35/00663 (2013.01) [F25D 11/003 (2013.01); F25D 25/04 (2013.01); G01N 2035/00435 (2013.01); G01N 2035/00673 (2013.01); G06Q 10/087 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
11. A system for replenishing refrigerated consumables used in diagnostic analysis, comprising:
a plurality of laboratory instruments performing the diagnostic analysis;
a computing device;
a refrigerated storage for bulk storage of consumables; and
a mobile refrigerated unit comprising:
an internal refrigerator;
a robotic arm; and
at least one processor and a memory communicatively coupled with the processor and memory storing machine-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, control the processor to:
receive a notification from a laboratory instrument that a refrigerated consumable used by the laboratory instrument is depleted;
autonomously navigate to a refrigerated storage, retrieve the refrigerated consumable and place it in the mobile refrigerated unit;
autonomously move to the laboratory instrument that triggered the notification; and
alert an operator to retrieve the refrigerated consumable from the mobile refrigerated unit and load it into the laboratory instrument that triggered the notification.