MUMBAI, India, Aug. 17 -- Intellectual Property India has published a patent application (202641092888 A) filed by Kalasalingam Academy Of Research And Education on July 31, 2026, for Food Storage Racks With Selective Thermal Management Using Camera-Based Occupancy Detection.
Inventors include Dr. S. Shasi; and Dr. P. Jayakumar.
The application for the patent was published on August 14, 2026, under issue no. 33/2026.
Abstract: The titled invention discloses a smart tray heating and storage system for maintaining cooked food items in warm condition . The system comprises an enclosure cabin (1) 10 with multiple vertically arranged tray racks (6), each having an individual heating coil disposed in a heating coil chamber (5) at the rear side. Each tray rack is provided with a dedicated camera module disposed in a camera monitoring chamber (8) for capturing image data to detect presence or absence of food, and a temperature sensor (9) for measuring internal temperature. A microcontroller interface (10) receives and 15 processes image data and temperature data to independently activate a heating coil corresponding to a tray rack only upon detecting presence of food and when temperature is below a pre-set threshold, and to deactivate the heating coil when the tray is detected as empty. An loT live streaming interface (11) transmits live video data from the cameras to a remote billing station for real-time monitoring of food availability 20 and for issuing replenishment instructions. The system ensures selective heating only to occupied trays, significantly reducing energy consumption, while providing continuous visual monitoring for efficient inventory management and billing operations. Each camera module is provided with thermal insulation to protect against heat radiation from the heating coils. The enclosure cabin includes transparent glass 25 side walls (3) and a transparent glass door (4) for visual inspection, and wheels (2) for movability.
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
