Feedback control of food texture system and method
First Claim
1. A feedback system for controlling texture attribute of a food product in a continuous manufacturing process, wherein said system comprises:
- a food pre-processing unit;
a food processing unit downstream from said food pre-processing unit;
a texture measuring tool positioned downstream from said food processing unit, said texture measuring tool further comprising;
a housing;
a laser generator attached to said housing;
an acoustic capturing device proximally located to said housing;
a data processing unit in communication with at least said acoustic capturing device;
wherein a laser from said laser generator is directed to non-invasively strike an exterior surface of said food product after its output from said food processing unit, the striking heating the struck surface sufficient to cause rapid thermal expansion of the struck exterior surface thereby producing an acoustic signal to be detected by said acoustic capturing device;
wherein said data processing unit is configured to non-invasively and quantitatively measure said texture attribute of said output food product based on input from said acoustic capturing device generated based on said detected acoustic signal; and
a controller, said controller controlling a plurality of input parameters to said food processing unit and said food pre-processing unit based on input from said texture measuring tool.
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Abstract
A feedback and feedforward as well as a statistical predictive control system and method for continuously controlling texture of a food snack in a manufacturing process. The feedback system includes a quantitative texture measuring tool that is positioned downstream of a food processing unit. The texture measuring tool continuously measures a texture attribute of food snack from the food processing unit and feeds back texture attribute information to a controller that controls input parameters to food processing unit such that the texture attribute of a resultant food snack falls within an acceptable limit. The texture measuring tool comprises an excitation tool that strikes the food snack and produces an acoustic signal that is processed by a data processing unit. The data processing unit identifies relevant frequencies in the acoustic signal and quantitatively measures a texture attribute based on a correlated model that includes the relevant frequencies.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A feedback system for controlling texture attribute of a food product in a continuous manufacturing process, wherein said system comprises:
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a food pre-processing unit; a food processing unit downstream from said food pre-processing unit; a texture measuring tool positioned downstream from said food processing unit, said texture measuring tool further comprising; a housing; a laser generator attached to said housing; an acoustic capturing device proximally located to said housing; a data processing unit in communication with at least said acoustic capturing device; wherein a laser from said laser generator is directed to non-invasively strike an exterior surface of said food product after its output from said food processing unit, the striking heating the struck surface sufficient to cause rapid thermal expansion of the struck exterior surface thereby producing an acoustic signal to be detected by said acoustic capturing device; wherein said data processing unit is configured to non-invasively and quantitatively measure said texture attribute of said output food product based on input from said acoustic capturing device generated based on said detected acoustic signal; and a controller, said controller controlling a plurality of input parameters to said food processing unit and said food pre-processing unit based on input from said texture measuring tool. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A feedforward system for controlling texture of a food product in a continuous manufacturing process, wherein said system comprises:
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a food pre-processing unit; a food processing unit; a texture measuring tool positioned downstream from said food pre-processing unit, said texture measuring tool further comprising; a housing; a laser generator attached to said housing; an acoustic capturing device proximally located to said housing; a data processing unit in communication with at least said acoustic capturing device; wherein a laser from said laser generator is directed to non-invasively strike an exterior surface of a food ingredient to be input to said food pre-processing unit, the striking heating the struck surface sufficient to cause rapid thermal expansion of the struck exterior surface thereby producing an acoustic signal to be detected by said acoustic capturing device; wherein said data processing unit is configured to quantitatively and non-invasively measure an input attribute of said food ingredient to be input based on input from said acoustic capturing device generated based on said detected acoustic signal; and a controller, said controller controlling a plurality of input parameters to said food processing unit and said food pre-processing unit based on input from the texture measuring tool. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification