Production meat analysis system and method
First Claim
1. A production meat analysis system which comprises a calibrated near infrared spectroscopic sensor, such sensor being capable of providing instantaneous electronic data signals for constituent measurements of a meat batch, a weigh conveyor situated below the sensor and having a load cell and position encoder that are capable of providing a calibrated electronic pulse for a unit of weight passing over the weigh conveyor, a computer that is capable of accepting data inputs from the weigh conveyor and from the sensor, wherein the computer continuously calculates and records the accumulated weighted average of the instantaneous constituent measurements, and a computer display screen for displaying the constituent measurements and calculations of the accumulated weighted averages of the measurements.
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Abstract
A production meat analysis system and method provides means for determining percent or absolute constituents of a production lot of ground meat product immediately following the meat pre-grinding process. During use, the system is located at the output of a production meat pre-grinder such that the ground meat passes over the belt of the weigh conveyor and through the detection field or range of the NIR sensor. During this process, constituent readings for fat, moisture, protein and temperature are recorded for each unit weight pulse. The cumulative weighted average for each constituent is calculated for each unit weight and recorded and displayed on the computer screen as the process continues without stoppage or interruption. Constituent content can thereby be manually or automatically adjusted.
14 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A production meat analysis system which comprises
a calibrated near infrared spectroscopic sensor, such sensor being capable of providing instantaneous electronic data signals for constituent measurements of a meat batch, a weigh conveyor situated below the sensor and having a load cell and position encoder that are capable of providing a calibrated electronic pulse for a unit of weight passing over the weigh conveyor, a computer that is capable of accepting data inputs from the weigh conveyor and from the sensor, wherein the computer continuously calculates and records the accumulated weighted average of the instantaneous constituent measurements, and a computer display screen for displaying the constituent measurements and calculations of the accumulated weighted averages of the measurements.
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6. A production meat analysis system which comprises
a weigh conveyor, said weigh conveyor including a frame having a first end and a second end, a sensor support member extending upwardly from the frame, a near infrared sensor secured to the sensor support member for recording instantaneous content readings for a meat batch, a position encoder roller rotatably mounted to the first end of the conveyor frame, a drive roller rotatably mounted to the second end of the conveyor frame, a conveyor belt, the belt being rotatably mounted to the position encoder roller and to the drive roller, a load cell and a load cell bar, the load cell bar extending generally perpendicularly across the conveyor belt such that meat product passing along the belt at the point of the load cell registers an instantaneous meat batch weight measurement, a computer electronically connected to the sensor and the load conveyor to calculate and record batch weighted averages, and a display monitor for displaying real time and/or average batch content information, wherein the batch content information can be used to make manual or automatic adjustments to the batch content.
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10. A method for analyzing meat production which comprises the steps of
providing a calibrated near infrared spectroscopic sensor, such sensor being capable of providing instantaneous electronic data signals for constituent measurements of a meat batch, providing a weigh conveyor situated below the sensor and having a load cell and position encoder that are capable of providing a calibrated electronic pulse for a unit of weight passing over the weight conveyor, providing a computer that is capable of accepting data inputs from the weigh conveyor and from the sensor, continuously calculating and recording the accumulated weighted average of the instantaneous constituent measurements, and providing a computer display screen for displaying the constituent measurements and calculations of the accumulated weighted averages of the measurements.
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15. A production meat analysis method which comprises the steps of
providing a weigh conveyor, said weigh conveyor including a frame having a first end and a second end, a sensor support member extending upwardly from the frame, a near infrared sensor secured to the sensor support member for recording instantaneous content readings for a meat batch, a position encoder roller rotatably mounted to the first end of the conveyor frame, a drive roller rotatably mounted to the second end of the conveyor frame, a conveyor belt, the belt being rotatably mounted to the position encoder roller and to the drive roller, a load cell and a load cell bar, the load cell bar extending generally perpendicularly across the conveyor belt such that meat product passing along the belt at the point of the load cell registers an instantaneous meat batch weight measurement, electronically connecting a computer to the sensor and the load conveyor for calculating and recording batch weighted averages, and displaying real time and/or average batch content information on a display monitor, wherein the batch content information can be used to make manual or automatic adjustments to the batch content.
Specification