SHRIMP PROCESSING SYSTEM AND METHODS
First Claim
1. A method for processing peeled shrimps, comprising:
- depositing deheaded, peeled shrimps onto a support surface;
creating a digital image of the shrimps on the support surface;
estimating the percentage of full weight of each of the shrimps from the digital image;
classifying each of the shrimps into one of a plurality of classes according to the percentage of full weight of each of the shrimps.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and systems using a vision system to process shrimp. The vision system captures images of samples of shrimps. The processor produces a digital image of the shrimps in the samples. Shrimps exiting a peeler are imaged to determine the number of tail segments in each. The shrimps are classified by the number of intact segments, and quality, yield, and throughput computed from the classification results. The processor can control operational settings of the peeler based on the classification results. In a larger system including other shrimp-processing equipment besides the peeler, other points along the processing path can be imaged by camera or sensed by other sensors to determine processing quality and to make automatic operational adjustments to the equipment.
28 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method for processing peeled shrimps, comprising:
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depositing deheaded, peeled shrimps onto a support surface; creating a digital image of the shrimps on the support surface; estimating the percentage of full weight of each of the shrimps from the digital image; classifying each of the shrimps into one of a plurality of classes according to the percentage of full weight of each of the shrimps. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 30, 31)
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22. A shrimp-processing system comprising:
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a shrimp peeling machine removing the heads and shells from shrimp to produce peeled shrimps; a conveyor conveying the peeled shrimps from the shrimp peeling machine to downstream processing; a vision system capturing a digital image of peeled shrimps; a processor determining the number of tail segments present in each of the shrimps from the digital image and classifying each of the shrimps into one of a plurality of classes according to the number of tail segments present in each of the shrimps. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 32)
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25. A shrimp-processing system comprising:
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a peeler for removing the shells and heads from unpeeled shrimps to produce peeled shrimps; a feed system feeding unpeeled shrimps to the peeler; a conveyor system conveying peeled shrimps from the peeler downstream along a process path; one or more shrimp-processing machines downstream of the peeler in the process path acting on the peeled shrimps; one or more sensors detecting one or more operational variables of the shrimp-processing machines or of the peeler or physical characteristics of the shrimp and producing sensor signals indicative of the one or more operational variables; a processor receiving the sensor signals and deriving control signals from the sensor signals and sending the control signals to the peeler or the one or more shrimp-processing machines to adjust one or more operational settings. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27)
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28. A shrimp-processing system comprising:
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a shrimp peeling machine removing the heads and shells from shrimp to produce peeled shrimps; a conveyor conveying the peeled shrimps from the shrimp peeling machine to downstream processing; a vision system capturing a digital image of shrimps peeled by the shrimp peeling machine; a processor determining the percentage of full weight of each of the imaged peeled shrimps from the digital image and classifying each of the imaged peeled shrimps into one of a plurality of classes according to the percentage of full weight of each of the imaged peeled shrimps. - View Dependent Claims (29)
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Specification