FEEDBACK CONTROL OF FOOD TEXTURE SYSTEM AND METHOD
First Claim
1. A feedback system for controlling texture of a food product in a continuous manufacturing process, wherein said system comprises:
- a food pre-processing unit;
a food processing unit;
a texture measuring tool positioned downstream from said food processing unit, wherein said texture measuring tool is configured to quantitatively measure a texture attribute of said food product that is output from said food processing unit by use of a laser to excite a portion of a food product and an acoustic capturing device to capture an acoustic signal generated by the laser excitation;
said texture measuring tool configured to measure said texture attribute non-invasively;
said texture measuring tool further configured to convert said acoustic signal from a time domain to frequency domain; 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
24 Claims
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1. A feedback 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 processing unit, wherein said texture measuring tool is configured to quantitatively measure a texture attribute of said food product that is output from said food processing unit by use of a laser to excite a portion of a food product and an acoustic capturing device to capture an acoustic signal generated by the laser excitation;
said texture measuring tool configured to measure said texture attribute non-invasively;
said texture measuring tool further configured to convert said acoustic signal from a time domain to frequency domain; anda 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)
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13. A feedback method for controlling texture of a food product in a food manufacturing process, said method comprises the steps of:
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(1) processing food ingredients in a food processing unit to produce said food product; (2) measuring a texture attribute of said food product with a texture measuring tool; (3) determining if said texture attribute is within an acceptable limit, if so, proceeding to step (6); (4) if said texture attribute is outside an acceptable limit in step (3), rejecting said food product; (5) feeding back information to said food processing unit to adjust input parameters to said food processing unit, proceeding to step (1); and (6) accepting said food product and proceeding to step (1). - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. 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, wherein said texture measuring tool is configured to quantitatively measure an input attribute of food ingredients that are input to said food pre-processing unit by use of a laser to excite a portion of said food ingredients and an acoustic capturing device to capture the acoustic signal generated by the laser excitation;
said texture measuring tool configured to measure said texture attribute non-invasively;
said texture measuring tool further configured to convert said acoustic signal from a time domain to frequency domain; anda 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 (19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A feedforward method for controlling output texture of a food product, said method comprises the steps of:
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(1) measuring an input texture attribute of food ingredients with an input texture measuring tool; (2) determining if said input texture attribute value is within an acceptable input limit, if so, proceeding to step (4); (3) rejecting said food ingredients and proceeding to step (1); (4) programming plural input parameters to a food processing unit based on said input texture attribute value; (5) producing food product from said food processing unit; and (6) measuring an output texture attribute and proceeding to step (1). - View Dependent Claims (24)
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Specification