Integrated meat processing and information handling method

• US 6,546,304 B2
• Filed: 05/29/2001
• Issued: 04/08/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Marel Hf
• Original Assignee: Marel Hf
• Inventors: Kristinsson, Kristinn A., Thorvaldsson, Bjorn, Gudjonsson, Petur
• Primary Examiner(s): Picard, Leo
• Assistant Examiner(s): KOSOWSKI, ALEXANDER J
• Application Number:
  US09/866,579
• Publication Number:
  US 20020004366A1
• Time in Patent Office: 679 Days
• Field of Search: 700/115, 700/116, 700/112
• US Class Current: 700/115
• CPC Class Codes: A22B 5/0064 for classifying or grading carcasses; for measuring back fat
• CPC Class Codes: A22C 17/0093 Handling, transporting or packaging pieces of meat

Abstract

The present invention relates to a process and an application for handling information in relation to meat being conveyed through a number of processing stations. The information is used to trace the processing history of a piece of meat, including its origination. The ability to trace the processing history may be used e.g. in order to trace back sources of contamination and for verification of the status and quality, weight etc. of the meat. The information is furthermore useful for the workers processing the meat at the stations or useful for the control and management of the meat processing plant.

Claims

1. An integrated meat processing and information handling method for processing a meat product, said method comprising:

receiving a meat product at a receiving area;

obtaining information related to the meat product and storing the information in a computer system;

selecting at least one cutting rule for said meat product based on said information, wherein said at least one cutting rule is used for guidance in processing the meat product;

selecting at least one processing station to process said meat product;

providing said at least one processing station with said at least one cutting rule;

transferring said meat product between said at least one processing station, while tracking its position;

processing said meat product in terms of said at least one cutting rule into smaller meat products; and

transferring said smaller meat products to a packing area, while tracking their position,

wherein at the packing area each of said smaller meat products is provided with at least one information related to the initial meat product.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein selecting at least one cutting station is performed by an operator.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein an integrated meat processing area comprises:

a de-bone area, where the meat product is de-boned;

a slicing area, where said de-boned meat product is cut into smaller meat products; and

a packing area for packing and labelling said smaller meat products,

wherein said smaller meat products are provided with at least one information related to the initial meat product.

4. The method according claim 1, wherein the information related to the initial meat product comprises at least one of an identification number pointing to the origination the meat product, weight, fat percentage, type, and veterinarian inspection.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the meat product is weighed and a result stored in a computer system before entering said at least one processing station.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

cutting the meat product into at least two pieces, and

storing in the computer system information related to said at least two pieces of cut meat.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein processing said meat product in terms of said at least one cutting rule comprises cutting the meat product into smaller meat products.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein a worker is provided with a graphical presentation of instructions of how to cut the meat product.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the graphical presentation is a graphical picture illustrating how to cut the meat product with the name of the meat product being processed and a set of instructions matching the meat product.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the smaller meat product is at least one of:

fat, bones, trimmings, T-bones, sirloin, and primary products.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein information related to the processing is stored in the computer system.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the information related to the processing is the quality of the processing.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the information related to the processing is the duration of the processing.

14. The method according to claim 11, wherein the information related to the processing is the time of the processing.

15. The method according to claim 11, wherein the information related to the processing is the yield of the processing.

16. The method according to claim 11, wherein the information related to the processing is the information related to a worker involved in the processing.

17. The method according to claim 11, wherein the information related to the processing is the performance of the worker.

18. A method according to claim 17, wherein the performance of the worker is compared with a reference measure stored in the computer system and wherein a log file comprising the comparison is stored in the computer system.

19. The method according to claim 1, wherein said smaller meat products are placed in at least one buffer.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the number of buffers is four, where one buffer is configured to store primal products, one buffer is configured to store fat and two buffers are configured to store trim.

21. The method according to claim 19, wherein at least one of said buffers is released on a predetermined time-interval.

22. The method according to claim 20, wherein once the primal product is ready in the buffer the operator makes a confirmation to the system.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein the confirmation includes a type of smaller meat product to be released.

24. The method according to claim 22, wherein the confirmation includes an indication that all meat products have been processed.

25. The method according to claim 23, wherein the released smaller meat products are weighed and a result stored in the computer system.

26. The method according to claim 1, wherein the tracking comprises:

registering in the computer system information related to a position of a meat product;

forwarding the meat product to a processing station;

registering in the computer system information related to a sequence of meat products entering the processing station and smaller meat products leaving the processing station; and

processing the information so as to determine the position of the meat product or the smaller meat products.

27. The method according to claim 1, wherein the station determines the identification of a worker by means of Radio Frequency tag once the worker enters a processing station.

28. The method according to claim 27, wherein the processing station determines whether the worker is skilled or un-skilled based upon said identification of the worker.

29. The method according to claim 1, further comprising examining the quality of the meat product and the processing at a quality control station, wherein the meat product can be removed from a conveyor belt and can re-enter the conveyor belt without losing the information record of the meat product.

30. The method according to claim 29, wherein said quality control station may add information to the information record such as information related to the quality of the meat product or information related to performance of the workers.

31. The method according to claim 29, wherein the quality control station takes more samples of meat product from a worker that has been careless in processing the meat products.

32. An integrated meat processing and information handling system for processing a meat product, said system comprising:

means for obtaining information related to the meat product;

storage means for electronically storing said information;

computing means for processing the stored information;

means for utilizing the stored information for selecting at least one cutting rule for guidance in processing the meat product;

tracking means for tracking a position of said meat product;

at least one processing station for processing the meat product in terms of said at least one cutting rule into smaller meat products;

transporting means for transporting said meat product between at least one processing station;

communicating means for communicating to the processing stations and the computing means; and

means for transferring the processed meat product to a packing area where said processed meat product is packed and labelled with at least one of said information.

33. The system according to claim 32, wherein the computing means is a computer system connected to at least one processing station.

34. The system according to claim 33, wherein the computer system handles information related to the meat product and the position of the meat product and a conveyor system.

35. The system according to claim 32, further comprising an information terminal at the processing station configured to provide an operator with information relating to the processing of the meat.

36. The system according to claim 35, wherein said information terminal is a computer terminal.

37. The system according to claim 35, wherein the information terminal is controlled by the computer system.

38. The system according to claim 32, wherein the transporting means is a conveyor belt.

39. The system according to claim 32, wherein the tracking means is based on arranging a plurality of sensors in a number of places along a conveyor belt.

40. The system according to claim 39, wherein the tracking means is based keeping track on index pulses in a conveyor system.

41. The system according to claim 32, further comprising a weighing means for weighing the meat product or the smaller meat products.

42. The system according to claim 32, further comprising a weighing means for weighing the smaller meat product.

43. The system according to claim 41, wherein the weighing means is at least one of a dynamic scale and a static scale.

44. The system according to claim 32, further comprising a packing station for packing and labelling packed smaller meat products.

45. The system according to claim 44, wherein the processing station comprises:

at least one de-bone station, where said meat product is de-boned,

at least one slicing station, where said de-boned meat product is processed into smaller meat products, and

at least one packing station for packing and labelling said smaller meat products.

46. The system according to claim 45, wherein at least one of the processing station is configured to read an identification information from an operator.