Method of linking a food source with a food product

• US 6,859,672 B2
• Filed: 10/04/2001
• Issued: 02/22/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Cryovac Incorporated (Sealed Air)
• Original Assignee: Cryovac Incorporated (Sealed Air)
• Inventors: Esakov, Michael, Roberts, William P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Knight, Anthony
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pham, Thomas
• Application Number:
  US09/971,336
• Publication Number:
  US 20030069772A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,237 Days
• Field of Search: 700/89, 452/150, 452/155, 452/157, 452/158, 706/21
• US Class Current: 700/89
• CPC Class Codes: A22C 17/10 Marking meat or sausages marking animals A01K11/00; labelling B65C
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

A method of linking source units of food with product items that include at least a portion of one or more of the source units of food, where a conversion process produces a plurality of product items from a plurality of source units (e.g., at a meat processing plant). A conversion algorithm is created to estimate within a desired confidence level a range of the amount of time required by the conversion process to produce a product item from one or more of the source units of food. A range of an amount of conversion time required to produce a selected product item is estimated by applying the conversion algorithm. The estimated range amount of conversion time for the selected product item is subtracted from the time of exit from the conversion process for the selected product item to generate an estimated time range of entry. Each source unit having a time of entry into the conversion process within the estimated time range of entry is identified.

Claims

1. A method of linking source units of food with a product item that includes at least a portion of one or more of the source units of food, where a conversion process produces a plurality of product items from a plurality of source units, the method comprising:

creating a conversion algorithm that estimates within a desired confidence level a range of the amount of time required by the conversion process to produce a product item from one or more of the source units of food;

recording the time of entry into the conversion process for each source unit within a desired time period;

recording the time of exit from the conversion process for each product item within the desired time period;

selecting a product item to be linked, wherein the selected product item has a given time of exit from the conversion process;

estimating a range of an amount of conversion time required to produce the selected product item by applying the conversion algorithm;

subtracting the estimated range amount of conversion time for the selected product item from the time of exit for the selected product item to generate an estimated time range of entry; and

identifying each source unit having a time of entry within the estimated time range of entry.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein at least two source units having a time of entry within the estimated time range of entry are identified.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the conversion algorithm comprises an equation.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the conversion algorithm comprises a set of rules.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the conversion algorithm is created by utilizing empirical data.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the creation of the conversion algorithm utilizes empirical data derived from DNA tracing.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the creation of the conversion algorithm utilizes empirical data derived from video monitoring selected objects produced during the conversion process.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the creation of the conversion algorithm utilizes empirical data derived from marking or tagging selected objects produced during the conversion process.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein each source unit is selected from animals and objects derived from animals.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein each source unit is selected from cows, sheep, pigs, and objects derived therefrom.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein desired confidence level is less than 100%.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the desired confidence level ranges from about 50% to about 99%.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the conversion process comprises a meat processing process.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the times of entry and exit are recorded in a computer; and

the computer uses the conversion algorithm to estimate the range of the amount of conversion time required to produce the selected product item.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein a computer applies the algorithm to estimate the range of an amount of conversion time.

16. The method of claim 1 further comprising recording a characteristic of the source unit in addition to the time of entry.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the recorded time of entry of each source unit comprises the date, hour, and minute of entry.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the conversion algorithm accounts for the weight attribute of a source unit.

19. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

associating each of the source units within the desired time period with a unique source unit identifier;

associating each of the product items within the desired time period with a unique product item identifier;

linking in a computer database the time of entry into the conversion process of each source unit with its corresponding source unit identifier; and

linking in a computer database the time of exit from the conversion process of each product item with its corresponding product item identifier.

20. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

associating each of the product items within the desired time period with a unique product item identifier;

linking in a computer database the time of exit from the conversion process of each product item with its corresponding product item identifier; and

packaging each of the product items in a package, wherein the package has been marked with the unique product item identifier before the product item was produced.

21. A method of linking a source unit of food with one or more product items derived from the source unit, where a conversion process produces a plurality of product items from a plurality of source units, the method comprising:

creating a conversion algorithm that estimates within a desired confidence level a range of the amount of time required by the conversion process to process a source unit of food into one or more product items;

recording the time of entry into the conversion process for each source unit within a desired time period;

recording the time of exit from the conversion process for each product item within the desired time period;

selecting a source unit to be linked, wherein the source unit has a given time of entry into the conversion process;

estimating a range of an amount of conversion time required to process the selected source unit by applying the conversion algorithm;

adding the estimated range amount of conversion time for processing the selected source unit to the time of entry for the selected source unit to generate an estimated time range of exit; and

identifying each product item having a time of exit within the estimated time range of exit.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein at least two product items having a time of exit within the estimated time range of exit are identified.

23. The method of claim 21 wherein the conversion algorithm comprises an equation.

24. The method of claim 21 wherein the conversion algorithm comprises a set of rules.

25. The method of claim 21 wherein the conversion algorithm is created by utilizing empirical data.

26. The method of claim 21 wherein the creation of the conversion algorithm utilizes empirical data derived from DNA tracing.

27. The method of claim 21 wherein the creation of the conversion algorithm utilizes empirical data derived from video monitoring selected objects produced during the conversion process.

28. The method of claim 21 wherein the creation of the conversion algorithm utilizes empirical data derived from marking or tagging selected objects produced during the conversion process.

29. The method of claim 21 wherein each product item comprises an object derived from an animal.

30. The method of claim 21 wherein each product item comprises an object derived from an animal selected from cows, sheep, and pigs.

31. The method of claim 21 wherein desired confidence level is less than 100%.

32. The method of claim 21 wherein the desired confidence level ranges from about 50% to about 99%.

33. The method of claim 21 wherein the conversion process comprises a meat processing process.

34. The method of claim 21 wherein:

the times of entry and exit are recorded in a computer; and

the computer uses the conversion algorithm to estimate the range of the amount of conversion time required to process the selected source unit.

35. The method of claim 21 wherein a computer applies the algorithm to estimate the range of an amount of conversion time.

36. The method of claim 21 further comprising recording a characteristic of the product item in addition to the time of exit.

37. The method of claim 21 wherein the recorded time of exit of each product item comprises the date, hour, and minute of exit.

38. The method of claim 21 wherein the conversion algorithm accounts for variations in the characteristics of the product item.

39. The method of claim 21 further comprising:

associating each of the source units within the desired time period with a unique source unit identifier;

associating each of the product items within the desired time period with a unique product item identifier;

linking in a computer database the time of entry into the conversion process of each source unit with its corresponding source unit identifier; and

linking in a computer database the time of exit from the conversion process of each product item with its corresponding product item identifier.

40. The method of claim 21 further comprising:

associating each of the product items within the desired time period with a unique product item identifier;

linking in a computer database the time of exit from the conversion process of each product item with its corresponding product item identifier; and

packaging each of the product items in a package, wherein the package has been marked with the unique product item identifier before the product item was produced.

41. A method of linking a product item to a plurality of product items, where a conversion process produces a plurality of product items from a plurality of source units, the method comprising:

creating a conversion algorithm that estimates within a desired confidence level a range of the amount of time required by the conversion process to produce a product item from one or more of the source units of food;

recording the time of entry into the conversion process for each source unit within a desired time period;

recording the time of exit from the conversion process for each product item within the desired time period;

selecting a target product item, wherein the target product item has a given time of exit from the conversion process;

estimating a range of an amount of conversion time required to produce the target product item by applying the conversion algorithm using a first desired confidence level;

subtracting the estimated range amount of conversion time for the target product item from the time of exit for the target product item to generate an estimated time range of entry;

identifying each source unit having a time of entry within the estimated time range of entry;

applying the conversion algorithm using a second desired confidence level to estimate for each identified source unit a range of an amount of process conversion time;

adding the estimated amount of process conversion time for each identified source unit to the time of entry for each identified source unit to generate one or more estimated time ranges of exit; and

identifying each product item having a time of exit within the one or more estimated time ranges of exit.

42. The method of claim 41 wherein the first and second desired confidence levels are the same.

43. The method of claim 41 wherein the first and second desired confidence levels are different.

44. A method of recall comprising recalling each product item identified by the method of claim 41.

45. A method of linking a source unit of food with a product item that includes at least a portion of the source unit of food, where a conversion process produces a plurality of product items from a plurality of source units, the method comprising:

creating a conversion algorithm that estimates a most likely amount of time required by the conversion process to produce a product item from at least one source unit of food;

recording the time of entry into the conversion process for each source unit within a desired time period;

recording the time of exit from the conversion process for each product item within the desired time period;

selecting a product item to be linked, wherein the selected product item has a given time of exit from the conversion process;

estimating a most likely amount of conversion time required to produce the selected product item by applying the conversion algorithm;

subtracting the estimated most likely amount of conversion time from the time of exit for the selected product item to generate an estimated time of entry; and

identifying the source unit having a time of entry closest to the estimated time of entry.

46. A method of linking a source unit of food with one or more product items derived from the source unit, where a conversion process produces a plurality of product items from a plurality of source units, the method comprising:

creating a conversion algorithm that estimates a most likely amount of time required by the conversion process to process a source unit of food into at least one product item;

recording the time of entry into the conversion process for each source unit within a desired time period;

recording the time of exit from the conversion process for each product item within the desired time period;

selecting a source unit to be linked, wherein the source unit has a given time of entry into the conversion process;

estimating a most likely amount of conversion time required to process the selected source unit by applying the conversion algorithm;

adding the estimated most likely amount of conversion time to the time of entry for the selected source unit to generate an estimated time of exit; and

identifying each product item having a time of exit corresponding to the estimated time of exit.