Primal tracking

• US 6,104,966 A
• Filed: 05/28/1998
• Issued: 08/15/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Barclays Bank PLC (Barclays PLC)
• Original Assignee: Swift & Company (JBS USA Lux SA)
• Inventors: Haagensen, Peter
• Primary Examiner(s): Palys, Joseph E.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Marc, McDieunel, Marc, McDieunel
• Application Number:
  US09/086,218
• Time in Patent Office: 810 Days
• Field of Search: 221/1, 221/5, 221/15, 221/211, 221/273, 209/3.3, 700/115, 700/117, 700/116, 452/149, 452/150, 452/166, 426/641, 426/464, 426/480
• US Class Current: 700/116
• CPC Class Codes: A22B 5/007 Non-invasive scanning of carcasses, e.g. using image recognition, tomography, X-rays, ultrasound analysing meat, e.g. search for foreign embedded objects G01N33/12; image analysis G06T7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 17/0022 arrangements or provisious for transferring data to distant stations, e.g. from a sensing device "transfer between computer elements G06F13/00 "; data-transmission H04L
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management

Abstract

A method and system for tracking and identifying food products as they are being processed is disclosed, wherein no tags or encodings are attached to the food products, and wherein there is no extraneous manipulation of the food products. The tracking system of the present invention utilizes sensor input from substantially any sensor capable of detecting a food product in some manner. That is, the tracking system uses binary detect/no detect inputs for determining whether a food product can be identified at each sensor along a predetermined path. Thus, given that a food product has been identified at a particular sensor, the tracking system generates an hypothesis indicative of when the food product is expected to be at the next sensor along the predetermined path. Accordingly, if the next sensor detects a food product within an allotted window, then the food product detected is assumed to be the one to which the hypothesis applies. The tracking system is particularly useful in tracking sections of meat through a meat processing plant so that each section of meat can be associated with data identifying, the animal from which the meat section was obtained, and data indicative of meat section characteristics such as lean-to-fat ratios, color, marbling, and weight.

Claims

1. A device for the tracking of primal meat products within a meat processing plant that has a killing floor and a cutting floor, comprising:

a tracking system that collects data from both a killing floor and a cutting floor in a meat processing plant such that data collected from said killing floor and said cutting floor is combined for each individual primal meat product, said data consisting of information selected from the group consisting of;

(a) hot scale weight average (by lot) and/or (by shift);

(b) hog evaluation average (by lot) and/or (by shift);

(c) average percent of lean meat per carcass (by lot) and/or (by shift);

(c) number of hogs processed per shift;

(e) number of records with missing weights per shift;

(f) cold scale average weight (by lot) and/or (by shift);

(g) average percent of carcass shrinkage (by lot) and/or (by shift);

(h) estimated percent lean meat per carcass using a fat measuring device on the killing floor;

(i) average hams per lot and per shift;

(j) average shoulders per lot and per shift;

(k) average ribs per lot and per shift;

(l) average loins per lot and per shift, and

(m) average bellies per lot and per shift;

said tracking system comprising means for storing said data, said storing means able to associate a particular primal meat product with said data throughout the processing of said primal meat product, said primal meat product, when conveyed through said tracking system, requiring no physical manipulation by a human being.

2. A method for tracking primal meat products, comprising providing the primal meat product to a conveyor for transporting said primal meat product from a first location to a second location;

first sensing one or more measurements of said product with a first sensor while the food product is in motion, said motion induced at least in part by said conveyor;

second sensing one or more measurements of said product with a second sensor while said product is in motion;

combining the one or more measurements of the first step of sensing with one or more measurements of said second step of sensing for obtaining a combination measurement of said product, said measurements selected from the group consisting of;

a color value;

a marbling score;

a yield prediction value, a weight;

a carcass identification;

a measurement related to fat content;

a rate of movement;

an elapsed time interval;

a distance between said first step of sensing and said second step of sensing; and

a measurement related to a movement of said conveyor.

3. An apparatus for tracking primal meat products, comprising means for providing the primal meat product to a conveyor for transporting said primal meat product from a first location to a second location;

means for first sensing one or more measurements of said product with a first sensor while the food product is in motion, said motion induced at least in part by said conveyor;

means for second sensing one or more measurements of said product with a second sensor while said product is in motion;

means for combining the one or more measurements of the first step of sensing with one or more measurements of said second step of sensing for obtaining a combination measurement of said product, said measurements selected from the group consisting of;

a color value;

a marbling score;

a yield prediction value;

a weight;

a carcass identification;

a measurement related to fat content;

a rate of movement;

an elapsed time interval;

a distance between said first step of sensing and said second step of sensing and a measurement related to a movement of said conveyor.