Ultrasonic system for grading meat
US6167759A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 8, 2000 |
| Grant date | Jan 2, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 8, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01N2291/048
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An ultrasonic system for grading meat transmits an ultrasonic signal into the meat and detects the resulting back-scattered signal. The envelope of the back-scattered signal is determined. A decaying exponential curve having the form y=exp(-Dt) is fitted to the envelope, where D is the attenuation factor for the curve and t is time. A grade of the meat is then determined as a function of the attenuation factor. It may be possible to improve the accuracy of this approach by measuring the total back-scattered energy from the back-signal and generating a grade for the meat based on a polynomial function of both the attenuation factor and the total back-scattered energy. Optionally, accuracy may be further enhanced by removing any anomalies in the back-scattered signal resulting from fat deposits in the meat before calculating the attenuation factor.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.