Quantitative liquid texture measurement apparatus and methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10605787-B2
Application number	US-201816132830-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 17, 2018
Priority date	Sep 24, 2015
Publication date	Mar 31, 2020
Grant date	Mar 31, 2020

Abstract

A photo acoustic non-destructive measurement apparatus and method for quantitatively measuring texture of a liquid. The apparatus includes a laser generating tool, an acoustic capturing device, and a data processing unit. The laser generating tool directs a laser towards a surface of a liquid contained in a container and creates pressure waves that propagate through the air and produce an acoustic signal. The acoustic capturing device records and forwards the signal to a data processing unit. The data processing unit further comprises a digital signal processing module that processes the received acoustic signal. A statistical processing module further filters the acoustic signal from the data processing unit and generates a quantitative acoustic model for texture attributes such as hardness and fracturability. The quantitative model is correlated with a qualitative texture measurement from a descriptive expert panel. Textures of liquids are quantitatively measured with the quantitative acoustic model.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A photo acoustic quantitative method for measuring a texture attribute of a liquid, the method comprising the steps:
a) striking a surface of the liquid with a laser and creating an arc, thereby generating an acoustic signal from the struck surface of the liquid, the laser imparting a fluence at the surface of the liquid, the fluence being within a range of 1 mJ/cm 2 to 700 mJ/mm 2 ;
b) capturing the acoustic signal with an acoustic capturing device positioned above the struck surface of the liquid;
c) sending the acoustic signal to a data processing unit coupled to the acoustic capturing device;
d) converting the acoustic signal from a time domain to a frequency domain;
e) identifying relevant frequencies and their associated intensities in the converted acoustic signal; and
f) quantifying the texture attribute of the liquid based on the relevant frequencies and the associated intensities.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the liquid is contained in an open container when the laser strikes the liquid.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the liquid is passing within a tube when the laser strikes the liquid.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the laser strikes the liquid at multiple locations of the liquid.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the acoustic capturing device captures the acoustic signal for a period of 1 second to 5 minutes.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the laser strikes the liquid continuously for a period of 1 micro second to 10 seconds.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the liquid is selected from a group consisting of: carbonated beverage, non-carbonated beverage, hot liquids, wine, coffee, and cold beverages.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the texture attribute is selected from a group consisting of: viscosity, density, mouthfeel, astringency, mouth coating, sweetness, a sensory property, and a rheological property.

9. A quantitative method for formulating a liquid composition to provide a targeted texture attribute for consumers, the method comprising the steps:
i) conducting a tasting test with at least one consumer with a plurality of liquids;
ii) identifying a qualitative measure of the texture attribute for each consumer and each of the plurality of liquids;
iii) assigning a texture score for each of the plurality of liquids based on each corresponding qualitative measure;
iv) characterizing the texture attribute of each of the plurality of liquids with the photo acoustic quantitative method of claim 1 ;
v) correlating each assigned texture score with the corresponding relevant frequencies and their associated intensities identified in step e) of claim 1 for each of the plurality of liquids; and
vi) using the identified relevant frequencies and their associated intensities to determine whether a liquid formulation has the targeted texture attribute.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the texture attribute is selected from a group consisting of: viscosity, density, mouthfeel, astringency, mouth coating, sweetness, a sensory property, and a rheological property.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein step vi) comprises using the identified relevant frequencies and their associated intensities to identify at least one liquid formulation in a plurality of liquid formulations that has the targeted texture attribute.

Assignees

• Frito Lay North America Inc

Inventors

• Bai Ou
• Bourg Jr Wilfred Marcellien
• Fagan Scott
• Michel-Sanchez Enrique
• Mirza Shahmeer Ali
• Richardson Scott G
• Shao Chen C

Classifications

• G01N33/10

  Starch-containing substances, e.g. dough · CPC title

• G01N29/036

  by measuring frequency or resonance of acoustic waves · CPC title

• G01N2291/022

  Liquids · CPC title

• G01H9/008

  by using ultrasonic waves (measuring position using ultrasonic waves G01S15/02) · CPC title

• G01N33/14

  Beverages · CPC title