Quantitative liquid texture measurement apparatus and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10942153-B2
Application number	US-201816044565-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 25, 2018
Priority date	Sep 24, 2015
Publication date	Mar 9, 2021
Grant date	Mar 9, 2021

Abstract

A photo acoustic non-destructive measurement apparatus and method for quantitatively measuring texture of a food snack is disclosed. 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 food snack placed on a surface 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. Texture of food snacks are quantitatively measured with the quantitative acoustic model.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for quantitative non-destructive food property measurement of a food product comprising;
a housing;
a laser generator that emits an electromagnetic wave having a wavelength in the range of 470 nm to 1 mm that strikes the food product with a fluence between 15 mJ/mm 2 and 700 mJ/mm 2 to produce an acoustic signal;
an acoustic capturing device configured to capture the acoustic signal;
a data processing unit in communication with at least the acoustic capturing device;
wherein the data processing unit is configured to quantitatively measure the food property of the food product based on input from the acoustic capturing device; the food property selected from a group consisting of: solids content, moisture, density, oil content, thickness, seasoning particle size, sodium, calcium, copper, zinc, magnesium, or potassium.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein shape of the housing is a hollow cylinder.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein shape of the housing is a parabolic dish.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the food product is placed on a stationary surface when the electromagnetic wave strikes the food product.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the food product is passing within said housing when the electromagnetic wave strikes the food product.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the acoustic capturing device is configured to capture frequencies in a range from 0 to 500 KHz.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein a distance between the acoustic capturing device and the product ranges from 2 inch to 2 feet.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the food product is a starch based food snack.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the food product is a potato chip.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the data processing unit further comprises a digital signal processing unit and a computing unit.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the digital signal processing unit is configured to smoothen, transform and filter the acoustic signal to identify relevant frequencies relating to the texture attribute.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the computing unit is configured to calculate said food property from the frequencies captured in the acoustic signal.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the food snack remains intact after the strike from the laser generator.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein the acoustic capturing device is configured to capture the acoustic signal in a single direction.

15. The system of claim 10 wherein the acoustic capturing device is integrated with the digital signal processing unit.

16. A non-destructive photo acoustic quantitative method for measuring a food property of a food product, said method comprising the steps of:
a) striking a surface of a food product with a laser that emits an electromagnetic wave having a wavelength in the range of 470 nm to 1 mm that strikes the food product with a fluence between 15 mJ/mm 2 and 700 mJ/mm to generate an acoustic signal from a surface of the food product;
b) capturing the acoustic signal with an acoustic capturing device;
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; and
f) quantifying the food property of the food product based on the relevant frequencies and the associated intensities, the food property selected from a group consisting of: solids content, moisture, density, oil content, thickness, seasoning particle size, sodium, calcium, copper, zinc, magnesium, or potassium.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the food product is moving on a production line when the laser strikes the food product.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the food product is stationary when the laser strikes the food product.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein the food product is a starch based food snack.

20. The method of claim 16 wherein a diameter of the laser beam ranges from 100 micrometers to 400 micrometers.

Assignees

• Frito Lay North America Inc

Inventors

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

Classifications

• G01N2291/02818

  Density, viscosity · CPC title

• G01N2291/02466

  Biological material, e.g. blood · CPC title

• G01N2291/02827

  Elastic parameters, strength or force · CPC title

• G01N29/12

  by measuring frequency or resonance of acoustic waves {(measuring frequency or resonant frequency of mechanical vibrations or acoustic waves in general G01H1/06, G01H3/04, G01H13/00; acoustic resonators G10K11/04; vibration or shock testing of structures G01M7/00)} · CPC title

• G01N29/4454

  Signal recognition, e.g. specific values or portions, signal events, signatures · CPC title