Quantitative liquid texture measurement method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11243190-B2
Application number	US-201916704560-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 5, 2019
Priority date	Sep 24, 2015
Publication date	Feb 8, 2022
Grant date	Feb 8, 2022

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;
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 (1) relevant frequencies of the converted acoustic signal and (2) associated intensities for the relevant frequencies; 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 elected 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 comprising: viscosity, density, mouthfeel, astringency, mouth coating, sweetness, a sensory property, and a rheological property.

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

• G01N33/14

  Beverages · CPC title

• G01N2291/022

  Liquids · CPC title

• G01N2291/02827

  Elastic parameters, strength or force · CPC title

• G01N29/036

  by measuring frequency or resonance of acoustic waves · CPC title