Quantitative Texture Measurement Apparatus and Method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018011069-A1
Application number	US-201715711592-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 21, 2017
Priority date	Sep 24, 2015
Publication date	Jan 11, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

A non-destructive measurement apparatus and method for quantitatively measuring texture of a food snack is disclosed. The apparatus includes a laser generating tool, an ultrasound excitation device, an acoustic capturing device, an ultrasound capturing device and a data processing unit. The laser generating tool and the ultrasound excitation tool direct energy towards a food snack placed on a surface and produce an acoustic signal and an ultrasound signal. The data processing unit further comprises a digital signal processing module that processes the received acoustic signal and ultrasound 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 . An apparatus for quantitative non-destructive texture attribute measurement of a food product comprising:
a housing; a laser generator attached to said housing; an acoustic capturing device proximally located to said housing; an ultrasound excitation device proximally located to said housing; an ultrasound capturing device proximally positioned with respect to said acoustic capturing device; a data processing unit in communication with at least said acoustic capturing device and at least said ultrasound capturing device; wherein a laser from said laser generator is directed to strike said food product, thereby producing an acoustic signal to be detected by said acoustic capturing device; and an ultrasound wave from said ultrasound exciting device is directed to strike said food product, thereby producing an ultrasound signal to be detected by said ultrasound capturing device; wherein further said data processing unit is configured to quantitatively measure said texture attribute of said food product based on input from said acoustic capturing device input from said ultrasound capturing device.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said ultrasound excitation device is a non-contact transducer.

3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said ultrasound excitation device is a contact transducer.

4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said food product is placed on a stationary surface when said laser or said ultrasound wave strikes said food product.

5 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said food product is passing within said housing when said laser or said ultrasound wave strikes said food product.

6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said ultrasound capturing device is configured to capture frequencies in said ultrasound signal; said frequencies range from 0.1 MHz to 6 MHz.

7 . aratus of claim 1 , wherein ablation does not occur when said laser strikes said food product.

8 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the laser generator is configured to generate the laser that imparts fluence within a range of 0.15 mJ/cm 2 to 700 mJ/mm 2 .

9 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said food product is a starch based food snack.

10 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said laser and said ultrasound excitation signal are configured to strike said food product simultaneously.

11 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said laser and said ultrasound excitation signal are configured to strike said food product at different times.

12 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said texture attribute is selected from a group comprising: hardness, fracturability, tooth-pack, crispiness, denseness, roughness of mass, moistness of mass, residual greasiness, surface roughness, and surface oiliness.

13 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said food product remains intact after said strike from said laser generator or said ultrasound excitation device.

14 . A non-destructive photo acoustic quantitative method for measuring texture attribute of a food product, said method comprises the steps of:
a) striking a surface of a food product with a laser, thereby generating an acoustic signal from a surface of said food product; b) exciting a food product with a ultrasound excitation device, thereby generating an ultrasound signal from said food product; c) capturing said acoustic signal with an acoustic capturing device; d) capturing said ultrasound signal with an ultrasound capturing device; e) sending said acoustic signal and said ultrasound signal to a data processing unit; f) converting said acoustic signal and said ultrasound signal from a time domain to a frequency domain; g) identifying relevant frequencies and their associated intensities; and h) quantifying said texture attribute of said food product based on said relevant frequencies and said associated intensities.

15 . The method of claim 14 wherein said food product is moving on a production line during said striking step or said exciting step.

16 . The method of claim 14 wherein the laser imparts fluence within a range of 0.15 mJ/cm 2 to 700 mJ/mm 2 at the food product.

17 . The method of claim 14 , wherein said food product is a starch based food snack.

18 . The method of claim 14 , wherein said striking step and said exciting step occur concurrently.

19 . The method of claim 14 , wherein said striking step and said exciting step occur non-concurrently.

20 . The method of claim 14 wherein said texture attribute is selected from a group comprising: hardness, fracturability, tooth-pack, crispiness, denseness, roughness of mass, moistness of mass, residual greasiness, surface roughness, and surface oiliness.

21 . An apparatus for non-contact construction of a micro-structure image of a layer of a food product, comprising:
a housing; a laser generator attached to said housing; said laser generator configured to generate a laser array; at least one acoustic capturing device proximally located to said housing; a data processing unit in communication with said acoustic capturing device; wherein a laser from said laser is directed to strike said food product at a plurality of locations, thereby producing an acoustic signal to be detected by said at least one acoustic capturing device; wherein further said data processing unit is configured to construct an microstructure image of a layer of said food product based on said acoustic signal.

22 . A non-contact method for constructing a microstructure image of a layer of a food product, said method comprises the steps of:
a) striking a surface of a food product with a laser array, thereby generating an acoustic signal from a surface of said food product; b) capturing said acoustic signal with at least one acoustic capturing device; c) sending said acoustic signal to a data processing unit coupled to at least one said acoustic capturing device; d) converting said acoustic signal from a time domain to a frequency domain; e) identifying relevant frequencies and their associated intensities; and f) constructing an microstructure image of said layer based on said relevant frequencies and said associated intensities.

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

• G01B17/08

  for measuring roughness or irregularity of surfaces · CPC title

• G01H9/008

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

• G01N2291/0289

  Internal structure, e.g. defects, grain size, texture · CPC title

• G01N33/10 Primary

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

• G01B11/30

  for measuring roughness or irregularity of surfaces · CPC title