Portable device for controlling alcoholic beverages through a container, and system and method associated therewith

Abstract

The present invention relates to a portable device for controlling an alcoholic beverage in an at least partially transparent container, comprising: a single light source; a beam splitter; a focusing lens and a collecting lens; a positioning device that allows the light beam from the light source to be oriented along a direction orthogonal to the outer surface of the container, and also allows the outer surface of the container to be positioned at a predetermined distance from the focusing lens, the predetermined distance being selected so that the light beam is focused inside the container, and the distance from the wall of the container is less than 1 mm, and also includes a through opening for the light beam from the light source to pass; a filtering device for filtering the fluorescent radiation captured by the focusing lens and transmitted through the beam splitter so as to eliminate wavelengths less than or equal to the wavelength of the light beam emitted by the light source; a spectrometer module for generating a signal corresponding to a measured spectrum of the fluorescent radiation of the beverage; an analysis module for comparing the measured spectrum with a reference spectrum.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of the Chinese invention patent application with application number 201680044967.7, application date July 28, 2016, priority number FR1557433, priority date July 31, 2015, and invention name “Portable device for controlling alcoholic beverages through containers, and systems and methods associated therewith”. Technical Field

[0002] The present invention relates to the field of authentication of contents such as beverages, in particular alcoholic beverages. More specifically, the present invention relates to a device and a method allowing authentication of a beverage through the wall of a container, more particularly when this container is a bottle. Background Art

[0003] The production and marketing costs of high-end alcoholic beverages, such as fine wines and spirits, lead to high sales prices. As is often the case with luxury goods, these high prices lead to fraudulent practices and counterfeiting. As a result, it is common to observe the presence on the market of counterfeit bottles, that is to say bottles that have the appearance of an authentic bottle but are filled with a beverage of a quality far lower than that of the original product. This counterfeiting phenomenon is particularly serious for high-end wines and spirits, such as French brandy.

[0004] For economic, safety and brand image reasons, the manufacturers concerned are vigorously fighting these fraudulent practices and counterfeiting. This fight is particularly reflected in the manufacture of bottles that include increasingly sophisticated anti-counterfeiting devices designed to prevent the exact duplication of the bottle and / or the reuse of the bottle.

[0005] However, counterfeiters also make constant efforts and are able to replicate authentic bottles with such fidelity that it becomes very difficult to distinguish counterfeit bottles from authentic bottles. In other cases, counterfeiters reacquire used bottles that are then filled with non-authentic products.

[0006] Therefore, there is a need to eliminate any doubts about the authenticity of the bottle by directly authenticating the contents themselves. Of course, since it is impossible to open every bottle whose authenticity is in question, such authentication should be possible through the wall of the bottle.

[0007] In addition, this authentication problem occurs in a variety of places related to different players in the distribution chain (agents, dealers, etc.). The diversity of these players and their potential deviation from the origin means that there is a need for portable, easy-to-use and cheap authentication equipment, as well as a need for reliable and efficient (especially in terms of timeliness) authentication methods. Summary of the invention

[0008] The present invention is directed to meeting these needs.

[0009] To this end, the present invention relates to a portable device for controlling an alcoholic beverage in an at least partially transparent container, comprising:

[0010] - a single light source emitting a monochromatic excitation light beam having a wavelength between 350 nanometers and 650 nanometers;

[0011] - a beam splitter oriented at 45° relative to the emission direction of the light source to reflect the excitation light beam;

[0012] - Focusing lens and collecting lens;

[0013] - a positioning device allowing to orient the light beam coming from the light source in a direction substantially orthogonal to the outer surface of the container, said positioning device also allowing to position the outer surface of the container at a predetermined distance from the focusing lens, said predetermined distance between the focusing lens and the container being chosen so that the light beam is focused inside the container at a distance from the wall of the container of less than 1 millimeter and preferably less than 500 micrometers, said positioning device comprising a through opening for the passage of the light beam coming from the light source;

[0014] - filtering means for filtering the fluorescent radiation captured by said focusing lens and transmitted by said beam splitter so as to eliminate wavelengths less than or equal to the wavelength of the light beam emitted by said light source;

[0015] - a spectrometer module for generating a signal corresponding to the measured spectrum of the fluorescent radiation of said beverage;

[0016] - an analysis module for comparing said measured spectrum with a reference spectrum.

[0017] By using the phenomenon of fluorescence, the device according to the invention allows the power of the excitation light source to be reduced relative to known devices (in particular devices using the Raman effect) (the intensity of the light emitted during fluorescence is in fact about one million times stronger than Raman scattering). The device according to the invention comprises a single light source, which contributes to the simplicity and portability of the system. In addition, by limiting to wavelengths greater than 350 nanometers, the influence of water molecules and ethanol molecules (which are very dominant in concentration in alcoholic beverages such as wine or spirits) is limited. In fact, water molecules and ethanol molecules do not absorb light radiation with wavelengths greater than 200 nanometers. In addition, by providing a component known as a "reflection" component, the attenuation of the fluorescence radiation is limited. In addition, the 180° angle of incidence between the emitted rays and the reflected fluorescence rays allows minimizing the undesirable effects caused by the wall of the container, since the traversing thickness will be minimal. Finally, by providing a positioning device, it is ensured that the focus of the emission beam will be at the desired position without the need for any adjustment. The repeatability and reproducibility of the measurement are thus optimized.

[0018] In one embodiment, the beam splitter is a dichroic filter, in particular a high pass dichroic filter (with respect to wavelength).

[0019] In one embodiment, the filtering device comprises a notch-type band-stop filter and / or a high-pass filter (with respect to wavelength).

[0020] In one embodiment, the spectrometer module is linked to the filtering device via an optical fiber.

[0021] In one embodiment, the positioning device comprises a contact surface configured to be complementary to an outer surface of the container.

[0022] In one embodiment, the device comprises a display device, in particular allowing display of the result of the comparison between the measured spectrum and the reference spectrum.

[0023] In one embodiment, the device comprises a housing secured to the positioning device.

[0024] In one embodiment, the housing comprises all components of the device.

[0025] In one embodiment, the positioning device is connected to the housing via a flexible connection, the focusing lens is integrated into the positioning device, and the flexible connection includes an optical fiber for transmitting the light beam through the focusing lens.

[0026] In one embodiment, the analysis module and the display device are included in an additional portable device, such as a tablet computer or a mobile phone.

[0027] In one embodiment, the device comprises connection means to a remote database.

[0028] The invention also relates to a system for controlling alcoholic beverages, said system comprising a device as defined above and a database stored in a server remote from said device.

[0029] In one embodiment, the database comprises one or more reference spectra which can be downloaded by the device.

[0030] The invention further relates to a method for controlling an alcoholic beverage through an at least partially transparent container, the method comprising the following steps:

[0031] - acquiring a fluorescence spectrum of the beverage through the wall of the container;

[0032] - normalize the distribution of the measured spectrum relative to the maximum intensity of the reference spectrum;

[0033] - calculating a similarity factor between the measured spectrum and the reference spectrum;

[0034] - Determining whether the beverage is authentic based on the obtained value of the similarity factor.

[0035] The control method according to the invention has many advantages. Due to the step of normalizing the measured spectrum, for example the maximum intensity relative to the reference spectrum, dispersions due to temperature variations of the controlled contents and variations of the characteristics of the container, in particular the dimensional characteristics, are avoided. This normalization step also allows to collect a signal of sufficient quality to be correctly analyzed with a low-power excitation source. Moreover, the step of comparing the measured spectrum with the reference spectrum, which involves the calculation of a similarity factor, requires very limited computing power, which is now available on mobile phones of the "smartphone" type.

[0036] In one embodiment, the fluorescence spectrum is acquired by using a source that emits a monochromatic beam at a wavelength between 350 nanometers and 650 nanometers.

[0037] In one embodiment, the similarity factor is calculated over a predetermined wavelength range, such as a wavelength range between 550 nanometers and 650 nanometers.

[0038] In one embodiment, the similarity factor is calculated by the method known as the least squares method or by an algorithm of the Hausdorff algorithm type.

[0039] In one embodiment, if the similarity factor is greater than 20, the beverage is determined to be inauthentic.

[0040] In one embodiment, the reference spectrum is obtained from measurements of fluorescence spectra measured on a sample of a plurality of real bottles.

[0041] In one embodiment, the method comprises the step of downloading the reference spectra from a remote database.

[0042] In one embodiment, the method is performed using an apparatus and / or a system as defined above. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0043] The invention will be better understood when reading the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0044] - Figure 1 and Figure 2 The device according to the invention is shown in a side view and a top view respectively;

[0045] - Figure 3 The previous view shows Figure 1 equipment;

[0046] - Figure 4a is a block diagram of an apparatus according to the present invention;

[0047] - Figure 4b yes Figure 4a Details;

[0048] - Figure 5 Shows Figure 4a A variant of the device;

[0049] - Figure 6 and Figure 7 are the curves corresponding to the reference spectrum and the measured spectrum respectively;

[0050] - Figure 8 is a diagram detailing the steps of the method according to the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0051] Figure 1 A portable device 1 according to the invention and a container whose contents must be authenticated, for example a bottle 2 containing an alcoholic beverage, are shown. The device comprises a housing 10, for example in the shape of a parallelepiped. The device 1 comprises a device or a positioning wedge 12 for positioning the bottle 2. The wedge 12 forms a protrusion from one of the faces of the housing.

[0052] As in Figure 2 (which is a top view of the device 1 and the bottle 2), the wedge 12 has a contact surface 14 of a shape complementary to that of the container. For example, the contact surface 14 thus has a concave shape adapted to the convex shape of the bottle 2.

[0053] like Figure 3 As shown in FIG. 1 , the wedge 12 has an opening 16 forming a passage allowing light rays emitted by the device 1 to pass through the wedge 12. The wedge 12 is fixed to the housing 10 via a support 18, which also has a through passage for light rays emitted or received by the device 1.

[0054] Figure 4a is a block diagram of components of an exemplary device according to the present invention. In this figure, for the sake of clarity, the bottle 2 is shown, and the housing 10 of the device 1 is shown in phantom. Figure 4a The device 1 represented in comprises a single excitation light source 32 emitting a monochromatic beam with a wavelength λ 0. The light source 32 is, for example, a laser diode.

[0055] The wavelength λ0 of the light source 32 is between 350 nanometers and 650 nanometers. This range allows to obtain that the emitted light beam generates an intense fluorescence emission allowing to characterize the molecules of the alcoholic beverage (in other words, the molecules other than water molecules and ethanol molecules). Moreover, within this range, the beam emitted by the light source 32 is only slightly attenuated by the glass of the bottle 2. Still within this range, the fluorescence emission of the contents of the bottle 2 is only very weakly attenuated by the glass of the bottle 2.

[0056] A light beam 34 from a light source 32 is directed toward a beam splitter 36. The beam splitter 36 (e.g., a dichroic filter) is oriented at a 45° angle relative to the direction of the light beam 34 emitted by the source 32. Thus, the beam emitted by the source 32 is reflected by the beam splitter 36, and the reflected beam 38 is directed toward a focusing lens 40, such as an achromatic doublet lens. The focusing lens 40 is positioned a distance A from the bottle 2.

[0057] As in Figure 4b (It indicates Figure 4a As can be seen in detail of the embodiment of the invention, for example, a bottle 2 having a circular cross section comprises a wall delimited by an outer surface 22 and an inner surface 24. The bottle 2 contains a beverage 26 to be identified. The wedge 12 is in contact with the outer surface 22 of the bottle 2. As mentioned above, the wedge allows positioning the bottle 2 in such a way that the focusing lens 40 is at a determined distance A from the outer surface 22 of the bottle. Furthermore, the wedge 12, whose contact surface 14 is shaped to cooperate with the shape of the outer surface 22 of the bottle, allows positioning the bottle 2 in such a way that the light beam passing through the focusing lens will be directed towards this surface along a direction orthogonal to the outer surface 22 of the bottle 2. For example, the contact surface 14 of the wedge 12 has a concave shape and is shaped to cooperate with the outer convex shape of the bottle 2. It should be noted in this respect that in the case of a container that does not have a circular shape, the shape of the wedge 12 and in particular the contact surface 14 will also be adapted. Whatever the shape of the container under consideration, it will be ensured that the shape of the contact surface 14 allows the wedge 12 to be positioned on the container so that the light beam passing through the focusing lens 40 is directed towards the outer surface of the container in a direction orthogonal to the surface. In order to adapt the positioning wedge 12 to each type of container, it will of course be provided that the wedge 12 is removably attached to the housing 10. It may further be considered that the wedge 12 is connected to the housing via a flexible connection to facilitate the positioning of the wedge 12 on the container. In this case, the focusing lens will be offset from the housing and will be fixed to the positioning wedge 12. To this end, the flexible connection between the housing and the device formed by the positioning wedge 12 and by the focusing lens will include optical fibers to transmit the light beam from the housing to the focusing lens and vice versa.

[0058] The spacing 12 ensured by the wedge 12 between the focusing lens 40 and the bottle 2 is to be determined so that the reflected beam 38 is focused inside the bottle 2 , within the beverage, but as close to the inner surface 24 as possible. Figure 4b Thus, a focal point 28 is shown positioned inside the beverage 26 at a distance B from the wall of the bottle 2 (more precisely: at a distance B from the inner surface 24 of the wall of the bottle 2). The shorter the distance B, the more the path of the emission beam and the path of the fluorescent radiation are minimized and the more the attenuation of these two signals is limited. The distance B will advantageously be less than 1 mm and its value will preferably be of the order of a few hundred micrometers or less.

[0059] The fluorescent signal 42 induced by the light beam in the contents of the bottle 2 is collected by the focusing lens 40 by back reflection and directed towards the beam splitter 36. The beam splitter 36 allows the fluorescent signal directed towards the spectrometer module 50 to pass.

[0060] Advantageously, the device 1 comprises one or more filtering devices allowing the fluorescence signal 42 to be filtered before it is transmitted to the spectrometer module. The purpose of this filtering is in particular to eliminate the component of the signal collected by the focusing lens 40 linked to the light beam emitted by the source 32. For this purpose, a band stop filter 44 or "notch" filter is provided, for example. The frequency interval not transmitted by the band stop filter will be close to the wavelength of the monochromatic light beam emitted by the source 32. The non-transmitted band will have a width of, for example, about 10 nanometers and will be centered on a wavelength a few nanometers or less (for example 1 nanometer) than the wavelength λ0 of the laser source.

[0061] It can further be provided that an additional high-pass type filtering (with respect to wavelength) is performed by the beam splitter 36. In this case, the beam splitter 36 is a high-pass type dichroic filter (in particular an "edge" type filter) with a high cut-off slope, which reflects the beam 34 towards the focusing lens and transmits the radiation emitted by the beverage and its container to the spectrometer module by eliminating such wavelengths as are less than a threshold corresponding to an increase of approximately 10 nm in the wavelength of the monochromatic beam emitted by the source 32.

[0062] exist Figure 4aIn an embodiment of the invention, the fluorescence signal 42, once filtered by the beam splitter 36 and the stopband filter 44, is directed towards a lens 46, for example an aspheric lens of very short focal length. The beam transmitted by the lens 46 is directed towards one end of an optical fiber segment 48, the other end of which is linked to a spectrometer module 50. The optical fiber 48, due to its flexibility, thus allows to optimize the placement of components within the housing 10 and thus limit the congestion caused by it. In addition, the optical fiber acts as a confocal aperture and thus limits the amount of information transmitted and therefore the amount of information analyzed. Thus, undesirable effects can be minimized, in particular undesirable effects related to the shape and thickness of the bottle or undesirable effects related to outdoor lighting. In addition, the optical fiber can also overcome the astigmatism effect, which involves changing the focus at the entrance of the spectrometer module according to the different wavelengths of the fluorescent radiation.

[0063] In a variant, lens 46 may be replaced by a magnifying lens.

[0064] The spectrometer module 50 comprises a diffraction grating 52 which allows directing the diffraction signal towards a sensor 54, for example a CCD type sensor which has the advantage that no cooling is required. For example, the diffraction grating 52 is a reflective diffraction grating. The signal entering the spectrometer module 50 via the input slot 56 is directed towards a first reflector 58, which is a convex reflector. The signal reflected by the diffraction grating 52 is directed towards a second flat reflector 60. The second reflector reflects the diffraction signal towards the sensor 54. In one variant, the set 52-58-60 can be replaced by a single concave diffraction grating, which allows improving the compactness of the device. In another variant, the set 52-58-60 can be replaced by a single diffraction grating operating in transmission.

[0065] The sensor 54 provides a signal corresponding to the fluorescence spectrum. This signal is transmitted from the spectrometer module 50 to the analysis module 62. The analysis module 62 particularly comprises a storage unit 64, allowing the signal from the spectrometer module to be stored in a memory. The storage unit 64 has the ability to allow the storage of signals obtained within a specific acquisition time (e.g., the order of 150 milliseconds). The analysis module 62 further comprises a calculation unit 66, allowing to determine whether the recorded signal corresponds to the signal of a real beverage. To this end, the calculation unit 66 particularly performs a comparison between the recorded signal and a reference signal, preferably in accordance with the method according to the present invention, which will be described in more detail below. The reference signal can be pre-stored in the storage unit 64 and / or downloaded or updated from a remote database. To this end, the analysis module 62 comprises a communication unit 68, particularly a communication unit of the wireless type.

[0066] The device finally comprises a display device 70 allowing the test result to be displayed. The display device 70 can consist of a display screen or any other means, such as a plurality of indicator lights (for example made of light-emitting diodes). For example, it can be provided that the test result is given according to one of two or even three possibilities: "good", "bad quality" and possibly "suspicious". In the case of a plurality of indicator lights, three different indicators (in particular indicators of different colors) can therefore be provided, each corresponding indicator lighting up according to one of the three possibilities mentioned above.

[0067] Alternatively, part or all of the analysis module 62 and / or the display device 70 may be disposed within a separate housing from the rest of the device. Figure 5 1 represents one of the possible configurations, in which the analysis module 62 and the display device 70 are grouped together in an external device, for example in the form of a portable device 72 (such as a tablet or a mobile phone). In such a case, a wired or wireless type 74 is provided between the housing 10 and the portable device 72. This connection allows the spectrometer module 50 arranged in the housing 10 to be connected to the analysis module 62 positioned in the portable device 72.

[0068] Figure 6 and Figure 7 Examples of spectra obtained by means of the device according to the invention are shown respectively before and after a normalization step has been carried out according to the method according to the invention.

[0069] Figure 6 A curve C2 corresponding to the fluorescence spectrum obtained for an authentic French brandy (contained in its original authentic bottle) and a curve C1 corresponding to the spectrum obtained for an inauthentic French brandy (for example a counterfeit French brandy) are shown. The two curves C1, C2 correspond to the output signals of the spectrometer module 50 and are obtained using a laser diode emitting a beam with a wavelength λ0 close to 530 nanometers. It should be noted that these two curves have maximum values ​​corresponding to a wavelength of λ0+73 nanometers for the authentic French brandy and to a wavelength of λ0+58 nanometers for the inauthentic French brandy. In addition, the intensity of the maximum spectrum of the inauthentic French brandy is greater than the intensity of the maximum spectrum of the authentic French brandy.

[0070] Figure 7 Shown is the spectrum normalized to the maximum intensity of an authentic French brandy. Figure 6The two spectra of the spectrum of the inauthentic French brandy are normalized by the curve C'1 corresponding to the normalized distribution of the spectrum of the inauthentic French brandy and the curve C'2 corresponding to the normalized distribution of the spectrum of the authentic French brandy. As will be seen below, the device and method according to the invention use these differences to allow the detection of an inauthentic beverage through its container.

[0071] A control method according to the invention allowing the authentication of alcoholic beverages is described hereinafter in the context of an embodiment applied to French brandy. Figure 8 The main steps of the method according to the invention are shown in . These steps can be implemented using an apparatus according to the invention (eg the apparatus 1 described above).

[0072] The method according to the invention comprises a first step consisting in acquiring a measured spectrum of the controlled beverage. This acquisition step 80 is implemented in particular by means of the spectrometer module 50 of the device 1 .

[0073] The method then comprises a comparison step 82 of the measured spectrum with a reference spectrum. This reference spectrum may be stored in a memory of the device 1, for example in the memory of the storage unit 64, or may be downloaded from a remote database. Optionally, the method may comprise a step 84 of selecting a reference spectrum. This selection may be made between several reference spectra stored in the memory or between several reference spectra available in a remote database. This selection may be made automatically or at the request of a user.

[0074] The step 82 of comparing the measured spectrum with the reference spectrum comprises a sub-step consisting in normalizing the measured spectrum relative to the maximum value of the reference spectrum (or alternatively relative to the total intensity of the spectrum, or relative to the area below the spectrum). This normalization has several advantages. This allows in particular to overcome the effects of temperature variations. It is known that temperature has a significant effect on fluorescence phenomena. But the inventors have found that temperature variations have a significant effect on the maximum intensity of the fluorescence spectrum and a negligible effect on the form of the fluorescence spectrum distribution. In other words, after normalization, the spectra of the same beverage obtained at different temperatures are superimposable. Therefore, the method according to the invention allows to overcome temperature variations during the collection of fluorescence spectra. In particular, this allows to take into account the difference between the temperature when the measured spectrum is collected and the temperature when the reference spectrum has been created. In addition, the normalization of the measured spectrum allows to overcome the effects of the dispersion observed between each bottle of the same type. It is known that for the same product on the same production line, two "identical" containers (such as glass bottles) will always have dispersion, in particular dimensional dispersion (and therefore thickness dispersion). However, the greater the thickness of the glass, the more the beam emitted by the excitation source will be attenuated, and the more the emitted fluorescent radiation will be attenuated within the container wall. However, the inventors have found that this attenuation has a limited effect on the distribution of the collected fluorescence spectrum, the attenuation having in particular the effect of reducing the intensity of the spectrum. If the length of the collected spectrum is less than 700 nanometers, this effect on the distribution of the spectrum is even more negligible. It is therefore advantageous to limit the range of wavelengths used to implement the comparison step, for example between 550 nanometers and 650 nanometers. Thus, the method according to the invention allows to overcome thickness variations of the same container model.

[0075] The step 82 of comparing the measured spectrum with the reference spectrum comprises a sub-step of determining a similarity factor R between the curves corresponding to the measured spectrum of a given beverage and the curves corresponding to the reference spectrum corresponding to this beverage, for example the curves C'2 and C'1. This sub-step thus allows quantifying the similarity between the measured spectrum and the reference spectrum. This factor R can be calculated, for example, by using the method of least squares, according to the following formula:

[0076]

[0077] in:

[0078] -y1(λ i ) is the measured spectrum at a wavelength equal to λi (e.g. Figure 7 The intensity of the curve C'1);

[0079] -y2(λ i ) is a reference spectrum with a wavelength equal to λi (e.g. Figure 7 The intensity of curve C'2).

[0080] If the two spectra are exactly the same, a value of zero is obtained. The higher the factor R, the more different the compared spectra are.

[0081] Of course, the similarity factor may be calculated by using any other suitable algorithm (such as, for example, the Hausdorff algorithm) according to the following formula:

[0082]

[0083] According to this formula, we calculate the distance from each point of the spectrum y1(λ) to the spectrum y2(λ i ) is the minimum distance between the points. We then select the maximum calculated distance δ recorded max (y1,y2). Then, we calculate the maximum distance δ by choosing max The same calculation is performed for each point of the spectrum y2(λ) by comparing (y1,y2) with the spectrum y1(λ). The similarity factor or Hausdorff distance will then be the maximum of these two largest retained distances.

[0084] Regardless of the method used, if the two spectra are exactly the same, we obtain a zero R value. Likewise, regardless of the method used, the higher the factor R, the greater the difference in the compared spectra.

[0085] The R value will be calculated at at least one hundred (advantageously several hundred) points. For example, the number of points considered is of the order of 600.

[0086] The R value is used during a step 86 of evaluating the authenticity of the beverage. This step allows determining whether the controlled bottle contains an authentic beverage based on the calculated value of the similarity factor R. For example, if the similarity factor R is greater than a predetermined value, for example equal to 20, the test content will be declared "poor quality".

[0087] By carrying out the comparison via calculation of a similarity factor requiring limited computing resources, the method according to the invention results in shorter computing times. Advantageously, the measurement spectrum will be collected and / or compared with the reference spectrum only within a limited range, for example between 550 nanometers and 650 nanometers. The constrained analysis domain allows in fact to exclude possible residual luminescence of the glass and, as explained above, to overcome thickness variations of the walls of the container. In addition, the constrained analysis domain allows to further reduce the computing time.

[0088] The device and method according to the invention allow to achieve the desired goal of a portable device that is simple and quick to use.By normalizing the spectra with respect to the intensity maximum, dispersions related to the temperature of the contents and to the shape of the container are avoided and the required computing power is reduced.

[0089] Furthermore, the architecture and operation of the device allow limiting the maximum number of components. Thus, due to the choice of an excitation light source emitting at a determined wavelength, the use of filters to select a narrow wavelength band is avoided. By optimizing the intensity and quality of the fluorescence signal, in particular by choosing the wavelength of the laser source, a low-power laser source, for example a laser source of a few milliwatts, can be used. This allows providing an autonomous device that can be operated by batteries or batteries and avoids the need for cooling devices. In this regard, it should be noted that the choice of a CCD-type sensor for the spectrometer module also avoids providing any cooling.

Claims

1. A method for controlling an alcoholic beverage through an at least partially transparent container, the method comprising the steps of: - acquiring the fluorescence spectrum of the alcoholic beverage through the wall of the container using a source emitting a monochromatic beam with a wavelength between 350 nm and 650 nm; - Normalize the distribution of the measured spectrum relative to the maximum intensity of the reference spectrum; - Calculate the similarity factor between the normalized measured spectrum and the normalized reference spectrum; - determine whether the alcoholic beverage in question is authentic based on the value obtained for the similarity factor, The similarity factor is calculated within a predetermined wavelength range between 550 nanometers and 650 nanometers.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The similarity factor is calculated by a method known as the method of least squares or by an algorithm of the Hausdorff algorithm type.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that If the similarity factor is greater than 20, the alcoholic beverage is determined to be inauthentic.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The reference spectrum is obtained based on measurements of fluorescence spectra measured on a plurality of samples of real bottles.

5. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising the step of downloading the reference spectra from a remote database.

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