Color-Coded Glove Tracking for Food Processing Contamination
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Solution Overview
Problem
In the food processing industry, particularly in meat processing, glove damage occurs frequently, leading to potential contamination of food products with glove material, which is difficult to identify and trace back to the specific processing area, posing challenges for quality control and consumer safety.
Innovation Solution
A color-coded system for gloves, where each processing area uses gloves of distinct colors, and a unique identifier is applied to each glove set, allowing for identification of the damaged area both within the plant and at remote destinations by matching the color and identifier with a registry.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If traditional single-color gloves are used in food processing, then manufacturing cost is low and simplicity is maintained, but the ability to identify damaged glove pieces and trace them to specific processing areas is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies color-coding to gloves used in different processing areas. Each processing area is assigned a specific color (e.g., red for Area 1, blue for Area 2), allowing immediate visual identification of the glove's origin. When a glove piece is found in contaminated product, its color directly indicates which processing area the contamination originated from, eliminating the need for complex tracking systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the food processing plant into multiple distinct areas, each with its own color-coded gloves. This segmentation allows the facility to isolate and identify contamination sources to specific zones. By dividing the processing areas and assigning unique identifiers (colors) to each, the system enables precise traceability without requiring complex centralized tracking infrastructure.
2Loss of time
If color-coded gloves with unique identifiers are implemented, then quick identification and tracing of damaged glove pieces is enabled, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses color as a simple, visually distinct identifier that can be easily manufactured into gloves through standard dyeing processes. This approach allows for rapid identification of contaminated areas without requiring complex electronic tags or sophisticated tracking infrastructure. The color-coding system can be implemented during normal glove manufacturing, minimizing additional production complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements color-coding and unique identifiers on gloves before they are used in processing areas. This preliminary assignment of identifiers allows for immediate traceability when contamination occurs, eliminating the need for complex real-time tracking systems. The identification system is established in advance, enabling quick response to contamination events.
3Reliability
If comprehensive tracking systems are implemented to monitor glove usage, then consumer safety is improved through better traceability, but system complexity and operational burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses color-coded gloves to provide immediate visual information about the processing area where contamination occurred. When a glove piece is found in contaminated product, employees can simply observe the color to identify the source area, eliminating the need for complex database queries or tracking system operations. This maintains high reliability for consumer safety while keeping operations simple.
Solution Approach 2:
The color-coded glove system enables self-identifying traceability. The gloves themselves carry the identification information through their color, allowing employees to independently determine the contamination source without requiring assistance from centralized tracking systems or complex procedures. Each glove essentially identifies itself through its color code.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for identifying areas of a processing plant in which a glove is damaged. The system includes utilizing color-coded sets of gloves in different areas or processing steps within the plant. All the gloves used in a particular plant are provided with a unique identifier. If a piece of a glove is located in the product within the plant, the color of that piece indicates the area or process of the plant in which the glove was used. If a piece of a damaged glove is located in the product at a remote destination, the unique identifier in that piece is matched with a registry to determine the plant in which the glove was used. The color of the piece then helps the plant to identify where the damaged glove was used. The system and method are particularly helpful in the food processing industry, especially meat processing.