Meat Batch Fat Content Tagging and Controller Logic
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Solution Overview
Problem
Commercial meat processing faces challenges in accurately determining and managing fat content across different phases, leading to measurement discrepancies and the need for expensive and bulky analyzers, which are often not feasible for all process lines.
Innovation Solution
A method and system utilizing machine-readable tags attached to meat containers to store and retrieve batch information, including fat content, which is used by a controller to determine acceptance or rejection for further processing, eliminating the need for on-site analyzers and minimizing human error.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If expensive and bulky analyzers employing microwave, optical or x-ray radiation are used to determine fat content information, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses machine-readable tags (copies of data) to store and transmit fat content information measured at the grouping phase, eliminating the need for duplicate expensive analyzers at the selecting phase. The tag contains a copy of the fat content data that can be read by simple readers, replacing the need for complex measurement devices at multiple locations.
Solution Approach 2:
The machine-readable tag acts as an intermediary carrier that transfers fat content information from the grouping phase to the selecting phase. Instead of directly measuring fat content at both phases using complex analyzers, the tag mediates the information transfer, allowing simple readers to access the data at the selecting phase.
2Measurement precision
If multiple analysers are deployed at different phases (grouping and selecting), then measurement precision is maintained, but measurement discrepancies arise due to standardisation or calibration differences
Solution Approach 1:
The fat content measurement taken at the grouping phase is copied onto a machine-readable tag, which is then used at the selecting phase. This single measurement copy ensures consistency because the same data is used at both phases, eliminating calibration differences between multiple analyzers.
Solution Approach 2:
The fat content measurement is performed in advance at the grouping phase and stored on the tag before the selecting phase occurs. This preliminary measurement avoids the need for repeated measurements at different phases, preventing discrepancies from arising in the first place.
3Ease of operation
If analysers are located at each site where grouping and selecting phases take place, then fat content information is available locally, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The machine-readable tag serves as an intermediary that carries fat content information from the grouping location to the selecting location. This eliminates the need for local analyzers at each site, as the tag provides the information transport function that would otherwise require complex measurement devices at both locations.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of deploying analyzers at each location, the fat content information is copied onto portable tags that travel with the meat batches. This allows local availability of information at the selecting phase without requiring a local analyzer, as the data is copied from the grouping phase measurement.
4Measurement precision
If expensive analyzers are used for fat content determination, then measurement precision is improved, but productivity decreases due to the bulkiness and infeasibility for all process lines
Solution Approach 1:
The patent separates the complex measurement function (performed once at grouping phase) from the information usage (at selecting phase). The copied data on machine-readable tags enables rapid, simple reading at the selecting phase without the bulk and complexity of full analyzers, thereby improving processing speed and productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/physical analyzer system with an information-based system using machine-readable tags. This substitution eliminates the need for bulky measurement hardware at the selecting phase, allowing faster processing and greater flexibility across different process lines.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for accepting or rejecting a container containing a meat batch comprises a reader and a controller cooperating to effect the acceptance or the rejection of the meat batch. The reader is configured to interrogate a machine readable tag attached to the container to retrieve information stored thereon into the controller which is configured to respond to the information retrieved by the reader to access batch information comprising at least information indicative of a fat content of the meat batch, to compare the batch information with a criterion of a recipe related to a target fat content to determine a suitability of the meat batch for inclusion in a mix meeting the recipe, and to generate a control signal dependent the determination usable to effect acceptance or rejection of the meat batch as appropriate to the determination.