Tomato consistency control apparatus

Claim 1

Apparatus for controlling a concentrator during the manufacture of tomato products to an established consistency standard, the concentrator comprising an input for receiving tomato feedstock including means for introducing feedstock into the input, means for circulating the material within the concentrator, and an output including valve means for releasing material from the concentrator, the control means comprising: first measuring means connected to the feedstock input of the concentrator for measuring the initial precipitate weight ratio of a tomato feedstock, second measuring means connected adjacent the first measuring means for measuring the initial Brix level of the tomato feedstock, said control means also including (a) input means operatively connected for receiving measurements from said first and second measuring means, (b), first computing means for computing the expected precipitate weight ratio of a tomato product selected for manufacture and (c) second computing means for computing an expected Brix level of the tomato product, final measuring means connected to the concentrator for measuring the Brix level of the material therein, comparing means for comparing the expected Brix level as computed by the second computing means with the Brix level as measured by the final measuring means, and means connecting the comparing means to the valve means of the concentrator output for controlling the operative condition of the valve means in response to the comparison made by the comparison means to effect release of tomato product from the concentrator.