Methods of discriminating between contaminated and uncontaminated containers

Claim 1

A method for discriminating between a contaminated container and an uncontaminated container from a population of containers which were once filled with product to be consumed comprising the steps of: generating a signal representative of at least one physical response generated by a sample of product residue; generating at least one physical response from a sample residue in each container; comparing the physical response of the sample residue with the signal representative of the physical response of a product residue; and rejecting the container when the physical response of the sample residue does not correlate to the physical response of the product residue, whereby complex analytical systems for detecting a large number of unknown contaminants is avoided by reducing the analytical problem to the detection of known and relatively few products whose presence is used to indicate that the container was not contaminated; the steps of generating physical responses from product residue and sample residues comprising, directing electromagnetic energy to the residues from a light source, measuring the quality and quantity of electromagnetic energy that interacts with the residues, transmitting signals indicative of the quality and quantity of the electromagnetic energy measured, and collecting color information about the product and sample residues for at least one discrete preselected identification wavelength range within the range of 300 to 700 nanometers.

Claim 2

A method for discriminating between a contaminated container and an uncontaminated container from a population of containers which were once filled with product to be consumed comprising the steps of: generating a signal representative of at least one physical response generated by a sample of product residue; generating at least one physical response from a sample residue in each container; comparing the physical response of the sample residue with the signal representative of the physical response of a product residue; and rejecting the container when the physical response of the sample residue does not correlate to the physical response of the product residue, whereby complex analytical systems for detecting a large number of unknown contaminants is avoided by reducing the analytical problem to the detection of known and relatively few products whose presence is used to indicate that the container was not contaminated; the steps of generating physical responses from product residue and sample residues comprising, directing electromagnetic energy to the residues from a light source, measuring the quality and quantity of electromagnetic energy that interacts with the residues, transmitting signals indicative of the quality and quantity of the electromagnetic energy measured, and collecting color information about the product and sample residues for at least one discrete preselected identification wavelength range within the range of 300 to 700 nanometers.

Claim 5

A method for discriminating between a contaminated container and an uncontaminated container from a population of containers which were once filled with product to be consumed comprising the steps of: generating a signal representative of at least one physical response generated by a sample of product residue; generating at least one physical response from a sample residue in each container; comparing the physical response of the sample residue with the signal representative of the physical response of the product; and rejecting the container when the physical response of the sample residue does not correlate to the physical response of the product residue, whereby complex analytical systems for detecting a large number of unknown contaminants is avoided by reducing the analytical problem to the detection of known and relatively few products whose presence is used to indicate that the container was not contaminated; the steps of generating physical responses from product and sample residues comprising, directing electromagnetic energy to the residues, measuring the quality and quantity of electromagnetic energy that interacts with the product and sample residues, transmitting signals indicative of the quality and quantity of the electromagnetic energy measured, and utilizing gas chromatography to measure the quality and quantity of the electromagnetic energy that interacts with the product and sample residues.

Claim 6

A method for discriminating between a contaminated container and an uncontaminated container from a population of containers which were once filled with product to be consumed comprising the steps of: generating a signal representative of at least one physical response generated by a sample of product residue; generating at least one physical response from a sample residue in each container; comparing the physical response of the sample residue with the signal representative of the physical response of the product; and rejecting the container when the physical response of the sample residue does not correlate to the physical response of the product residue, whereby complex analytical systems for detecting a large number of unknown contaminants is avoided by reducing the analytical problem to the detection of known and relatively few products whose presence is used to indicate that the container was not contaminated; the steps of generating physical responses from product and sample residues comprising, directing electromagnetic energy to the residues, measuring the quality and quantity of electromagnetic energy that interacts with the product and sample residues, transmitting signals indicative of the quality and quantity of the electromagnetic energy measured, and utilizing gas chromatography to measure the quality and quantity of the electromagnetic energy that interacts with the product and sample residues.