Method for discrimination 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, each of said containers having a residue therein 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 product residues whose presence is used to indicate that the container was not contaminated.

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, each of said containers having a residue therein 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 product residues whose presence is used to indicate that the container was not contaminated.

Claim 3

The method of claim I wherein the step of generating a physical response comprises: directing electromagnetic energy to the residue; measuring the quality and quantity of electromagnetic energy resulting from interaction with the sample residue; transmitting signals indicative of the quality and quantity of the electromagnetic energy measured.

Claim 15

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 at least one physical response from a least one sample of product residue; recording said at least one physical response from said at least one sample of product residue; establishing a correlation factor range between the at least one physical response of product residue and the physical response of contaminated sample residue; extracting a sample residue from each of said population of containers; creating at least one signal related to the physical response of each sample residue; comparing the at least one signal related to the physical response of the each sample residue with said at least one physical response of the product residue; and rejecting the container when the at least one signal related to the physical response of the sample residue is not within the correlation factor range.

Claim 16

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 at least one physical response from a least one sample of product residue; recording said at least one physical response from said at least one sample of product residue; establishing a correlation factor range between the at least one physical response of product residue and the physical response of contaminated sample residue; extracting a sample residue from each of said population of containers; creating at least one signal related to the physical response of each sample residue; comparing the at least one signal related to the physical response of the each sample residue with said at least one physical response of the product residue; and rejecting the container when the at least one signal related to the physical response of the sample residue is not within the correlation factor range.

Claim 21

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 first series of reference physical responses generated by a first stimulus from at least one sample of residue of said product; recording said first series reference physical responses; establishing a first correlation factor range between the first series of reference physical responses and the physical responses of contaminated residues samples to a stimulus identical to said first stimulus; generating a second reference series of physical responses generated by a second stimulus from at least one sample of residue of said product; recording said second reference series physical responses; establishing a second correlation factor range between the second reference series and the physical responses of contaminated residues samples to a stimulus identical to said second stimulus; extracting a sample of a residue from each of said population of containers; creating a first sample physical response to a stimulus of the sample of the residue identical to said first stimulus; creating a second sample physical response to a stimulus of the sample of the residue identical to said second stimulus; comparing the first sample physical response with the first reference series of physical responses of a sample of a residue of the product; and rejecting the container when the first sample physical response is not within the first correlation factor range comparing the second sample physical response with the second reference series of physical responses of a sample of a residue the product; and rejecting the container when the second sample physical response is not within the second correlation factor range.

Claim 22

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 first series of reference physical responses generated by a first stimulus from at least one sample of residue of said product; recording said first series reference physical responses; establishing a first correlation factor range between the first series of reference physical responses and the physical responses of contaminated residues samples to a stimulus identical to said first stimulus; generating a second reference series of physical responses generated by a second stimulus from at least one sample of residue of said product; recording said second reference series physical responses; establishing a second correlation factor range between the second reference series and the physical responses of contaminated residues samples to a stimulus identical to said second stimulus; extracting a sample of a residue from each of said population of containers; creating a first sample physical response to a stimulus of the sample of the residue identical to said first stimulus; creating a second sample physical response to a stimulus of the sample of the residue identical to said second stimulus; comparing the first sample physical response with the first reference series of physical responses of a sample of a residue of the product; and rejecting the container when the first sample physical response is not within the first correlation factor range comparing the second sample physical response with the second reference series of physical responses of a sample of a residue the product; and rejecting the container when the second sample physical response is not within the second correlation factor range.