US5872314A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Method and apparatus for measuring characteristics of meat
Assignee: Individual
•
Filing: 1997-07-25
•
Granted: 1999-02-16
•
Expires: 2017-07-25
Abstract
Abstract A method and apparatus for measuring characteristics of meat, such as beef. More particularly, the invention uses quantitative analysis of ultrasonic A scan signals to measure the following characteristics of meat in real time: the percentage of intramuscular fat, the quality grade, the merit number, the depth of back fat and the approximate size of a predetermined rib eye area. The ultrasonic A scan signals are measured above the twelfth rib, above the thirteenth rib and between the twelfth and thirteenth ribs. The invention can be used with either live or processed animals.
Inventors
- 👤 Robert P. Clinton
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-23 20:21
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01N; G01N33/00; G01N33/02; G01N33/12; A; A22; A22B; A22B5/00; A22B5/0064; A22B5/007; A61; A61B; A61B8/00; A61B8/08; A61B8/0858; G01N29/00; G01N29/04; G01N29/12; G01N29/44; G01N29/46; G01N2291/00; G01N2291/02; G01N2291/024; G01N2291/02475; G01N2291/04; G01N2291/048
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 47
Claim 1
Independent Claim
53 words
A method of measuring characteristics of meat, comprising the steps of: transmitting an ultrasonic signal into the meat using an A scan ultrasonic transducer; receiving a return of said ultrasonic signal using said A scan transducer; and determining a characteristic of the meat by performing a fast fourier transform on said return signal.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
53 words
A method of measuring characteristics of meat, comprising the steps of: transmitting an ultrasonic signal into the meat using an A scan ultrasonic transducer; receiving a return of said ultrasonic signal using said A scan transducer; and determining a characteristic of the meat by performing a fast fourier transform on said return signal.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
44 words
A method of measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 1, wherein said steps of transmitting and receiving are performed a plurality of times to generate a plurality of return signals and said step of determining is performed using said plurality of return signals.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
19 words
A method of measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 2, wherein said plurality of return signals are combined.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
19 words
A method of measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 3, wherein said plurality of return signals are averaged.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
43 words
A method of measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 1, wherein the meat is beef and said steps of transmitting and receiving are performed over the twelfth rib, thirteenth rib and between the twelfth and the thirteenth rib of the beef animal.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
27 words
A method of measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 5, wherein the characteristic of the meat is the thickness of back fat on the beef animal.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
40 words
A method of measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 6, wherein said step of determining comprises a step of measuring a frequency difference between a first reduction in the return signal and a third reduction in the return signal.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
21 words
A method of measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 1, wherein the meat is on an animal that is alive.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
22 words
A method of measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 1, wherein the meat is on an animal that has been processed.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
18 words
A method of measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 1, wherein the meat is on a hog.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
27 words
A method of measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic of the meat is the percentage of intramuscular fat contained in the meat.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
44 words
A method of measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 1 wherein said steps of transmitting and receiving are performed a plurality of times to generate a plurality of return signals and said step of determining is performed using said plurality of return signals.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
25 words
A method of measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic of the meat is the USDA quality grade of the meat.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
60 words
A method of measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 13, wherein said step of determining comprises the steps of: performing a fast fourier transform on said return signal to generate a power spectrum, counting the number of local peaks in said power spectrum, and determining the USDA quality grade of the meat based on said number of local peaks.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
44 words
A method of measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 14, wherein said steps of transmitting and receiving are performed a plurality of times to generate a plurality of return signals and said step of determining is performed using said plurality of return signals.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method of measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic of the meat is a merit number representing the flavor and tenderness of the meat.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
65 words
A method of measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 16, wherein said step of determining comprises the steps of: performing a first fast fourier transform on said return signal to generate a power spectrum, performing a second fast fourier transform on a log power of said power spectrum to generate a cepstrum, and determining the merit number of the meat based on said cepstrum.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
44 words
A method of measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 17, wherein said steps of transmitting and receiving are performed a plurality of times to generate a plurality of return signals and said step of determining is performed using said plurality of return signals.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
28 words
A method of measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic of the meat is the approximate size of a predetermined area in the meat.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
37 words
A method of measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 19, wherein said step of determining comprises a step of measuring a frequency difference between a first reduction in the return signal and a last return signal.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
18 words
A method of measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 1, wherein said transducer is a longitudinal transducer.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
21 words
A method of measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 1, wherein said transducer has a frequency of approximately 2.25 MHz.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method of measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 1, wherein said fast fourier transform is performed on said return signal to obtain a power spectrum, and where the number of local peaks in the power spectrum are counted to determine the percentage of intramuscular fat contained in the meat.
Claim 25
Independent Claim
70 words
An apparatus for measuring characteristics of meat, comprising: an A scan transducer that transmits an ultrasonic signal into the meat and receives a return signal; and a computer connected to receive said return signal from said A scan transducer, said computer converting said return signal to the frequency spectrum by a fast fourier transform and determining a characteristic of the meat based on characteristics of said fourier transformed return signal.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
70 words
An apparatus for measuring characteristics of meat, comprising: an A scan transducer that transmits an ultrasonic signal into the meat and receives a return signal; and a computer connected to receive said return signal from said A scan transducer, said computer converting said return signal to the frequency spectrum by a fast fourier transform and determining a characteristic of the meat based on characteristics of said fourier transformed return signal.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
23 words
An apparatus for measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 24, wherein said computer receives said return signal through the public telephone network.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
21 words
An apparatus for measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 24, wherein said computer receives said return signal through the Internet.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
25 words
An apparatus for measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 24, wherein the characteristic of the meat is the USDA quality grade of the meat.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
41 words
An apparatus for measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 27, wherein said computer determines the USDA quality grade of the meat based on the local peaks in a power spectrum obtained by a fast fourier transform on said return signal.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
29 words
An apparatus for measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 24, wherein the characteristic of the meat is a merit number representing the flavor and tenderness of the meat.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
30 words
An apparatus for measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 29, wherein said computer determines the merit number of the meat based on a cepstral analysis of said return signal.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
26 words
An apparatus for measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 24, wherein the characteristic of the meat is the thickness of back fat in an animal.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
28 words
An apparatus for measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 24, wherein the characteristic of the meat is the approximate size of a predetermined area in the meat.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
18 words
An apparatus for measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 24, wherein said transducer is a longitudinal transducer.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
21 words
An apparatus for measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 24, wherein said transducer has a frequency of approximately 2.25 MHz.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
48 words
An apparatus for measuring characteristics of meat according to claim 24, wherein said computer determines a percentage of intramuscular fat contained in the meat based on the number of local peaks which appear in a power spectrum obtained by performing the fast fourier transform on said return signal.
Claim 38
Independent Claim
98 words
A method of monitoring the genetic characteristics of a plurality of beef animals, comprising: assigning each of said plurality of beef animals an identification number; transmitting an ultrasonic signal into each of said plurality of beef animals using an A scan ultrasonic transducer; receiving a return signal of said ultrasonic signal for each of said plurality of beef animals using said A scan transducer; determining the characteristics of each of said plurality of beef animals by performing a fast fourier transform on said return signal; and storing said identification numbers and their associated meat characteristics in a database.
Claim 39
Independent Claim
98 words
A method of monitoring the genetic characteristics of a plurality of beef animals, comprising: assigning each of said plurality of beef animals an identification number; transmitting an ultrasonic signal into each of said plurality of beef animals using an A scan ultrasonic transducer; receiving a return signal of said ultrasonic signal for each of said plurality of beef animals using said A scan transducer; determining the characteristics of each of said plurality of beef animals by performing a fast fourier transform on said return signal; and storing said identification numbers and their associated meat characteristics in a database.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
31 words
A method of monitoring the genetic characteristics of a plurality of beef animals according to claim 36, wherein said database further includes information related to the genealogy of said meat animals.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
39 words
A method of monitoring the genetic characteristics of a plurality of beef animals according to claim 36, wherein said database includes for each identification number multiple associated meat characteristics measured when the associated beef animal was at different ages.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
32 words
A method of monitoring the genetic characteristics of a plurality of beef animals according to claim 36, further comprising the step of generating a report based on the information in said database.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
28 words
A method of monitoring the genetic characteristics of a plurality of beef animals according to claim 39, wherein said report contains information regarding the genetic history of animals.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
32 words
A method of monitoring the genetic characteristics of a plurality of beef animals according to claim 39, wherein said report contains information related to a subset of said plurality of beef animals.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
23 words
A method of monitoring the genetic characteristics of a plurality of beef animals according to claim 39, wherein said report is generated automatically.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
27 words
A method of monitoring the genetic characteristics of a plurality of beef animals according to claim 39, wherein said report is generated when requested by a user.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
57 words
The method of monitoring the genetic characteristics of a plurality of beef animals of claim 36, wherein said fast fourier transform is used to generate a power spectrum, and where the number of local peaks in the power spectrum are counted to determine the percentage of intramuscular fat contained in each of said plurality of beef animals.
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| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2006-02-15 | 2006-08-17 | 2007-02-16 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
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