WO1996021153A1 - Apparatus for determining the qualities of an irradiatable body by means of penetrating radiation - Google Patents

Apparatus for determining the qualities of an irradiatable body by means of penetrating radiation Download PDF

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Publication number
WO1996021153A1
WO1996021153A1 PCT/NL1996/000008 NL9600008W WO9621153A1 WO 1996021153 A1 WO1996021153 A1 WO 1996021153A1 NL 9600008 W NL9600008 W NL 9600008W WO 9621153 A1 WO9621153 A1 WO 9621153A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
irradiatable
signal
determining
reflection
radiation
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/NL1996/000008
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Roger Cornelis Petrus Hoskens
Antonius Leonardus Franciscus Peters
Original Assignee
Proval Beheer B.V.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Proval Beheer B.V. filed Critical Proval Beheer B.V.
Publication of WO1996021153A1 publication Critical patent/WO1996021153A1/en

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Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A22—BUTCHERING; MEAT TREATMENT; PROCESSING POULTRY OR FISH
    • A22C—PROCESSING MEAT, POULTRY, OR FISH
    • A22C17/00—Other devices for processing meat or bones
    • A22C17/0073—Other devices for processing meat or bones using visual recognition, X-rays, ultrasounds, or other contactless means to determine quality or size of portioned meat
    • A22C17/008—Other devices for processing meat or bones using visual recognition, X-rays, ultrasounds, or other contactless means to determine quality or size of portioned meat for measuring quality, e.g. to determine further processing
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N21/00—Investigating or analysing materials by the use of optical means, i.e. using sub-millimetre waves, infrared, visible or ultraviolet light
    • G01N21/84—Systems specially adapted for particular applications
    • G01N21/88—Investigating the presence of flaws or contamination
    • G01N21/8806—Specially adapted optical and illumination features
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N33/00—Investigating or analysing materials by specific methods not covered by groups G01N1/00 - G01N31/00
    • G01N33/02—Food
    • G01N33/12—Meat; fish

Definitions

  • the invention relates to apparatuses for inspecting irradiatable material, for instance pieces of meat.
  • the qualities of foodstuff articles for instance pieces of meat
  • a visual in ⁇ spection is generally used for this purpose, while it is of course also known to determine at least the mass of the pieces of meat by means of weighing. This relates not only to meat but also for instance to vegetables or potatoes.
  • the pieces of meat become available for instance during the slaughter of for instance poultry, game, fowl or livestock, wherein the visual inspection is necessary for further processing, for instance removal of pieces of fat, and/or assigning the meat a classification designa ⁇ tion depending for instance on the colour of the meat and the fat content thereof.
  • the visual inspection is necessary for further processing, for instance removal of pieces of fat, and/or assigning the meat a classification designa ⁇ tion depending for instance on the colour of the meat and the fat content thereof.
  • the apparatus is provided with radiating means for determining the quali- ties of the material only by means of radiation.
  • radiating means for determining the quali- ties of the material only by means of radiation.
  • radiation must be any random form of elec ⁇ tromagnetic radiation, including visible light, infrared or ultraviolet waves close to visible light waves and radiation of other wavelengths, for instance the X-ray wavelength.
  • the apparatus is adapted to irradiate the bodies for inspection, wherein the apparatus comprises: a device for parallel irradia ⁇ tion from one side of an at least partly irradiatable body; a device for receiving the radiation leaving the irradiatable body and deriving a transmission signal therefrom; and means for deriving from the transmission signal information concerning the qualities of the irra ⁇ diated body. From the thus obtained information an attempt can be made, using a computing device in the form of for in ⁇ stance a digital computer, to determine the mass of the inspected body.
  • the mass of a column of the body for inspection is a function of the height and of the density of the column.
  • the attenuation of the radia ⁇ tion which has passed through a column is likewise a function of the height and density of the column.
  • a correlation thus exists between mass and radiation atten ⁇ uation of a column.
  • the thus obtained information can further be used to determine the presence of possible inhomogeneities, for instance bone tissue in pieces of meat.
  • the apparatus comprises height measuring means for determining the dimensions of the irradiatable body in the direction substantially parallel to the radiation direction over at least a part of the surface of the irradiatable body transversely of the radiation direction, and deriving therefrom a height signal. Relating the height signal to the information ob ⁇ tained during irradiation results, now the local height is known, in a more accurate determination of the local density, so that the distribution of the density over the surface transversely of the radiating direction of the body for inspection can be determined more precisely.
  • the appa ⁇ ratus comprises means for determining the local reflec ⁇ tion coefficient of at least a part of the surface of the irradiatable body and for deriving therefrom a reflection signal.
  • reflection on the surface also includes reflection phenomena to a deter ⁇ mined distance from the surface of the meat.
  • FIG. 1 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of an apparatus according to the invention.
  • the apparatus comprises four groups of components, that is, a transport device, a transmission measuring device 4, a reflection measuring device 14 and a height measuring device 22.
  • the transport device is formed by a conveyer belt l which is trained round four rollers 2, of which one or more than one are driven, and a plurality of supporting elements not shown in the drawing.
  • the conveyer belt 1 is preferably manufactured from transparent material, this preferably being material which is at least partly trans ⁇ parent to the radiation used for the transmission mea ⁇ surement.
  • the driven rollers 2 are of course driven by drive means (not shown in the drawing) , for instance electric motors.
  • drive means not shown in the drawing
  • bodies 3 for inspection for instance in the form of pieces of turkey fillet.
  • the invention is not however limited to this application; other types of meat can be inspected instead of turkey fillet, or it is possible to inspect other foodstuffs, such as vegetables or fruit or potatoes.
  • the piece of turkey fillet 3 placed on the moving conveyer belt first passes through a transmission measur ⁇ ing device 4.
  • This latter is formed by a light emitter 5 which is placed under conveyer belt 1 and in which a light source is arranged in the form of a TL-lamp 6.
  • the TL-lamp 6 is adapted to deliver light with a wavelength in the range around 620 nm. It is possible instead to use light with other frequency bands, although the present light source was found by the inventors to give good results, while on the other hand the radiation source was not found to be particularly expensive. It is of course possible to apply other types of light source, for in ⁇ stance SL-, PL-, PLL-lamps.
  • a red filter is placed above the light emitter to remove the frequency elements which are transmitted by the TL-lamp 6 but which do not lie in the frequency spectrum. It is pointed out here that a teleluminescence tube generally does not have a continuous spectrum but that the spectrum is provided with several frequency peaks.
  • the red filter is particularly suitable for remov ⁇ ing frequency peaks lying outside the required frequency range. It is of course possible to use other frequency ranges. What is important is that the light is narrow ⁇ band.
  • a diffuser plate 8 which serves to diffuse the light which is transmitted directionally by the TL-lamp.
  • Use could be made - prefer ⁇ ably in the case of a light source located in a single point - of a collimator instead of the diffuser 8.
  • this collimator could be placed between the diffuser and the conveyer belt.
  • a polarizing filter (not shown in the drawing) .
  • the use of such a polarizing filter results in a better parallelism of the radiation beams and thus in a more accurate result.
  • two polarizing filters the polarization directions of which are mutually perpendicular.
  • a converging lens 9 Arranged above the conveyer belt and sufficiently high above the conveyer belt to enable passage of for instance pieces of turkey fillet 3, is a converging lens 9.
  • This converging lens 9 serves to converge the radia ⁇ tion, which leaves the body for inspection as parallel as possible, to a lens system 10 which is connected to a CCD recorder 11.
  • This CCD recorder 11 and the lens system 10 preferably form part of a standard commercially available CCD camera.
  • a filter can also be arranged for removal of components located outside the frequency band transmitted by light source 6.
  • the CCD recorder 11 is connected to a digital computer 13 by means of a cable 12. Understood by this digital computer device 13 is not only a purely digital computer but also the signal converters necessary for supplying the analog signals. As for instance a turkey fillet passes through, the CCD recording element makes a recording and the thus obtained signal is transmitted to digital computer 13 via cable 12.
  • the signal is a measure of the effective attenuation of the radiation in the turkey fillet transmitted by light source 6.
  • the effective attenuation coefficient is formed by a combination, of the internal absorption coefficient and the internal reflec ⁇ tion coefficient. From the relevant effective attenuation coefficients information can be derived relating to the density of the material of the turkey fillet and the height and thickness thereof. The relevant information is however not unambiguous; a signal of a determined magni ⁇ tude can after all be obtained by a piece of fillet with a large thickness and a low absorption or by a piece of fillet with a small thickness and a high absorption.
  • the thus obtained signal nevertheless provides a considerable amount of information concerning for instance the total density, or the mass of the inspected turkey fillet. It is herein noted that light rays are damped expo ⁇ nentially in the material of the turkey fillet. The outgoing signal is thus in the first approximation a logarithmic function of the density.
  • the turkey fillet 3 subsequently passes through a reflection measuring device 14 which is formed by a light source 15 in the form of a round TL-lamp. Under this light source is arranged a diffuser 16 and thereunder a first polarizer 17 which is adapted to polarize the light in a first direction. All these elements 15,16,17 are annular.
  • a recorder Arranged in the thereby formed central opening is a recorder which is formed by a lens system 18 and a CCD element' 19, wherein these two components together are preferably formed by parts of a commercially available CCD camera.
  • a polarizer 20 is preferably arranged under the lens system 18.
  • the polarization direction will preferably extend perpendicu- larly of that of the first polarizer 17. It is however also possible to make use of only the second polarizer and to omit the first polarizer.
  • the object of the polarizers whether alone or together is to avoid or at least reduce the effect of shiny patch- es on the surface. Such shiny patches result for instance from moisture on the surface. Light reflected by such shiny patches is polarized by the reflection. When a first polarization filter is used the light falling on the object will thus hardly be reflected, so that shiny patches do not interfere with the determination of the reflection coefficient.
  • the CCD element 19 is of course also connected to the digital computer 13 by means of a cable 21.
  • the light transmitted by the TL-lamp 15 is made diffuse by a diffuser 16, is subsequently polarized by the first polarization filter 17 in a first direction and cast onto the surface of the turkey fillet 3 for measur ⁇ ing.
  • the light thrown thereon is reflected inter alia back to the centrally arranged second polarizer 20, the lens system 18 and the CCD recorder 19.
  • the light signal received by the CCD recorder is analyzed on the basis of brightness and colour, this in particular according to the colour three-dimensional model known as HSI (Hue, Saturation, Intensity) . This colour model is found to produce the most useful results for further processing in a digital computer. It is of course possible to make use of other colour models.
  • HSI Hue, Saturation, Intensity
  • reflection signal it is possible to determine the colour and brightness of the surface of the turkey fillet. More particularly local colour transitions and more general colour shadings are then determined. On the basis thereof it is possible to make an estimate concerning the areas on the surface on which fat is present, whether there are areas with coagu ⁇ lated protein possibly resulting from a previous heat treatment, whether there are blood spots on the surface of the turkey fillet, and to determine what the colour of the fillet is; whether it is for instance white meat or red meat.
  • the outer structure in particular does not have to be annular; it is possible to make use of for instance two linear light sources arranged on either side of the CCD recorder.
  • the turkey fillet 3 is subjected according to the preferred embodiment to a height measuring device 22.
  • the height measuring device 22 is again placed above conveyer belt l, also again at a height such that the passage of the objects for measuring, for instance the pieces of turkey fillet, is ensured.
  • the height measuring device 22 comprises a light source 23 adapted to transmit a light beam 24 directed toward the turkey fillet. This light can be directed obliquely, but can also be directed straight at the turkey fillet.
  • the height measuring device 22 is connected by means of a cable 27 to the digital computer 13.
  • the relation between the height signal obtained via the height measurement and the signal from the transmission gives the correlation function between the local height of the object and the local attenuation of the radiation.
  • This correlation function is then applied to each pixel value in the result of the transmission measurement and finally gives a value for the local density over the whole surface.

Abstract

The invention relates to an apparatus for determining the qualities of irradiatable bodies, for instance pieces of meat, comprising radiating means for determining the qualities of the irradiatable bodies only by means of radiation. In preference the radiating means comprise: a device for parallel irradiation from one side of an at least partly irradiatable body; a device for receiving the radiation leaving the irradiatable body and deriving a transmission signal therefrom; means for deriving from the transmission signal information concerning the qualities of the irradiated body. According to a preferred embodiment the apparatus comprises height measuring means for determining the dimensions of the irradiatable body in the direction substantially parallel to the radiation direction over at least a part of the surface of the irradiatable body transversely of the radiation direction, and for deriving therefrom a height signal. According to another preferred embodiment the apparatus comprises reflection determining means for determining the local reflection coefficient of at least a part of a surface of the irradiatable body and for deriving therefrom a reflection signal.

Description

APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING TEE QUALITIES OF AN IRRADIAT¬ ABLE BODY BY MEANS OF PENETRATING RADIATION
The invention relates to apparatuses for inspecting irradiatable material, for instance pieces of meat.
Particularly in the food processing industry, and more particularly in the meat industry, the qualities of foodstuff articles, for instance pieces of meat, has to be determined. According to the prior art a visual in¬ spection is generally used for this purpose, while it is of course also known to determine at least the mass of the pieces of meat by means of weighing. This relates not only to meat but also for instance to vegetables or potatoes.
The pieces of meat become available for instance during the slaughter of for instance poultry, game, fowl or livestock, wherein the visual inspection is necessary for further processing, for instance removal of pieces of fat, and/or assigning the meat a classification designa¬ tion depending for instance on the colour of the meat and the fat content thereof. Finally, there is the need for an apparatus which detects possible contaminations, whereby they can be removed.
It will be apparent that a visual inspection per¬ formed by personnel involves a number of problems; the work is monotonous, whereby personnel rapidly become tired and whereby the quality of the inspection deterio- rates considerably. There is moreover a need for an apparatus which can carry out such an inspection at a greater speed than can be achieved by personnel.
This object is achieved in that the apparatus is provided with radiating means for determining the quali- ties of the material only by means of radiation. Under¬ stood here by radiation must be any random form of elec¬ tromagnetic radiation, including visible light, infrared or ultraviolet waves close to visible light waves and radiation of other wavelengths, for instance the X-ray wavelength. According to a first embodiment the apparatus is adapted to irradiate the bodies for inspection, wherein the apparatus comprises: a device for parallel irradia¬ tion from one side of an at least partly irradiatable body; a device for receiving the radiation leaving the irradiatable body and deriving a transmission signal therefrom; and means for deriving from the transmission signal information concerning the qualities of the irra¬ diated body. From the thus obtained information an attempt can be made, using a computing device in the form of for in¬ stance a digital computer, to determine the mass of the inspected body. The mass of a column of the body for inspection is a function of the height and of the density of the column. Furthermore, the attenuation of the radia¬ tion which has passed through a column is likewise a function of the height and density of the column. A correlation thus exists between mass and radiation atten¬ uation of a column. The thus obtained information can further be used to determine the presence of possible inhomogeneities, for instance bone tissue in pieces of meat.
According to a preferred embodiment the apparatus comprises height measuring means for determining the dimensions of the irradiatable body in the direction substantially parallel to the radiation direction over at least a part of the surface of the irradiatable body transversely of the radiation direction, and deriving therefrom a height signal. Relating the height signal to the information ob¬ tained during irradiation results, now the local height is known, in a more accurate determination of the local density, so that the distribution of the density over the surface transversely of the radiating direction of the body for inspection can be determined more precisely.
According to a third preferred embodiment the appa¬ ratus comprises means for determining the local reflec¬ tion coefficient of at least a part of the surface of the irradiatable body and for deriving therefrom a reflection signal. It should be noted herein that reflection on the surface also includes reflection phenomena to a deter¬ mined distance from the surface of the meat. With this additional information it is possible in the first instance to detect contaminations located on the surface, while it is moreover possible in combination with the measurement results of the previous measurement to determine possible locally differing qualities of the inspected body, in the case of meat for instance the presence of white meat, red meat or fat.
The invention will subsequently be elucidated with reference to the annexed figure which shows a schematic view of" a first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of an apparatus according to the invention. The apparatus comprises four groups of components, that is, a transport device, a transmission measuring device 4, a reflection measuring device 14 and a height measuring device 22. According to the preferred embodiment of the invention all four devices are accommodated together in the appara¬ tus according to the invention, although it is very well possible to omit for instance the height measuring device and/or the reflection measuring device. The transport device is formed by a conveyer belt l which is trained round four rollers 2, of which one or more than one are driven, and a plurality of supporting elements not shown in the drawing. The conveyer belt 1 is preferably manufactured from transparent material, this preferably being material which is at least partly trans¬ parent to the radiation used for the transmission mea¬ surement. The driven rollers 2 are of course driven by drive means (not shown in the drawing) , for instance electric motors. Placed on conveyer belt 1 by means of a device (not shown in the drawing) are bodies 3 for inspection, for instance in the form of pieces of turkey fillet. The invention is not however limited to this application; other types of meat can be inspected instead of turkey fillet, or it is possible to inspect other foodstuffs, such as vegetables or fruit or potatoes.
The piece of turkey fillet 3 placed on the moving conveyer belt first passes through a transmission measur¬ ing device 4. This latter is formed by a light emitter 5 which is placed under conveyer belt 1 and in which a light source is arranged in the form of a TL-lamp 6. The TL-lamp 6 is adapted to deliver light with a wavelength in the range around 620 nm. It is possible instead to use light with other frequency bands, although the present light source was found by the inventors to give good results, while on the other hand the radiation source was not found to be particularly expensive. It is of course possible to apply other types of light source, for in¬ stance SL-, PL-, PLL-lamps.
A red filter is placed above the light emitter to remove the frequency elements which are transmitted by the TL-lamp 6 but which do not lie in the frequency spectrum. It is pointed out here that a teleluminescence tube generally does not have a continuous spectrum but that the spectrum is provided with several frequency peaks. The red filter is particularly suitable for remov¬ ing frequency peaks lying outside the required frequency range. It is of course possible to use other frequency ranges. What is important is that the light is narrow¬ band.
Placed above the red filter 7 is a diffuser plate 8 which serves to diffuse the light which is transmitted directionally by the TL-lamp. Use could be made - prefer¬ ably in the case of a light source located in a single point - of a collimator instead of the diffuser 8. Ac¬ cording to another embodiment this collimator could be placed between the diffuser and the conveyer belt. It is otherwise possible to make use of a polarizing filter (not shown in the drawing) . The use of such a polarizing filter results in a better parallelism of the radiation beams and thus in a more accurate result. It is moreover possible to use two polarizing filters, the polarization directions of which are mutually perpendicular.
Arranged above the conveyer belt and sufficiently high above the conveyer belt to enable passage of for instance pieces of turkey fillet 3, is a converging lens 9. This converging lens 9 serves to converge the radia¬ tion, which leaves the body for inspection as parallel as possible, to a lens system 10 which is connected to a CCD recorder 11. This CCD recorder 11 and the lens system 10 preferably form part of a standard commercially available CCD camera.
Between the converging lens 9 and the lens system 10 a filter can also be arranged for removal of components located outside the frequency band transmitted by light source 6. The CCD recorder 11 is connected to a digital computer 13 by means of a cable 12. Understood by this digital computer device 13 is not only a purely digital computer but also the signal converters necessary for supplying the analog signals. As for instance a turkey fillet passes through, the CCD recording element makes a recording and the thus obtained signal is transmitted to digital computer 13 via cable 12.
As seen over the surface, the signal is a measure of the effective attenuation of the radiation in the turkey fillet transmitted by light source 6. The effective attenuation coefficient is formed by a combination, of the internal absorption coefficient and the internal reflec¬ tion coefficient. From the relevant effective attenuation coefficients information can be derived relating to the density of the material of the turkey fillet and the height and thickness thereof. The relevant information is however not unambiguous; a signal of a determined magni¬ tude can after all be obtained by a piece of fillet with a large thickness and a low absorption or by a piece of fillet with a small thickness and a high absorption. The thus obtained signal nevertheless provides a considerable amount of information concerning for instance the total density, or the mass of the inspected turkey fillet. It is herein noted that light rays are damped expo¬ nentially in the material of the turkey fillet. The outgoing signal is thus in the first approximation a logarithmic function of the density. The turkey fillet 3 subsequently passes through a reflection measuring device 14 which is formed by a light source 15 in the form of a round TL-lamp. Under this light source is arranged a diffuser 16 and thereunder a first polarizer 17 which is adapted to polarize the light in a first direction. All these elements 15,16,17 are annular.
Arranged in the thereby formed central opening is a recorder which is formed by a lens system 18 and a CCD element' 19, wherein these two components together are preferably formed by parts of a commercially available CCD camera.
A polarizer 20 is preferably arranged under the lens system 18. When this second polarizer 20 is arranged the polarization direction will preferably extend perpendicu- larly of that of the first polarizer 17. It is however also possible to make use of only the second polarizer and to omit the first polarizer. It is noted here that the object of the polarizers, whether alone or together is to avoid or at least reduce the effect of shiny patch- es on the surface. Such shiny patches result for instance from moisture on the surface. Light reflected by such shiny patches is polarized by the reflection. When a first polarization filter is used the light falling on the object will thus hardly be reflected, so that shiny patches do not interfere with the determination of the reflection coefficient. When a second polarization filter is used, precisely that light is suppressed which is polarized by polarization during reflection by the shiny patches. When both filters are used this effect is rein- forced. The effect of shiny patches is thus suppressed, enabling a colour determination of the surface which is as accurate as possible. The CCD element 19 is of course also connected to the digital computer 13 by means of a cable 21.
The light transmitted by the TL-lamp 15 is made diffuse by a diffuser 16, is subsequently polarized by the first polarization filter 17 in a first direction and cast onto the surface of the turkey fillet 3 for measur¬ ing. The light thrown thereon is reflected inter alia back to the centrally arranged second polarizer 20, the lens system 18 and the CCD recorder 19. The light signal received by the CCD recorder is analyzed on the basis of brightness and colour, this in particular according to the colour three-dimensional model known as HSI (Hue, Saturation, Intensity) . This colour model is found to produce the most useful results for further processing in a digital computer. It is of course possible to make use of other colour models.
On the basis of the thus obtained reflection signal it is possible to determine the colour and brightness of the surface of the turkey fillet. More particularly local colour transitions and more general colour shadings are then determined. On the basis thereof it is possible to make an estimate concerning the areas on the surface on which fat is present, whether there are areas with coagu¬ lated protein possibly resulting from a previous heat treatment, whether there are blood spots on the surface of the turkey fillet, and to determine what the colour of the fillet is; whether it is for instance white meat or red meat.
Although the above stated configuration is described as being concentric, the outer structure in particular does not have to be annular; it is possible to make use of for instance two linear light sources arranged on either side of the CCD recorder.
Finally, the turkey fillet 3 is subjected according to the preferred embodiment to a height measuring device 22. The height measuring device 22 is again placed above conveyer belt l, also again at a height such that the passage of the objects for measuring, for instance the pieces of turkey fillet, is ensured. The height measuring device 22 comprises a light source 23 adapted to transmit a light beam 24 directed toward the turkey fillet. This light can be directed obliquely, but can also be directed straight at the turkey fillet.
For this light beam it is attractive to make use of monochromatic light, or even coherent light, for instance laser light. Arranged in the same plane as the transmit¬ ted light beam 24 is an array of recording elements 26, this such that the light beam 25 reflected by the turkey fillet strikes these elements. The sequential number of the element struck is a measure for the height of the turkey fillet. It is thus possible to determine the height of the turkey fillet over a line extending paral- lei to the transporting direction of the conveyer belt. By causing the entire height measuring device 22 to perform a reciprocating movement in the transverse direc¬ tion it is possible to determine the height of the turkey fillet according to a zigzag line. Using the thus ob- tained data it is possible to determine the height of intermediate parts by means of interpolation, so that a good image of the local height of the turkey fillet can be obtained. The height measuring device 22 is connected by means of a cable 27 to the digital computer 13. The relation between the height signal obtained via the height measurement and the signal from the transmission gives the correlation function between the local height of the object and the local attenuation of the radiation. This correlation function is then applied to each pixel value in the result of the transmission measurement and finally gives a value for the local density over the whole surface. Using this data the presence of for in¬ stance bones, bone splinters, sinew and the like can be demonstrated. It will be apparent that various changes can be made to the above described apparatus without deviating from the invention.

Claims

1. Apparatus for determining the qualities of irra¬ diatable bodies, for instance pieces of meat, comprising radiating means for determining the qualities of the irradiatable bodies by means of radiation only.
2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the radiating means comprise:
- a device for parallel irradiation from one side of an at least partly irradiatable body;
- a device for receiving the radiation leaving the irradiatable body and deriving a transmission signal therefrom;
- means for deriving from the transmission signal information concerning the qualities of the irradiated body.
3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the light source is adapted to generate narrow-band light.
4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the light is located in a frequency band in which the wavelength of around 620 nm is located.
5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, 3 or 4, charac¬ terized in that a diffuser is placed between the support medium for the body for irradiating and the light source and that the receiving means comprise a lens system comprising at least one converging lens and a CCD ele¬ ment.
6. Apparatus as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, characterized by height measuring means for determining the dimensions of the irradiatable body in the direction substantially parallel to the radiation direction over at least a part of the surface of the irradiatable body transversely of the radiation direc¬ tion, and for deriving therefrom a height signal.
7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the height measuring means comprise a light source adapted to radiate a light beam directed toward the support means for the body for inspecting and an array of receiving elements located in one plane with the light beam for receiving the light beam reflected by the in¬ spected body and to generate a height signal.
8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 or 7, character¬ ized in that the height measuring means are adapted to perform a movement substantially transversely of the direction of movement of the transporting means.
9. Apparatus as claimed in any of the claims 3-8, characterized by a computer for relating the height signal to the transmission signal and for deriving from said signals a signal for the distribution of the density of the irradiatable body.
10. Apparatus as claimed in any of the claims 1-9, characterized in that the apparatus is adapted to deter¬ mine the presence of inhomogeneities, for instance bone in pieces of meat.
11. Apparatus as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that the apparatus is adapted to determine the mass of the irradiatable body.
12. Apparatus as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that the apparatus comprises reflection determining means for determining the local reflection coefficient of at least a part of a surface of the irradiatable body and for deriving therefrom a re¬ flection signal.
13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 12, characterized in that the reflection determining means are adapted to determine the reflection coefficient on both sides of the body.
14. Apparatus as claimed in claim 13, characterized in that the reflection determining means comprise: a light source; a diffuser placed between the light source and the support medium for the body for inspecting; and a CCD element.
15. Apparatus as claimed in claim 14, characterized in that a polarizing filter is placed between the diffu¬ ser and the support medium.
16. Apparatus as claimed in claim 14 or 15, charac- terized in that a polarizing filter is placed between the support medium for the body for inspecting and the CCD recorder.
17. Apparatus as claimed in claim 14, 15 or 16, characterized in that the CCD element is placed concen- trically relative to the light source.
18. Apparatus as claimed in any of the claims 2-10 and 12-17, characterized in that the computer is adapted to relate the reflection signal to at least the transmis¬ sion signal and the height signal and to derive therefrom information concerning the distribution of the density of the irradiatable body.
19. Apparatus as claimed in any of the claims 12-18, characterized in that the computer is adapted to derive from the reflection signal the presence of inhomogene- ities of the irradiatable body.
20. Apparatus as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that the apparatus is provided with transport means for carrying irradiatable bodies successively past at least one of the radiating means, the height measuring means and the reflecting means.
PCT/NL1996/000008 1995-01-04 1996-01-04 Apparatus for determining the qualities of an irradiatable body by means of penetrating radiation WO1996021153A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
NL9500018 1995-01-04
NL9500018A NL9500018A (en) 1995-01-04 1995-01-04 Device for determining by radiation the quality of irradiable bodies.

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO1996021153A1 true WO1996021153A1 (en) 1996-07-11

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WO2001020311A1 (en) * 1999-09-17 2001-03-22 Sik - Institut För Livsmedel Och Bioteknik Ab Apparatus and method for detection of foreign bodies in products
US6456093B1 (en) 1999-09-17 2002-09-24 SIK - Institut för livsmedel och biotecknik AB Apparatus and method for detection of foreign bodies in products
WO2006075164A1 (en) * 2005-01-12 2006-07-20 Enfis Limited Sensing in meat products and the like
US7520667B2 (en) 2006-05-11 2009-04-21 John Bean Technologies Ab Method and system for determining process parameters

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Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2001020311A1 (en) * 1999-09-17 2001-03-22 Sik - Institut För Livsmedel Och Bioteknik Ab Apparatus and method for detection of foreign bodies in products
US6456093B1 (en) 1999-09-17 2002-09-24 SIK - Institut för livsmedel och biotecknik AB Apparatus and method for detection of foreign bodies in products
WO2006075164A1 (en) * 2005-01-12 2006-07-20 Enfis Limited Sensing in meat products and the like
US7520667B2 (en) 2006-05-11 2009-04-21 John Bean Technologies Ab Method and system for determining process parameters

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