Portioning accuracy analysis

A system for monitoring the operation of a food portioning/trimming system, the food portioning/trimming system including a conveyor system for conveying food products in a stream along a conveying direction, a scanner for scanning the food products to ascertain physical characteristics of the food products, a cutter for portioning/trimming the food products, the monitoring system comprising:

• a control system receiving data from the scanner pertaining to the physical characteristics of the food products and determining how to portion/trim the food products as desired including predetermining the cutting paths of the cutter, the monitoring system;
• a vision [optical/camera] system operably connected to the control system to capture visually specific data of the food products after portioning or trimming, including the actual cutting paths of the cutter through the food products;
• and
• wherein the control system compares the actual cutting paths of the cutter with the predetermined cutting paths to thereby ascertain whether the food product portioning/trimming system is operating within desired parameters.

A method for cutting or trimming food products, comprising:

• (a) conveying a stream of individual food products on a conveyance system along a conveyance direction;
• (b) scanning the food products for food product specific physical data as the food products are being transported on the conveyance system;
• (c) transmitting the food product specific physical data from a scanner to a control system that is designed and configured to receive and analyze the food product specific physical data from the scanner and using such food product physical data to determine how to cut the food product into desired shapes or sizes or how to trim the food product as desired, including predetermining the cutting/trimming paths of the cutters used to cut/trim the food products;
• (d) cutting or trimming the food product with cutters controlled by the control system to travel along the cutting/trimming paths previously determined by the control system, as the food products are being transported by the conveyance system;
• (e) visually capturing the actual cutting/trimming paths of the cutters through the food products and comparing such actual cutting/trimming paths with the control system predetermined cutting/trimming paths and analyzing the extent of alignment of the actual cutting/trimming paths with the predetermined cutting/trimming paths;
• and
• (f) if the extent of alignment of the actual cutting/trimming paths with the predetermined cutting/trimming path is not within a predetermined set point level, seeking to determine the cause of the misalignment.

A method for monitoring the operation of a food product portioning/trimming system, the food product portioning/trimming system including:

• a conveyor system for conveying a stream of individual food products in a conveyance direction;
• a scanner for scanning the food products to ascertain physical parameters of the food products;
• at least one cutter for portioning/trimming the food products;
• and a control system for receiving data from the scanner pertaining to the physical parameters of the food products and determining how to portion/trim the food products including predetermining the cutting paths of the at least one cutter, the method comprising:
• visually capturing the actual cutting paths of the at least one cutter from the stream of food products;
• and
• comparing the extent of alignment of the actual cutting paths of the at least one cutter with the predetermined cutting paths of the at least one cutter to thereby ascertain whether the food portioning/trimming system is operating within desired parameters.