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US 4,566,312 AGranted
Apparatus and process for automatically determining fat contents of foods
AssigneeCEM Corporation
InventorsMichael J. Collins, Ronald J. Goetchius
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AssigneeCEM Corporation
InventorsMichael J. Collins, Ronald J. Goetchius
Estimating the term…
Apparatuses and processes are described for the automatic determinations of fat contents of foods, such as dairy products, e.g., milk, wherein automatic density and solids content determining apparatuses are employed, together with a computer, to determine the fat contents of food samples being tested. The density determining apparatus is preferably one which is electromagnetically excited to vibrate at its natural resonant frequency, so that from the change in such frequency, compared to a control, the mass of the sample may be determined. The means for measuring the solids content is preferably an automatic volatility computer in which electromagnetic radiation (microwave energy) is employed to drive off the volatile material (usually mostly water) in the sample, which is automatically weighed before and after such volatilization. Preferably, a microcomputer in the automatic volatility computer is employed to compute fat content from electronic feeds to it from the density and the solids content determining apparatuses.
An apparatus for determining the fat content of a food which comprises means for automatically measuring a density characteristic of a food and producing an electronic signal corresponding to the density of the food, means for automatically measuring a solids content characteristic of a food and producing an electronic signal corresponding to the solids content of the food, computer means to determine the fat content of the food from the electronic signals, means for transmitting the electronic signals to the computer means, and means for reporting the fat content of the food.
A process for determining the fat content of a food which comprises automatically measuring a density characteristic of a food and producing an electronic signal corresponding to the density of the food, automatically measuring a solids content characteristic of a food and producing an electronic signal corresponding to the solids content of the food, transmitting the electronic signals to a computer, automatically computing with the computer the fat content of the food from the electronic signals, and reporting the fat content of the food.
An apparatus for determining the content of a component of a material, which component is of a different density from other components of the material, which comprises means for automatically measuring a density characteristic of the material and producing an electronic signal corresponding to the density of the material, means for automatically measuring a solids content characteristic of the material and producing an electronic signal corresponding to the solids content thereof, computer means to determine the content of the component of the material from the electronic signals, means for transmitting the electronic signals to the computer means, and means for reporting the component content of the material.
A process for determining the content of a component of a material, which component is of a different density from other components of the material, which comprises automatically measuring a density characteristic of the material and producing an electronic signal corresponding to the density of the material, automatically measuring a solids content characteristic of the material and producing an electronic signal corresponding to the solids content thereof, transmitting the electronic signals to a computer, automatically computing with the computer the component content of the material from the electronic signals, and reporting the component content of the material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.