US 4,785,817 AGranted

Method and apparatus for ultrasonic grading of meat

AssigneeCornell Research Foundation, Inc.

InventorJames R. Stouffer

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

An improved transducer positioning device for use in evaluating fat thickness and muscle area at a selected rib area of a hog carcass, and for evaluating fat thickness and muscle score, of the ham portion of the carcass, is disclosed. A system for displaying ultrasonic images on a monitor and for measuring and analyzing the imaged areas for use in grading the quality of the carcass is also described. The transducer positioning device consists of a transducer support arm adapted to hold a rib area transducer in the proper position against a carcass for measurement of fat thickness at a selected rib area. The support arm includes a connector hook for attaching it to the tail of the carcass so that the transducer is accurately positioned over the rib area to be measured. In addition, a ham transducer is mounted in a collar attachment for connection to the rear leg of a hog carcass to provide an accurate measurement of fat thickness and muscling of the ham. The transducers produce real time scanned ultrasonic images which are displayed on a monitor for immediate evaluation of, and grading of, the carcass. The images are also recorded for later display on remote monitoring devices for more detailed analysis and grading by suitable pattern recognition techniques.

Claims22

Dependent claims

A transducer system for evaluating and grading an animal, comprising:

a first ultrasonic transducer probe;
a first transducer support unit for positioning said first ultrasonic transducer probe over a predetermined location along the backbone of the animal for untrasonically scanning a first predetermined region and producing first output signals for measuring back fat and meat quality and quantity in said first region, said first support unit including
(a) an elongated support arm;
(b) means at a first end of said support arm for engaging the tail region of the animal and for positioning the support unit along the backbone of the animal;
and
(c) bracket means at a second end of said support arm receiving and securing said first probe, said support arm being adjustable in length to position said probe means over said predetermined location along the backbone of the animal said bracket means securing said first ultrasonic transducer probe so as to direct ultrasonic signals into said first region;
a second ultrasonic transducer probe;
a second transducer support unit for positioning said second ultrasonic transducer probe over the upper leg portion of the animal for ultrasonically scanning a second predetermined region for measuring fat thickness and meat quantity and profile, comprising
(a) collar means shaped to surround and engage the leg portion of the animal;
and
(b) a depending clamp secured to said collar means and receiving and securing said second ultrasonic transducer probe, said collar means being sized and shaped to position said second transducer along the upper leg area of the animal so as to direct ultrasonic signals into said second region;
means connected to said first and second ultrasonic transducer probes and responsive to said first and second output signals for producing images of the ultrasonically scanned regions of the animal at said predetermined location along the backbone and along said upper leg area, said images permitting visual grading of the aniaml.

9 more elements

A method for evaluating an animal, comprising:

positioning ultrasonic transducer means over a preselected rib area of an animal to be graded;
driving said transducer means by an ultrasonic scanner to obtain an ultrasonic cross-sectional image of the back fat layers and rib eye meat within said preselected rib area of the animal;
displaying said ultrasonic image;
measuring on said image the fat thickness dimensions and storing the measured dimensions;
measuring on said image the periphery of the meat portion of said image;
calculating from the measurements of periphery the area of said meat portion and storing the meat area calculation;
and
obtaining from said back fat thickness measurements and meat area calculation, a grade evaluation for the animal.

5 more elements

A transducer system incorporating a positioning device for locating at least one transducer adjacent a predetermined region of an animal to be evaluated, the system comprising:

at least one ultrasonic transducer probe;
a transducer support unit having an elongated arm, engagement means to a first end of said arm for engaging a predetermined first region of an animal to be evaluated and for positioning said elongated arm along the backbone of the animal;
and bracket means mounted at a second end of said arm for receiving and securing said at least one transducer probe so as to direct ultrasonic signals from said probe into a preselected, fixed second region of the animal adjacent its backbone to obtain an ultrasonic image of the back fat and meat quality and quantity in said second region;
display means electrically connected to said at least one transducer probe and responsive to said probe for displaying a cross-sectional image of said second region for real-time evaluation of the animal;
pattern recognition means responsive to said cross-sectional image for providing measurements of the thickness of the back fat and the area and quality of the meat in said second region;
and
means responsive to said pattern recognition means measurements for providing detailed analysis and evaluation of the animal.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.