Agricultural commodity condition measurement
AssigneeThe United States of America as representd by the Secretary of Agriculture
InventorsHenry A. Affeldt, Jr., Judith A. Abbott
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Abstract
The instant invention pertains to ascertaining the condition (i.e. texture, maturity and extent of damage (if any)) of an agricultural commodity by: (a) inputting band-limited vibrations (i.e. limited to a specific frequency band); (b) sensing vibrational characteristics (e.g. energy, resonance, absorption frequency characteristics) resulting from the input vibrations, and; (c) analyzing the vibrational characteristics.
Claims20
A process for measuring the condition of an agricultural commodity comprising:
- vibrating an agricultural commodity with input vibrations which comprise a band-limited impulse generating a range of simultaneous, regulated input frequencies of from about 1 to about 3,000 Hz,
- sensing vibrational characteristics of vibrations of said agricultural commodity resulting from said input vibrations, and
- analyzing vibrational energy of said vibrations of said agricultural commodity at single frequencies or within a frequency band in order to ascertain the condition of said agricultural commodity.
A process for measuring the condition of an agricultural commodity comprising:
- vibrating an agricultural commodity with input vibrations which comprise a band-limited impulse generating a range of simultaneous, regulated input frequencies of from about 1 to about 3,000 Hz,
- sensing resonance and absorption frequency characteristics of said agricultural commodity resulting from said input vibrations, and
- analyzing the sensed resonance and absorption frequency characteristics in order to ascertain the condition of said agricultural commodity.
An apparatus for measuring the condition of an agricultural commodity comprising:
- means for vibrating an agricultural commodity with input vibrations which comprise a band-limited impulse generating a range of simultaneous, regulated input frequencies of from about 1 to about 3,000 Hz,
- operably associated means for sensing vibrational characteristics of vibrations of said agricultural commodity resulting from said input vibrations, and;
- analyzing means, operably associated with said means for sensing, for analyzing vibrational energy of said vibrations of said agricultural commodity at single frequencies or within a frequency band in order to ascertain the condition of said agricultural commodity.
An apparatus for measuring the condition of an agricultural commodity comprising:
- means for vibrating an agricultural commodity with input vibrations which comprise a band-limited impulse generating a range of simultaneous, regulated input frequencies of from about 1 to about 3,000 Hz,
- operably associated means for sensing resonance and absorption frequency characteristics of said agricultural commodity resulting from said input vibrations, and;
- analyzing means, operably associated with said means for sensing, for analyzing the sensed resonance and absorption frequency characteristics in order to ascertain the condition of said agricultural commodity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.