Apparatus and method of contaminant detection for food industry
OwnerArthur T. Jones, Jr.inventor
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Abstract
The present invention is a method and apparatus for contaminant detection in the food industry. Particularly, the method and apparatus involve collecting air samples containing aerosolized contaminate particles from a foodstuff and analyzing the sample for presence of a contaminate. Aerosol lab-on-a-chip and/or electronic nose devices are utilized for the detection of contaminant particles.
Claims6
An apparatus for detecting contamination of foodstuffs within a food processing machine comprising:
- an aerosol collector unit;
- a detector unit in fluid connection with said aerosol collector unit and having at least one detection component, wherein said detection component is capable of detecting contaminants to food stuffs;
- a telemetry unit in electrical connection with said detector unit;
- and
- an air handling unit disposed to create air flow across a foodstuff and into said collector, wherein said air handling unit comprises an air nozzle disposed within a food processing machine to allow passage of air through particulate food.
An apparatus for detecting contamination of foodstuffs comprising:
- an aerosol collector unit;
- a detector unit in fluid connection with said aerosol collector unit and having at least one detection component, wherein said detection component is capable of detecting contaminants to food stuffs;
- a telemetry unit in electrical connection with said detector unit;
- and
- an air handling unit dimensioned to fit within a cavity of a foodstuff disposed to blow air across a foodstuff and into said aerosol collector.
A method for detecting contamination of foodstuffs comprising:
- marking a foodstuff with an odor marker;
- creating an airflow by blowing air across the foodstuff;
- collecting at least a portion of the air flow;
- utilizing an odor marker to mark identify the presence of a food stuff;
- and
- analyzing the collected air to determine the presence of contaminated particles.
An apparatus for detecting contamination of foodstuffs comprising:
- a collector unit;
- a detector unit in fluid connection with said collector unit;
- a telemetry unit in electrical connection with said detector unit;
- an air handling unit disposed to create air flow across a foodstuff and into said collector unit;
- wherein said air handling unit comprises an air nozzle disposed within a food processing machine to allow passage of air through particulate food.
An apparatus for detecting contamination of foodstuffs comprising:
- a collector unit;
- a detector unit in fluid connection with said collector unit;
- a telemetry unit in electrical connection with said detector unit;
- and
- an odor marking unit, wherein odor markers are disposed on a foodstuff by said odor marking unit and wherein the detection of said odor markers indicates at least one of a group of conditions of air flow consisting of sufficient air flow, non-sufficient air flow, properly oriented airflow, non-properly oriented airflow.
A method for detecting contamination of foodstuffs comprising:
- providing a foodstuff;
- moving the foodstuff in proximity to an air collector wherein said collector unit additionally comprises multiple air inlets;
- collecting air surrounding the foodstuff;
- analyzing the collected air to determine the presence of contaminated particles;
- and
- marking the foodstuff with an odor marker before moving the foodstuff proximate to the air collector.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.