System for and Method of Forming a Batch of a Meat Product

[0001] The present invention relates to a system for and a method of forming a batch of a meat product having predetermined weight and fat content.

[0002] It is known, from for example US 7,123,685, to provide a system for and a method of forming a meat batch by continuously determining a fat content of a known weight of meat on a conveyor belt using an X-ray based sensor before the so measured meat is added to the batch. A computer is provided which calculates the weight and fat content of meat to be added in order to complete the batch based on the measured weight and fat content of meat already added to the batch. This calculation is employed by a control unit in the system to control the in-feed of fat meat and of lean meat being supplied from different sources for measurement by the sensor. In this manner the fat content of the meat still to be supplied to form the batch is corrected on the fly to ensure that the overall weight and the fat content requirements for the final meat batch are met. In order to ensure a meat batch having a consistent fat content throughout its volume the batch is mixed in a mixer.

[0003] According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a

method of forming a meat batch having a predetermined weight and a predetermined fat content comprising:

a) constructing in a computing device a sub-batch having a target weight which is less than the predetermined weight and having a target fat content by:

i) supplying to a conveyor system meat product from a number of sources of meat product, preferably a plurality of sources of meat product with different fat contents;

ii) determining at a location in the conveyor system a fat content of the supplied meat product on portions using a fat analyser;

iii) determining a weight of the portion of the supplied meat product using a weighing device; iv) adding in the computing device at least a part of the portion of the supplied meat product to the sub-batch;

v) determining in the computing device a current weight and a current fat content of the sub-batch;

vi) adjusting the fat content of the supplied meat product on the conveyor upstream of the fat analyser so as to achieve the target fat content in response to control information output by the computing device based on the determined current fat content of the sub-batch; and

vii) repeating steps i) to vi) until the sub-batch weight is achieved and the sub-batch is thereby constructed.

and

b) adding the portion to the meat batch; and

c) repeating steps a) and b) until the predetermined weight and the

predetermined fat content for the meat batch is met.

[0004] In some embodiments the sub-batch target fat content is the

predetermined fat content of the batch. In this manner a batch may be formed having a consistent fat content throughout its volume without the need for mixing since each sub-batch has the same (within an acceptable variation) fat content as the predetermined fat content.

[0005] In some embodiments the sub-batch is a part of a more or less continuous stream of meat product.

[0006] In some embodiments the fat content of the supplied meat product is

adjusted manually in dependence on the comparison.

[0007] In some embodiments the supplied meat product is adjusted automatically in dependence of the comparison.

[0008] In some embodiments additional sources of meat product may be provided upstream of the fat analyser and downstream of the number of sources of meat product to supply additional meat product for adjusting the fat content of the supplied meat product. Being physically closer to the fat analyser than the number of sources of meat product reduces the time lag between adjusting the fat content of the meat product and making an analysis of the adjusted fat content in the fat analyser. In other embodiments the operation of the number of sources of meat product may additionally or alternatively be controlled to adjust the fat content of the supplied meat product.

[0009] According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a system for forming a meat batch having a predetermined weight and a predetermined fat content, the system comprising:

i) a conveyor means having an in-feed end and an out-feed end and configured to convey meat product in a direction from the in- feed end to the out-feed end;

ii) a plurality of meat product sources arranged to provide meat product to the conveyor means towards the in-feed end;

iii) a fat analyser arranged at a location between the in-feed end and the out-feed end and configured to determine in portions a fat content of the deposited meat product being conveyed;

iv) a weighing device arranged to determine a weight of the portion of the deposited meat product; and

v) a computing device; wherein the computing device is arranged to construct a desired number of sub-batches, each having a target weight and a target fat content by adding to a current sub batch at least a part of the portion; to determine a current fat content and a current weight of the current-sub-batch and to generate and to output control information to regulate the fat content of meat product being supplied to the fat analyser in dependence of the current fat content so as to achieve the target fat content for the current sub-batch.

[0010] Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the drawing of the accompanying figures of which:

Fig. 1 shows a representation of a first embodiment of a system

according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 illustrates exemplary control information displayed to an

operator of the system according to the present invention; and Fig. 3 shows a representation of a portion of a second embodiment of a system according to the present invention;

[0011] A system 2 for forming a meat batch 4 is illustrated in Fig. 1. The system 2 comprises a number, here a plurality, of meat product sources (here three) 6a,b,c each of which holds meat product of different fat contents, say high fat 6a, medium fat 6b and low fat 6c sources. The allocation of the meat product to the correct meat product source 6a, b or c may be done using a fat analyser to provide an accurate lean/fat ratio determination, often referred to as a Chemical Lean (CL) level determination or the allocation may be made after a visual inspection of the meat product to determine an estimated lean/fat ratio, often referred to as a Visual Lean (VL) level. The meat product sources 6a,b,c are arranged to deposit their contents in a controlled manner on to a conveyor belt 8c at an in-feed end 8a of a conveyor system 8 of the system 2 which is moved on the conveyor belt 8c (in the direction of the arrows) towards an out-feed end 8b of the conveyor system 8.

[0012] In the present embodiment an optional buffer 10 is provided as a

component of the system 2 at the out-feed end 8b of the conveyor system 8 for receiving and holding meat product portions as the meat batch 4 is being formed.

[0013] The system 2 further comprises a fat analyser, here an known X-ray fat analyser 12, preferably employing a multi (typically dual) energy X-ray source and complementary detector, which are arranged to measure a fat content of a portion of meat product being conveyed on the conveyor belt 8c of the conveyor system 8 at a location between its in-feed end 8a and its out-feed end 8b.

[0014] A weighing device 14 of the system 2 is arranged to weigh the portion of meat product whose fat content is measured with the fat analyser 12 and may be collocated with the X-ray fat analyser 12 to weigh the portion of the meat product substantially simultaneously with the determination of the fat content. The weighing device 14 may be any known weighing device such as weight cell, or may be a‘virtual’ weighing device by which the weight of the portion of meat product is indirectly obtained in a known manner by the X-ray fat analyser from a prediction of the areal density (g/cm2) in each individual pixel, i.e. the amount of meat per area unit. The areal densities of all pixels in the image are then summed and converted into the weight of meat product.

[0015] A computing device 16 is also provided in operable communication with the X-ray fat analyser 12 and the weighing device 14 to receive

information regarding fat content and weight respectively of portions of the meat product being measured by the fat analyser 12 and is configured through appropriate programming to generate and to output control information useable in the adjustment of the fat content of meat product upstream of the X-ray fat analyser 12. The computing device 16 may be a single unit, as illustrated in Fig.1 , or may comprise a plurality of separate elements cooperating to function as the single unit. Moreover the computing device 16 or some or all of the elements thereof may be located remotely of the X-ray fat analyser 12 and conveyor system 8 and connected via a telecommunications network, for example via a wide area network, a local area network or the internet. The control information may be output to one or both a display unit 18 and a controller 20. The controller 20 is arranged to control the output of meat product from each of the meat product sources 6a,b,c.

[0016] The system 2 of the present embodiment also comprises one or more

hoppers (here two hoppers 22,24) which are each provided to hold additional meat product having a common (within an acceptable variation) fat content, for example a common VL level. In the present embodiment one hopper 22 is to contain meat product of a relatively high VL level and the other hopper 24 is to contain meat product of a relatively low VL level and are employed in the system 2 for the adjustment of the fat content of meat product being conveyed by the conveyor system 8. In some embodiments (illustrated by broken line construction) each hopper 22,24 is individually controllable in response to the control information output by the computing device 16 to automatically deposit some or all of its contents onto the conveyor belt 8c of conveyor system 8 at location upstream of the fat analyser 12 and downstream of the meat product sources 6a,b,c. In some embodiments, as illustrated in the present Fig. 1 , some or all of the contents of each hopper 22,24 is deposited manually onto the conveyor belt 8c in response to control information which displayed by the display unit 18. The inclusion of the hoppers 22,24 is advantageous but not essential. Location of the hoppers 22,24 close to the fat analyser 12, at least closer than the meat product sources 6a,b,c, means that the time between adjusting the fat content of the meat product on the conveyor belt 8c to measuring in the fat analyser 12 is lowered

[0017] In some embodiments the controller 20 may additionally or alternatively be operated in response to the control information output by the computing device 16. In these embodiments the controller 20 is configured to respond to the control information to automatically control the operation of each of the meat product sources 6a,b,c to adjust the flow of respective meat product so as to achieve a desired fat content of meat product being analysed by the fat analyser 12 and the hoppers 22,24 may be omitted. In some embodiments the computing device 16 may also be configured to control the operation of other components of the system 2 such as the speed of the conveyor belt 8c of conveyor system 8 or the operation of the X-ray fat analyser 12.

[0018] The system according to the present invention, for example the system 2 described above in relation to Fig. 1 , operates to form a batch of meat product having a predetermined weight and a predetermined fat content (CL level) in the following exemplary manner: The computing device 16 obtains into its memory a value for the predetermined weight and a value for the predetermined fat content of the batch 4 to be formed. These values may be permanently or temporarily stored in the memory and may be input by an operator using a conventional input device (not shown), such as a keyboard or touch screen, or may be accessed by the computing device 16 from a remote location. The computing device 16 operates to internally construct sub-batches by obtaining into its memory a target weight of a current sub-batch which is less than the predetermined weight and a target fat content for the current sub-batch. One or both of the current sub-batch target weight and target fat content may be calculated by a processor (not shown) of the computing device 16 or may be obtained internally from a memory or externally, for example from a remotely located server memory or from an operator using the input device, and which may be a variable or a constant for all sub-batches comprising the batch 4.

[0019] In some embodiments, such as that illustrated in Fig. 1 , the formed batch 4 is intended to be divided (here manually) into lots 26, each having a lot weight, typically between 20-40 kg, that are for example contained in boxes 28a,b,c,d. In such embodiments it may be that the current sub batch target weight is selected to be equal (within acceptable limits) to the lot weight and is the same for all sub-batches. In some embodiments the target fat content for each sub-batch is a constant and is equal to the predetermined fat content for the formed batch 4. This has an advantage that each partial volume of the batch 4 that corresponds to each sub-batch will have a uniform fat content value (CL level) and this CL level will be substantially uniform throughout the batch 4 without the need to perform a mixing operation on the batch 4. Thus each lot 26 extracted from the batch 4, will have a substantially similar CL level.

[0020] Meat product from one or more of the meat product sources 6a,b,c feeds onto the moving conveyor belt 8c of conveyor system 8 towards its in-feed end 8a and is transported as a more or less continuous stream of meat product to the X-ray fat analyser 12. The analyser 12 may operate in a conventional manner to expose a portion of the moving meat product to X- ray beams of at least two different energies and to detect the intensities of the X-ray beams after they have passed through the portion. A fat content (CL level) of the portion of the moving stream of meat product is then determined from the detected intensities in a computer of the analyser 12 (which may be considered functionally as an element of the computing device 16). The areal extent of the portion is delimited by the extent of the X-ray beam incident on the meat product. The computer in the analyser 12 is presently also configured to determine a weight of the portion of meat product being illuminated using the detected intensities and to pass the so determined fat and weight values to the computing device 16. In some embodiments the detected intensities may be output (with or without conventional pre-treatment) to the computing device 16 which is then also programmed to determine the weight and fat values from the output.

[0021] The computing device 16 of the present embodiment operates to

determine from the weight of the portion and the combined weight of previously analysed portion(s) comprising the current sub-batch whether or not some or all of the portion shall be included as a part of the current sub-batch (that is, whether or not the target weight of the current sub batch is exceeded, within an acceptable error, by the inclusion of some or all of the portion in the current sub-batch) or whether the construction of a new sub-batch needs to be initiated in the computing device 16.

[0022] If the determination is such that some or all of the portion is to be included in the current sub-batch then the computing device 16 operates to combine the determined fat content of the portion with the determined fat content(s) of these previously analysed portion(s) to generate an average fat content for current sub-batch and the weight of the current sub-batch is increased with the determined weight of the at least part of the portion.

[0023] On completion of the current sub-batch when the target weight for that sub-batch is determined to be reached the computing device 16

determines whether or not a new sub-batch should be constructed by comparing a current weight of the batch 4 being formed with the

predetermined weight for the batch 4 when formed. In some embodiments the computing device 16 operates to determine a new target weight for the new sub-batch from a difference between the current weight of the batch 4 and the predetermined weight. In some embodiments the fat content of the current sub-batch or the portion is combined in the computing device 16 with the fat contents of all previous sub-batches or portions (as

appropriate) in order to determine a current fat content of the batch 4 being formed. This current fat content of the batch 4 may then be compared with the predetermined fat content and a new target fat content for the new sub-batch is calculated to achieve the predetermined fat content for the batch 4. [0024] The current weight of the batch 4 may be calculated in the computing device 16 by adding the weight of the current sub-batch to the combined weights of any previously formed sub-batches. Alternatively or additionally, the weight of the portion may be added to the weights of all previous portions in order to determine a current weight of the batch 4 being formed.

[0025] The computing device 16 generates and outputs control information which is employed in the adjustment of the fat content of meat product upstream of the X-ray fat analyser 12 to meet the target fat content (typically the predetermined fat content for the batch 4) for the current sub-batch. The control information may comprise a signal to drive the display unit 18 to display information to the operator O based on the values of the current fat content and weight of the current sub-batch, such as may be determined as described above. The operator O then responds to the displayed values to add meat product from one or more of the hoppers 22,24 as required in order to achieve the target fat content for the current sub-batch. These and other types of control information that may usefully be displayed to an operator O are exemplified in the illustrated in Fig. 2.

[0026] Considering Fig. 2, a screen 30 of the display unit 18 may be driven by the control information output by the computing device 16 to display:

in a first region 32, entitled“Batch”, the predetermined batch weight and fat content targets together with a current accumulated weight and fat content for the batch, as derived from the portions that have been analysed by the fat analyser 12;

in a second region 34, entitled“Sub Batch”, the current sub-batch target sub-batch weight and target sub-batch fat content (preferably the predetermined fat content for the batch) together with current accumulated weight and fat content of the sub-batch. This information enables the operator O to make a manual fat content (CL) adjustment control through the manual addition of meat product from one or more of the hoppers 22,24 depending on whether the current status shows the fat content to be above (more lean product to be added) or below (more fat product to be added) the sub-batch target fat content. in a third region 36, entitled“Sub Batch History”, the history and therefore the trend of some or all of the previously formed virtual sub batches; and

in a fourth region 38 graphically the trend in fat content with batch weight over some or all of the previously formed virtual sub-batches.

[0027] In some embodiments the computing device 16 may additionally or

alternatively generate a control signal in dependence of the determined information as described above and to output the signal to automatically control the selective addition of the additional meat product from the one or more hoppers 22,24 and/or control the supply of meat product from the meat product sources 6a,b,c in order to adjust the fat content of the met product being passed to the fat analyser 12 so as to achieve the target fat content for each sub-batch.

[0028] A further embodiment of a system 40 for forming a batch of meat 42 is partly illustrated in Fig. 3. The system 40 differs from the system 2 of Fig.

1 only towards the out-feed end 8b of the conveyor system 8 and therefore only these differences are illustrated and will be described in the following. Different to the system 2 of Fig. 1 a batch 42, in the present system 40 is formed directly in large containers 44, often called“combos” or“Dolav™”, which typically hold a batch of around 500kg of meat product. In some embodiments the out-feed end 8b feeds directly into such a container 44. However, in such an embodiment the process must be halted once a predetermined batch weight has been achieved and the filled container replaced with an empty one before the process can be continued.

[0029] In the present embodiment the system 40 includes a multi-directional (here bi-directional) conveyor 46 which is configured to be fed from the out-feed end 8b with meat product 48 and to switch conveyance of this fed meat product 48 to another one of a plurality (here two) containers 44 when a batch 42 has been formed in a one of the containers 44. Thus, a new batch 50 may be started when one batch 42 is completed without halting the process.

[0030] In some embodiments each of the containers 44 may be located on an associated weighing device 52 which is configured to determine a weight of the contents of the associated container 44. In some embodiments this weight may then be output to a controller 54 which operates to control the direction of movement of the multi-directional conveyor 46 and may also be employed in the computing device 16 as a check weight against the weight of the new batch 50 being formed as determined from the output of the weighing device 14. Information such as the final batch weight of the container 44 and the fat content may usefully be printed on to labels that are attached to a completed batch 42.

[0031] It will be appreciated that the systems 2,40 according to the present

invention may be integrated with other processing units of a meat processing plant. For example, a dicing machine 56 may be integrated with the system 2,40 to comminute the meat product before it is added to form the batch 4,42,50 or a foreign object detector may be employed to reject portions of meat product containing a foreign object before the portion enters the batch 4,42,50.