Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
  • G01N33/00—Investigating or analysing materials by specific methods not covered by groups G01N1/00 - G01N31/00
  • G01N33/02—Food
  • G01N33/12—Meat; Fish
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
  • G01N3/00—Investigating strength properties of solid materials by application of mechanical stress
  • G01N3/40—Investigating hardness or rebound hardness
  • G01N3/42—Investigating hardness or rebound hardness by performing impressions under a steady load by indentors, e.g. sphere, pyramid

Definitions

• The. present Invention relates to the meat Industry and more particularly to a probe to aid in classifying meat in respect of tenderness and exterior fat layer thickness.
• a device to aid in determining the tenderness of meat comprising: a body to be gripped by a user; an elongated probe member fixed with respect to said body and extending fowardly therefrom in the direction of intended movement of the device, said probe having a forward extremity adapted to penetrate the meat sample; a piston sUdably mounted in said body for longitudinal movement along said probe, said piston being movable relative to said probe from an Initial start position spaced towards said extremity, and a retracted position displaced rearwardly from said start position exposing a greater length of said probe; and a load cell in communication with said probe member to provide a signal indicative of the force applied to said extremity as it penetrates a meat sample.
• a tip for a device to aid in determining tenderness of meat comprising a tip body to be attached to the forward end of a probe, and a plurality of forwardly extending tip pins attached to said body.
• FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a device to aid 1n determining tenderness of meat
• Figure 2 is a schematic sectional view of a second embodiment of a device to aid in determining tenderness of meat
• Figure 3 is a schematic sectional view of an end of the probe of the devices of Figures 1 and 2;
• Figure 5 is a schematic sectional view of a modification of the device of Figure 2;
• Figure 6 is a schematic part sectioned side elevation of the probe employed in the device of Figure 5, with an N-cap removed;
• Figure 7 1s a schematic end elevation of the probe of Figure 6; and Figure 8 1s a schematic sectioned side view of a leading portion of the device of Figure 5.
• the device 1 of Figure 1 performs two tests.
• the first of these tests determines the force required to have the tip 5 of probe member 4 penetrate the connective tissue (not shown) extending between a pair of ribs of a carcass.
• the connective tissue tested would be that extending between the twelfth and thirteenth rib.
• the second test determines the force exerted while penetrating the probe 4 a predetermined distance into the eye (not shown) behind the connective tissue.
• the device 1 includes a body 2 of generally cylindrical configuration, having an internal bore 18. Slidably mounted within the bore 18 is piston 3.
• the probe 4 is rigidly affixed to the body through its attachment to a load cell 6. Piston 3 terminates at its forw?"d end with cap member 17 through which the probe 4 extends.
• the extremity 117 extending forward of the cap member 17 is tapered to a diameter which is smaller than the tip 5 diameter.
• Formed integrally with, or attached to cap member 17 are prongs 8.
• the forward end of probe 4 Includes four pins 16 which extend forward and are covered by pin cover 24 ( Figure 3 ) .
• Pin cover 25 may be fixed to 4, so as to completely cover pins 16, or leave pins 16 partially projecting outwardly therefrom. Alternatively pin cover 24 could be slidable so as to selectively cover or uncover the pins.
• the cover 25 also serves to clean the pins 16 when urged forward over the pins.
• the body 2 is provided with a pivoting catch member 7, the purpose of which is to selectively engage and detach the piston 3 from body 2.
• Piston 3 is provided with an annular groove 15 into which catch member 7 normally extends to axially fix the body 2 to the piston 3.
• Extension 4' is attached to the load cell 6 which in turn is attached to body 2 by means of a rigid attachment member 19, secured in position by a screw 19.
• Tracks 9 are provided with an optional helical portion 9' and angularly offset portion 9" whereby guide member 11 and hence body 2 must rotate with respect to piston 3 as the projections 111 traverse the helical portion 9'.
• the need for the helical portion 9' and offset portion 9" depend entirely on the characteristics of the load cell, as will be explained.
• a threaded adjustment cap 13 At the rear end of body 2 is attached a threaded adjustment cap 13, the purpose of which is to adjust the force on and position of the load cell 6 and thus establish a datum.
• a computer or other recording means is connected to load cell 6 to record the force readings.
• catch 7 is initially engaged with the annular groove 15.
• the device is then grasped by body 2 and the prongs 8 are pierced into the carcass to locate and avoid ribs.
• catch 7 is pressed so as to render body 2 and piston 3 axially relatively movable.
• pins 16 now extending from the retractable pin cover 25, the body 2 and probe 4 are pushed forward relative to the piston 3.
• the load cell 6 experiences the force exerted on the probe tip pins 16.
• pins 16 surround at least one strand of connective tissue to ensure that the strands are not spread apart or radially displaced as probe 4 is advanced.
• the body 2 is advanced until slots 22 encounter the helical portion 9' of track 9, by which point the connective tissue has been punctured or torn. Body 2 is then rotated while still being advanced so that slots 22 are now riding on track portions 9". As force is still being applied, probe member 4 continues further into the eye of the meat.
• probe 4 is extracted from the meat and spring 20 acts to return piston 3 to the position depicted in Figure 1.
• an alternate embodiment of the device includes a coil or double wound coil 21' located within and retained by the bore 18.
• the coil When energized, the coil produces a magnetic field.
• the spring 20 Is compressed by the retracting piston 3, the variation in the coil voltage is observed, because the amount of metal in the coil's field increases as the spring 20 compresses. This allows a distance or penetration measurement to be made with the combination of coil 21' and spring 20.
• a user would typically enter a personal I.D. number and other relevant information including carcass I.D. number into a keypad which is associated with the computer which monitors the load cell output and coil voltage.
• the operator locates a bone free area of meat using the - 5 - prongs 8, then pushes the probe tip 5 and cap tip 117 into the meat until the cap 23 is flush with the sample area.
• the release mechanism 7 is then released, whereupon further advancement of the body 2 drives the probe 4, but not the piston 3, into the sample.
• frictional resistance against the tip 5 allows the pins 16 to become unsheathed as the cap 25 retracts.
• the spring 20 begins to compress, which results in a coil voltage change.
• a force reading is obtained from the load cell 6.
• a force reading is then obtained at regular pre-set intervals (e.g. every 0.5 mm) until a maximum penetration is detected or the device is withdrawn.
• the CPU of the computer By measuring the force on the load cell 6 at fixed intervals, the CPU of the computer (through programmed instructions) can calculate the mean of the total force curve over distance curve. As an alternative the CPU could be programmed to calculate the mean of the force peaks. Once the mean of the force curve or peak has been stored, preferably in nonvolatile memory, the CPU may then calculate the tenderness of the sample using a linear equation. The result of the interpretation of the force curve or peak mean is preferably expressed as a value on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being very tender and 5 being very tough. Stored data may be easily transferred to a storage device, printer or personal computer, either for further analysis or printing labels etc.
• the device described with reference to Figure 2 can measure the amount of fat on a dressed carcass.
• the device 1 must first be modified by locating tubes 40 over the prongs 8.
• the tubes may be retained by set screws 41.
• the prongs 8 may be provided with an enlarged diameter rear portion. Either variant forms a step 42 in the effective prong diameter which resists penetration into a layer of connective tissue.
• the operator pushes the prongs 8 through the layer of external fat 43 of a sample, until the step or tube ends 42 contact the layer of connective tissue 44 under the fat layer 43.
• the operator can sense the resistance offered by the connective tissue 44.
• the operator then depresses the release or catch 7 and advances the body 2 and probe.
• the load cell 6 registers a rise in the applied force.
• the force reading causes the CPU to take a reading from the coil position sensor 21'. This position of the probe relative to the piston 3 is referred to as the start distance.
• the start distance As the pins and tip of the probe penetrate the fat layer 43, the force over distance curve remains relatively flat.
• a range or probes 4 and tips 5 may be provided being suitable for various different quality and types of meat.
• signal processing devices and computational tools such as CPU's, input devices and output devices may be employed for the purpose of accomplishing the beneficial results of the Instant apparatus and method.
• Figure 5 there is schematically depicted a modification of the device 1 of Figure 2.
• the load cell 6 is supported by the rigid member 19 by two or more bolts 19'.
• the bolts 19 extend through passages in the body 2 and are covered by means of a cap 13.
• the extremity 117 is modified so as to consist of a body 118 which threadably engages an end wall 119 of the body 1, and a nut 120. This arrangement of the extremity 117 allows for adjustment of the start load to be applied to the cell 16 and to provide a datum.
• the tip 5 of the above discussed embodiments includes a cap consisting of a cap body (not shown) and a cap body retainer 26.
• the cap body retainer 26 threadably engages the cap body to retain it in position.
• the total assembly of cap body and cap retaining member 26 are slidable along the body of the probe 4 to expose the pins 16.

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Analytical Chemistry (AREA)
• Biochemistry (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Immunology (AREA)
• Pathology (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Food Science & Technology (AREA)
• Medicinal Chemistry (AREA)
• Dental Tools And Instruments Or Auxiliary Dental Instruments (AREA)
• Investigating Or Analysing Biological Materials (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

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• 1991
  • 1991-06-20 WO PCT/AU1991/000263 patent/WO1991019976A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1991-06-20 EP EP91912113A patent/EP0535123A4/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 1991-06-20 JP JP91511026A patent/JPH05508711A/ja active Pending
  • 1991-06-20 BR BR919106580A patent/BR9106580A/pt not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1991-06-20 CA CA 2086016 patent/CA2086016A1/en not_active Abandoned

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