WO2010019518A1

WO2010019518A1 - Apparatus and method for food measurement

Info

Publication number: WO2010019518A1
Application number: PCT/US2009/053306
Authority: WO
Inventors: Adam Yap
Original assignee: Calorieking Wellness Solutions, Inc.
Priority date: 2008-08-11
Filing date: 2009-08-10
Publication date: 2010-02-18

Abstract

A method comprises receiving a code from a user corresponding to a food; parsing the code to determine nutritional facts for the food; applying a measured weight of the food to the nutritional facts to calculate total nutritional values for the food; and presenting the total nutritional values to the user.

Description

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR FOOD MEASUREMENT

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates generally to the field of weight management and, more particularly, to the field of food scales for measurement of an amount of food.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0002] In one aspect of the invention, a method comprises receiving a code from a user corresponding to a food; parsing the code to determine nutritional facts for the food; applying a measured weight of the food to the nutritional facts to calculate total nutritional values for the food; and presenting the total nutritional values to the user.

[0003] In one embodiment, the nutritional facts include one or more of the following: fat content, carbohydrates, amount of protein and calories.

[0004] In one embodiment, the code is indicative of normalized nutritional values for the food. The code may be a numeric value having one or more digits, wherein the digits correspond to the normalized nutritional values. The code may be a numeric value with six digits, wherein the normalized values for each of fat content, carbohydrates and amount of protein are indicated by two digits. In one embodiment, the method further comprises using the code to calculate a normalized value for caloric content. The normalized value for caloric content may be used to calculate and present to the user a total caloric value for the food.

[0005] In one embodiment, the method further comprises measuring a weight of the food.

[0006] In another aspect of the present invention, a computer program product is embodied on a computer-readable medium and comprises computer code for receiving a code from a user corresponding to a food; computer code for parsing the code to determine nutritional facts for the food; computer code for applying a measured weight of the food to the nutritional facts to calculate total nutritional values for the food; and computer code for presenting the total nutritional values to the user. [0007] In another aspect, an apparatus comprises a processor and a memory unit coupled to the processor. The memory unit includes computer code for receiving a code from a user corresponding to a food; computer code for parsing the code to determine nutritional facts for the food; computer code for applying a measured weight of the food to the nutritional facts to calculate total nutritional values for the food; and computer code for presenting the total nutritional values to the user.

[0008] These and other advantages and features of various embodiments of the present invention, together with the organization and manner of operation thereof, will become apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary device for implementation of a food scale in accordance with embodiments of the present invention;

[0010] Figure 2 is a flow chart illustrating a food analysis process in accordance with embodiments of the present invention; and

[0011] Figure 3 illustrates an exemplary page from a code book in accordance with embodiments of the present invention;

[0012] Figure 4 is an exemplary screen shot of a presentation of the results of the analysis of the food in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] Food scales are a regular part of life for anyone in the process of weight management. Conventional scales allow a user to place the food to be consumed on a measurement portion of the scale to determine the weight of the food. However, this merely provides an amount of the food about to be consumed without any further information regarding the nutritional facts of the food.

[0014] An individual desiring to obtain the nutritional facts associated with the food, such as fat content, level of carbohydrates or amount of protein, for example, would generally refer to another source for such facts and, then, translate the information for the additional source to the actual amount of food to be consumed. These additional steps can have the negative effect of discouraging a user to track and monitor his or her food intake.

[0015] Embodiments of the present invention provide an apparatus and method which facilitates the determination of the nutritional facts for the actual amount of food to be consumed.

[0016] Referring now to Figure 1, an exemplary device for implementation of embodiments of the present invention is schematically illustrated. The device 100 may be a scale for the measurement of the weight of objects, such as food. In the illustrated embodiment, the device 100 includes a processor 110 configured to execute processes, such as software methods or other computer-readable instructions. The processor 110 is coupled to a user input module 120 configured to receive inputs from a user. In various embodiments, the user input module 120 may be configured to receive input through a keyboard, a mouse, a touch screen or any other input system. In one embodiment of the present invention, the user input module 120 is configured to receive input through an alpha-numeric keypad. In another embodiment, the keypad is a simple numeric keypad with inputs of 0-9. Of course, various embodiments may include additional, fewer or different inputs.

[0017] The processor 110 is also coupled to a weight measurement module 130. The weight measurement module 130 is configured to provide the measured weight of the food electronically to the processor 110. In this regard, the weight measurement module 130 may be configured to receive the measured weight from a scale portion of the device or, alternatively, may include a scale portion therein. Such scale portions are well known to those skilled in the art and do not require further description here. [0018] The processor 110 is further coupled to an output module 140 configured to output information to a user. In various embodiments, the output module 140 is configured to output information through a screen, monitor, printer or other output means. In one embodiment, the output module 140 is configured to provide the user with a display on a screen provided on the device 100. The screen may be configured to display graphics or text, for example.

[0019] The device 100 may optionally include a memory unit 150 which may be a part of the processor 110. The memory unit 150 may be configured to store data, software applications or other such information. In one embodiment, the memory unit 150 has a program product stored thereon, and the processor 140 may access the program product to execute the program product.

[0020] In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, a user may use the device 100 of Figure 1 to obtain nutritional information for the actual amount of food to be consumed. Referring now to Figure 2, an exemplary food analysis process in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. The illustrated process may be carried out with the assistance of a device, such as that described above with reference to Figure 1.

[0021] In accordance with the process illustrated in Figure 2, a user may place the food on a scale portion of the device 100 to measure the weight of the food. The measurement of the food amount (e.g., weight) may be received by the processor 110 of the device 100 (block 210 of Figure 2). The user may then use the user input module 120 of the device 100 to enter a code corresponding to the food (block 220 of Figure 2). The code to be entered by the user is described below in greater detail with reference to Figure 3. [0022] The code may be parsed by the processor 110 to determine nutritional facts for the food. In one embodiment, the parsed code may be associated with normalized nutritional values. For example, the parsed code may allow the processor to determine the amount of protein in a unit mass of the food, such as grams of protein per ounce or grams of protein per gram, for example. The nutritional facts of the food may include a variety of facts. In one embodiment the nutritional facts include one or more of the following: fat content, level of carbohydrates and amount of protein. [0023] In one embodiment, the processor 110 may be configured to use the code to determine a normalized calorie content (block 230 of Figure 2). In this regard, the code may provide normalized values for certain nutritional facts, such as fat content, carbohydrates and protein. The processor may use this information to calculate the calories associated with each nutritional fact. For example, the fat content may be combined with a known number of calories associated with fat, e.g., 9 calories per gram of fat. Similarly, the processor may be configured to calculate the calories associated with carbohydrates (e.g., 4 calories per gram) and protein (e.g., 4 calories per gram). These values may be combined by the processor to determine a normalized calorie value (e.g., calories per gram of food).

[0024] The processor 110 may then apply the parsed code, or the normalized nutritional values obtained therefrom, to the measured amount of food (e.g., weight) to determine the total nutritional values for the amount of food to be consumed (block 240). In one example, the parsed code may allow the processor to determine that the food has a certain amount of protein per gram. The processor may apply that information to the measured weight of the food to be consumed to determine the total amount of protein in the food to be consumed. Finally, the total nutritional values may be presented to the user (block 250). Further details on the presentation of these values to the user are provided below with reference to Figure 4.

[0025] The codes to be entered by the user may be obtained by the user through a booklet, an electronic catalog, an online source or another source. In a preferred embodiment, the user is provided with a booklet which contains codes for various foods. Such booklets currently exist and, instead of codes, provide nutritional information for various foods assuming some serving size.

[0026] Referring now to Figure 3, an exemplary page of codes for certain foods is illustrated. While the page of codes in Figure 3 includes only a handful of foods, a code booklet may be provided which includes any number of foods. Preferably, the code book includes a large number of commonly available food items. Referring again to Figure 3, each food item is assigned a code which may be entered into the device 100 by the user through the user input module 120.

[0027] In various embodiments, the code may be formed in a variety of manners. In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 3, the code is a numeric value having a certain number of digits. While Figure 3 illustrates codes in the form of a numeric value having six digits, other embodiments may provide for codes with any practical number of digits. [0028] In one embodiment, rather than associating the code to an entry in a database, the code itself may be parsed to obtain the nutritional facts for a specific food. In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 3, each code includes six digits which may be associated with normalized nutritional values for selected nutritional parameters, such as fat, carbohydrates and protein. Specifically, in parsing the code, the processor may separate the code into sets of two digits, each two-digit set corresponding to a normalized value for a specific nutritional parameter.

[0029] For example, in the illustrated embodiment of Figure 3, popcorn is shown as having a code of "285611". The processor may parse this code into two-digits sets and obtain "28"; "56" and "11". In the illustrated embodiment, the first two-digit set is associated with a normalized value for fat in grams of fat per gram of food. In the illustrated embodiment, "28" may be associated with 0.28 grams of fat per gram of food. Similarly, the second two-digit set provides a normalized value for carbohydrates per gram of food. In the illustrated embodiment, "56" may be associated with 0.56 grams of carbohydrates per gram of food. Finally, the third two-digit set provides a normalized value for amount of protein in terms of grams of protein per gram of food. In the illustrated embodiment, "11" may be associated with 0.11 grams of protein per gram of food.

[0030] Of course, in other embodiments, the association between the code and the normalized value of the nutritional parameter may be achieved in a variety of manners. For example, various embodiments may use different units (e.g., grams of protein per ounce rather than grams of protein per gram). Further, rather than two-digit sets, more refinement may be achieved with larger sets such as, for example, three-digit sets. [0031] Thus, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, the device 100 itself is not required to store any codes or any information related to the codes. A simple parsing algorithm is sufficient to allow the device 100 to calculate the nutritional information for the food. Thus, the device may be manufactured in a low-cost and efficient manner.

[0032] Figure 4 is an exemplary screen shot of the results presented to a user by the exemplary device 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In the example illustrated in Figure 4, the user is provided with the calculated nutritional information of the amount of food to be consumed. In the exemplary embodiment, the user is provided with a display of the code entered by the user. This may allow the user to verify that the correct code was entered. In the illustrated example, the user is presented with the code for popcorn from Figure 3.

[0033] Further, in the illustrated exemplary embodiment of Figure 4, the user is provided with the measured weight of the food to be consumed. Presenting the measured weight may allow the user to become aware of the amount about to be consumed relative to, for example, a suggested serving size. For example, a suggested serving size for popcorn may be three ounces. Upon seeing a measured weight displayed that is 4.8 ounces, greater than the suggested serving size, a user may be encouraged to reduce the amount to be consumed.

[0034] Finally, the user is provided with the calculated total nutritional values for the food to be consumed. In the illustrated example of Figure 4, the user is provided with a total fat content, carbohydrates and amount of protein to be consumed. In this regard, the processor may be configured to convert the total values to units familiar to the user. In various embodiments, the user may be provided with the option of selecting the units in which the information is presented.

[0035] In the example illustrated in Figure 4, the processor uses the weight (4.8 ounces) and the parsed code (0.28 grams of fat per gram of food; 0.56 grams of carbohydrates per gram of food; and 0.11 grams of protein per gram of food) to calculate the total fat content (38 grams), total carbohydrates (76 grams), and total protein (15 grams). Further, as described above, the processor may use the code to calculate a normalized value for the caloric content. In the illustrated embodiment, the parsed code is used to calculate the normalized calories from fat (0.28 * 9), calories from carbohydrates (0.56 * 4) and calories from protein (0.11 * 4) to obtain a normalized caloric content of 5.2 calories per gram of food. The normalized value is combined with the weight of the food to obtain the total of 708 calories in 4.8 ounces of food.

[0036] Thus, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, the user is presented with total nutritional values for the actual amount to be consumed without requiring the user to go through burdensome steps. Users are, thus, more likely to monitor their eating habits more closely.

[0037] The foregoing description of embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the precise form disclosed, and modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the present invention. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the present invention and its practical application to enable one skilled in the art to utilize the present invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

L A method, comprising: receiving a code from a user corresponding to a food; parsing the code to determine nutritional facts for the food; applying a measured weight of the food to the nutritional facts to calculate total nutritional values for the food; and presenting the total nutritional values to the user.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nutritional facts include one or more of the following: fat content, carbohydrates, amount of protein and calories.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the code is indicative of normalized nutritional values for the food.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the code is a numeric value having one or more digits, wherein the digits correspond to the normalized nutritional values.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the code is a numeric value with six digits, wherein the normalized values for each of fat content, carbohydrates and amount of protein are indicated by two digits.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising: using the code to calculate a normalized value for caloric content.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising: calculating and presenting to the user a total caloric value for the food using the normalized value for caloric content.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: measuring a weight of the food.

9. A computer program product embodied on a computer-readable medium, the computer program product comprising: computer code for receiving a code from a user corresponding to a food; computer code for parsing the code to determine nutritional facts for the food; computer code for applying a measured weight of the food to the nutritional facts to calculate total nutritional values for the food; and computer code for presenting the total nutritional values to the user.

10. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the nutritional facts include one or more of the following: fat content, carbohydrates, amount of protein and calories.

11. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the code is indicative of normalized nutritional values for the food.

12. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the code is a numeric value having one or more digits, wherein the digits correspond to the normalized nutritional values.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the code is a numeric value with six digits, wherein the normalized values for each of fat content, carbohydrates and amount of protein are indicated by two digits.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, further comprising: computer code for using the code to calculate a normalized value for caloric content.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, further comprising: computer code for calculating and presenting to the user a total caloric value for the food using the normalized value for caloric content.

16. The computer program product of claim 9, further comprising: computer code for determining a weight of the food.

17. An apparatus, comprising: a processor; and a memory unit coupled to the processor and including: computer code for receiving a code from a user corresponding to a food; computer code for parsing the code to determine nutritional facts for the food; computer code for applying a measured weight of the food to the nutritional facts to calculate total nutritional values for the food; and computer code for presenting the total nutritional values to the user.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the nutritional facts include one or more of the following: fat content, carbohydrates, amount of protein and calories.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the code is indicative of normalized nutritional values for the food.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the code is a numeric value having one or more digits, wherein the digits correspond to the normalized nutritional values.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the code is a numeric value with six digits, wherein the normalized values for each of fat content, carbohydrates and amount of protein are indicated by two digits.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the memory unit further includes : computer code for using the code to calculate a normalized value for caloric content.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the memory unit further includes : computer code for calculating and presenting to the user a total caloric value for the food using the normalized value for caloric content.

24. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the memory unit further includes: computer code for determining a weight of the food.