The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 10, 1998
Filed:
Jun. 25, 1996
Masahiro Ito, Chiba, JP;
Junji Iida, Chiba, JP;
Akira Terashima, Chiba, JP;
Kazuo Maeda, Chiba, JP;
Shuji Suzuki, Chiba, JP;
Takeo Ide, Tokyo, JP;
Toshiki Kishimoto, Tokyo, JP;
Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A non-destructive taste characteristics measuring apparatus comprising trays and a measuring section provided in the course of a transport path and at which light is made incident on a vegetable or fruit to measure its taste characteristics, wherein the trays are each provided with at least two tray-side light passages one opening ends of which are so made as to come in contact with the vegetable or fruit and the other ends of which stand open outward at the bottom of the tray, and the measuring section has at least two measurement-side light passages one opening ends of which are positionally adjustable to the opening ends of the tray-side light passages at its part facing the bottom of said tray, and is provided with i) a means for making light incident on the vegetable or fruit through one of the measurement-side light passages and one of the tray-side light passages and ii) a detector which the light emergent from the vegetable or fruit enters through the other tray-side light passage and the other measurement-side light passage. The apparatus enables continuous measurement of taste characteristics such as sugar content and ripeness of vegetables and fruits at a high speed and a high precision without complicating the structure.