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:
Jan. 10, 2017
Filed:
Sep. 24, 2015
Frito-lay North America, Inc., Plano, TX (US);
Ou Bai, Plano, TX (US);
Wilfred Marcellien Bourg, Jr., Melissa, TX (US);
Scott Fagan, Dallas, TX (US);
Enrique Michel-Sanchez, Dallas, TX (US);
Shahmeer Ali Mirza, Dallas, TX (US);
Scott G. Richardson, Gainesville, TX (US);
Chen C. Shao, Plano, TX (US);
Frito-Lay North America, Inc., Plano, TX (US);
Abstract
A photo acoustic non-destructive measurement apparatus and method for quantitatively measuring texture of a food snack is disclosed. The apparatus includes a laser generating tool, an acoustic capturing device, and a data processing unit. The laser generating tool directs a laser towards a food snack placed on a surface and creates pressure waves that propagate through the air and produce an acoustic signal. The acoustic capturing device records and forwards the signal to a data processing unit. The data processing unit further comprises a digital signal processing module that processes the received acoustic signal. A statistical processing module further filters the acoustic signal from the data processing unit and generates a quantitative acoustic model for texture attributes such as hardness and fracturability. The quantitative model is correlated with a qualitative texture measurement from a descriptive expert panel. Texture of food snacks are quantitatively measured with the quantitative acoustic model.