Communications: electrical – Condition responsive indicating system – Specific condition
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-01
2003-04-08
Tweel, John (Department: 2632)
Communications: electrical
Condition responsive indicating system
Specific condition
C340S572900
Reexamination Certificate
active
06545604
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention pertains to methods of electronic tracking of units originating from a common source, such as, for example, methods for electronic identification of meat units originating from a common animal carcass. The invention further pertains to particular transponder assemblies, such as transponders attached to meat spikes.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Radio frequency identification devices (RFID's) are commonly utilized for electronically identifying objects. In an exemplary application, a transponder is attached to an object which is to be identified. The transponder can be incorporated into a passive, read-only RFID system which comprises an interrogator used in conjunction with the transponder. The interrogator provides a carrier signal which powers (stimulates) the transponder and causes a signal to be transmitted from the transponder. The signal comprises data which identifies the object associated with the transponder. The signal is received by the interrogator, which is in data communication with a processing system configured to decode and interpret the data.
The interrogator commonly uses a coil antenna to stimulate the transponder. The transponder will frequently comprise a parallel resonant LC circuit, with such circuit being resonant at a carrier frequency of the interrogator.
An exemplary application of a passive, read-only RFID system is for identification of individual animals in a meat-processing plant. A reason for identifying individual animals in a meat-processing plant is to improve meat quality and/or farming processes. For instance, in modern farming practices it is desirable to track an animal throughout its entire lifetime up to, and including, slaughter to aid in understanding the factors that influence meat quality. To accomplish such tracking, an RFID transponder tag can be placed in an animal's ear at time of birth, and utilized to document events occurring within the animal's life. For instance, the RFID transponder can be utilized with interrogators to catalog the feed ingested by the animal, vaccinations provided to the animal, and any growth hormones administered to the animal. The transponder can further be utilized in combination with an interrogator at time of slaughter to catalogue the meat quality of the animal. Transponders can be utilized to track many (or even all) of the individual animals of a population, and information accumulated by the transponders can be studied to relate the effect, if any, of particular farming practices on meat quality.
In an exemplary use of a RFID in a meat-processing plant, transponders are provided on individual animal bodies within the plant to enable tracking of the bodies during processing to enable, for example, meat products from a particular body to be pulled in the event the body is found to be contaminated or diseased.
An exemplary system for utilizing passive, read-only RFID for identification and tracking of individual animals in a meat-processing plant is described with reference to
FIG. 1
, which illustrates a carcass-transporting device (conveyer)
20
, and an interrogator
32
(shown as a computer).
Carcass-transporting device
20
includes a trolley
22
having a hook
24
connected thereto. A track
28
is provided along which trolley
22
can be moved from processing station to processing station within the meat-processing plant. An animal body (carcass)
26
is shown connected with hook
24
.
An RFID device is shown generally at
30
as being mounted directly on trolley
22
. Device
30
includes a transponder which enables wireless communication to be conducted between device
30
and interrogator
32
. Specifically, interrogator
32
can include suitable transmit and receive circuitry to both transmit signals to device
30
, and receive signals transmitted from device
30
. The wireless communication between interrogator
32
and device
30
can take place through, for example, RF transmissions. A suitable device for conducting RF communication between an interrogator and a transponder is disclosed in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/705,043, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference. Of course, other transponders and interrogators can be used.
The stage of meat processing shown in
FIG. 1
can be a relatively early step in a meat processing sequence. Specifically, carcass
26
corresponds to an animal body which has been skinned and gutted, and in the case of large animal (such as a cow) may correspond to a half of the resulting carcass (with such carcass having been split longitudinally to form the half). For purposes of the remaining discussion, it will be assumed that carcass
26
corresponds to half of a beef body. Of course, in such instances there is another half of the beef body at some other location of the slaughterhouse. Such other half of the beef body can have a separate transponder (analogous to transponder unit
30
) associated therewith, and the coded signals from the transponders associated with each half of the beef body can be correlated together in a database such that it is recognized that both halves came from the same beef body. Accordingly, if a defect (or disease) is evidenced by either half of the animal body from which carcass
26
originated, the other half of such animal body can be readily tracked within the slaughterhouse and identified.
An identifier of the live animal from which carcass
26
was obtained can also be provided on the database, and the coded signals of the transponders can be electrically associated with such identifier to link the coded signals of the transponders with the identifier in a program such as, for example, a spreadsheet program. Accordingly, information learned about conformation or meat quality during processing of the animal body can be related with other information obtained during the rearing of the live animal and displayed utilizing the program.
A typical slaughterhouse scenario for carcass
26
is as follows. The carcass is passed across a scale to determine a “hot weight” of the carcass. For cattle, such hot weight is determined after the full carcass has been halved into slabs. After the hot weight is determined, the carcass is placed in a first chiller, where it stays for 24 hours. The carcass is then transferred to a second chiller, where it stays for another 24 hours. The meat is passed through two chillers sequentially because such is a convenient way of processing and tracking large quantities of meat. In slaughterhouses wherein a small quantity of meat is processed, the meat may stay in a single chiller for the entire cooling period.
After the carcass has been chilled for a total of 48 hours (24 hours in the first chiller followed by 24 hours in the second chiller), the carcass is weighed to determine a so-called “cold weight” of the carcass and the meat of the carcass is graded by a meat inspector. A comparison of the cold weight to the hot weight can indicate an amount of meat shrinkage, and can be useful in determining a quality of the meat. After a plurality of carcasses are graded, they are divided by grade and sent to fabrication. At fabrication, the carcasses are subdivided into smaller units and packaged for distribution.
FIG. 2
illustrates an initial step of a fabrication process. Specifically, carcass
26
(which is, for purposes of the following discussion, a slab corresponding to half of an animal body) is split to form two units corresponding to a front quarter
36
(also referred to as a shank) and a hind quarter
38
. It is noted in referring to
FIG. 2
that a meat spike
40
has been inserted into slab
26
and has a tag
42
extending there from. Such spike can be inserted by inspectors and other persons associated with meat processing to attach information such as, for example, identification or USDA information to slab
26
.
After slab
26
is split into units
36
and
38
, a separate spike can be inserted into unit
36
to provide additional identifying information associated with unit
36
.
Units
36
and
38
are
Dando Ross S.
Tuttle Mark E.
Micro)n Technology, Inc.
Tweel John
Well St. John P.S.
LandOfFree
Methods for electronic tracking of units originating from a... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Methods for electronic tracking of units originating from a..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Methods for electronic tracking of units originating from a... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3111912