An apparatus, designed and configured for optically inspecting articles of the fish and meat processing industry, includes at least one imaging system which is arranged so as to be encapsulated on all sides in a housing and is configured for optically scanning the articles. The housing has a transparent viewing window and a protective element, forming a light-transmissive channel, and is releasably arranged on the outside of the housing to protect the viewing window from contamination. In addition, an arrangement for processing and inspecting the opened abdominal cavity of gutted fish, includes a conveying device configured for conveying the fish along a processing line in the longitudinal direction, which is characterised in that the arrangement comprises at least one apparatus configured for optically inspecting the abdominal cavity.

Method and system for optically assessing properties of a body on at least one sectional surface of at least one cut introduced in the body in question. The sectional surface is thereby optically recorded directly during the cutting operation by an image acquisition unit, namely, by means of optical sensors of a blade of a cutting tool that is designed for this purpose. The data resulting from a digitization of the sensor signals that have been converted into electrical signals are then processed in an image processing device to visualize the at least one sectional surface on at least one display or/and to create reports in regard to the characteristics of the body or/and to classify the body in accordance with a classification system, or/and to derive control signals for a subsequent further processing of the body or of parts produced by the execution of the at least one cut.

An animal ribcage primal cut having a bone array located therein is portioned into one or more sub primal cuts, each having at least one bone located therein. The primal cut is scanned at scanning station 14 while being conveyed on a conveyor 12 to determine the physical characteristics of the primal cut. A processor 18 determines how to portion the primal cut into desired sub primal cuts in accordance with desired physical characteristics of the sub primal cut and production requirements for the sub primal cuts. A controller controls a cutter to divide the primal cut into one or more sub primal cuts according to the determination previously made on how to portion the primal cut into desired sub primal cuts.

A conveyor system 24 carries work items, such as flexible, pliable, food products 22, through a scanning system 28 which generates data pertaining to various physical parameters of the food products. Thereafter, the food products are transported through a processing station which may be in the form of a portioning system 30. Next, the portioned food products are transported to a harvesting system 32 utilizing a actuator 34 to unload the food product portions 36 by vacuuming the portions into a nozzle 90. Such food products are transported to one or more desired locations through a hose/tube connected to a nozzle or may be launched through the air in a trajectory aimed at the desired placement location.

A method and device for detection of bone in meat identifies fragments larger than about 1 mm using spectral optical imaging and ultrasound. Spectral imaging can detect foreign material proximate to the surface and ultrasound can detect material within the sample. The sample is irradiated by light and reflected light or Raman scattered light measured. The sample is similarly irradiated by ultrasound and reflected or transmitted sound waves give a set of amplitude data points, which include temporal delay. These data points are then processed by statistical methods to derive a set of vectors in n-dimensional space, which are compared to a calibrated data set of derived vectors which have distinct identifying loci for each type of surface, are indicative of the presence or absence of defects.

A system for processing meat pieces includes a radiation inspection apparatus configured to receive a primary stream of meat pieces conveyed by a conveyor and to detect trim products containing undesired objects; a reject device; a control unit configured to operate the reject device using the detected undesired objects as an operation parameter such that the meat pieces containing the undesired objects are separated from the primary stream of trim products; an object remover configured to remove the undesired objects from the meat pieces separated from the primary stream of trim products; and a recirculation apparatus configured to receive the meat pieces after undergoing the object remover and recirculate it as a secondary stream into the radiation inspection apparatus. The secondary stream is separated from the primary stream, and the radiation inspection is configured to detect whether any remaining undesired objects are in the secondary stream.

A loading system for bone-in limb meat according to an embodiment is a loading system for loading a bone-in limb meat to a processing portion, the loading system includes: an image capturing portion for capturing an image of the bone-in limb meat before being loaded to the processing portion; an image processing portion capable of acquiring orientation information of the bone-in thigh meat from the image of the bone-in limb meat captured by the image capturing portion; an openable/closable pair of clamp pieces for holding the bone-in limb meat; an arm supporting the pair of clamp pieces, and capable of controlling a position and orientation of the pair of clamp pieces; and a control portion controlling, based on the orientation information acquired by the image processing portion, an operation of the arm and thereby holding the bone-in limb meat, and loading the bone-in limb meat to the processing portion.

A carcass cutting system including a belt positioned below a conveyor such as to stabilise a carcass during imaging and/or cutting operations. An offset section of conveyor track in the region of the belt may be utilized to urge the carcass against the belt. Imagining may use an optical imaging system, an X-ray imaging system, a laser scanning camera, a time of flight camera or a Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry system. Imaging information may be used to calculate cutting paths and/or weight distribution of carcass portions. Cutting may be performed by a robotic cutter using a circular saw or a circular knife.

A loading system for bone-in limb meat according to an embodiment is a loading system for loading a bone-in limb meat to a processing portion, the loading system includes: an image capturing portion for capturing an image of the bone-in limb meat before being loaded to the processing portion; an image processing portion capable of acquiring orientation information of the bone-in thigh meat from the image of the bone-in limb meat captured by the image capturing portion; an openable/closable pair of clamp pieces for holding the bone-in limb meat; an arm supporting the pair of clamp pieces, and capable of controlling a position and orientation of the pair of clamp pieces; and a control portion controlling, based on the orientation information acquired by the image processing portion, an operation of the arm and thereby holding the bone-in limb meat, and loading the bone-in limb meat to the processing portion.

A method of processing a food object while the food object is being conveyed, comprises acquiring image data of the food object, cutting the food object into smaller food pieces, determining, based on the acquired image data, whether the food object contains undesired objects, and in case such undesired objects are detected, identifying which of the smaller food pieces contain the undesired objects.