Patent ID: 6859672
Filing Date: 2005-02-22
Classification: A22C,G06Q

Abstract:
1. A method of linking source units of food with a product item that includes at least a portion of one or more of the source units of food, where a conversion process produces a plurality of product items from a plurality of source units, the method comprising: creating a conversion algorithm that estimates within a desired confidence level a range of the amount of time required by the conversion process to produce a product item from one or more of the source units of food; recording the time of entry into the conversion process for each source unit within a desired time period; recording the time of exit from the conversion process for each product item within the desired time period; selecting a product item to be linked, wherein the selected product item has a given time of exit from the conversion process; estimating a range of an amount of conversion time required to produce the selected product item by applying the conversion algorithm; subtracting the estimated range amount of conversion time for the selected product item from the time of exit for the selected product item to generate an estimated time range of entry; and identifying each source unit having a time of entry within the estimated time range of entry.