Patent ID: 7394262

Claim:
A device for analyzing the composition of the contents of a container comprising: means for emitting/receiving an electromagnetic field at least at several frequencies comprised in a determined frequency range, means for supporting a container, the contents of which must be analyzed without breaching the container, adapted for providing relative accurate positioning between the emitting/receiving means and the container, and means capable of measuring the complex impedance of the emitting/receiving means influenced by the load formed by the container and its contents, representative of the complex dielectric characteristics of the container and of its contents, and capable of providing a piece of information related to the measured complex impedance and consequently to the nature of the contents of said container, wherein the emitting/receiving means comprises four capacitive frames respectively positioned on the outside of each of four faces of a square section of a channel for receiving a container and wherein switching means are provided for changing the configuration of the emitting/receiving means so that in a first configuration, one of two lower frames forms an emitter whereas the other lower frame forms a receiver and a second configuration in which both lower frames form emitters whereas bother upper frames form receivers, or vice versa.