Patent ID: 7450247

Claim:
A method of determining the surface profile of a food product to be processed by a subsequent food product processor based on surface profile information, comprising: illuminating the top surface profile of the product in a first plane transverse to a length of the product with at least one line laser; imaging the illuminated top surface profile with at least one top camera to generate a top profile image; conducting the product incrementally in a direction parallel to the length of the product through the first plane; performing the illuminating and imaging steps at discrete increments along the length of the product to generate a plurality of said top profile images; and acquiring said plurality of top profile images from the top camera over the length of the product before the food product commences processing by the subsequent food product processor; illuminating a bottom surface profile of the product in a second plane transverse to the product's length; imaging the bottom surface profile with at least one bottom camera at said discrete increments along the length of the product to generate a plurality of bottom profile images; and acquiring the plurality of bottom profile images from the bottom camera over the length of the product.