FR2935048A1 - DEVICE FOR IDENTIFICATION AND AUTOMATIC PAYMENT BY OPTICAL RECOGNITION OF AGRO-FOOD OR PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a control device for identifying and editing the critical nutritional quality parameters of agri-food and pharmaceutical products, characterized in that it comprises a spectrometric analysis unit in fluorescence and near-infrared radiation, equipped with a real-time processing unit for viewing and analyzing a chemometric image and a means of delivering a quality certificate on a package or an automatic radio frequency identification chip (RFID) and a d a secure electronic payment means for adjusting the price of the product or the analysis service according to its qualitative consumption status.

Description

The present invention relates to a device for the automatic identification and payment by optical recognition of agri-food or pharmaceutical products based on spectrometric analysis in the whole range of products of the invention. UV rays to near infrared. It is equipped with a network of CCD type sensors operating in fluorescence camera mode in the visible range in order to identify and characterize the food or pharmaceutical product under consideration, a second optical module operating exclusively in the near-infrared mode and arranged preferentially. around an acousto-optical variable frequency filter, Acousto Optical Tunable Filter (AOTF) is used to precisely characterize the nature and nutritional quality of the product in the near infrared range. In another embodiment, the near infra-red module will be produced using a spectrophotometer based on Micro-Opto-Electromechanical Systems (MOEMS). The device is entirely autonomous and preferably comprises an integrated image processing and computation unit equipped with a Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) type processor and a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), whose processing power and real-time analysis of chemometric parameters allows the use of statistical methods and neuroinformatics to classify and accurately determine the nature and quality status of products. The device comprises an integrated secure electronic payment module that allows it to automatically modulate the price per unit of weight or volume of the product according to its qualitative status compared to the initial qualitative values calibrated with reference in the device. It includes a means of automatic generation of the deadline of 2935048 -2

consumption of the fresh products, or quality control report through either means of control of a paper ticket printing device, or natively by the registration of the transaction in an RFID chip by means of the encoder reader RFID built into the device. Furthermore, the device is capable of actuating an automatic substance sampling module in the event of reaching a limit on the quality of the product. Said sampling system is able to collect material and store it by identifying it in a container with an RFID chip in which the device will write all the parameters related to the substance and the sample transaction, this transaction is completely secure. The device according to the invention serves to identify and quantify the physico-chemical parameters of all agri-food and pharmaceutical products. It automatically generates real-time quality information at all critical control points as recommended by ISO 2002 500. In a first embodiment, the device according to the invention serves to identify and automatically issue the date. limit of consumption of fruits and vegetables in supermarkets. It is for this purpose associated with an automatic scale to which it delivers in automatic the nature of the product as well as the variation of price according to the limit date of consumption calculated automatically thanks to the module of chemometrics.

Indeed, the development of quality control applications in the agri-food and pharmaceutical sectors is governed by the Process Analytical Technologies (PAT) initiative or the Process Analysis Technique (TAP), launched by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). ) The PAT aims to gain a better understanding and control of the manufacturing process to improve the quality of pharmaceutical and agri-food products. PAT has promoted the use of online analytical techniques in the pharmaceutical industry. These techniques allow the study and the follow-up in situ and in real time of the chemical reactions and the crystallizations by means of immersion probes. PAT is based on technologies 2935048 -3

robust and fast real-time and in situ analysis system enabling the characterization of all the physicochemical components of a pharmaceutical or food product by immersion probes of optical or radio-electric type.

PAT is nondestructive and allows for product analysis in various forms without sample preparations that can be tedious. In order to meet the growing demand for quality control systems at critical points, Hazard Analytical Critical Control Point (HACCP) is a method that allows the management of dietary risks (biological, chemical and physical) and in all stages of the production process. life of a product. It identifies the critical phases and associated risks - which could be the source of contamination - and proposes a methodology for their evaluation. The HACCP method therefore takes into account the products, the means used (material, technical, human). 15 The process has been adopted internationally by FAO (the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization) as the basis for any discussion of food safety through the Codex Alimentarius. Hazard analysis of the HACCP type was then introduced into European law in Directive 93/43 of 1 June 1993 on the hygiene of foodstuffs, then transcribed into French law for products of second and third stage processing.

The HACCP method is now the risk analysis method 25 imposed by Regulation 178/2002 for the management of food risks and their control. HACCP is based on the following seven principles: 1. the identification of the hazard and the measures necessary to control it; 2. the determination of the critical points that can be controlled to eliminate or reduce an occurrence; 3. the determination of acceptable / unacceptable limits; 2935048 -4

4. the definition of a monitoring system based on tests, measurements and observations, intended to warn operators in case of drift; 5. the definition of corrective actions when a critical point is not controlled; 6. the forecast of additional procedures; 7. the creation of a documentary system concerning all the procedures and registration mentioned above. As a result, the PAT systems must deliver in real time and in situ at each critical control point (CCP) the results of quantitative and qualitative analyzes on the products and this in accordance with the principles listed above. These analyzes should enable the construction and updating of HACCP plans for agro-food manufacturing processes in accordance with the standard (IFS-BRC-ISO 22000) and thus comply with the 14 steps defined by the Codex Alimentarius. The principle of the BRC-ISO 22000 standard is to ensure the control of allergen, GMO, organoleptic, physical, microbiological and chemical hazards.

20 In compliance with HACCP plans, the agri-food and pharmaceutical industries have been equipped in part with real-time process analysis tools to ensure and prevent serious dietary risks. These analytical tools use mass spectrometers that are sometimes installed at critical points of the manufacturing process. The architecture of these materials 25 and their complexity of implementation make their operation extremely expensive by checkpoint and it follows that overall only certain critical control points are equipped with these materials causing degradation of HACCP plans, food industries are thus weakened in terms of compliance with the BRC-22000 standard. Manufacturers 30 try to overcome this disadvantage by delegating to third-party laboratories the in situ control of the quality and food safety of the products they process. The main disadvantage of the delegation of control of the 2935048 -5

food safety is the fact that the sampling of products is done by sampling the production, the results of the analyzes are issued by the third laboratory with a delay of between 48 hours and a dozen days for tests that require a spectroscopy of 5 molecular weight. It is clear here that the risk of contagion or contamination of the product can occur between two sampling depending on the incubation time of the risk. It should be noted that this sampling technique is not consistent with risk prevention as it may accidentally occur in HACPP plans. The absence of automated analysis systems at all critical control points is essentially due to the unit cost of these materials. Although the lack of in situ analysis systems is proven in the agri-food industry, the situation is even more obvious upstream and downstream of these industries. The search for food security from fork to fork involves the establishment of food quality analysis and control devices at all critical points. We will take as a non-exhaustive example the sale of fruits and vegetables in supermarkets.

Generally the sale of fruits and vegetables in supermarkets is self-service, the customer filled the plastic bags of fruits and vegetables that he chose on the shelf display. The packaging is carried out, the customer weighs each of the bags using the keyboard on the scale captioned for this purpose. The difficulty of using this method is of several kinds: • The customer generally has difficulties in identifying the product he has bagged, especially for certain fruits such as apples or pears, it is very difficult to distinguish different product variants considered on the keyboard labeled with photos. As a result, the customer makes an assessment error on the product type and press another product key. The enlightened user will notice that supermarkets uniformly adjust the prices of a product type to compensate for this type of unintentional or willful error on the part of the customer. So in supermarkets in 2935048 -6

General apples are all sold at the same price regardless of their origin or quality; it follows that the large surface smooth margins of products regardless of their origin or quality to overcome this disadvantage of sale. 5 • There are also indelicate customers who weigh a quantity of product before closing the bag and add products to the bag after the price of the label has been issued. This mode of operation generates huge losses by product theft that the large area makes support all of its customers. Another major disadvantage is the complete lack of marking of an effective date of consumption of the fresh products. In the state of the art the label is simply informed by an optimal date of consumption that does not provide information on the effective nutritional quality of the product. Since this date is empirically indicated, it does not give any cause and effect relationship on the actual quality of the product. From a qualitative point of view, this disadvantage generates even greater losses than the previously described flight. In particular fresh products which are in their freshness date but which are still consumable from a nutritional quality point of view are systematically discarded by the supermarket. The modus operandi currently in force in supermarkets does not make it possible to graduate the price of fresh agri-food products according to their quality status. This major disadvantage is reflected in terms of cost over the entire food chain of the distributor to the consumer and the lack of objective and automated quality system generates conflicts of responsibility throughout the food chain. It should be noted that there is no supermarket sales of fresh products since the system is currently manichean on the verdict of the quality of the product: good or unfit for consumption, there is currently no other status on nutritional quality. As a result, fresh produce is systematically discarded at the end of its empirical consumption date. - 7

Indeed, the main devices for identifying and analyzing the quality of existing foods or pharmaceutical products use very heavy methods for the issuance of a certificate of quality and food safety, because of the heterogeneity of the functions it does not exist. does not exist in the state of the art and device technology capable simultaneously: • To realize the automatic identification by fluorescent and near infrared vision of a product, to qualify and quantify the nutritional status and the degree of nutritional quality of the product, to calculate in real time the expiry date of the product, to fix in real time the price according to its nutritional quality measured or calculated by stochastic method. • Print this information either directly on paper label or electronic chip or to instruct a database in real time on a remote server. • To ensure the automatic taking of the substance or the product in case the critical parameters of quality and food safety are reached. • To communicate by keyboard typing the exact nature of the product to any computer data entry device to which the device is connected.

The overall device, according to the invention, in an embodiment intended for the identification and characterization of fruits and vegetables in supermarkets is described in Figure (1) to achieve these functional results. The device according to the representation is arranged around a central unit (1) built around a RISC-type processor which is integrated a DSP used to control the viewing members (4) and (5). According to one embodiment this central unit is of embedded type and includes all the processing and storage of information related to the very nature of the device. This central unit has a computing power allowing it to perform a colorimetric image processing and near-infrared embedded mode. CPU includes RFID chip reading and writing module at 2935048 -8

EPC GEN2 standard format or any other specific standard, the RFID module integrates all EPC UHF Gen 2, ISO 18000 6-B and EPC Class 1 protocols. It has intrinsically a high-level RFID command interpreter in BizTalk format ( registered trademark) of IBM. In one embodiment, the antenna of the RFID module (6) will be integrated in the case of the device in the form of a patch type antenna, another mode of connection of RFID antennas or will be discussed in a subsequent patent by the same applicant. The device will further comprise the mechanical and electrical means for connecting these antenna modules subsequently disclosed. The analysis portion consists of three optical spectrum scanners. For the 200nm to 700nm optical waveband range, the device consists of one to two camera modules arranged around CCD arrays whose readout window will be processed using optical processing to ensure visibility throughout the range. visible which also integrates the range of ultraviolet rays. The two camera modules (4) will be managed so as to obtain a two-dimensional image and thus confer on the device a faculty of stereo vision. The characterization and identification of the products will be carried out by image analysis by colorimetry, the two CCD modules will be clocked so as to take a stereo image throughout the visible spectrum including 20 in the field of ultra violet . The two CCD modules will be controlled simultaneously by the DSP integrated in the module. Contour extraction techniques will use colorimetric techniques to better characterize products in two dimensions. Calibration of the colorimetry module will be done by learning and will use neural network based algorithms to classify products according to their membership. In order to achieve tangible results at the level of the colorimetric classifier, the latter will be unloaded from the verdict on the product on the one hand and the data from the colorimetric classifier will be transferred to the near infra-red module (5) which alone will combination with the colorimetric classifier will give the final 30 verdict on the nature of the product and are state of nutritional quality or quality in terms of safety. The near infra-red module is set to 2935048 -9

wavelengths between 1100 nm and 3000 nm, the spectrum is scanned in one embodiment of the device by an Acousto Optical Tunable Filter (AOTF) acousto-optical radio-wave filter or a micro-mirror module. MEMS base (micro electro 5 mechanical systems). Thus described the device is considered to be a three-dimensional vision system in which the third dimension is the result of the near-infrared analysis given by the AOTF filter. Obtaining final results for the identification and the nutritional quality of the products is obtained by iteration between the colorimetric classifier and the near infra-red classifier, and the device as described makes it possible to identify the product in advance by colorimetry. refining of the detection and the verdict on the quality of the product will actually be given by the infrared module, the latter will be able to refine the results by calling itself precisely on the characteristic wavelengths of the substance to analyze these data could be 15 in the local or remote memory on a server (18) of data or in the RFID chip associated with the substance to be analyzed (fig1). Thus, in order to facilitate and accelerate the analysis of the substance, it will be possible to resort to a dual filtering technology as described by Chunguang Zhang, Zhonghua Zhang, Hao Wang, and Yu Yang of the National Key Laboratory of Tunable Laser Technology, Institute. of Opto-Electronics Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150080, P.China In the publication of 7 July 2008 / Vol. 16, No. 14 / OPTICS EXPRESS 10236. Or it is precisely described how to increase the resolution of the AOTF filter by juxtaposing two birefringent crystals in cascade. Without being exclusive the device according to the invention can use this technology to refine the resolution of the optical spectrum according to the accuracy of measurement and the precision of the verdict that one wishes to achieve for the analysis. It will be noted that this method makes it possible to obtain a larger number of samples and thus to accurately discriminate the heterogeneity of the substances contained in a product. Another way to increase the resolution and for the optical wavelengths from 200 nm to 3000 nm may be through the use of a lighting module consisting of a light source.

DMD (Digital Micromirror Device) or DLP (Digital Ligth Processing) digital mirror array as described and invented by Dr. Larry Hornbeck, the inventor of the DLP chip in 1987.In this embodiment, the chip will be activated. DLP with a pixel sequencer controlled directly by a DSP or an EPLD (Electricaly Programmable Logic Device), the method here is to individually activate each micro mirror at wavelengths between 200n and 2600nm. The aim here is to precisely modulate the light by controlling each monochromatic emission and thus to analyze the difference of light absorbed and reflected by the substance at each wavelength. The advantage of the DLP process lies in the fact that it enables the entire light spectrum of 200 n to 2600 nm to be scanned with the resolution of an elementary micro-mirror and the possibility of varying each micro-mirror throughout the whole of the spectrum. spectrum considered. Unlike existing DLP applications, we will use instead of a video image sequencer, a proper sequencer suitable for spectroscopic analysis. Obviously this embodiment using a DLP for the modulation of light will be reserved for one embodiment of the invention where the objective costs of the functionality will be achieved and justify this technical choice. As a result, the use of a specific sequencer instead of a video sequencer for driving a DLP for spectroscopic analysis is an innovative feature of the present invention. In a more economical embodiment, the lighting device (4a) will comprise a network of LEDs or super-luminescent SLED diodes whose particularity is to be controlled by a digital current generator which will be able to control numerically the excitation current of the diode modules for the waveband of 200 to 700nm on the one hand and the lighting sequence of each of the wavelengths on the other hand. This digital lighting control module will also manage, via a digital current channel driving a tungsten halogen lamp or, according to another embodiment, an SLED module for the wave ranges of between 200 nm and 3000 nm. The particularity of this lighting system 2935048 -11-

resides in the fact that it has an automatic calibration module for the stability of light composed of a light guide (13) consisting of a silica-based solid light guide judiciously chosen to transport the lengths light waves necessary for the operation of the device. This light guide will be simultaneously connected to the optical modules of the CCDs (4) as well as to the infrared optical module (5) as well as to a calibration target (14) judiciously chosen according to the ambient light environment as well as the nature of the substance to be analyzed. This standard target will be interchangeable on the one hand and its nature composed of materials which will ensure its optical stability over time, this target will be introduced into a receptacle designed for this purpose, which receptacle will contain a secure locking system and sealed to ensure the metrological security of the global system. In order to ensure the repeatability of the measurements, all the light generation members (4a) and optical reading elements (3), (4), (5) as well as the AOTF filter and the frequency generator will be mounted on an effect module. Pelletier (2) which will be regulated in temperature by a compensation device with digital control. Moreover, in order not to pollute the optical lighting environment, the device according to the invention is provided with a motion detector (7) which will be able on the one hand to automatically awaken the device in case of detection of a user wishing to perform an operation on the device (weighing a product) and put it on standby at the end of the operations, this in order to give the device good lighting conditions on the one hand and to ensure otherwise by a better longevity of the lighting on the other hand. As a result, any other type of standby module or automatic lighting of lighting 25 is a constituent part of the invention.

The infrared module (5) in an embodiment around an AOTF filter or a MOEMS micro mirror array is preferably organized around a simple detector of the Indium Gallium Arsenide (InGaAs) type instead of 30. a 128 to 512 pixel linear type detector based on InGaAs, indeed for the wavelengths of 1120 to 2100 nm this type of detector does not offer the same 2935048 -12-

not a resolution of 4nm and their cost is very prohibitive to achieve the objective costs of the device according to the invention. Thus the infra red module will consist of a pixel sequencer according to a matrix (i, n) pixel or 1 <i <infinite and 0 <n <infinite. In a preferred embodiment i = 1 and n = 0, each acquisition channel has a fast converter with 24-bit resolution, the EPLD-based sequencer makes it possible to automatically adjust the number of lines (i ) and columns (n) necessary for the establishment of the detection matrix in the near infra red domain. In native EPLD dedicated to the construction of the matrix is able to process 16 pixels in parallel and can reach a speed of 200,000 pixels per second. The acquisition speed of the image being limited only by the transfer speed of the InGaAs diode. The scanning of the optical spectrum in the near infrared range is done by digital control of the samples (i) by means of a digital radio frequency synthesizer (DDS) which will continuously correlate with the frequency generated towards the AOTF filter and the optical wavelength diffracted by the AOTF filter. In order to achieve a resolution of 4 nm throughout the near infrared range, it will be possible, as described previously in one embodiment of the device, to juxtapose two AOTF filters in cascade. Since the accuracy of the measurement depends on the accuracy of the DDS, it will be possible to use a digital frequency generator generating a sinusoidal signal with frequency hopping equal to one thousandth of the generated fundamental frequency. To ensure the stability of the synthesizer, a temperature compensated module will be used and mounted according to a preferred embodiment on the fitter module (2) and maintained at the same temperature as the AOTF module. An input impedance measurement module of the AOTF module will preferably be used, and the input signal will be adjusted to attenuate all distortions of the input signal and thereby satisfy the perfect linearity of the optical response of the input signal. filter according to the position and level of the radio frequency signal generated by the synthesizer. 2935048 -13-

The device according to the invention comprises a calibration module of the frequency response of the AOTF filter and it ensures the compensation of any frequency drift or distortion of the input signal. The calibration accuracy of the RF control of the AOTF filter is two times lower than the filter resolution and 5 linear over its entire range of use.

Similarly, the infrared module uses a calibration system of the optical acquisition chain using a standard target (14) on which is connected an optical fiber itself connected to the input of the AOTF filter, the principle of calibration consists in obtaining the same responses of the optical chain over precise wavelengths. In order to make the procedure more reliable, a stochastic method will be used to develop a spectrum model that will be used as the background noise model in the analysis. This background noise pattern will be automatically adjusted by the device to easily extract any type of colorimetric image or near-infrared spectrum occurring in front of the device. In particular, the device according to the invention can teach any pattern (11) used and judiciously selected to facilitate the optimal absorption conditions parasitic lights. With regard to the chemometric analysis of the products, the device according to the invention has three chemometric bases embedded in the storage memory, the first base is constructed by the device by learning the substance or product in visible and colorimetric mode, this base makes it possible, in the case of a fruit and vegetable application, to learn all the products by extracting their shape and contour weighted by the 25 colorimetric components of the products. Thus while the technical principles of contour extraction use an average of the fundamental colors (red, green, blue) colorimetric to define a shape of object or product, within the framework of the device one will qualify the contours by combining judiciously the contours obtained in each monochromatic wavelength considered. As previously described this first base will be enriched by the simultaneous recordings of the near module infra 2935048 - 14 -

red, these records are the product reference file with the original quality settings. The construction of this first file can be done locally by learning the products by presenting as much product as necessary for the construction of this first file. In another embodiment and to the extent that the optical module according to the invention is replicable with an accuracy of less than 1% this first base can be exchanged to a multitude of devices through a remote data server. The devices thus distributed will ensure the integration of this first base by performing on the one hand its download and secondly the automatic calibration 10 of the optical module according to the optical parameters of the medium in which each device is located. Thus, this faculty of the invention to operate in server client mode makes it possible to produce an analysis cluster where each device operates autonomously and calibrates itself automatically with respect to a reference module and by judiciously averaging the results of the analyzes. calibration measurements of the standard sources (14). In a HACCP control chain this architecture makes it possible to control all the variances of the device itself and the qualitative drift of the product to be controlled or analyzed. This feature of the invention makes it possible to ensure any qualitative drift of the product and to refer directly to a remote server or are consolidated all the measurements at the critical points. In another embodiment, the parameters of this first base may be in an RFID chip adjacent to the product to be analyzed, this chip will be mechanically judiciously associated with the product or substance to be analyzed. In this embodiment the RFID chip may contain the URL address of the file associated with the substance to be measured. The device according to the invention and thanks to its RFID reader module is able to read the RFID chip and automatically connect to the URL address by means of the telecommunication modules (Ethernet, WIFI, ZIGBEE, INTERNET, GSM, PLC) whose it has intrinsically according to one embodiment. In addition, this first database will include a record of the spectrophotometric parameters of the standard optical target (14) and which will serve as a sample 2935048 -15-

reference for the chemometric analysis software. The second chemometric base incorporates the measured spectra of the products or substances to be controlled throughout the optical range from UV to infrared. The database includes all the parameters such as: freshness and taste, nutrition, health and safety.

In a preferred embodiment for fruit and vegetable analysis, carotenoid levels are used to provide an indication of the oxidative deterioration of these. The device according to this embodiment makes it possible to determine the concentration levels of an analyte substance with respect to an external standard or with respect to a substance in the analyzed article database is able to describe. According to the invention, carotenoids such as lycopene, betacarotene, lutein, violaxanthin, neoxanthine, antonaxanthine and zeaxanthin 15 are determined in this second chemometric base by the analysis of other plant components such as terpenes, polyenes, chlorophyll, proteins and the like. , starches, sugars, nitrogen levels on the whole, flavonoids and vitamins. Associated with these parameters this database integrates all the other parameters of nutritional quantification of fruits and vegetables or other substance to control. Thus this second database 20 comprises a single spectrum of several reference samples per product whose main and non-exhaustive parameters are:

Freshness and taste: o Organoleptic qualities: sugar level, acidity, texture, ... o Maturity: color and firmness o Physiological diseases: damage by cold, deficiencies o Percentage of dry matter o Physical damage shocks o Respiratory rate Nutrition: o Nutritional value: lipids, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals. 25 30 2935048 -16- Health: o Antioxidants: polyphenols, vitamins C and E, pigment o Other polynutrients / functional compounds. Safety: o Microbiological quality / absence of physical / chemical hazard.

This second database is constructed by learning and calibration as indicated above. The reference base consists on the one hand of the measured samples and on the other hand of known spectral signatures for each of the quantities listed above. These two databases are enriched and improved in real time by the system thanks to the chemometric software embedded in the system and which makes it possible to accurately detect by iteration of the first two files all the products as well as their qualitative value. Thus, according to one embodiment described, this chemometric base comprises a measured recording of the maturity rate of each product under consideration. This recording can either be forced by an operator at a fixed date and time, or cyclically triggered each day by the device itself and serve as a daily reference to the maturity rate of the products.

The third chemometric database embedded in the device 25 according to one embodiment is built on the one hand by a specific operator according to the mode of operation of the invention. Using the human machine interface (15) of the device according to one embodiment of the invention, the operator enters on the one hand the specific parameters that he wishes to control in real time: Freshness and taste, Nutrition , Health, Safety. For each of these parameters the operator can manually set the product acceptance limits and trigger a product rejection order if the limits he has set for real-time control are reached. The operator can enter at this level 5 2935048 -17-

the commercial criteria for fruit and vegetable ripening and the price variation file for the product or substance. This third chemometrics database has the particularity of being able to automatically identify the product by iteration of the first two, it has a file which describes the law of variation of the qualitative parameters of each of the products under consideration. can be either measured in real time or introduced by the operator into the device according to this embodiment. The device according to one embodiment makes it possible to convert the qualitative measurements of the products into the expiry date or the expiry date and to calculate the price in real time as a function of the quality of the product and the quality of the product. on the other hand, commercial parameters entered by the operator in the device via the man-machine interface. The device according to the invention has an integrated electronic payment processing module (19) and is secured either by a software means or by means of a secure smart card module integrated in the device and comprising all the means for securing the transaction. calculation of the price or issue of the quality certificate in accordance with the HACCP standard. The device as described makes it possible to ensure the real-time analysis of agri-food or pharmaceutical products and to fix the price per unit of volume or weight or to issue a HACCP certificate authenticated and secured by a monetary module. In one embodiment the device is capable of operating a substance sampling module (16) or material when qualitative critical limits are reached. This sample of material will be carried out via an independent module, which will mechanically remove a portion of solid or liquid material and store it in an airtight container (17), equipped with an RFID chip, in which the reader RFID through its antenna (6) will record all the failure parameters of the substance as well as the information necessary for the traceability of the operation. The device of the invention automatically executes a request on a central server 30 and executes a transport order command of the sealed container to an accredited measurement laboratory. Thus described the originality of the invention 2935048 -18-

applies in one embodiment to the sale of fresh fruits and vegetables self-service according to the following procedure:

The self-service fruit and vegetable sales process is carried out according to the 5 phases described below: • The customer chooses his products on the shelf by putting them in a plastic bag; • After closing the bag with a seal in the form of tape (Scotch), the customer puts the bag on the scale and chose the product by pressing the keyboard key captioned for this purpose. • The scale automatically weighs and generates a sticker price tag that the customer places on the bag.

In the case of the invention two cases can occur:

The device according to one embodiment of the invention uses perforated plastic bags of holes (10) to facilitate the diffusion of the optical signal to the products. As previously stated, the customer filled the bag of fresh products and closes the bag with a glue tape (9). In this embodiment, this ribbon has against optical marks judiciously arranged on the ribbon to allow the identification and the presence thereof with the 25 vision module (4) from UV to visible. The device is put into operation by detecting the movement of the client by the detector (7) and before any action the existence of the seal on the bag, no transaction is possible if the system does not distinguish the sealed tape . The device according to the invention described above automatically identifies the product in the bag by performing a spectrophotometric analysis of the UV near infrared as described above. After recognizing the product and measuring its condition 2935048 -19-

maturity the device reviews the identity of the product and its state of maturity; and that by keyboard striking emulation of the scale. The scale thus automatically has the identity and the qualitative status of the product. The device indicates to the client in the form of an audio and video message the nature of its transaction after validation thereof by means of the man-machine interface, the device gives the ticket printing order either to the balance to which i is associated either directly via a ticket printing module (8) integrated in the device. The ticket may be purely paper or with an RFID chip in which all the parameters of the transaction will be written through the RFID antenna (6) of the device. To completely validate the transaction the device verifies in an ultimate phase the presence of the label on the bag (10) provided with holes judiciously arranged, either by vision or RFID, or a combination of the two methods. In the context of this type of exploitation of the invention, the constitution of the chemometrics databases will be carried out by learning the different products according to the following procedure: • The department manager receives a batch of fresh product, • It learns each of the new products by putting them on the scale of the scale provided with a standard optical body (11) 20 judiciously chosen to optimize the optical reading conditions. By putting the device in learning mode, the operator scans by passing several lots of the same product on the plate (11) and informs the balance on the nature of the product (banana, apple, pear ...) it informs the price per unit volume and returns through the interface of the machine man 25 criteria for issuing or rejecting products. It also includes the parameters of price variation depending on the quality of the products as well as their expiry date. It also proceeds to effectively measure the product maturity rate by passing a significant batch of products in front of the device, in this mode of analysis the device is able to retrieve from a remote server the latest measurements of the quality parameters. previously described, in the absence of information on the server, the department manager 2935048 - 20 -

indicates to the product a date of initial freshness and the estimated life of the product. The fixing and the variation of the price of the products being made between this estimated duration and the value read in real time by the device. This feature of the invention gives it the possibility of organizing a real-time network 5 for adjusting the price of fresh products according to their quality status. Placing a device at each critical control point will build a real-time network and feedback throughout the food chain. In the case of purely HACCP application, the central server will be able to generate a real-time quality control certificate and ensure the payment of this transaction thanks to the integrated electronic payment module. The device according to the invention serves to build a global device for quantitative and qualitative traceability.

15 2) The sales process systematically uses RFID chips.

In this case, the adhesive tape (9) is provided with an RFID chip distributed by an independent module (15), which by order of the device and after having issued the identity, the nature and the quality of the product gives the order the module (15) to produce an adhesive for sealing the bag.

The adhesive has the particularity of being provided with a patch antenna on which the module (15) staple an RFID chip in the form of STRAP, the purpose of this module is to save the production of the seal. The device according to the invention makes it possible to certify the weighing transaction by writing all the ticket information in the RFID chip by always using the RFID reader and its antenna (6).

In this embodiment and in case of achievement of the critical quality parameters on the product to be tested, the module (15) will be used to produce the label 2935048 - 21 -

sealed with RFID chip that will be affixed to the defective substance sampling container as previously described for sending to an approved analysis laboratory.

In the latter case, the central databank will return a transaction number which will print on the print module (8) according to one embodiment of the invention.

10 List of references figure 1: 1 RISC & DSP based on-board unit 2 Temperature regulation Pelletier module 3 AOTF or MOEMS reader module 4 CCD camera modules colorimetry 15 4bis Light generator module with light transport 5 Reader module close infrared 6 RFID antenna integrated in the device 7 Operator motion detection module 8 Result ticket printing module 20 9 Adhesive tape and / or RFID chip seal 10 Open hole plastic bag 11 Optical calibration target 12 Male interface Machine 13 Light guide for reading and calibration 25 14 Safe standard optical target 15 Self adhesive seal dispenser with or without RFID chip 16 Self-contained solid or liquid sampling device 17 Secure RFID chip collection container 18 Central consolidation server results 30 19 Integrated electronic payment module

Claims (25)

Revendications1. Control device for identifying and editing the critical nutritional quality parameters of agri-food and pharmaceutical products, characterized in that it comprises a fluorescence and near-infrared radiation spectrometric analysis unit, equipped with a real-time processing unit of vision and analysis of a chemometric image and a means for issuing a quality certificate on packaging or automatic radio frequency identification chip (RFID) as well as a secure electronic payment means for adjusting the price of the product or the analysis service according to its qualitative consumption status. 2. Device according to claim 1) characterized in that it comprises a spectrometric analysis module using one or two CCD matrices working in colorimetry and a stereo vision module for the UV range and visible, and using an AOTF filter or a miro mirror network MOEMS for the infra-red part, the combination of these two modules making it possible to identify and characterize any substance or agri-food product by means of a chemometric module embedded in its unit of analysis composed of a unit embedded and autonomous central unit of the RSIC and DSP type. 3. Device according to claim 1) and 2) characterized in that it comprises an integrated electronic payment module and secured by software or smart card that allows to adjust in real time the price of the product or substance considered in function the nutritional quality of the product or substance analyzed, said module ensuring the secure billing of the real-time analysis service and the consolidation of the analysis results on a remote server. 2935048 - 23 - 4. Device according to claim 3) characterized in that the results of the analyzes make it possible to deliver in real time a HACCP quality certificate in paper form or in an RFID chip associated with a container containing the substance taken for a laboratory analysis, A quality characteristic being the real-time delivery of a consumption limit date for a fresh product to be analyzed. 5. Device according to claim 3, characterized in that it comprises a module for recognizing objects or substance in colorimetric mode by means of on-board software for the vision and qualitative qualification of the substance or object in the near-infrared mode. chemometric analysis. 6. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that its measuring members, AOTF filter, CCD sensor and InGaAs diode and digital radio control module of the AOTF filter are simultaneously regulated in temperature by means of a control module. of Pelletier effect temperature controlled by a digital current generator. 20 7. Device according to claim 2) characterized in that the lighting part of the spectrometric analysis module comprises a system for transporting and calibrating the light sources using a removable, interchangeable, removable optical piece inserted in a secure compartment accessed by a sealed and protected against any light pollution, said optical part having a precise spectral signature to ensure accurate calibration of the measurement reference of the substance to be analyzed. 8. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that it comprises a lighting module constructed using a DLP module whose control sequencer is controlled by a specific EPLD to individually activate each micro-mirror. 2935048 - 24 - 9. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises an infra-red module based on photoreceptors arranged in matrix (i, j) with 1 <i <n and 0 <j <m or m and n 5 are real integers, each measurement channel (i, j) being processed by a fast acquisition chain and limited in speed by the activation time of the photoreceptor, said acquisition system ensuring the treatment of the pixels in parallel . 10 10. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises one or more chemometric files in the spectral ranges of UV to visible and infrared, the delivery of the analysis result being done by iteration of two chemometric files combined with the electronic payment file 15 that can be parameterized according to the quality parameters desired by the analysis: Freshness and taste, Nutrition, Health, Safety using a human-machine interface (12) or by remote downloading on a waiter. 11. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises an integrated measuring device and automatic calibration of its optical measurement chain. 12. Device according to claim 2), characterized in that it comprises an integrated device for automatic detection of operator and automatic standby of the lighting part of the spectrometric analysis module. 13. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises different organs of telecommunication to a remote central server: Internet, Wifi, GSM, CPL, Ethernet, ZIGBEE. 2935048 - 25 - 14. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a control device of an independent solid or liquid substance sampling module, which will mechanically remove a portion of material and store it in a container. hermetic, equipped with an RFID chip, in which the RFID reader will record all the failure parameters of the substance as well as the information necessary for the traceability of the operation, the device thus being able to automatically generate a request for dispatch of the 10 container to a remote central server. 15. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it connects by key typing simulation of any type of balance weight price working with a keyboard of 15 choices of products sold in self-service. 16. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the agri-food products are fruit and vegetables sold in self-service instead of keyboards of 20 existing product choices. 17. Device according to claim 16), characterized in that it comprises an integrated device for on-site automatic learning of different fruits and vegetables in store. 18. Device according to one of claims 16) or 17), characterized in that it uses perforated plastic bags to facilitate the optical analysis of fruits and vegetables. 30 19. Device according to one of claims 16) to 18), characterized in that it uses colorimetry and infrared analysis to characterize the rate of maturity of fruit and vegetables and comprises an integrated device the price of products according to their quality. 20. Device according to one of claims 16) to 19), characterized in that it comprises an integrated device for generating the end date of consumption of fruits and vegetables, either by issuing on sticker thermal receipt or by recording the result on an RFID chip. 21. Device according to one of claims 16) to 20), characterized in that it comprises an integrated device for updating the bases of the new products and automatic calibration of the chemometric measuring chain. 22. Device according to one of claims 16) to 21), characterized in that it comprises an integrated device for automatic recognition of the existence in real time of the sealing adhesive of a plastic bag containing the fruits. and vegetables, as well as the marks of integrity of that seal. 20 23. Device according to one of claims 16) to 22), characterized in that it comprises a device for automatically controlling an adhesive seal issuing module containing an RFID chip in the form of STRAP, said module for the delivery of sealed being autonomous and controlled via a wired or wireless link. 25 24. Device according to claim 20) taken in combination with claim 23), characterized in that it can not issue the label price, the deadline for consumption on the express condition of having verified the effective closure of the bag. using the seal either by vision or by reading RFID. 2935048 - 27 - 25. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a global device enabling it to consolidate on a server all the analysis results made by all the analysis points consisting of a device according to Previous claims.