Abstract: A cigarette density profile measurement system which utilizes a hopper system for storing a large number of cigarette rods whose density is to be measured which hopper system is used to feed one cigarette rod at a time to a fixed cigarette holder which incorporates a beta gauge system which sequentially irradiates a slice of the cigarette rod with beta particles for measurement of the mass of tobacco contained in that slice of the cigarette rod. By measuring the number of beta particles which pass through each slice of the cigarette rod, the cigarette density profile measurement system is able to determine the density of the tobacco contained in the cigarette rod being measured. A programmed microcomputer is utilized to control the cigarette density profile measurement system and is also provided with additional software for analyzing the density data.

Abstract: The invention is directed to a method and apparatus for detecting foreign matter including small particles of organic materials such as plastics within a layer of tobacco. The tobacco is irradiated with a plurality of selected NIR radiation wavelength bands. Data representative of the NIR radiation exiting the tobacco is compared to a predetermined reference representative of a plurality of different tobacco samples to determine whether the inspected tobacco contains foreign matter.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for nondestructively, quickly and accurately measuring concentration of a material in a sample, for example carbon concentration in a carbon-containing sheet, by optically sensing a two-dimensional portion of the carbon-containing sheet and converting the sensed portion into a two-dimensional array of points, each having a digital value related to the sensed optical intensity at the point. Preferably, each point has a gray scale value of the sensed optical intensity at the point. An average digital gray scale value for the two-dimensional gray scale array of points is obtained and compared to the average digital gray scale value of a carbon-free sheet to obtain an optical density. The obtained optical density correlates highly with the carbon concentration, as measured by chemical concentration measurement techniques which are slow and destructive.