A series of studies was performed to develop and test a method adaptable for early automated sorting of pork bellies based on firmness. Flattened and non-flattened, bone-in, skin-on primal bellies were fed skin-down, caudal end foremost on to a horizontal (0°) or raised (30°) conveyor with an adjustable nosebar (ø = 14 mm). The drop angle, after 24 cm of belly had passed the nosebar, was strongly correlated with subjective floppiness (r = 0.77–0.82; P ≤ .0001) and moderately correlated with fat thicknesses (r = 0.47–0.67; P ≤ .0001). On a 0° conveyor, drop angle relationships were generally weakest for non-flattened bellies, but moderate and similar for flattened bellies at 0°, as well as for both flattened and non-flattened bellies at 30°. The method appears to show promise for commercial production use. Further work is required on the impact of belt speed, firmness categorization, and the relationship to the current bar bend research method.

进行了一系列研究，以开发和测试一种适用于基于硬度的早期自动分拣方法的方法。将扁平的和非扁平的，带骨的，贴在皮肤上的原始腹部喂入皮下，尾端，最先放在水平（0°）或升高（30°）的传送带上，并带有可调节的鼻梁（ø= 14 mm）。下拉角，后腹24厘米通过了nosebar，强烈主观松软相关（[R  = 0.77-0.82 P  ，并用脂肪厚度适度相关（≤0.0001）- [R = 0.47–0.67; P≤.0001）。在0°的传送带上，对于未压扁的腹部，落角关系通常最弱，但对于0°的压扁腹部，以及在30°的压扁和未压扁的肚腹，下降角关系通常最弱。该方法似乎显示出有望用于商业生产。需要进一步研究皮带速度，牢固度分类及其与当前钢筋弯曲研究方法之间的关系。