Multiplexed sorting apparatus
US4134498A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 12, 1976 |
| Grant date | Jan 16, 1979 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 12, 1996 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB07C5/342
- WIPO fieldChemical engineering
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
A sorting apparatus for sorting articles randomly disposed across a wide path is characterized by a plurality of side-by-side viewer elements each assigned a corresponding side-by-side sector of an illuminated viewed area through which the articles to be sorted pass. Electrical signals indicative of the instantaneous average value of light reflected from articles at two predetermined wavelengths as those articles pass through a sector of the viewed area are multiplexed and a classification signal functionally related to the ratio of the two signals is determined. The classification signal is compared to a reference signal indicative of an article having a predetermined physical characteristic, and a reject signal is generated if the compared signals differ by a predetermined amount. The reject signal is stored in an assigned memory location corresponding to the sector of the viewed area through which the article passed. At a predetermined later time, corresponding to the time necessary for an article to free-fall from the viewed area to the proximity of an ejector, the previously stored reject signal is read from memory and an ejector corresponding to the viewed sector through whic…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.