Sensing a narrow frequency band of radiation and gemstones
US5206699A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 18, 1991 |
| Grant date | Apr 27, 1993 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 18, 2011 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01S2007/4975
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
In order to sort diamond-bearing ore particles conveyed on a wide belt, exciting radiation strikes the belt along an extended line. Diamonds are detected by passing the emitted radiation through a narrow band pass filter and sensing the Raman radiation with a photo-multiplier tube. Only axial-parallel rays passing through the filter reach the photo-multiplier tube. An array of side-by-side converging lenses can be used, the lenses being of rectangular shape as seen looking along the optical axis with their long axes at right angles to the line of radiation. The ore particles are in the plane of the foci of the lenses, so that radiation emitted by each particle is passed in parallel rays through the filter. In order to stop rays having an angle of incidence greater than the maximum permitted, to avoid identifying non-diamond material as diamond, a further converging lens is used to focus the rays at the plane of a telecentric stop. The stop stops rays having too great an angle of incidence. The position of the diamond can be detected for instance by a CCD array or by a time domain technique. The apparatus can be monitored by giving a signal when the radiation from tracer stones and …
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.