Analyzing method and device for automatically sorting products such as fruit
US6888082B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 6, 2000 |
| Grant date | May 3, 2005 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 2, 2021 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S209/939
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A method of analysing products arranges above a conveyer line three successive analysing stations having, in the first station, two cameras arranged in such a way that their optical axes form a V centred on the products and has a vertex angle in the range between 90° and 130°, and in the other two stations, a camera arranged plumb with the conveyer line. Moreover, the products are driven in rotation during their transport along the analysing stations, in such a way that the cameras each take a number of photographs of complementary faces of the surface of the products, and there are selected from among the photographs taken, by a comparison between the calculated theoretical diameter of a product and a predetermined average diameter, the photographs to be retained so as to obtain a complete analysis of the total surface of the product.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.