Patent · US Active

Optical inspection apparatus and optical sorting apparatus

US9347892B2 · kind B2 · utility

0Cited by
3References
18Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateJul 15, 2013
Grant dateMay 24, 2016
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 15, 2033

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01N2021/8908
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

The invention concerns an apparatus for inspection of products (3′, 3″), provided with a transport mechanism (2) configured to transport a continuous stream of products (3′, 3″) so that, on leaving the transport mechanism, the product stream (3′, 3″) follows a free-fall path along which it is fed in a single product layer through an inspection zone (16), which has a length (L) that at least corresponds to the width of the aforementioned single product layer, a light source (5, 5′) configured to illuminate said inspection zone (16), a detection unit (6), configured to optically scan the illuminated inspection zone (16), an analysis unit (17) and possibly a removal unit (7) and also a background element (10′), which is situated behind the falling product stream, seen from the position of the detection unit, positioned so that:—light beams from the light source impinge on an illumination zone (14) of the background element when these beams do not impinge on a product from the product stream (3′, 3″),—the detection unit can only receive an image of a detection zone (13) of the background element, characterized in that the background element is mounted so that the illumination zone (14)…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.