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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7355140 | Method of and apparatus for multi-stage sorting of glass cullets A method and system for sorting different colored objects, preferably glass cullets, into separate groups of same colored objects comprising a plurality of sorting devices for receiving an input feed of different colored objects and sorting the different colored obj... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7351929 | Method of and apparatus for high speed, high quality, contaminant removal and color sorting of glass cullet A system for sorting a mixed stream of different colored cullet into separate groups of same colored cullet comprises a light emitting source for transmitting light, such as white light, through a cullet, and a camera having a plurality of pixels for receiving light... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7324864 | Apparatus and method for measuring forces imparted on valve assemblies of metered dose delivery containers during manufacture thereof An axial force measurement apparatus (40) comprises a head member (42) adapted for receiving force imparted by an external force-applying source, and a transducer (44) such as a load cell for measuring the amount of force applied to the head mem... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7290665 | Automated high-throughput seed sample handling system and method A method and apparatus for processing seed or seed samples includes an autonomous sorter which sorts seed by pre-programmed criteria. Optional features can include a counter to autonomously ensure the correct number of seeds to a seed package, a cleaning device, a s... | 11/06/2007 |
| 7227148 | Apparatus for detecting impurities in material and detecting method therefor In an apparatus and a method for detecting impurities in a material, infrared rays or a plurality of specific wavelength components of the infrared rays are applied to a material on a conveyor, the respective reflection intensities of the specific wavelength compone... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7212654 | Measurement of fruit particles Apparatus and methods to characterize and measure fruit pieces in food products are provided. A sample is spread on a viewing cell and illuminated. The image is captured by a camera and fed to a computer with imaging software. Information useful for quality control ... | 05/01/2007 |
| 7202434 | Method of sorting objects comprising organic materials A method of sorting sorting objects within a bulk of objects from a heterogeneous population is provided. The bulk of objects to be sorted has an inherent variation, and at least one class, having less variation than the originally inherent variation of the bulk, is... | 04/10/2007 |
| 7167194 | Printing a code on a product A method for printing is described. The method includes providing a printing system for printing a code on a product moving in a direction. The code is constructed from a plurality of pixels in a first data set indicating the positions of the pixels and generates a ... | 01/23/2007 |
| 7102741 | Printing/inspection unit, method and apparatus for printing and/or inspecting and accepting/removing specified pellet-shaped articles from a conveyer mechanism A pellet-shaped article inspection unit is structured for use with a conveyer mechanism having a plurality of carrier bars, each carrier bar being structured to convey a plurality of pellet-shaped articles along a predetermined path. The article inspection unit incl... | 09/05/2006 |
| 7099741 | Control systems and methods of dispensing items A control system for regulating a dispenser that includes a feeder bowl and a plurality of dispensing paths is disclosed. The control system includes a control unit for controlling a rotation drive for rotating the dispensing paths, a feeder bowl vibration device fo... | 08/29/2006 |
| 7041926 | Method and system for separating and blending objects A method for separating objects, such as stones, wherein each object is dropped through a predefined path, such as a drop tube. Then, for each object, the time when the object passes through a predefined point in the path is determined, as are selected characteristi... | 05/09/2006 |
| 7036679 | Dispensing and diversion systems and methods A system for dispensing items includes a dispenser, a sensing unit, a plurality of container chutes, and a plurality of diversion chutes. The dispenser comprises a plurality of dispensing paths for dispensing the items. The sensing unit measures a physical character... | 05/02/2006 |
| 7016043 | Quality evaluation method and apparatus for non-bran rice A quality evaluation method and apparatus for non-bran rice evaluate quality or taste of non-bran rice by identifying proportions of a hull layer, an aleurone layer, an endosperm layer, which adhere to a surface of the non-bran rice according to luminance levels of ... | 03/21/2006 |
| 6936784 | Illumination source for sorting machine An illumination source for a machine vision viewer for a sorter that provides a flow of articles along a scan line includes an elongated, cylindrical shroud with illumination sources mounted interior of the shroud. The illumination sources are arranged longitudinall... | 08/30/2005 |
| 5977501 | Sortation and sequencing system A sortation and sequencing system for sorting a plurality of different items into discrete orders and putting the items into a predetermined sequence within each discrete order or group of orders. The system includes an induction station for accepting ite... | 11/02/1999 |
| 5470274 | Device for classifying carcasses of large cattle, calves, hogs or sheep Device of the type including a system against which a side of meat suspended from the conveyor of a slaughterhouse line bears, capable of orientating the side of meat about its hanging point, a system for taking shots which is located on one side of the c... | 11/28/1995 |
| 5193690 | Method of and apparatus for automatically inspecting an exposed and bent lithographic plate A method of automatically inspecting an exposed and bent lithographic plate having an image thereon to determine whether the image is in proper registration relative to the plate. The plate has front, rear, and opposite side edges. The method comprises th... | 03/16/1993 |
| 5158181 | Optical sorter A sorter is described that optically differentiates acceptable objects from unacceptable objects. The sorter illuminates the objects as they move in a stream through a viewing zone with both visible and infrared light. The detecting system and circuit pro... | 10/27/1992 |
| 5141111 | System and method for inspecting and rejecting defective containers A system and method for inspecting and rejecting defective containers comprising a plurality of reflective infrared sensors, an electronic logic control and a container removal device. The system assesses the quality of the flange of the container and sen... | 08/25/1992 |
| 5135114 | Apparatus for evaluating the grade of rice grains An apparatus for evaluating the grade of rice grains includes a grain supply unit, vibrating troughs on which the rice grains run in their longitudinal posture, flow-down troughs having slits each opening to each of the flow-down troughs, a reflected ligh... | 08/04/1992 |
| 5020675 | Apparatus for sorting conveyed articles Apparatus for sorting articles having a roller conveyor for moving articles through an inspection region where they are scanned by a camera. From the scans, the position of boundaries of the articles is determined so that the existence and location of the... | 06/04/1991 |
| 4951825 | Apparatus for classifying particulate material Apparatus for classifying particulate material on a particle by particle basis according to the extent to which the particles possess certain attributes, such as the presence of particular colors when viewed from different directions. A particle feeder (1... | 08/28/1990 |
| 4784275 | Verification systems for small objects A verification system for capsules, tablets and the like includes a test block having a slot through which the capsules are directed by a conveyor. The test block includes first and second spaced sensing planes each having bifurcated fiber optic input and... | 11/15/1988 |
| 4666045 | Pit detecting A pit detection apparatus (10) and method for detecting the presence of pits or pit fragments (12) in fruit (14) as the fruit (14) passes through a zone of inspection (16) includes a scanning beam generator (17) for sweeping a transmission scanning beam (... | 05/19/1987 |
| 4645080 | Method and apparatus for grading non-orienting articles A method and apparatus for grading generally spherical articles, and specifically fruit such a oranges, which do not orient along a predetermined axis when rotated on a roller conveyor comprises a pair of side scan cameras disposed on opposite sides of th... | 02/24/1987 |
| 4576286 | Parts sorting systems A system for sorting parts wherein a part to be sorted is irradiated with wave energy of a single frequency (or very narrow band of frequencies) which interacts with the part. Wave energy emanating from the part is sensed at many spatially separated place... | 03/18/1986 |
| 4558786 | Electro-optical sorter A master clock oscillator produces a series of control pulses to drive a multiple frequency L.E.D. illuminator and an optically coaxial synchronous detection system in an AC based organic/inorganic, ripe/unripe sorter. Data is collected by subjecting free... | 12/17/1985 |
| 4557386 | System to measure geometric and electromagnetic characteristics of objects A system to measure geometric and electromagnetic characteristics of objects. Wave energy of a single frequency (or very narrow band of frequencies) is directed upon an object which reflects (or otherwise interacts with) the wave energy. The reflected wav... | 12/10/1985 |
| 4550550 | Automated mineral wool roll-unit processing system A method and system for packaging insulation units comprising a receiving section that indexes each roll-set that comes off a production line, a roll breaking section that separates the roll-set into individual units and spaces each unit, a diverter secti... | 11/05/1985 |
| 4515275 | Apparatus and method for processing fruit and the like Apparatus and method for processing fruit and the like, particularly for sorting as a function of variables including color, blemish, size and shape. The apparatus provides an illuminator for substantially uniformly illuminating a portion of the item bein... | 05/07/1985 |
| 4393717 | Apparatus for testing medicinal tablets Apparatus for testing medicinal tablets for thickness, diameter and hardness wherein there is a support for receiving and supporting tablets for testing one at a time, a gauge movable relative to the support to measure the thickness, a gauge movable relat... | 07/19/1983 |
| 4385699 | Method and apparatus for inspecting empty cans entirely automatically Method and apparatus for inspecting empty cans entirely automatically includes a flange inspecting process and a drawing condition inspecting process. The flange and the drawing condition inspections are simultaneously carried out in the same inspecting s... | 05/31/1983 |
| 4380295 | Automatic drill deburring and sorting machine Drills (35), vertically oriented in a row/column array in a drill block (31), are moved in the column direction across a slot (49) located at a loading station (41). As the drills in each partially or fully occupied row reach the slot and drop, drill bloc... | 04/19/1983 |
| 4363408 | Weighing and grading samples in order to grade large batches of fruit Method and apparatus for grading large batches of fruit by sampling technique. A sample, drawn from a batch, is divided into two approximately equal portions, one portion being inspected without being weighed. The other portion is weighed and then inspect... | 12/14/1982 |
| 4317521 | Apparatus and method for sorting articles Apparatus and method for sorting scrap metal pieces dependent on the type of metal therein. The apparatus includes a conveyor and a feeding arrangement to feed the scrap metal pieces on to the conveyor, together with an X-ray fluorescence detector to exam... | 03/02/1982 |
| 4271967 | System for sorting elongated members A system of sorting elongated pieces such as asparagus, wherein each of the elongated pieces are successively conveyed by a conveyer and detected as a still image by a sensor such as a TV camera. In processing a signal representative of the still image a ... | 06/09/1981 |
| 4256569 | Arrangement to improve the optimization of the value of finished cuts in a livestock processing plant An arrangement of this invention comprises a device to apply a different identification mark to each of a plurality of heads of livestock and to couple each of the identification marks to an optimization computer, each of the identification marks remainin... | 03/17/1981 |
| 4246098 | Method and apparatus for detecting blemishes on the surface of an article A method and apparatus for grading and sorting articles, particularly fruit, according to size, surface blemish and surface color. Fruit is passed sequentially through a camera array which scans the surface of each fruit and measures the intensity of ligh... | 01/20/1981 |
| 4225242 | Four color tomato grader A produce grading system that detects the light reflectances from an object in four color bands. Two bands are in the visible range and two are in the invisible range. By means of comparing various color combinations the system looks for the presence of a... | 09/30/1980 |
| 4204950 | Produce grading system using two visible and two invisible colors A produce grading system that detects the light reflectance from an object in four color bands. Two bands are in the visible range and two are in the invisible range. By comparing various color combinations the system looks for the presence of a desired c... | 05/27/1980 |
