Method and apparatus for automatic sorting of unmarked power cells

An apparatus for automatic sorting of cylindrical batteries, the apparatus comprising:

• a slanted conveyor with a guiding plank for placing batteries;
• an X-Ray source generating a fan-shaped X-ray beam;
• a dual-energy detector for detecting the X-ray beam at two different energies from the X-ray source;
• a processing computer;
• a positioning system responsive to the processing computer;
• and
• a discharge system with discharging funnels for sorting the cylindrical batteries,
• wherein the dual-energy detector detects the X-ray beam after it passes through the batteries;
• for each battery, the processing computer converts X-rays of the fan-shaped X-Ray beam into first and second digital images, wherein the first digital image represents the X-rays at a first energy, and the second digital image represents the X-rays at a second energy;
• and
• the processing computer analyzes the first and second digital images to determine a type of the cylindrical battery by identifying characteristic internal features of each battery type, including anode current collectors, based on a gray spectrum of at least 8 bit resolution that is looked up in a model database.

A method for automatic sorting of batteries, the method comprising:

• generating a fan-shaped X-ray beam;
• scanning the batteries with the fan-shaped X-Ray beam;
• for each battery, capturing X-rays that pass though the battery with an X-ray detector and converting the X-rays into first and second digital images, wherein the first digital image represents X-rays at a first energy, and the second digital image represents X-rays at a second energy;
• automatically analyzing the first and second digital images to determine a type of the battery by identifying distinctive regions of each battery type based on a gray spectrum of at least 8 bit resolution that is looked up in a database,
• wherein the distinctive regions include gray contrasts that indicate an anode current collector, a porous separator, and a plastic cover, which are unique for each individual battery type, and then indexing the distinctive regions;
• and
• sorting the batteries by type.