Methods of and apparatus for sorting articles in accordance with their resistivity and thickness

A method of sorting articles, which comprises the steps of:

• moving the articles successively along a first track to a device for determining a characteristic of each article;
• producing a signal from said device indicative of such characteristic of the article;
• storing said signal;
• continuing to move the article successively along the track onto a transitional track to hold each article;
• activating an article receiving means positioned along a second track while the article is held by the transitional track;
• and
• pivoting the transitional track to release the held article onto the second track and into the activated receiving means.

A method of sorting articles, which comprises the steps of:

• moving the articles successively along an air bearing track to a thickness determining device;
• producing a signal from said thickness determining device indicative of the thickness of each article;
• storing said thickness signal;
• rendering effective a resistivity determining device in response to the stored thickness signal;
• continuing to move the articles successively along the track and to the resistivity determining device;
• producing a signal from said resistivity determining device indicative of the resistivity of each article;
• storing said resistivity signal;
• continuing to move each article successively along the air bearing track onto a transitional track joining the track to hold each article;
• activating in response to said stored signals an article receiving means positioned along an inclined track located at an angle with the air bearing track and associated with both the thickness and resistivity of each article;
• pivoting the transitional track to release successively each article onto the inclined track;
• and
• moving each article successively along the inclined track into the activated article receiving means to thereby sort the articles.

An apparatus for sorting articles, which comprises:

• thickness determining means for producing a signal indicative of the thickness of each article;
• resistivity determining means responsive to said thickness signal for producing a signal indicative of the resistivity of each article;
• first track means for moving successively each article to the thickness determining means to produce said thickness signal and then to the resistivity determining means to produce said resistivity signal;
• means for storing said thickness and resistivity signals;
• second track means for moving successively each article into a receiving position selected by the storing means and associated with both the thickness and the resistivity of each article;
• and
• means for moving each article from the first track means to the second track means, and in response to said stored signals into one of the positions of the second track means.

An apparatus for sorting articles, which comprises:

• means for producing a signal indicative of a characteristic of each article;
• means for moving the articles successively along a first track to said means to produce said signal;
• means for storing said signal;
• means for continuing to move the articles successively along the first track onto a transitional track to hold each article;
• means for activating an article receiving means positioned along a second track in accordance with said stored signal while the article is held by the transitional track;
• and
• means for pivoting the transitional track to release each held article onto the second track into the activated receiving means to thereby sort the articles.