Apparatus and method for sorting articles
AssigneeResource Recovery Limited
InventorsReginald H. Clark, John D. MacArthur, Michael Sayer, William D. Wilder
Life of this patent
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Abstract
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 examine each metal piece and determine the type of metal as a result of the characteristic X-rays emitted. A respective control signal is utilized to move pegs on the conveyor so as to permit the respective metal piece to exit from the conveyor along a respective path and to enter a bin for that particular type of metal. In this way scrap metal pieces of different metal are collected in different bins for subsequent processing.
Claims19
Conveyor apparatus for sorting articles including:
- (a) a conveyor constructed of key members extending transversely thereacross with a gap between each pair of members
- (b) feeding means to feed the articles on to said conveyor,
- (c) detector means located adjacent said conveyor to examine each article to determine at least one characteristic thereof and provide a corresponding identifying signal,
- (d) means to determine the length of each article as determined by the plurality of key members supporting it,
- (e) a reference unit positioned at a fixed location in relation to the conveyor whereby the position of each article travelling along the conveyor can be measured therefrom as a function of the number of key members from the article to said reference unit, and
- (f) control means for utilizing each respective corresponding identifying signal to select one of a plurality of paths and move a respective said plurality of key members from a supporting to a non-supporting position whereby each article is fed along a selected path in dependence on said at least one characteristic of the respective article.
Conveyor apparatus for sorting metal articles dependent on the type of metal therein including
- (a) a conveyor constructed of key members extending transversely thereacross with a gap between each pair of members,
- (b) feeding means to feed the metal articles on to said conveyor,
- (c) detector means located adjacent said conveyor to examine said metal articles and determine the type of metal therein and to provide a corresponding identifying signal,
- (d) means to determine the length of each metal article as determined by the plurality of key members supporting it,
- (e) a reference unit positioned at a fixed location in relation to the conveyor whereby the position of each metal article travelling along the conveyor can be measured therefrom as a function of the number of key members from the metal article to said unit,
- (f) control means for utilizing each respective corresponding identifying signal to select one of a plurality of paths and move a respective said plurality of key members from a supporting to a non-supporting position whereby each metal article is fed along a selected path in dependence on the type of metal determined therein by said detector means.
A method of sorting metal articles dependent on the type of metal therein including the steps of
- (a) feeding the metal articles on to a conveyor constructed of keys members extending transversely thereacross with a gap between each pair of members,
- (b) determining the length of each metal article in dependence on the plurality of keys supporting it,
- (c) positioning a reference unit at a fixed location in relation to the conveyor and measuring the position of each metal article therefrom as a function of the number of keys from the metal article to said reference unit,
- (d) radiating each metal article with radiation from a radioactive source whereby it emits characteristic X-rays dependent on the type of metal therein,
- (e) detecting said characteristic X-rays and producing a corresponding identifying signal corresponding to said type of metal,
- (f) utilizing each corresponding identifying signal in control means to select one of a plurality of paths to feed each metal article along a selected path in dependence on the type of metal determined therein.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.