Inspection and sorting of molded containers as a function of mold of origin

A system for inspecting and sorting molded containers formed in a mold machine having a plurality of mold cavities, each said container containing readable indicia indicative of mold cavity of container origin, said system comprising

• first conveyor means for transporting containers along a predetermined path,
• inspection means disposed in said path for inspecting containers travelling in said path and including first cavity identification means for identifying mold cavity of origin of defective containers,
• second cavity identification means disposed in said path for reading said indicia on containers travelling in said path and including means for selectively sorting containers from said path as a controllable function of cavity identification,
• first control means coupled to said inspection means for receiving information identifying mold cavity of origin of defective containers and to said second cavity identification means for selectively controlling said second cavity identification means to sort all containers having indicia indicative of mold cavities of defective containers,
• sample testing means including second conveyor means coupled to said second cavity identification means for receiving a sampling of said containers from said path, and means coupled to said second conveyor means for automatically testing physical quality of said sampled containers and identifying mold of origin of defective ones of said sampled containers, and
• second control means coupled to said sample testing means and through said first control means to said second cavity identification means for automatically sorting said sampling of containers wherein said sample comprises a preselected sample of containers from each cavity and routing said preselected sample of containers to said sample testing means,
• said second control means including means forming a cavity map which relates cavity identification to physical location of the associated mold cavity in the mold machine, means responsive to said first control means for identifying mold cavity indicia read by said second cavity identification means associated with mold cavities absent from said map, and means for automatically routing a preselected number of consecutive containers bearing said absent indicia to said automatic sample testing means to certify quality of said absent cavity.