Thermal imaging refuse separator

An apparatus for separating a stream of municipal waste into its constituent components, the apparatus comprising:

• a conveyor for receiving an evenly distributed and spaced apart stream of municipal waste items;
• a source of infrared radiation positioned above the conveyor to irradiate a stream of spaced apart municipal waste passing under said infrared source;
• a video camera downstream of the infrared source for imaging a stream of municipal waste moving along the conveyor and for generating a video signal corresponding thereto;
• a vacuum gripper array positioned along the conveyor, wherein the array has a plurality of vacuum grippers which are extendible toward the conveyor to engage an item of waste;
• a carriage on which the vacuum grippers are arrayed, the carriage reciprocating in at least a direction transverse to the direction of motion of the conveyor to selectively remove items of municipal waste from the conveyor;
• and
• a signal processor for receiving the video signal from the video camera, wherein the signal processor has a memory corresponding to the positional information of the array of vacuum grippers, and wherein the signal processor has a plurality of memory locations which store an array corresponding to a portion of the video signal which corresponds to locations on the conveyor of waste items having temperatures within a particular temperature range, and wherein the signal processor controls each vacuum gripper in the array, and selectively actuates the vacuum grippers to grip selected waste items which correspond to a video image of items within a specific temperature range.

A method for separating a stream of municipal waste into its constituent components, the method comprising the steps of:

• distributing and spacing apart a stream of municipal waste items on a conveyor;
• irradiating with infrared radiation the stream of municipal waste items with a source of infrared radiation positioned above the conveyor as the stream of municipal waste passes under said infrared source;
• imaging with an infrared camera the stream of municipal waste downstream of the infrared source and generating an infrared video signal corresponding to said waste;
• processing the signal from the camera to produce at least two images corresponding to that portion of the video signal which corresponds to locations on the conveyor of waste items having at least two different temperatures ranges;
• gripping at least a portion of the waste items on an array of grippers;
• moving the array of grippers over a plurality of waste receiving bins;
• and
• selectively releasing waste corresponding in position on the array to the location of waste items having one of said temperature ranges so as to selectively deposit items of municipal waste from the array having temperatures imaged within a particular temperature range into one of said bins.

An apparatus for separating a stream of municipal waste into its constituent components, the apparatus comprising:

• a conveyor for receiving an evenly distributed and spaced apart stream of municipal waste items;
• a source of infrared radiation positioned above the conveyor to irradiate a stream of spaced apart municipal waste passing under said infrared source;
• a video camera downstream of the infrared source for imaging a stream of municipal waste moving along the conveyor and for generating a video signal corresponding thereto;
• a vacuum gripper array means for engaging items of waste;
• a signal processor for receiving the video signal from the video camera, wherein the signal processor has a memory corresponding to the positional information of the array of vacuum grippers, and wherein the signal processor has a plurality of memory locations which store an array corresponding to that portion of a video signal which corresponds to locations on the conveyor of waste items having temperatures within a particular temperature range, and wherein the signal processor controls each vacuum gripper in the array, and selectively actuates the vacuum grippers to release selected waste items which correspond to a video image of items within a specific temperature range.