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US 6,653,588 B1Granted
Auto reject unit
AssigneeRapiscan Security Products, Inc.
InventorDouglas Roy Gillard-Hickman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An auto reject unit includes a turntable rotatable about an upright axis and held stationary in operation along the upright axis. Driven rollers are mounted upon the turntable for selectively driving an article across the turntable in a direction. A motor is disposed to rotate the turntable about the upright axis in response to a command. The rotation adjusts the direction that an article disposed on the turntable will travel off of the turntable.
Claims46
A sorting apparatus comprising:
- a first conveyor conveying an article;
- an x-ray scanner disposed to scan the article;
- a turntable having a diameter, said turntable rotatable about an upright axis among at least a first position and a second position, said turntable receiving the article from said first conveyor;
- a second conveyor conveying the article across the diameter of said turntable;
- an actuator disposed to rotate said turntable about said upright axis in response to a command, said rotation selecting among said at least a first position and a second position so that the article is directed off of said turntable in a direction selected by said command;
- a detector detecting if the article exceeds a selected length;
- and
- a disabler disabling said first conveyor in response to said detector when said article exceeds the selected length.
5 more elements
An apparatus for sorting baggage, comprising:
- a conveyor for conveying baggage from a first end to a second end thereof;
- an X-ray device arranged between said first and second ends of said conveyor;
- a turntable rotatable about an upright axis, said turntable disposed adjacent-to said second end of said conveyor to receive the baggage therefrom;
- driving means for driving the baggage across said turntable in a direction;
- a motor for rotating said turntable about said upright axis between first and second angular positions in response to a command, such that the baggage is moved off said turntable by said driving means and onto a first member arranged in said first angular direction or onto a second member arranged in said second angular direction depending upon whether said turntable is in said first angular position or said second angular position, respectively;
- a detector detecting if the baggage disposed on said turntable exceeds a selected length;
- and
- a disabler disabling said conveyor in response to said detector when the baggage disposed on said turntable exceeds the selected length.
5 more elements
A method for sorting articles comprising:
- scanning a plurality of articles with an X-ray device;
- conveying the plurality of articles to a turntable;
- separating the plurality of articles by conveying a first quantity of articles to a first member through rotation of the turntable through a first angle, and driving each article onto said first member, and by conveying a second plurality of articles to a second member through rotation of the turntable through a second angle, and driving each article onto said second member;
- detecting if an article disposed on the turntable exceeds a selected length;
- and
- disabling said conveying in response to said detecting.
3 more elements
A method of sorting articles, comprising the steps of:
- conveying a plurality of articles to a turntable;
- examining the plurality of articles with an X-ray device for the presence or absence of a condition;
- and
- separating the plurality of articles based upon the presence or absence of the condition by:
- conveying a first quantity of the plurality of articles exhibiting the condition to a first member through rotation of the turntable through a first angle;
- driving each said article of the second plurality onto a second member;
- detecting when an article disposed on the turntable exceeds a selected length;
- and
- disabling the conveying of articles to the turntable in response to said detecting.
6 more elements
An X-ray system comprising:
- a feeder accepting a plurality of articles;
- an X-ray machine arranged to receive articles from said feeder for detection of a characteristic of interest, said X-ray machine displaying said detection of said characteristic of interest of said plurality of articles onto a screen;
- a conveyor arranged to receive article from said, X-ray machine for moving said plurality of articles out of said X-ray machine and onto a turntable;
- said turntable attached to receive from said conveyor for separating said plurality of articles onto two different members based upon said detection of said characteristic of interest, wherein said turntable is controlled by manual interaction of an operator looking at said screen or by automatic detection of said characteristic of interest of said plurality of articles by said X-ray machine;
- a detector detecting when an article disposed on said turntable exceed a selected length;
- and
- a disabler disabling said conveyor in response to said detector detecting an article of excess length.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.