Method and system for inspecting manufactured parts and sorting the inspected parts

A system for inspecting manufactured parts and sorting the inspected parts, the system comprising:

• a conveyor subsystem;
• a feeder subsystem for feeding parts to the conveyor subsystem, wherein the feeder subsystem and the conveyor subsystem consecutively convey the parts so that the parts travel along a path which extends through a plurality of inspection stations including a circumference vision station;
• an illumination assembly for evenly illuminating a plurality of annular, exterior side surfaces of a part when the part is located in the vision station with rings of strobed radiation to generate corresponding reflected radiation signals;
• a plurality of imaging detectors located at the vision station, each of the detectors having an image plane for imaging the reflected radiation signals to generate a plurality of side images wherein the illumination assembly includes a plurality of ringlights having central apertures sized and aligned to allow the parts to fall freely and travel unsupported through the plurality of ringlights so that the parts are unconfined and unobstructed during illumination by the illumination assembly and imaging by the imaging detectors at the vision station and;
• at least one side image processor for processing the side images of each part to identify parts having an unacceptable defect;
• means including a part sorter for directing parts identified as having an unacceptable defect to a defective part area and directing parts not identified as having an unacceptable defect to an acceptable part area;
• and
• a system controller coupled to each of the inspection stations, the illumination assembly and the part sorter for controlling the sorting based on the inspecting.