Apparatus for inspecting and sorting articles traveling on a conveyor

An apparatus for grouping randomly oriented articles traveling on a conveyor, said conveyor having an in-feed end, an out-feed end and a predetermined width, the apparatus comprising:

• an inspection head located in a fixed position above the conveyor, the inspection head for capturing images of the articles traveling on the conveyor;
• a grouping unit located in a fixed position relative to the conveyor and downstream of the inspection head, the grouping unit comprising:
• a plurality of individually controllable pins, the individually controllable pins each moveable between a buffering position wherein the pin arrests movement of an article in alignment with the pin and a grouping position wherein the pin allows the article to move to a grouping location;
• and
• a control unit for receiving and processing the captured images from the inspection head, the processing of the captured images for identifying the location of the articles traveling on the conveyor and for controlling the individual activation of the pins between buffering position and the grouping position,
• wherein the inspection head is located between the in-feed end and the out-feed end, and comprises an overhead camera for capturing the images of the articles as they pass a field of view of the overhead camera,
• wherein the inspection head further comprises a profile camera for capturing additional images of the articles, the additional images used by the control unit in determining 3-dimensional information on the articles traveling on the conveyor,
• wherein the inspection head further comprises a laser source for projecting a line across the articles, the profile camera capturing the projected laser line in the captured additional images, and the control unit processing the image to determine the 3-dimensional information of the articles based on the profile of the captured laser line.

An apparatus for grouping randomly oriented articles traveling on a conveyor, said conveyor having an in-feed end, an out-feed end and a predetermined width, the apparatus comprising:

• an inspection head located in a fixed position above the conveyor, the inspection head for capturing images of the articles traveling on the conveyor;
• a grouping unit located in a fixed position relative to the conveyor and downstream of the inspection head, the grouping unit comprising:
• a plurality of individually controllable pins, the individually controllable pins each moveable between a buffering position wherein the pin arrests movement of an article in alignment with the pin and a grouping position wherein the pin allows the article to move to a grouping location;
• and
• a control unit for receiving and processing the captured images from the inspection head, the processing of the captured images for identifying the location of the articles traveling on the conveyor and for controlling the individual activation of the pins between buffering position and the grouping position,
• wherein the grouping unit is located adjacent the out-feed end of the conveyor, and comprises a buffer hopper located below the conveyor for temporarily holding articles that have been arrested by the pins in the buffering position.

An apparatus for grouping randomly oriented articles traveling on a conveyor, said conveyor having an in-feed end, an out-feed end and a predetermined width, the apparatus comprising:

• an inspection head located in a fixed position above the conveyor, the inspection head for capturing images of the articles traveling on the conveyor;
• a grouping unit located in a fixed position relative to the conveyor and downstream of the inspection head, the grouping unit comprising:
• a plurality of individually controllable pins, the individually controllable pins each moveable between a buffering position wherein the pin arrests movement of an article in alignment with the pin and a grouping position wherein the pin allows the article to move to a grouping location;
• and
• a control unit for receiving and processing the captured images from the inspection head, the processing of the captured images for identifying the location of the articles traveling on the conveyor and for controlling the individual activation of the pins between buffering position and the grouping position,
• wherein the control unit processes the images from the inspection head to categorize the articles traveling along the conveyor into separate subsequent groups based on satisfying a group cycle quantity.