EP0212516A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Shell sorter
Assignee: Diamond Foods LLC
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Filing: 1986-08-09
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2006-08-09
Abstract
Abstract An improved shell sorter is disclosed. One improvement resides in the incorporation of a bandpass filter (28) with a center frequency selected on the basis of the signals produced by a transducer (16) in response to the impact of shell fragments or other components of the material to be rejected against a target plate (14), instead of a high pass filter which passes signals above a given frequency which possibly represent not only components of the material to be rejected, but other components of the material which may not be desired to be rejected. The use of a bandpass filter provides higher selectivity and precision of operation with respect to the rejection of shell fragments. Another improvement resides in the use of a differential or window comparator circuit (43) for discriminating shell fragments from nut meats which for some reason, such as dryness, cause the transducer to produce a signal having a frequency characteristic which is typically representative of shell fragments. The differential comparator circuit selects a range of amplitudes generally representative of the amplitudes produced by impact of shell fragments against the target plate for the purpose of providing a reject signal and does not produce a reject signal if amplitudes are below a first threshold, such as for small nut meats, or above a second threshold, such as for large nut meats. Other features are also disclosed.
Inventors
- 👤 Jimmie L. Manzer
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-07 16:51
CPC Classifications
B; B07; B07C; B07C5/00; B07C5/34
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 23
Claim 1
Independent Claim
83 words
Sorting apparatus, comprising a combination of: target means against which first particles and second particles are impinged; transducer means for converting vibrations induced in the target means into an electrical signal having a frequency and amplitude representative of the vibrations caused by impact of the first particles and second particles against the target means; and a bandpass filter for filtering the signal produced by the transducer means for discriminating signals generally representative of first particles from those signals generally representative of second particles.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
83 words
Sorting apparatus, comprising a combination of: target means against which first particles and second particles are impinged; transducer means for converting vibrations induced in the target means into an electrical signal having a frequency and amplitude representative of the vibrations caused by impact of the first particles and second particles against the target means; and a bandpass filter for filtering the signal produced by the transducer means for discriminating signals generally representative of first particles from those signals generally representative of second particles.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
107 words
Sorting apparatus, comprising a combination of: target means against which first particles and second particles are impinged; transducer means for converting vibrations induced in the target means into an electrical signal having a frequency and amplitude representative of the vibrations caused by impact of the first particles and second particles against the target means; a filter, preferably a bandpass filter, for filtering the signal produced by the transducer means for discriminating signals generally representative of first particles from those signals generally representative of second particles; and a differential comparator circuit for discriminating signals within the pass band generally representative of first particles for producing a reject signal.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
107 words
Sorting apparatus, comprising a combination of: target means against which first particles and second particles are impinged; transducer means for converting vibrations induced in the target means into an electrical signal having a frequency and amplitude representative of the vibrations caused by impact of the first particles and second particles against the target means; a filter, preferably a bandpass filter, for filtering the signal produced by the transducer means for discriminating signals generally representative of first particles from those signals generally representative of second particles; and a differential comparator circuit for discriminating signals within the pass band generally representative of first particles for producing a reject signal.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
202 words
Sorting apparatus, comprising a combination of: target means against which first particles and second particles are impinged; transducer means for converting vibrations induced in the target means into an electrical signal having a frequency and amplitude representative of the vibrations caused by impact of the first particles and second particles against the target means; means for filtering the signal for discriminating signals generally representative of first particles from those signals generally representative of second particles, the frequency of the signals generally representative of second particles occasionally being substantially similar to the frequency of signals generally representative of first particles, with the means for filtering preferably comprising a bandpass filter; means for discriminating signals within the pass band generally representative of first particles on the basis of amplitude by detecting that the signals within the pass band are not less than a first amplitude and are less than a second amplitude; and means for producing reject signals when first particles impinge against the target means; whereby rejection of second particles, which produce a signal frequency generally representative of first particles but which produce a relatively greater signal amplitude than generally representative of first particles, is avoided so that mass weight problems are alleviated.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
202 words
Sorting apparatus, comprising a combination of: target means against which first particles and second particles are impinged; transducer means for converting vibrations induced in the target means into an electrical signal having a frequency and amplitude representative of the vibrations caused by impact of the first particles and second particles against the target means; means for filtering the signal for discriminating signals generally representative of first particles from those signals generally representative of second particles, the frequency of the signals generally representative of second particles occasionally being substantially similar to the frequency of signals generally representative of first particles, with the means for filtering preferably comprising a bandpass filter; means for discriminating signals within the pass band generally representative of first particles on the basis of amplitude by detecting that the signals within the pass band are not less than a first amplitude and are less than a second amplitude; and means for producing reject signals when first particles impinge against the target means; whereby rejection of second particles, which produce a signal frequency generally representative of first particles but which produce a relatively greater signal amplitude than generally representative of first particles, is avoided so that mass weight problems are alleviated.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
31 words
Sorting apparatus according to anyone of the preceding claims, characterized in that the center frequency of the bandpass filter is the fundamental frequency of the signals generally representative of first particles.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
33 words
Sorting apparatus according to anyone of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the center frequency of the bandpass filter is a harmonic of the fundamental signal frequency generally representative of first particles.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
32 words
Sorting apparatus according to anyone of the preceding claims, characterized by a differential comparator circuit for discriminating signals within the pass band generally representative of first particles for producing a reject signal.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
66 words
Sorting apparatus according to anyone of the preceding claims, characterized in that the target means is mechanically connected to the transducer means by a mechanical link with the bandpass filter preferably being connected to the differential comparator circuit, the sorting apparatus further comprising a signal conditioning circuit electrically connected between the transducer means and the bandpass filter for amplifying the signal produced by the transducer means.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
87 words
Sorting apparatus according to one of claims 5 or 6, characterized in that the differential comparator circuit comprises: a first peak detector electrically connected to the bandpass filter; a second peak detector electrically connected to the bandpass filter; a first voltage comparator electrically connected to the first peak detector; a second voltage comparator electrically connected to the second peak detector; and an EXCLUSIVE-OR gate having a first input electrically connected to the first voltage comparator and having a second input electrically connected to the second voltage comparator.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
53 words
Sorting apparatus according to anyone of claims 5 to 7, characterized by: a reject control circuit electrically connected to the differential comparator circuit; and a solenoid controlled air valve electrically connected to the reject control circuit; the reject control circuit being responsive to the reject signal for energizing the solenoid controlled air valve.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
25 words
Sorting apparatus according to one of the preceding claims, characterized thereby that the first particles are shell fragments and the second particles ar nut meats.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
72 words
Method for sorting particles, comprising the steps of: impinging first particles and second particles against target means; converting vibrations induced in the target means into an electrical signal having a frequency and amplitude representative of the vibrations caused by impact of the first particles and second particles against the target means; and bandpass filtering the signal for discriminating signals generally representative of first particles from those signals generally representative of second particles.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
72 words
Method for sorting particles, comprising the steps of: impinging first particles and second particles against target means; converting vibrations induced in the target means into an electrical signal having a frequency and amplitude representative of the vibrations caused by impact of the first particles and second particles against the target means; and bandpass filtering the signal for discriminating signals generally representative of first particles from those signals generally representative of second particles.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
105 words
Method for sorting particles, comprising the steps of: impinging first particles and second particles against target means; converting vibrations induced in the target means into an electrical signal having a frequency and amplitude representative of the vibrations caused by impact of the first particles and second particles against the target means; filtering the signal for discriminating signals generally representative of first particles from those signals generally representative of second particles, preferably by bandpass filtering; discriminating signals within the pass band generally representative of first particles by the use of a differential comparator circuit; and producing reject signals when first particles impinge against the target means.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
105 words
Method for sorting particles, comprising the steps of: impinging first particles and second particles against target means; converting vibrations induced in the target means into an electrical signal having a frequency and amplitude representative of the vibrations caused by impact of the first particles and second particles against the target means; filtering the signal for discriminating signals generally representative of first particles from those signals generally representative of second particles, preferably by bandpass filtering; discriminating signals within the pass band generally representative of first particles by the use of a differential comparator circuit; and producing reject signals when first particles impinge against the target means.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
184 words
Method for sorting, comprising the steps of: impinging first particles and second particles against target means; converting vibrations induced in the target means into an electrical signal having a frequency and amplitude representative of the vibrations caused by impact of the first particles and second particles against the target means; filtering the signal for discriminating signals generally representative of first particles from those signals generally representative of second particles, the frequency of the signals generally representative of second particles occasionally being substantially similar to the frequency of the signals generally representative of first particles, preferably by bandpass filtering; discriminating signals within the pass band generally representative of first particles on the basis of amplitude by detecting that the signals within the pass band are not less than a first amplitude and are less than a second amplitude; and producing reject signals when first particles impinge against the target means; thereby avoiding rejection of second particles producing a signal frequency generally representative of first particles but producing a relatively greater signal amplitude than generally representative of first particles so that mass weight problems are alleviated.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
184 words
Method for sorting, comprising the steps of: impinging first particles and second particles against target means; converting vibrations induced in the target means into an electrical signal having a frequency and amplitude representative of the vibrations caused by impact of the first particles and second particles against the target means; filtering the signal for discriminating signals generally representative of first particles from those signals generally representative of second particles, the frequency of the signals generally representative of second particles occasionally being substantially similar to the frequency of the signals generally representative of first particles, preferably by bandpass filtering; discriminating signals within the pass band generally representative of first particles on the basis of amplitude by detecting that the signals within the pass band are not less than a first amplitude and are less than a second amplitude; and producing reject signals when first particles impinge against the target means; thereby avoiding rejection of second particles producing a signal frequency generally representative of first particles but producing a relatively greater signal amplitude than generally representative of first particles so that mass weight problems are alleviated.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
30 words
Method according to anyone of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that the center frequency for bandpass filtering is the fundamental frequency of the signals generally representative of first particles.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
31 words
Method according to anyone of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that the center frequency for bandpass filtering is a harmonic of the fundamental signal frequency generally representative of first particles.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
47 words
Method according to anyone of claims 11 to 15, characterized by further comprising the steps of: discriminating signals within the pass band generally representative of first particles by the use of a differential comparator circuit; and producing reject signals when first particles impinge against the target means.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
25 words
Method according to anyone of claims 11 to 16, characterized in that the first particles are shell fragments and the second particles are nut meats.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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