US3669263A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Apparatus for sorting products according to their lengths
Assignee: Magnuson Corp
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Filing: 1971-01-21
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Granted: 1972-06-13
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Expires: 1991-01-21
Abstract
Abstract An electrical apparatus for sorting products according to their lengths. In this apparatus the products are passed through a scanning zone which is provided with a light sensitive cell and a source of illumination arranged so that illumination of the light sensitive cell is interrupted while the product is passing through the scanning zone and an electric pulse is generated while the product is in this zone. This pulse is transmitted from the photocell amplifier to the toggle flip-flop which provides one input to an And gate in the circuit which controls the energization of the solenoid valves controlling the air blasts that deflect the product according to their lengths. This pulse is also transmitted from the photocell amplifier to a signal expanding device which controls a gate between an oscillation generator and an electronic counter so that pulses are transmitted from this generator through this gate to the counter for the duration of the expanded pulse to provide a measure of the product length. The expanded pulse is also supplied to delay circuit to provide a strobe pulse to the logic of this apparatus which supplies three outputs corresponding to the long, medium and short product lengths. These outputs are connected to separate product length flip-flops which are connected to the And gates provided to the circuit controlling the air blast control valves. Each of the And gates have a pair of inputs, one of which is supplied by the output of the toggle flip-flop and the other of which is supplied by the product length flip-flops. Thus, the And gates control which of the air blast solenoid valves is to be energized. If the long product flip-flop supplies a signal to the long product And gate then the long product air blast valve is opened and if the medium or short flip-flop supplies the control signal to the medium or short And gate then the medium or short air blast valve is opened.
Inventors
- 👤 Raymond E Babb
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-24 04:12
CPC Classifications
B; B07; B07C; B07C5/00; B07C5/04; B07C5/10
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 17
Claim 1
Independent Claim
213 words
In apparatus for sorting products according to their lengths, the combination comprising means moving a single file of the products to be sorted through a scanning zone at a predetermined speed, said scanning zone having a light source and a light sensitive device, an amplifier having the input thereof coupled to said light sensitive device, a toggle flip-flop connected to the output of said amplifier, said amplifier providing an output pulse to trigger said toggle flip-flop when the leading edge of a product is sensed in said scanning zone, a pulse generator for generating pulses at a predetermined rate, pulse counting means, a gate, means supplying a pulse characterized by the length of said product to condition said gate for transmitting pulses from said generator to said counting means for the duration of the pulse, means responsive to said counting means producing product length signals characterized by different product lengths, a pair of signal delay devices, said toggle flip-flop having a pair of outputs connected to said signal delay devices seParately so that said signal delay devices are activated by said flip-flop output alternately, and means responsive to said product length signals and to the signal from said signal delay devices controlling separating means which separates the products scanned according to their lengths.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
213 words
In apparatus for sorting products according to their lengths, the combination comprising means moving a single file of the products to be sorted through a scanning zone at a predetermined speed, said scanning zone having a light source and a light sensitive device, an amplifier having the input thereof coupled to said light sensitive device, a toggle flip-flop connected to the output of said amplifier, said amplifier providing an output pulse to trigger said toggle flip-flop when the leading edge of a product is sensed in said scanning zone, a pulse generator for generating pulses at a predetermined rate, pulse counting means, a gate, means supplying a pulse characterized by the length of said product to condition said gate for transmitting pulses from said generator to said counting means for the duration of the pulse, means responsive to said counting means producing product length signals characterized by different product lengths, a pair of signal delay devices, said toggle flip-flop having a pair of outputs connected to said signal delay devices seParately so that said signal delay devices are activated by said flip-flop output alternately, and means responsive to said product length signals and to the signal from said signal delay devices controlling separating means which separates the products scanned according to their lengths.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
46 words
In apparatus for sorting products according to their lengths, the combination as set forth in claim 1, further characterized in that said pair of signal delay devices each comprise a one shot multivibrator with the outputs thereof connected together to said last mentioned signal responsive means.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
41 words
In apparatus for sorting products according to their lengths, the combination as set forth in claim 2, further characterized in that said last mentioned signal responsive means includes at least two flip-flops which are responsive to different product length signals respectively.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
47 words
In apparatus for sorting products according to their lengths, the combination as set forth in claim 3, further characterized in that the outputs of said two flip-flops are connected to separate Nand gates, the outputs of said one shot multivibrators also being connected to said Nand gates.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
81 words
In apparatus for sorting products according to their lengths, the combination as set forth in claim 4, further characterized in that the outputs of said Nand gates are connected separately to two additional one shot multivibrators which produce pulses having lengths corresponding substantially to the time required for a product to be moved by said moving means from said scanning zone to said separating means so that said separating means is activated thereby at the proper time for separating selected products.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
39 words
In apparatus for sorting products according to their lengths, the combination as set forth in claim 5, further characterized in that the outputs of said Nand gates are also separately supplied to said two flip-flops for resetting these flip-flops.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
210 words
In apparatus for sorting products according to their lengths, the combination comprising means moving a single file of the products to be sorted through a scanning zone at a predetermined speed, said scanning zone having a light source and a light sensitive device, an amplifier having the input thereof coupled to said light sensitive device, a toggle flip-flop, means connecting said toggle flip-flop to the output of said amplifier, said amplifier providing an output pulse to trigger said toggle flip-flop when the leading edge of a product is sensed in said scanning zone, means expanding said output pulse a predetermined amount to compensate for the shortened pulse obtained from the scanning of the product, a pulse generator for generating pulses at a predetermined rate, pulse counting means, a gate controlled by said expanded pulse for transmitting pulses from said generator to said counting means, means responsive to said counting means producing signals characterized by different product lengths, one shot multivibrator means, means responsive to the output of said toggle flip-flop and to said last mentioned signals for activating said one shot multivibrator means, solenoid valve means controlling product separating jets, and means responsive to said multivibrator means controlling said solenoid valve means to separate the products according to their lengths.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
210 words
In apparatus for sorting products according to their lengths, the combination comprising means moving a single file of the products to be sorted through a scanning zone at a predetermined speed, said scanning zone having a light source and a light sensitive device, an amplifier having the input thereof coupled to said light sensitive device, a toggle flip-flop, means connecting said toggle flip-flop to the output of said amplifier, said amplifier providing an output pulse to trigger said toggle flip-flop when the leading edge of a product is sensed in said scanning zone, means expanding said output pulse a predetermined amount to compensate for the shortened pulse obtained from the scanning of the product, a pulse generator for generating pulses at a predetermined rate, pulse counting means, a gate controlled by said expanded pulse for transmitting pulses from said generator to said counting means, means responsive to said counting means producing signals characterized by different product lengths, one shot multivibrator means, means responsive to the output of said toggle flip-flop and to said last mentioned signals for activating said one shot multivibrator means, solenoid valve means controlling product separating jets, and means responsive to said multivibrator means controlling said solenoid valve means to separate the products according to their lengths.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
41 words
In apparatus for sorting products according to their lengths, the combination as set forth in claim 7, further characterized in that said output pulse expanding means comprises a one shot multivibrator having means for producing said expanded pulse of predetermined duration.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
112 words
In apparatus for sorting products according to their lengths, the combination as set forth in claim 8, further characterized in that the physical size of said light source is substantially larger than that of said light sensitive device so that when the product is moved therebetween the period of interruption of the light transmitted from said source to said light sensitive device does not correspond to the period of the pulse generated in the output of said light sensitive device, said one shot multivibrator being adjusted so that the pulse produced thereby is expanded by an amount to substantially compensate for the discrepency between said period of interruption and said output pulse.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
66 words
In apparatus for sorting products according to their lengths, the combination as set forth in claim 7, further characterized in that said means responsive to the output of said toggle flip-flop comprises two one shot multivibrators which are connected to said toggle flip-flop to be activated by alternate pulses from said toggle flip-flop whereby closer spacing of the products moved through said scanning zone is possible.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
78 words
In apparatus for sorting products according to their lengths, the combination as set forth in claim 10, further characterized in that the outputs of said two one shot multivibrators are connected together to provide one input to each of two Nand gates, flip-flops connected to said counting means responsive means, said last mentioned flip-flops providing the other input to said two Nand gates and the outputs of said Nand gates being connected to said one shot multivibrator means.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
198 words
In apparatus for sorting products according to their lengths, the combination comprising means moving a single file of the products to be sorted through a scanning zone at a predetermined speed, said scanning zone having a light source and a light sensitive device, an amplifier having the input thereof coupled to said light sensitive device, a toggle flip-flop, means connecting said toggle flip-flop to the output of said amplifier, said amplifier providing an output pulse to trigger said toggle flip-flop when the leading edge of a product is sensed in said scanning zone, means expanding said output pulse a predetermined amount to compensate for the shortened pulse obtained from the scanning of the product, a pulse generator for generating pulses at a predetermined rate, pulse counting means, a gate controlled by said expanded pulse for transmitting pulses from said generator to said counting means, means responsive to said counting means producing different product length signals, means responsive to the output of said toggle flip-flop and to said last mentioned signals, solenoid valve means controlling product separating jets, and means responsive to said last mentioned means controlling said solenoid valve means to separate the products according to their lengths.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
198 words
In apparatus for sorting products according to their lengths, the combination comprising means moving a single file of the products to be sorted through a scanning zone at a predetermined speed, said scanning zone having a light source and a light sensitive device, an amplifier having the input thereof coupled to said light sensitive device, a toggle flip-flop, means connecting said toggle flip-flop to the output of said amplifier, said amplifier providing an output pulse to trigger said toggle flip-flop when the leading edge of a product is sensed in said scanning zone, means expanding said output pulse a predetermined amount to compensate for the shortened pulse obtained from the scanning of the product, a pulse generator for generating pulses at a predetermined rate, pulse counting means, a gate controlled by said expanded pulse for transmitting pulses from said generator to said counting means, means responsive to said counting means producing different product length signals, means responsive to the output of said toggle flip-flop and to said last mentioned signals, solenoid valve means controlling product separating jets, and means responsive to said last mentioned means controlling said solenoid valve means to separate the products according to their lengths.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
53 words
In apparatus for sorting products according to their lengths, the combination as set forth in claim 12, further characterized in that said toggle flip-flop is connected to a pair of signal delay devices which are energized alternately from said toggle flip-flop and said product length signals are supplied to different product length flip-flops.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
58 words
In apparatus for sorting products according to their lengths, the combination as set forth in claim 13, further characterized in that said means controlling said valve solenoid includes additional signal devices having inputs thereof connected to Nand gates, said Nand gates being controlled by signals from said product length flip-flop and from said pair of signal delay devices.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1975-06-13 | 1975-12-13 | 1976-06-13 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1979-06-13 | 1979-12-13 | 1980-06-13 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1983-06-13 | 1983-12-13 | 1984-06-13 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |