Method of and apparatus for sorting ores

Claim 7

Apparatus for sorting irregularly shaped objects having naturally occurring material with magnetic properties, comprising meaNs to move said objects through a sorting zone in the apparatus along a predetermined path, including means delivering said objects onto the upper surface of an inclined slide plate defining a portion of said path, said slide plate guiding said objects over its surface under the influence of gravity and discharging said objects at the lower end thereof, magnet means in said sorting zone providing a magnetic field to enhance a magnetic characteristic of said material, said magnetic characteristic being related to one of the group of remanence, coercivity and permeability, a magnetic field detector in a lower portion of said slide plate to detect said magnetic characteristic and to provide a sorting signal representing the detected characteristic, a signal processing and comparison means receiving said sorting signal, comparing said sorting signal with a desired parameter and providing a decision signal based on the comparison, and deflection means positioned at the lower end of said slide plate, said objects being discharged from said slide plate following said predetermined path past said deflection means, said deflection means being responsive to said decision signal to deflect a respective object from its predetermined path.

Claim 8

Apparatus for sorting irregularly shaped objects having naturally occurring material with magnetic properties, comprising meaNs to move said objects through a sorting zone in the apparatus along a predetermined path, including means delivering said objects onto the upper surface of an inclined slide plate defining a portion of said path, said slide plate guiding said objects over its surface under the influence of gravity and discharging said objects at the lower end thereof, magnet means in said sorting zone providing a magnetic field to enhance a magnetic characteristic of said material, said magnetic characteristic being related to one of the group of remanence, coercivity and permeability, a magnetic field detector in a lower portion of said slide plate to detect said magnetic characteristic and to provide a sorting signal representing the detected characteristic, a signal processing and comparison means receiving said sorting signal, comparing said sorting signal with a desired parameter and providing a decision signal based on the comparison, and deflection means positioned at the lower end of said slide plate, said objects being discharged from said slide plate following said predetermined path past said deflection means, said deflection means being responsive to said decision signal to deflect a respective object from its predetermined path.

Claim 9

Apparatus for sorting irregularly shaped objects having naturally occurring material with magnetic properties, comprising means to move said objects through a sorting zone in the apparatus along a predetermined path, a first and second magnet in said sorting zone providing a field to enhance a magnetic characteristic of said material, each having a steady magnetic field, said first and second magnets being positioned adjacent one another and in sequence along said path so that said objects pass through the field of said first magnet and then said second magnet, the fields of said first and second magnets being of opposite polarity with the intensity of the first being greater and the intensities of both being selected so that the residual magnetism in each object after passing therethrough is related to coercivity, a magnetic field detector in said sorting zone adjacent the path followed by said objects and spaced from said first and second magnets so that said objects pass said first and second magnets before said field detector, said detector providing a sorting signal representing the coercivity-related detected magnetism in each passing object, a signal processing and comparison means receiving said sorting signal, comparing said sorting signal with a desired parameter and providing a decision signal based on the comparison, and deflection means positioned in said sorting zone so that objects pass it after passing said field detector and being responsive to said decision signal to deflect a respective object from its predetermined path.

Claim 10

Apparatus for sorting irregularly shaped objects having naturally occurring material with magnetic properties, comprising means to move said objects through a sorting zone in the apparatus along a predetermined path, a first and second magnet in said sorting zone providing a field to enhance a magnetic characteristic of said material, each having a steady magnetic field, said first and second magnets being positioned adjacent one another and in sequence along said path so that said objects pass through the field of said first magnet and then said second magnet, the fields of said first and second magnets being of opposite polarity with the intensity of the first being greater and the intensities of both being selected so that the residual magnetism in each object after passing therethrough is related to coercivity, a magnetic field detector in said sorting zone adjacent the path followed by said objects and spaced from said first and second magnets so that said objects pass said first and second magnets before said field detector, said detector providing a sorting signal representing the coercivity-related detected magnetism in each passing object, a signal processing and comparison means receiving said sorting signal, comparing said sorting signal with a desired parameter and providing a decision signal based on the comparison, and deflection means positioned in said sorting zone so that objects pass it after passing said field detector and being responsive to said decision signal to deflect a respective object from its predetermined path.

Claim 11

Apparatus for sorting irregularly shaped objects having naturally occurring material with magnetic properties, comprising means to move said objects through a sorting zone in the apparatus along a predetermined path, a first and second magnet in said sorting zone providing a field to enhance a magnetic characteristic of said material, said magnets being positioned adjacent one another and in sequence along said path so that objects pass through the field of said first magnet and then said second magnet, said first magnet having a steady magnetic field and the second an alternating magnetic field, the intensities of said fields being selected so that the residual magnetism in each passing object is related to coercivity, a magnetic field detector in said sorting zone adjacent the path followed by said objects and spaced from said first and second magnets so that said objects pass said first and second magnets before said field detector, said detector providing a sorting signal representing the coercivity-related detected magnetism in each passing object, a signal processing and comparison means receiving said sorting signal, comparing said sorting signal with a Desired parameter and providing a decision signal based on the comparison, and deflection means positioned in said sorting zone so that objects pass it after passing said field detector and being responsive to said decision signal to deflect a respective object from its predetermined path.

Claim 12

Apparatus for sorting irregularly shaped objects having naturally occurring material with magnetic properties, comprising means to move said objects through a sorting zone in the apparatus along a predetermined path, a first and second magnet in said sorting zone providing a field to enhance a magnetic characteristic of said material, said magnets being positioned adjacent one another and in sequence along said path so that objects pass through the field of said first magnet and then said second magnet, said first magnet having a steady magnetic field and the second an alternating magnetic field, the intensities of said fields being selected so that the residual magnetism in each passing object is related to coercivity, a magnetic field detector in said sorting zone adjacent the path followed by said objects and spaced from said first and second magnets so that said objects pass said first and second magnets before said field detector, said detector providing a sorting signal representing the coercivity-related detected magnetism in each passing object, a signal processing and comparison means receiving said sorting signal, comparing said sorting signal with a Desired parameter and providing a decision signal based on the comparison, and deflection means positioned in said sorting zone so that objects pass it after passing said field detector and being responsive to said decision signal to deflect a respective object from its predetermined path.

Claim 13

Apparatus for sorting irregularly shaped objects having naturally occurring material with magnetic properties, comprising means to move said objects through a sorting zone in the apparatus along a predetermined path, a magnet in said sorting zone providing a field to enhance a magnetic characteristic of said material, said magnet having a working face and providing a steady magnetic field, said magnet being mounted with its working field adjacent said path, a magnetic field detector mounted substantially at said working face of said magnet to detect said magnetic characteristic which is related to permeability of said material and to provide a sorting signal representing the permeability-related detected characteristic, a signal processing and comparison means receiving said sorting signal, comparing said sorting signal with a desired parameter and providing a decision signal based on the comparison, and deflection means positioned in said sorting zone so that objects pass it after passing said field detector and being responsive to said decision signal to deflect a respective object from its predetermined path.

Claim 14

Apparatus for sorting irregularly shaped objects having naturally occurring material with magnetic properties, comprising means to move said objects through a sorting zone in the apparatus along a predetermined path, a magnet in said sorting zone providing a field to enhance a magnetic characteristic of said material, said magnet having a working face and providing a steady magnetic field, said magnet being mounted with its working field adjacent said path, a magnetic field detector mounted substantially at said working face of said magnet to detect said magnetic characteristic which is related to permeability of said material and to provide a sorting signal representing the permeability-related detected characteristic, a signal processing and comparison means receiving said sorting signal, comparing said sorting signal with a desired parameter and providing a decision signal based on the comparison, and deflection means positioned in said sorting zone so that objects pass it after passing said field detector and being responsive to said decision signal to deflect a respective object from its predetermined path.

Claim 15

Apparatus for sorting irregularly shaped objects having naturally occurring material with magnetic properties, comprising means to move said objects through a sorting zone in the apparatus along a predetermined path, a magnet in said sorting zone providing a field to enhance a magnetic characteristic of said material, said magnet having a working face and providing a steady magnetic field, said magnet being mounted with its working field adjacent said path, a magnetic field detector positioned on the opposite side of said predetermined path from said magnet and directly opposed, permitting objects to move along the path therebetween, said magnetic field detector detecting said magnetic characteristic which is related to permeability of said material and to provide a sorting signal representing the permeability-related detected characteristic, a signal processing and comparison means receiving said sorting signal, comparing said sorting signal with a desired parameter and providing a decision signal based on the comparison, and deflection means positioned in said sorting zone so that objects pass it after passing said field detector and being responsive to said decision signal to deflect a respective object from its predetermined path.

Claim 16

Apparatus for sorting irregularly shaped objects having naturally occurring material with magnetic properties, comprising means to move said objects through a sorting zone in the apparatus along a predetermined path, a magnet in said sorting zone providing a field to enhance a magnetic characteristic of said material, said magnet having a working face and providing a steady magnetic field, said magnet being mounted with its working field adjacent said path, a magnetic field detector positioned on the opposite side of said predetermined path from said magnet and directly opposed, permitting objects to move along the path therebetween, said magnetic field detector detecting said magnetic characteristic which is related to permeability of said material and to provide a sorting signal representing the permeability-related detected characteristic, a signal processing and comparison means receiving said sorting signal, comparing said sorting signal with a desired parameter and providing a decision signal based on the comparison, and deflection means positioned in said sorting zone so that objects pass it after passing said field detector and being responsive to said decision signal to deflect a respective object from its predetermined path.

Claim 17

Apparatus for sorting irregularly shaped objects having first and second naturally occurring material of different permeability, comprising means to move said objects through a sorting zone in the apparatus along a predetermined path, a first and a second magnet in said sorting zone providing a magnetic field to enhance a magnetic characteristic of said material, said first magnet providing a steady magnetic field and said second magnet providing an alternating field, said first and second magnets being positioned on opposite sides of said path permitting objects to move along said predetermined path therebetween, said first magnet having a field with an intensity sufficient to saturate only said first material and said second magnet having a field with an intensity sufficient to reduce residual magnetism associated with said second material, a magnetic field detector in said sorting zone positioned on the same side of said path as said first magnet and as close as possible thereto and directly opposed to said second magnet, said field detector providing a sorting signal representing a detected magnetic characteristic, a signal processing and comparison means receiving said sorting signal, comparing said sorting signal with a desired parameter and providing a decision signal based on the comparison, and deflection means positioned in said sorting zone so that objects pass it after passing said field detector and being responsive to said decision signal to deflect a respective object from its predetermined path.

Claim 18

Apparatus for sorting irregularly shaped objects having first and second naturally occurring material of different permeability, comprising means to move said objects through a sorting zone in the apparatus along a predetermined path, a first and a second magnet in said sorting zone providing a magnetic field to enhance a magnetic characteristic of said material, said first magnet providing a steady magnetic field and said second magnet providing an alternating field, said first and second magnets being positioned on opposite sides of said path permitting objects to move along said predetermined path therebetween, said first magnet having a field with an intensity sufficient to saturate only said first material and said second magnet having a field with an intensity sufficient to reduce residual magnetism associated with said second material, a magnetic field detector in said sorting zone positioned on the same side of said path as said first magnet and as close as possible thereto and directly opposed to said second magnet, said field detector providing a sorting signal representing a detected magnetic characteristic, a signal processing and comparison means receiving said sorting signal, comparing said sorting signal with a desired parameter and providing a decision signal based on the comparison, and deflection means positioned in said sorting zone so that objects pass it after passing said field detector and being responsive to said decision signal to deflect a respective object from its predetermined path.

Claim 19

Apparatus for sorting pieces of rock having naturally occurring material with magnetic properties, comprising a wide path handling means for delivering a wide path random stream of pieces of rock for movement through a sorting zone in the apparatus along a predetermined path, magnet means in said sorting zone providing a magnetic field to enhance a magnetic characteristic of said naturally occurring material, said magnetic characteristic being related to one of the group of remanence, coercivity and permeability, a magnetic field detector in said sorting zone adjacent the path followed by the pieces of rock to detect said magnetic characteristic and to provide a sorting signal representing the detected characteristic, said field detector comprising a plurality of units in side by side relationship extending across the wide path random stream, a signal processing and comparison means receiving said sorting signal, comparing said sorting signal with a desired parameter and providing a decision signal based on the comparison, and a plurality of deflection means, each associated with a respective one of said units in said field detector, positioned in the sorting zone so that pieces of rock pass the deflection means after passing the field detector, and responsive to said decision signal to deflect a respective piece of rock from its predetermined path.

Claim 20

Apparatus for sorting pieces of rock having naturally occurring material with magnetic properties, comprising a wide path handling means for delivering a wide path random stream of pieces of rock for movement through a sorting zone in the apparatus along a predetermined path, magnet means in said sorting zone providing a magnetic field to enhance a magnetic characteristic of said naturally occurring material, said magnetic characteristic being related to one of the group of remanence, coercivity and permeability, a magnetic field detector in said sorting zone adjacent the path followed by the pieces of rock to detect said magnetic characteristic and to provide a sorting signal representing the detected characteristic, said field detector comprising a plurality of units in side by side relationship extending across the wide path random stream, a signal processing and comparison means receiving said sorting signal, comparing said sorting signal with a desired parameter and providing a decision signal based on the comparison, and a plurality of deflection means, each associated with a respective one of said units in said field detector, positioned in the sorting zone so that pieces of rock pass the deflection means after passing the field detector, and responsive to said decision signal to deflect a respective piece of rock from its predetermined path.

Claim 21

Apparatus for sorting irregularly shaped objects having naturally occurring material with magnetic properties, comprising means to move said objects through a sorting zone in the apparatus along a predetermined path, magnet means in said sorting zone providing a magnetic field to enhance a magnetic characteristic of said naturally occurring material, said magnetic characteristic being related to one of the group of remanence, coercivity and permeability, a magnetic field detector in said sorting zone adjacent the path followed by said objects to detect said magnetic characteristic and to provide a sorting signal representing the detected characteristic, a signal processing and comparison means receiving said sorting signal, comparing said sorting signal with a desired parameter and providing a decision signal based on the comparison, deflection means positioned in said sorting zone so that objects pass it after passing said field detector and being responsive to said decision signal to deflect a respective object from its predetermined path, and optical means for determining at least the physical dimension of each object in the direction in which the objects are being moved, said optical means being connected to said deflection means to control the time of operation of said deflection means in accordance with said physical dimension of the object being deflected.

Claim 22

Apparatus for sorting irregularly shaped objects having naturally occurring material with magnetic properties, comprising means to move said objects through a sorting zone in the apparatus along a predetermined path, magnet means in said sorting zone providing a magnetic field to enhance a magnetic characteristic of said naturally occurring material, said magnetic characteristic being related to one of the group of remanence, coercivity and permeability, a magnetic field detector in said sorting zone adjacent the path followed by said objects to detect said magnetic characteristic and to provide a sorting signal representing the detected characteristic, a signal processing and comparison means receiving said sorting signal, comparing said sorting signal with a desired parameter and providing a decision signal based on the comparison, deflection means positioned in said sorting zone so that objects pass it after passing said field detector and being responsive to said decision signal to deflect a respective object from its predetermined path, and optical means for determining at least the physical dimension of each object in the direction in which the objects are being moved, said optical means being connected to said deflection means to control the time of operation of said deflection means in accordance with said physical dimension of the object being deflected.