Automatic grader

Claim 2

Apparatus for inspecting articles, which comprises: means for arranging a group of articles in a stream, means for propelling each article of said stream in a substantially horizontal ballistic path, means disposed adjacent said ballistic path for establishing a predetermined color criteria, means mounted in spaced relationship with said ballistic path and said means disposed adjacent thereto for comparing each article while it is in said ballistic path to the established color criteria, and means for sorting the articles in accordance with the results of the comparison thereof with said color criteria.

Claim 3

Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means disposed adjacent the ballistic path is a background plate for establishing the color criteria, and the means mounted in spaced relationship with the ballistic path is optical means for comparing the color of each article while adjacent said background plate to the color criteria established thereby.

Claim 4

Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for sorting the articles includes: means for directing a blast of compressed air to the articles in response to the comparison made by the optical means.

Claim 5

Apparatus for arranging a random flow of articles into at least one stream, which comprises: a first conveyor for transporting articles, a second conveyor spaced from the first conveyor and adapted to receive articles from the first conveyor, means positioned between said first and second conveyors for diverting a portion of the flow from the first conveyor away from the second conveyor, and means positioned in the path of the articles diverted from the second conveyor for dividing the diverted flow into a plurality of streams.

Claim 6

Apparatus for arranging a random flow of articles into at least one stream, which comprises: a first conveyor for transporting articles, a second conveyor spaced from the first conveyor and adapted to receive articles from the first conveyor, means positioned between said first and second conveyors for diverting a portion of the flow from the first conveyor away from the second conveyor, and means positioned in the path of the articles diverted from the second conveyor for dividing the diverted flow into a plurality of streams.

Claim 7

Apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: means positioned in the path of at least one of said plurality of streams for projecting each of said articles in a ballistic path.

Claim 8

Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein: the first and second conveyors are mounted over spaced rollers, and the means positioned between the first and second conveyors includes a roller mounted parallel to the conveyor rollers, a plurality of paddles mounted on the roller and means for rotating the roller, wherein the paddles engage and divert articles away from the second conveyor.

Claim 9

Apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising: means mounting the roller for translatory movement with respect to the flow of articles between the first and second conveyors to adjust the proportion of that flow that impinges on the paddles.

Claim 10

Apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a baffle in the path of articles diverted by the paddles to guide them to the means for dividing the flow into a plurality of streams.

Claim 11

ApParatus for arranging a random flow of articles into single file streams, which comprises: a shaft mounted in the path of the random flow of articles, first and second rollers mounted on the shaft, and means for rotating the rollers in opposite directions to divide the flow of articles into two portions.

Claim 12

ApParatus for arranging a random flow of articles into single file streams, which comprises: a shaft mounted in the path of the random flow of articles, first and second rollers mounted on the shaft, and means for rotating the rollers in opposite directions to divide the flow of articles into two portions.

Claim 13

Apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising: baffle means mounted in the path of each of the respective flow portions, said baffles being operable to further divide the flow into streams.

Claim 14

Apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising: a high speed conveyor belt mounted in the path of at least one of the streams for spacing out the articles and propelling them in a ballistic path.

Claim 15

Apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising: a high speed conveyor belt mounted in the path of at least one of the portions for spacing out the articles in the portions, and means mounted in spaced relationship with the high speed conveyor for dividing the flow portions into streams of single articles.

Claim 16

Apparatus according to claim 12, wherein: the dividing means are vertically extending baffles spaced laterally the width of less than two articles side by side and roller means are mounted in spaced relationship with the top of the baffles into the space therebetween.

Claim 21

Apparatus for arranging a group of articles into a stream and for inspecting the articles, which comprises a first conveyor for transporting articles, a second conveyor spaced from the first conveyor and adapted to receive articles from the first conveyor, means positioned between said first and second conveyors for diverting a portion of the flow from the first conveyor away from the second conveyor, means positioned in the path of the articles diverted from the second conveyor for dividing the diverted flow into a plurality of streams, means for propelling each article of said stream in a ballistic path, a background plate adjacent said ballistic path for establishing a predetermined color criteria, optical means mounted in spaced relationship with said ballistic path and said background plate for comparing each article while it is above the background plate and in said ballistic path to the color criteria established by said background plate, and means for sorting the articles in accordance with the results of the comparison thereof with said color criteria.

Claim 22

Apparatus for arranging a group of articles into a stream and for inspecting the articles, which comprises a first conveyor for transporting articles, a second conveyor spaced from the first conveyor and adapted to receive articles from the first conveyor, means positioned between said first and second conveyors for diverting a portion of the flow from the first conveyor away from the second conveyor, means positioned in the path of the articles diverted from the second conveyor for dividing the diverted flow into a plurality of streams, means for propelling each article of said stream in a ballistic path, a background plate adjacent said ballistic path for establishing a predetermined color criteria, optical means mounted in spaced relationship with said ballistic path and said background plate for comparing each article while it is above the background plate and in said ballistic path to the color criteria established by said background plate, and means for sorting the articles in accordance with the results of the comparison thereof with said color criteria.

Claim 23

Apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the means positioned in the path of the articles diverted from the second conveyor includes: A pair of axially aligned rollers, means for driving the rollers in opposite directions, and a baffle mounted opposite a portion of each roller.

Claim 24

Apparatus for inspecting articles, which comprises: means for arranging a group of articles in a stream, means for propelling each article of said stream in a ballistic path comprising a conveyor positioned to receive the stream of articles and means for driving said conveyor at a speed sufficient to space out the articles falling thereon, means disposed adjacent said ballistic pAth for establishing a predetermined color criteria, means mounted in spaced relationship with said ballistic path and said means disposed adjacent thereto for comparing each article while it is in said ballistic path to the established color criteria, and means for sorting the articles in accordance with the results of the comparison thereof with said color criteria.

Claim 25

Apparatus for inspecting articles, which comprises: means for arranging a group of articles in a stream, means for propelling each article of said stream in a ballistic path comprising a conveyor positioned to receive the stream of articles and means for driving said conveyor at a speed sufficient to space out the articles falling thereon, means disposed adjacent said ballistic pAth for establishing a predetermined color criteria, means mounted in spaced relationship with said ballistic path and said means disposed adjacent thereto for comparing each article while it is in said ballistic path to the established color criteria, and means for sorting the articles in accordance with the results of the comparison thereof with said color criteria.