Abstract A method for sorting field corn from sweet corn in a mixture of the two wherein a mixture of the two is passed seriatim through a viewing zone and illuminated from one side of the viewing zone to produce a shadow pattern on a opposite side of the viewing zone. The shadow pattern of each kernel is detected as it passes through the viewing zone and the kernels are sorted according to the shadow pattern thus produced. The shadow pattern for the kernels contains at least two areas of light attenuation and the ratio of one area to the other is calculated in order to sort the field corn from the sweet corn. The shadow pattern is measured by making multiple scans across the same as it passes through the viewing zone so that the entire shadow pattern is thus scanned. The signals obtained from the multiple scans are integrated to produce a composite of the entire shadow pattern.
A method for sorting field corn from sweet corn in a mixture of the sweet corn and field corn, the method comprising the steps of: passing the kernels in the mixture seriatim through a viewing zone; illuminating the kernels from one side of the viewing zone to produce a shadow pattern of at least two areas of light attenuation on an opposite side of the viewing zone; detecting each of the areas of each kernel shadow pattern separately as it passes through the viewing zone; and sorting the kernels according to the relative size of the areas of the shadow pattern thus produced.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
103 words
A method for sorting field corn from sweet corn in a mixture of the sweet corn and field corn, the method comprising the steps of: passing the kernels in the mixture seriatim through a viewing zone; illuminating the kernels from one side of the viewing zone to produce a shadow pattern of at least two areas of light attenuation on an opposite side of the viewing zone; detecting each of the areas of each kernel shadow pattern separately as it passes through the viewing zone; and sorting the kernels according to the relative size of the areas of the shadow pattern thus produced.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
30 words
A method for sorting field corn from sweet corn according to claim 1 wherein the sorting step comprises calculating the ratio of one such area of light attenuation to another.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
43 words
A method for sorting field corn from sweet corn according to claim 2 wherein the sorting step further comprises rejecting those kernels which produce a shadow pattern wherein the ratio of one area of light attenuation to the other exceeds a predetermined value.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
41 words
A method for sorting field corn from sweet corn according to claim 3 wherein the one area is substantially full attenuation and the other area is partial attenuation and the ratio of one area to the other is at least 0.33.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
43 words
A method for sorting field corn from sweet corn according to claim 3 wherein the one area is substantially full attenuation and the other area is partial attenuation, and the ratio of one area to the other is in the range of 0.33-0.40.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
46 words
A method for sorting field corn from sweet corn according to claim 2 wherein the detecting step comprises making multiple scans across the shadow pattern as it passes through the viewing zone and integrating the multiple scans to produce a composite of the entire shadow pattern.