Compact viewing assembly for light sensitive sorting machine

Claim 2

In a light-sensitive sorting machine for sorting a succession of articles freely falling along a predetermined path, a compact viewing assembly comprising: a transparent tube through which articles to be sorted may fall along said path; a housing surrounding a portion of said tube to define an enclosed viewing chamber; a plurality of background members disposed at spaced locations in said housing, each of said background members being equidistant from said path; a plurality of optical viewing means disposed in a plane normal to said path to view articles falling along said path against respective of said background members; a plurality of lamp means disposed in said plane to illuminate said articles and said background members, each of said lamp means being equidistant from said path; and shield means disposed proximate each of said lamp means to prevent direct illumination of said optical viewing means by said lamp means.

Claim 3

In a light-sensitive sorting machine for sorting a succession of articles freely falling along a predetermined path, a compact viewing assembly as recited in claim 1 wherein each of said lamp means includes a lamp filament and said shield means comprises a ribbon-like element disposed to prevent the projection of images of the lamp filaments on the viewed area of the articles and the viewed area of the background members by the respective lamp means.

Claim 4

In a light-sensitive sorting machine for sorting a succession of articles freely falling along a predetermined path, a compact viewing assembly as recited in claim 2 wherein said ribbon-like shield elements are disposed in the plane of said lamp means.

Claim 5

In a light-sensitive sorting machine for sorting a succession of articles freely falling along a predetermined path, a compact viewing assembly as recited in claim 3 wherein one of said lamp means is disposed adjacent each of said background members to uniformly illuminate said background members.

Claim 6

In a light-sensitive sorting machine for sorting a succession of freely falling articles, a compact viewing assembly comprising: a cylindrical housing having an upper plate, a lower plate spaced from said upper plate, and a cylindrical side wall joining said plates, each of said plates having respective concentric openings therethrough defining a central passage through which articles to be sorted may fall; a plurality of background members disposed within said housing at spaced locations about said central passage proximate said side wall; a plurality of optical viewing means disposed within said housing at spaced locations about said central passage, each of said viewing means being disposed to view one of said background members and articles passing through said housing between said background members and said viewing means; a plurality of lamp means disposed about said central passage in said housing to illuminate said background members and said articles falling through said passage; said viewing means and said lamp means defining a plane normal to said passage; and shield means disposed proximate each of said lamp means to prevent direct illumination of said optical viewing means by said lamp means.

Claim 7

In a light-sensitive sorting machine for sorting a succession of freely falling articles, a compact viewing assembly comprising: a cylindrical housing having an upper plate, a lower plate spaced from said upper plate, and a cylindrical side wall joining said plates, each of said plates having respective concentric openings therethrough defining a central passage through which articles to be sorted may fall; a plurality of background members disposed within said housing at spaced locations about said central passage proximate said side wall; a plurality of optical viewing means disposed within said housing at spaced locations about said central passage, each of said viewing means being disposed to view one of said background members and articles passing through said housing between said background members and said viewing means; a plurality of lamp means disposed about said central passage in said housing to illuminate said background members and said articles falling through said passage; said viewing means and said lamp means defining a plane normal to said passage; and shield means disposed proximate each of said lamp means to prevent direct illumination of said optical viewing means by said lamp means.

Claim 8

In a light-sensitive sorting machine for sorting a succession of freely falling articles, a compact viewing assembly as recited in claim 5 wherein said background members are supported by at least one of said plates and said optical viewing means and said lamp means are supported by said side wall.

Claim 9

In a light-sensitive sorting machine for sorting a succession of freely falling articles, a compact viewing assembly as recited in claim 5 wherein said central passage is defined by a length of cylindrical transparent tube passing through said housing.

Claim 10

In a light-sensitive sorting machine for sorting a succession of freely falling articles, a compact viewing assembly as recited in claim 5 wherein one of said lamp means is disposed adjacent to each of said background members to uniformly illuminate said background members.

Claim 11

In a light-sensitive sorting machine for sorting a succession of freely falling articles, a compact viewing assembly as recited in claim 5 wherein each of said optical viewing means includes a lens disposed to receive light energy reflected from respective of said background members and from said articles to be sorted and to form a corresponding light beam, a beam splitter disposed to divide said light beam into first and second optical paths, first and second color filters disposed in respective of said paths, first and second optical frame members disposed proximate said respective filters, and first and second photosensitive elements disposed to receive light energy passing through respective color filters and optical frames and to produce electrical signals representative of the respective energy levels of said paths.

Claim 12

In a light-sensitive sorting machine for sorting a succession of freely falling articles, a compact viewing assembly as recited in claim 9 wherein at least one of said optical frame members is adjustable with respect to the corresponding light path to vary the image incident on the corresponding photosensitive element.

Claim 13

In a light-sensitive sorting machine for sorting a succession of articles freely falling along a path, a compact viewing assembly comprising: a housing surrounding said path to define an enclosed viewing chamber through which articles to be sorted may freely fall; background means disposed within said viewing chamber at spaced locations around said path; a plurality of lamp means disposed within said viewing chamber in a plane normal to said path for illuminating said background means and the articles falling through said viewing chamber; shield means disposed proximate each of said lamp means for preventing the projection of a lamp filament image onto said background means and onto the articles falling through said viewing chamber; and a plurality of optical viewing means disposed within said viewing chamber in said plane for viewing the articles falling through said viewing chamber against said background means.

Claim 14

In a light-sensitive sorting machine for sorting a succession of articles freely falling along a path, a compact viewing assembly comprising: a housing surrounding said path to define an enclosed viewing chamber through which articles to be sorted may freely fall; background means disposed within said viewing chamber at spaced locations around said path; a plurality of lamp means disposed within said viewing chamber in a plane normal to said path for illuminating said background means and the articles falling through said viewing chamber; shield means disposed proximate each of said lamp means for preventing the projection of a lamp filament image onto said background means and onto the articles falling through said viewing chamber; and a plurality of optical viewing means disposed within said viewing chamber in said plane for viewing the articles falling through said viewing chamber against said background means.

Claim 15

In a light-sensitive sorting machine for sorting a succession of articles freely falling along a path, a compact viewing assembly comprising: a housing surrounding said path to define an enclosed viewing chamber through which articles to be sorted may freely fall; background means disposed within said viewing chamber at spaced locations around said path; a plurality of lamp means disposed within said viewing chamber in a plane normal to sAid path for illuminating said background means and the articles falling through said viewing chamber; shield means disposed proximate each of said lamp means for preventing the projection of a lamp filament image onto said background means and onto the articles falling through said viewing chamber; and a plurality of optical viewing means disposed within said viewing chamber in said plane for viewing the articles falling through said viewing chamber against said background means, each of said optical viewing means including a lens disposed to receive light energy reflected from said background means and the articles falling through said viewing chamber and to form a corresponding light beam, a beam splitter disposed to divide said light beam into first and second optical paths, first and second color filters disposed in respective of said optical paths, first and second optical frame members disposed proximate respective of said filters, and first and second photosensitive elements disposed to receive the light energy of the corresponding optical paths to produce electrical signals representative of the respective light energies, at least one of said optical frame members being adjustable with respect to the corresponding light path to vary the image incident on the corresponding photosensitive element.

Claim 16

In a light-sensitive sorting machine for sorting a succession of articles freely falling along a path, a compact viewing assembly comprising: a housing surrounding said path to define an enclosed viewing chamber through which articles to be sorted may freely fall; background means disposed within said viewing chamber at spaced locations around said path; a plurality of lamp means disposed within said viewing chamber in a plane normal to sAid path for illuminating said background means and the articles falling through said viewing chamber; shield means disposed proximate each of said lamp means for preventing the projection of a lamp filament image onto said background means and onto the articles falling through said viewing chamber; and a plurality of optical viewing means disposed within said viewing chamber in said plane for viewing the articles falling through said viewing chamber against said background means, each of said optical viewing means including a lens disposed to receive light energy reflected from said background means and the articles falling through said viewing chamber and to form a corresponding light beam, a beam splitter disposed to divide said light beam into first and second optical paths, first and second color filters disposed in respective of said optical paths, first and second optical frame members disposed proximate respective of said filters, and first and second photosensitive elements disposed to receive the light energy of the corresponding optical paths to produce electrical signals representative of the respective light energies, at least one of said optical frame members being adjustable with respect to the corresponding light path to vary the image incident on the corresponding photosensitive element.