Synchronized produce sorting system

Claim 2

In a produce grading and sorting system detector means for receiving radiation from desired articles of produce and from undesired objects in a given field of view of the detector means and for producing a plurality of electrical signals whose magnitudes correspond to respective predetermined components of the received radiation, conveyor means having uniformly spaced produce receiving means thereon for continuously moving a row of uniformly spaced articles of produce into and through said field of view, means for producing a first signal when a desired article or an undesired object is in said field of view, means responsive to said electrical signals for producing a second signal only when a desired article is in said field of view, means synchronized with the movement of said conveyor means for producing gating pulses when a produce receiving means of the conveyor means is substantially centered in said field of view, means synchronized with the movement of the conveyor for generating trigger pulses which occur at times substantially midway between the occurrence of adjacent gating pulses, means responsive to the occurrence of both a first signal and a gating pulse for producing a set pulse, means for coupling said second signal to said means for producing a set pulse to prevent the producing of a set pulse upon occurrence of a second signal, bistable means responsive to set pulses and to each trigger pulse occurring next after the beginning of a set pulse for transferring said bistable means to its second state, means responsive to the transfer of the bistable means to its second state and operable in synchronism with said conveyor for producing an eject pulse when a previously upstream produce receiving means on the conveyor is in said field of view and when a detected undesired object is at a given downstream position from said field of view.

Claim 3

The combination claimed in claim 1 and including, means operating in synchronism with movement of the conveyor for producing eject time pulses each occurring when a produce receiving means on the moving conveyor is in said field of view, said eject time pulses being coupled to said means for producing eject pulses.

Claim 4

The combination claimed in claim 2 wherein the means for producing an eject pulse is responsive to the transfer of the bistable means to its second state and to the eject time pulse occurring next thereafter, said means for producing an eject pulse operating to produce an eject pulse commencing with the commencement of an eject time pulse.

Claim 5

The combination claimed in claim 2 and including means for delaying said eject pulses by one or more time periods each of which corresponds to the period between successively occurring eject time pulses.

Claim 6

The combination claimed in claim 2 wherein said eject time pulses commence immediately after a gating pulse each time a produce receiving means is in said field of view.

Claim 7

The combination claimed in claim 2 wherein said eject time pulses correspond to said gating pulses.

Claim 8

In a synchronized produce grading and sorting system a conveyor having uniformly spaced produce receiving means for continuously moving a row of uniformly spaced articles of produce into and through a field of view, detecting means for detecting characteristics of desired articles and undesired objects passing through said field of view and for producing electrical signals corresponding to detected characteristics, means responsive to said electrical signals for producing a first signal when either a desired article or an undesired object is in said field of view, means responsive to said electrical signals for producing a second signal only when a desired article is detected in said field of view, means operating in synchronism with movement of said conveyor for generating first and second series of pulses, successive pulses of the first series occurring when successive produce receiving means of the conveyor are substantially centered in said field of view and successive pulses of the second series occurring when successive produce receiving means are substantially equidistant on opposite sides of said field of view, means responsive to coincidence of a first signal and a pulse of the first series for setting a bistable means to its second state, means for preventing said bistable means from being set to its second state upon occurrence of a second signal and for placing the bistable device in its first state after occurrence of each pulse of the second series, a second bistable device responsive to said second series of pulses and to the output of said first bistable device and transferring to its second state if the first bistable device is in its second state upon occurrence of the next occurring pulse of the second series, means for producing a series of timing pulses each of which occurs when a produce receiving means is in said field of view and each occurring after a corresponding one of the pulses of the first series, means responsive to the output of said second bistable device and to said timing pulses for producing an eject pulse upon occurrence of a timing pulse when the second bistable device is in its second state, and means responsive to the eject pulse for ejecting an article of produce on said conveyor.

Claim 9

In a synchronized produce grading and sorting system a conveyor having uniformly spaced produce receiving means for continuously moving a row of uniformly spaced articles of produce into and through a field of view, detecting means for detecting characteristics of desired articles and undesired objects passing through said field of view and for producing electrical signals corresponding to detected characteristics, means responsive to said electrical signals for producing a first signal when either a desired article or an undesired object is in said field of view, means responsive to said electrical signals for producing a second signal only when a desired article is detected in said field of view, means operating in synchronism with movement of said conveyor for generating first and second series of pulses, successive pulses of the first series occurring when successive produce receiving means of the conveyor are substantially centered in said field of view and successive pulses of the second series occurring when successive produce receiving means are substantially equidistant on opposite sides of said field of view, means responsive to coincidence of a first signal and a pulse of the first series for setting a bistable means to its second state, means for preventing said bistable means from being set to its second state upon occurrence of a second signal and for placing the bistable device in its first state after occurrence of each pulse of the second series, a second bistable device responsive to said second series of pulses and to the output of said first bistable device and transferring to its second state if the first bistable device is in its second state upon occurrence of the next occurring pulse of the second series, means for producing a series of timing pulses each of which occurs when a produce receiving means is in said field of view and each occurring after a corresponding one of the pulses of the first series, means responsive to the output of said second bistable device and to said timing pulses for producing an eject pulse upon occurrence of a timing pulse when the second bistable device is in its second state, and means responsive to the eject pulse for ejecting an article of produce on said conveyor.

Claim 10

In a synchronized produce grading and sorting system, an endless conveyor comprised of a plurality of parallel uniformly spaced rollers having aligned regions of alternately occurring large and small diameters, whereby the regions between the small diameters of adjacent rollers form produce receiving means, color detector means fixedly positioned relative to said conveyor and having a given field of view that includes an article at a given position on said conveyor as the conveyor moves articles therealong, said color detector producing a plurality of color signals corresponding to respective color components received from desired and undesired articles on said conveyor, means responsive to said color signals for producing a first signal when either a desired or undesired article is on said conveyor in said field of view but producing no signal when an empty produce receiving means is in said field of view, means responsive to said color signals for producing a second signal only when a desired article is in said field of view, means synchronized with the movement of the conveyor for producing a gating pulse each time one of said produce receiving means is substantially centered in said field of view, means synchronized with the movement of the conveyor for producing a reset pulse each time one of said rollers is substantially centered in said field of view, means responsive to the occurrence of a first signal and a gating pulse for producing a set pulse which commences substantially at the commencement of the gating pulse, bistable means coupled to receive said set pulses and operable to transfer from its first state to its second state upon occurrence of a set pulse, means for coupling said second signal and said reset pulses to said bistable device to prevent it from transferring to its second state upon occurrence of a second signal and for placing the bistable device in its first state upon occurrence of a reset pulse, a second bistable device, means for coupling the output of the first bistable device and said reset pulses to the second bistable device, said second bistable device transferring from its first to its second state upon occurrence of both a second state output of the first bistable means and the reset pulse occurring next thereafter, means for producing timing pulses each occurring when a produce receiving means is in said field of view, pulse producing means responsive to both a second state output of the second bistable device and the timing pulse occurring next thereafter for producing an eject pulse, and means including ejection means disposed adjacent said conveyor and downstream of the detector means and responsive to said eject pulses for ejecting undesired articles from said conveyor.

Claim 11

In a synchronized produce grading and sorting system, an endless conveyor comprised of a plurality of parallel uniformly spaced rollers having aligned regions of alternately occurring large and small diameters, whereby the regions between the small diameters of adjacent rollers form produce receiving means, color detector means fixedly positioned relative to said conveyor and having a given field of view that includes an article at a given position on said conveyor as the conveyor moves articles therealong, said color detector producing a plurality of color signals corresponding to respective color components received from desired and undesired articles on said conveyor, means responsive to said color signals for producing a first signal when either a desired or undesired article is on said conveyor in said field of view but producing no signal when an empty produce receiving means is in said field of view, means responsive to said color signals for producing a second signal only when a desired article is in said field of view, means synchronized with the movement of the conveyor for producing a gating pulse each time one of said produce receiving means is substantially centered in said field of view, means synchronized with the movement of the conveyor for producing a reset pulse each time one of said rollers is substantially centered in said field of view, means responsive to the occurrence of a first signal and a gating pulse for producing a set pulse which commences substantially at the commencement of the gating pulse, bistable means coupled to receive said set pulses and operable to transfer from its first state to its second state upon occurrence of a set pulse, means for coupling said second signal and said reset pulses to said bistable device to prevent it from transferring to its second state upon occurrence of a second signal and for placing the bistable device in its first state upon occurrence of a reset pulse, a second bistable device, means for coupling the output of the first bistable device and said reset pulses to the second bistable device, said second bistable device transferring from its first to its second state upon occurrence of both a second state output of the first bistable means and the reset pulse occurring next thereafter, means for producing timing pulses each occurring when a produce receiving means is in said field of view, pulse producing means responsive to both a second state output of the second bistable device and the timing pulse occurring next thereafter for producing an eject pulse, and means including ejection means disposed adjacent said conveyor and downstream of the detector means and responsive to said eject pulses for ejecting undesired articles from said conveyor.

Claim 12

The combination claimed in claim 8 wherein said means including ejection means includes signal delay means coupled to said pulse producing means and operating in synchronism with said timing pulses for delaying the operation of the ejection means by one or more time increments each corresponding to the period between timing pulses.