Method and apparatus for detecting and counting articles

Claim 1

A method for detecting and counting articles that travel along a passageway, said method comprising: a. passing articles past a pair of orthogonally positioned light sources and respective orthogonally positioned light detectors at a detection station; b. operating the light sources alternately as the articles pass through the detection station; c. sensing the quantity of light that is detected by each light detector as each light source is operated and providing electrical signals representative of the amounts of light received by the respective light detectors; d. storing the respective electrical signals and the times corresponding with each signal; e. calculating average light drop values over the total time the articles have been within the detection station to provide an equivalent volume of the sensed article; and f. comparing the equivalent volume with a predetermined volume to decide whether the article should be counted.

Claim 2

A method for detecting and counting articles that travel along a passageway, said method comprising: a. passing articles past a pair of orthogonally positioned light sources and respective orthogonally positioned light detectors at a detection station; b. operating the light sources alternately as the articles pass through the detection station; c. sensing the quantity of light that is detected by each light detector as each light source is operated and providing electrical signals representative of the amounts of light received by the respective light detectors; d. storing the respective electrical signals and the times corresponding with each signal; e. calculating average light drop values over the total time the articles have been within the detection station to provide an equivalent volume of the sensed article; and f. comparing the equivalent volume with a predetermined volume to decide whether the article should be counted.

Claim 5

A method for detecting and counting articles that travel along a passageway, for subsequent packaging of a desired number of such articles, said method comprising: a. passing the articles across a sensing plane of light defined by pair of orthogonally positioned light sources and respective orthogonally positioned light detectors at a detection station; b. operating the light sources alternately as the articles pass through the detection station to provide alternate, orthogonally oriented light beams at the detection station; c. sensing the quantity of light that is detected by each light detector as each light source is operated while articles pass the detection station and providing a series of electrical signals representative of the amounts of light received by each of the respective light detectors over a sensing period; d. integrating as a function of time the series of electric signals provided by the respective light detectors to provide integrated light values representative of each sensing direction; e. adding the integrated light values together; f. comparing the resulting sum of the integrated values with a predetermined range of acceptable light values based upon articles of the type to be counted that had been previously passed through the sensing plane to determine an acceptable range; and g. counting the article when the comparison of light values falls within the acceptable range.

Claim 6

A method for detecting and counting articles that travel along a passageway, for subsequent packaging of a desired number of such articles, said method comprising: a. passing the articles across a sensing plane of light defined by pair of orthogonally positioned light sources and respective orthogonally positioned light detectors at a detection station; b. operating the light sources alternately as the articles pass through the detection station to provide alternate, orthogonally oriented light beams at the detection station; c. sensing the quantity of light that is detected by each light detector as each light source is operated while articles pass the detection station and providing a series of electrical signals representative of the amounts of light received by each of the respective light detectors over a sensing period; d. integrating as a function of time the series of electric signals provided by the respective light detectors to provide integrated light values representative of each sensing direction; e. adding the integrated light values together; f. comparing the resulting sum of the integrated values with a predetermined range of acceptable light values based upon articles of the type to be counted that had been previously passed through the sensing plane to determine an acceptable range; and g. counting the article when the comparison of light values falls within the acceptable range.

Claim 7

A method for detecting and counting articles that travel along a passageway, for subsequent packaging of a desired number of such articles, said method comprising: a. passing the articles across a sensing plane of light defined by pair of orthogonally positioned light sources and respective orthogonally positioned light detectors at a detection station; b. operating the light sources alternately as the articles pass through the detection station to provide alternate, orthogonally oriented light beams at the detection station; c. sensing the quantity of light that is detected by each light detector as each light source is operated while articles pass the detection station and providing a series of electrical signals representative of the amounts of light received by each of the respective light detectors over a sensing period; d. storing the respective electrical signals and the times corresponding with each signal; e. adding together individual light values sensed by each detector over a sensing interval; f. calculating average light values over the total time an article has been within the detection station for light signals from each light detector; g. determining logarithmic values for each average light value and for the number of times the respective light beams were operative during a sensing cycle and adding the logarithmic values together to provide a logarithmic sum; h. dividing the logarithmic sum by three to provide a resulting value; and i. determining the antilogarithm of the resulting value and comparing that antilogarithm with a predetermined value to assess whether the signals represent an article to be counted.

Claim 8

A method for detecting and counting articles that travel along a passageway, for subsequent packaging of a desired number of such articles, said method comprising: a. passing the articles across a sensing plane of light defined by pair of orthogonally positioned light sources and respective orthogonally positioned light detectors at a detection station; b. operating the light sources alternately as the articles pass through the detection station to provide alternate, orthogonally oriented light beams at the detection station; c. sensing the quantity of light that is detected by each light detector as each light source is operated while articles pass the detection station and providing a series of electrical signals representative of the amounts of light received by each of the respective light detectors over a sensing period; d. storing the respective electrical signals and the times corresponding with each signal; e. adding together individual light values sensed by each detector over a sensing interval; f. calculating average light values over the total time an article has been within the detection station for light signals from each light detector; g. determining logarithmic values for each average light value and for the number of times the respective light beams were operative during a sensing cycle and adding the logarithmic values together to provide a logarithmic sum; h. dividing the logarithmic sum by three to provide a resulting value; and i. determining the antilogarithm of the resulting value and comparing that antilogarithm with a predetermined value to assess whether the signals represent an article to be counted.