Patent ID: 11969758
Assignee: nan
Field: Chemical engineering (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC B  F | IPC B  F

Claim 17:
18. An object-sorting apparatus comprising:
at least one vibration element; and
a plurality of modular stages stacked in a vertical sequence and in vibratory communication with the at least one vibration element, wherein each of the modular stages comprises housing walls and a stage floor, the housing walls configured to align vertically with the housing walls of at least one vertically adjacent modular stage, wherein the stage floor of at least one of the modular stages comprises a plurality of apertures defined therein and extending therethrough into flow communication with a next lower one of the modular stages; and
a source tray positioned above a top one of the modular stages, the source tray comprising a tray floor that is bi-directionally slidable with respect to the modular stages between a first position, in which the tray floor blocks flow communication between the source tray and the top stage, and a second position that enables flow communication between the source tray and the top stage.