Patent ID: 11964304
Assignee: SORTERA TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Field: Chemical engineering (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 8:
9. A system for sorting metal alloys comprising:
a conveyor system configured to convey a plurality of received metal alloy pieces at a predetermined speed, wherein the plurality of metal alloy pieces comprise scrap pieces composed of a wrought aluminum alloy, scrap pieces composed of a first cast aluminum alloy, and scrap pieces composed of a second cast aluminum alloy different from the first cast aluminum alloy;
a distance measuring device configured to determine an approximate length for each of the plurality of metal alloy pieces along a line parallel to a direction of travel of the plurality of metal alloy pieces;
an XRF system configured to emit x-rays from an x-ray source towards each of the plurality of metal alloy pieces and to detect x-ray fluorescence signals emitted by the plurality of metal alloy pieces in response to the x-rays emitted by the x-ray source;
the XRF system configured to determine separate XRF spectra for each of the plurality of metal alloy pieces only during a time period determined as a function of the approximate length and the predetermined speed so that only the XRF spectrum emitted from a respective metal alloy piece is measured and not from an environment surrounding the respective metal alloy piece;
circuitry configured to classify a first one of the plurality of metal alloy pieces as having the first metal alloy composition and classify a second one of the plurality of metal alloy pieces as having the second metal alloy composition, wherein metal alloy compositions of the plurality of metal alloy pieces are classified as a result of acquired x-ray fluorescence detected from each of the plurality of metal alloy pieces using the XRF system;
a sorting device configured to sort the first one of the plurality of metal alloy pieces from the second one of the metal alloy pieces in response to (1) classifying the first one of the plurality of metal alloy pieces as having the first metal alloy composition, and (2) classifying the second one of the plurality of metal alloy pieces as having the second metal alloy composition; and
another sorting device configured to sort out scrap pieces that have been classified as composed of a wrought aluminum alloy before exposing a remainder of the plurality of metal scrap pieces to the x-rays emitted by the x-ray source of the XRF system in order to classify and sort the scrap pieces composed of the first cast aluminum alloy from the scrap pieces composed of the second cast aluminum alloy.