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

Claim 5:
6. A method for sorting a plurality of metal alloy pieces into at least a first sorted collection of metal alloy pieces having a first metal alloy composition and a second sorted collection of metal alloy pieces having a second metal alloy composition different from the first metal alloy composition, the method comprising:
conveying the plurality of metal alloy pieces by a conveyor system 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;
determining an approximate length of each of the plurality of metal scrap pieces along a line parallel to a direction of travel of the plurality of metal alloy pieces by the conveyor system, wherein the determining the approximate length of each of the plurality of metal alloy pieces comprises measuring the approximate length of each of the plurality of metal alloys scrap pieces as they travel at the predetermined speed past a distance measuring device;
exposing the plurality of metal scrap pieces to x-rays emitted by an x-ray source of an x-ray fluorescence (“XRF”) system, and detecting, by the XRF system, x-ray fluorescence signals emitted by the plurality of metal scrap pieces in response to the x-rays emitted by the x-ray source;
wherein the XRF system is configured to measure an XRF spectrum emitted from a particular one of each of the plurality of metal alloy pieces only for a time period determined as a function of the measured approximate length for the particular one of each of the plurality of metal alloy pieces, wherein the time period is determined as a function of the measured approximate length of the particular one of each of the plurality of metal alloy pieces and the predetermined speed so that only the XRF spectrum emitted from the particular one of each of the plurality of metal alloy pieces is measured and not from an environment surrounding the particular one of each of the plurality of metal alloy pieces;
classifying a first one of the plurality of metal alloy pieces as having the first metal alloy composition and classifying 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;
sorting 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 sorting 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.