Patent ID: 6662925
Filing Date: 2003-12-16
Classification: B07C

Abstract:
An automatic selective device for sorting objects which differ in physical characteristics such as shape, type, consistency, weight, dimension, and/or volume and for placing these objects in suitable receiving containers, comprising a mechanism for loading the objects, a mechanism for transporting the objects to the receiving containers, and an unloading mechanism for selectively depositing the objects into the receiving containers, wherein the transporting mechanism and the unloading mechanism are combined to form a unit of individual supports each attached to at least one endless conveyor belt (15), each support comprising a pivoting tray which receives an object for sorting and having a front rim and a rear rim defined relative to the direction in which the support is displaced, as well as an activation device (22) for said pivoting tray, said activation device being controlled by an individual control device to cause, at a predetermined instant, said tray to pivot in combination with gravitational force and in correspondence with one of said receiving containers (30) selected as a function of the physical characteristics and/or the destination of the object transported by said tray, characterized in that the loading mechanism comprises at least one storage and unloading buffer system (33; 51) each equipped with at least one window for depositing an object (9) on an acceleration belt (32b, 50b), and an automatic insertion belt (32c, 50c) located downstream from the acceleration belt and which deposits objets (9) on the pivoting trays of the individual supports on the side of the trays with the rear rim; in that each individual support for the combined transporting mechanism and the unloading means comprises a pivoting means causing the pivoting tray to pivot from front to back, in terms of the direction in which the individual supports are displaced; and in that the pivoting tray of each support overlaps the conveyor (15).