Patent ID: 6531672
Filing Date: 2003-03-11
Classification: B07C

Abstract:
A sorting apparatus comprising:a. a support frame; b. a measurement chute having an inlet end and an outlet end, a channel with a floor and two side walls, said channel between the inlet end and the outlet end, wherein said floor includes a measurement slot transecting completely through the floor, wherein said measurement chute is mounted to the support frame at an incline such that the inlet end is higher than the outlet end; c. a feeder, having a container in which the objects are temporarily stored, wherein the feeder is coupled to the support frame and feeds the objects into the measurement chute at the inlet end of the measurement chute; d. a laser micrometer having a laser beam transmitter and a laser beam receiver, wherein the laser beam transmitter and the laser beam receiver are coupled to the support frame on opposite sides of the measurement slot, such that, in operation, a laser beam is directed by the laser beam transmitter through the measurement slot and received by the laser beam receiver; e. a computer electronically coupled to the laser micrometer; and f. a sorter mechanism coupled to the support frame and electronically coupled to the computer, said sorter mechanism having a sorting chute rotatably mounted on a rotating shaft with a sorting chute inlet located directly below the measurement chute outlet, and a sorting chute outlet located above a plurality of radially spaced-apart receptacles disposed about said rotating shaft, wherein said sorter mechanism receives the objects to be sorted in the sorting chute inlet and releases the objects through the sorting chute outlet into one of the plurality of receptacles based upon the signal received from the computer.