SORTING

Abstract: A rapid succession of objects such as sweets are sorted according to shape by being fed through a viewing zone, flash illuminated in the viewing zone, and viewed by a number of fixed electronic viewers (5) spaced in one plane around the viewing zone through just under 180°, the edges of the images produced by the viewers (5) being examined for approximation to a spherical shape, approximation to symmetry and reentrants, and one of a number of air jet nozzles (6) being thereby automatically energised to direct the object into an appropriate bin (7).

Description: The present invention relates to a method of examining the shape of an object, in which the object is in free flight, is illuminated in a viewing zone and is viewed by a number of angularly spaced viewers when it reaches a predetermined plane and a set of signals is derived from each viewer representative of the edges of the object as viewed by the viewer, the signals being processed electronically to examine the shape of the object. The present invention also relates to an apparatus for examining objects according to shape, comprising a viewing zone through which the objects will be fed, means for illuminating each successive object as it passes through the viewing zone, a plurality of fixed electronic viewers spaced around the viewing zone, for viewing the object as it passes through the viewing zone, means for deriving from each viewer a set of signals representative of the edges of the object as viewed by the viewer, and electronic processing means for processing the set of signals to examine the shape of the object. The object may be for instance edible products such as peas or sweets, but the invention is in no way limited to edible products. GB 2 081 439A describes the examination of an object for shape. Although the specification is primarily concerned with mounting the object and rotating it about a fixed axis so that a single electronic viewer can be used, there is a reference to using multiple viewers fixed and spaced through e.g. 180° and each receiving an image of a falling object when it reaches a predetermined plane. US 3 650 397 describes the examination of screws for accuracy of the threads. The system is fast but can only cope with objects which are fed in a predetermined configuration and which conform to a strong general shape. WO 87/01975 (& EP-238561, Art. 54(3)) discloses an apparatus for feeding objects into a viewing zone on suction nozzles. It is suggested that the viewers may be used to view the shape of the object but an efficient way of analysing the signals from the viewers is not described. The Invention The invention provides a method as set forth in Claim 1 and an apparatus as set forth in Claim 16. The remaining Claims set forth preferred features. It has been realised that the examination disclosed in GB 2 081 439A can be used for sorting a rapid succession of the objects, i.e. objects fed at a rate of at least one per second. Although the objects will be moving quickly, provided the signals from all the viewers are derived at a particular instant, and provided at least four electronic viewers are used, a good representation of the shape of the object can be obtained and high speed automatic sorting can be achieved. It is difficult to have a positive sort into acceptables and rejects, and it is better to provide a third category, namely hand-sorts, which category must be hand sorted. Provided the hand-sort category does not represent too large a percentage of the objects, this is fully acceptable in practice, it being very difficult to make any apparatus discriminate sufficiently and reliably between acceptables and rejects without any intermediate category. Preferred Embodiment The invention will be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a schematic, isometric view of apparatus in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a block diagram of the electronics of the apparatus; Figure 3 is a block diagram of the decision tree of the apparatus; and Figures 4 to 7 represent the functions carried out in the function cards shown in Figure 2. Figure 1 shows a suitable feeder 1 which feeds the objects one by one vertically downwards in rapid succession. The feeder 1 is just shown schematically as suitable feeders are available. The ojects should be fed at at least one per second, and preferably more than five per second or ten per second, say twelve per second. The objects are accelerated within the feeder 1, and leave the feeder at a speed of say 1 m/s or preferably 2 m/s. The objects should be unrestrained as they pass through the viewing zone so that the images of the objects are not obscured by any mechanical parts, and thus the objects will be in free flight. Vertical fall is the simplest to arrange, but in theory at least the objects could be projected for instance horizontally through a viewing zone. The path 2 of the objects is indicated. The objects pass through a light curtain 3 which signals their arrival at the shape sorting zone. The light curtain 3 triggers a strobe unit formed by seven illuminators 4. Preferably, the illuminators receive white light from a laser flashlight (flash lamp) by way of fibre optics, and have a lens for forming parallel light. The light can have any suitable wavelength. The length of flash depends upon the speed of the objects, but for a speed of just over 1 m/s, the length can be 15 microseconds. Diametrically opposite each illuminator 4 there is an electronic viewer 5, the viewers 5 being spaced in one plane around a viewing zone, which plane is at 90° to the direction of feed or path 2 of the objects. In the machine illustrated, there are nine viewers 5, but it may be possible to have as few as four or more suitably five in order to obtain a sensibly efficient sort; seven viewers 5 would be a practical possibility. It will be seen that the viewers are spaced through somewhat under 180°, the angular distance between each viewer 5 being 180° divided by the number of viewers 5. The viewers 5 are each directed at an illuminator 4, so that the image received is of a dark object against a light field - this gives better resolution and a greater depth of focus. No view is needed from above in view of the arrangement of the viewers 5. After dropping below the plane of the viewers 5 and illuminators 4, the objects pass through a sorting device comprising a ring of a suitable number of air jet nozzles 6 which direct successive objects into one of a number of paths according to their shapes. The nozzles 6 can be connected to compressed air via solenoid valves (not shown). There are shown a number of bins 7 corresponding to the number of nozzles 6, but there could be a central bin as well. The number of nozzles 6 and bins 7 will depend on the types of categories required for the sort. For instance, six bins 7 are required for the decision tree shown in Figure 3, which is specifically for sorting diamonds having a maximum weight of 4 carat and and a minimum weight of ¹/₁₅ carat, with less than 30% for hand sorting - the acceptables are sawables and the rejects makeables (the latter may need hand sorting to decide if they should be cleaved). The intention is to sort the two "low confidence" bins. As shown in Figure 2, each viewer 5 is connected to a channel capture board 11 which normalises (white made true white, black made true black) by selecting a voltage threshold between black and white, and digitises the signal, thereby providing digital (video data) signals representative of the edges of the object as viewed by the viewer 5, and tracks round the edge or boundary. The data signals are then fed to a computer 12. The computer 12 incorporates a channel scanner 13 which scans each channel (from each viewer 5) in turn, a general purpose function card 14, a number of special function cards 15, a memory 16 and a head processor 17. The head processor 17 controls the admission of compressed air to the nozzles 6, to open one of the valves. In the arrangement illustrated, separate function cards 14,15 are used, and these are hard wired. Apart from the genenal purpose function card 14, each card is specifically for one function. It would be possible to programme these functions using normal software, but the function cards are preferred. The function cards can be changed, for instance if a large amount of objects having a certain peculiarity must be sorted. The genenal purpose function card 14 is programmable, so that it can be programmed for any modifications; it runs more slowly than the cards 15 but is more flexible. The decision tree is shown in Figure 3. The genenal function card 14 is not represented. For each decision, the average value of the parameter (sphericity, symmetry and convex hull deviance) is determined for all the channels, i.e. views, before combining the parameters (if required) and making the decision. At 15 a , a signal is derived representative of any optical edge breakthrough, and edges are joined on either side of the breakthrough. Edge breakthrough occurs when the objects are translucent on transpanent, caused by refraction on internal reflection. There is a highly irregular reentrant, represented schematically in Figure 4. The edge (boundary) is traced and the rate of change in direction of each incremental length of the edge (boundary) is determined. The rate of change of direction in a normal reentrant is much lower than in a breakthrough. The beginning and end of the zone of large rates of change of direction are determined, and are electronically joined up. If desired, the shortest distance between the beginning and end can be determined - if this is low (say less than 1% of the total edge length as detected), breakthrough is present. Another possibility is to determine the length of the detected edge between the beginning and end of the high frequency profile and compare it to the length of the remainder of the edge - if the high frequency length is great, breakthrough is present. At 15 b , signals are derived representative of the approximation of the object to a spherical shape (blockiness) and representative of the approximation of the object to symmetry, as illustrated in Figures 5 and 6. In order to determine the blockiness, the area of the image is determined and the area is divided by the square of the length of the edge. In order to determine the symmetry, the centroid 21 is determined, the image is divided into two parts along a line passing through the centroid 21, one part is rotated about 180° to superimpose it on the other part, and the mismatch area 22 is compared with the overlapped area 23. The line passing through the centroid 21 may be taken as the horizontal line, thus determining whether there is symmetry about a horizontal plane for that particular channel or view; only one line through the centroid 21 is needed due to the 180° rotation, in order to obtain a good approximation to a determination of axial symmetry about the centroid. The signals representative of blockiness and symmetry are added. Objects having low values are directed to bin 7 a (high confidence rejects). At 15 c , the sphericity and symmetry are again determined, and also a signal is derived representative of reentrants in the image. The latter signal can be determined by determining the convex hull deviance, i.e. the difference between the length of the edge and the length of the line which extends around the edge but extends, like an elastic band would, straight across any reentrant 24 (see Figure 7). In more detail, a line of polygonal (say hexagonal) shape is placed around the image and is then shrunk on to the edge of the image by not being permitted to go within the minimum distance between any two points. The signals of blockiness, symmetry and inverse convex hull deviance are combined, and objects having a high value are directed to bin 7 f (high confidence acceptables). At 15 d , the inverse convex hull deviance is combined with the standard deviation of blockiness and symmetry. Objects having a low value are directed to bin 7 a (high confidence rejects). At 15 e , the overall blockiness and symmetry signals are again combined, and low values are directed towards bin 7 b (medium confidence rejects). At 15 f , the signals of overall blockiness, symmetry and inverse convex hull deviance are combined. Low values are directed to bin 7 c (low confidence rejects), high values are directed to bin 7 e (medium confidence acceptables) and the remainder are directed to bin 7 d (low confidence acceptables). It will be appreciated that the limiting values in 15 b and 15 e are different, as are the limiting values in 15 c and 15 f , thus changing the confidence of the sort. As an alternative to the electronic viewers 5, it would be possible to use strobed area sensors.

Claims: 1. A method of examining the shape of an object, in which the object is in free flight, illuminated in a viewing zone and is viewed by a number of angularly-spaced viewers (5) when it reaches a predetermined plane and a set of signals is derived from each viewer (5) representative of the edges of the object as viewed by the viewer (5), the signals being processed electronically to examine the shape of the object, characterised in that the method is used for examining a succession of objects of at least one object per second, the objects being fed in turn through the viewing zone, in that the objects are of substantially random orientation, in that the objects are sorted according to shape, the sets of signals from the viewers (5) being processed electronically to determine in which of at least two shape categories the object falls and the object being automatically directed into one of at least two paths according to its shape, and in that the sets of signals derided from the different viewers (5) relate to substantially simultaneous views of the object. 2. The method of Claim 1, wherein electronically processing the set of signals includes the step of deriving a signal representative of any optical edge breakthrough and joining up edges on either side of the breakthrough. 3. The method of Claim 2, wherein the edge breakthrough signal is derived by determining the rate of change in direction of each incremental length of the edge and categorising a zone of large rates of change in direction as an edge breakthrough. 4. The method of any of the preceding Claims, wherein electronically processing the set of signals electronically includes the step of deriving a signal representative of the approximation of the object to a spherical shape. 5. The method of Claim 4, wherein the spherical shape signal is derived by determining the area of the image and dividing the area by the square of the perimeter of the image. 6. The method of any of the preceding Claims, wherein electronically processing the set of signals includes the step of deriving a signal representative of the approximation of the object to symmetry. 7. The method of Claim 6, wherein the symmetry signal is derived by determining the centroid of the image, dividing the image into two parts along the line passing through the centroid, rotating one part about 180° to superimpose it on the other part, and comparing the mismatch area with the overlapped area. 8. The method of any of the preceding Claims, wherein electronically processing the set of signals includes the step of deriving a signal representative of reentrants in the object. 9. The method of Claim 8, wherein the reentrant signal is derived by determining the difference between the length of the edge and the length of the line which extends around the edge but extends straight across any reentrant. 10. The method of Claims 4, 6 and 8, and including the steps of: executing a high confidence sort on the basis of combined spherical and symmetry signals and rejecting values below a low threshold; executing a high confidence sort on the basis of combined spherical, symmetry and inverse reentrant signals and accepting values above a high threshold; executing a high confidence sort on the basis of an inverse reentrant signal combined with combined standard deviation spherical and symmetry signals, and rejecting values below a low threshold; executing a medium confidence sort on the basis of combined spherical and symmetry signals and rejecting values below a medium threshold; executing a low or medium confidence sort on the basis of combined spherical, symmetry and inverse reentrant signals, rejecting values below a high threshold, and accepting values above a medium threshold. 11. The method of any of the preceding Claims, wherein the viewers (5) are each directed at an illuminator (4), so that the image received by the viewer (5) is of a dark object against a light field. 12. The method of any of the preceding Claims, wherein there are means (4) for illuminating each successive object (2) as it passes through the viewing zone, the illuminating means (4) illuminating simultaneously the whole of that surface of the object (2) which faces the illuminating means (4), there being at least three of the viewers (5) spaced in one plane around the viewing zone, the viewers (5) being arranged opposite the respective illuminating means (4) so that they view a dark object (2) against a light field. 13. The method of any of the preceding Claims, wherein the feeding of each successive object triggers a flash to illuminate the object. 14. The method of any of the preceding Claims, wherein the viewers are equi-spaced through less than 180°, the angular distance between adjacent viewers being 180° divided by the number of viewers. 15. The method of any of the preceding Claims when used to sort diamonds. 16. Apparatus for examining objects according to shape, comprising a viewing zone through which the objects will be fed in free flight, means (4) for illuminating each successive object as it passes through the viewing zone, a plurality of fixed electronic viewers (5) spaced around the viewing zone, for viewing the object as it passes through the viewing zone, means (11) for deriving from each viewer (5) a set of signals representative of the edges of the object as viewed by the viewer (5), and electronic processing means (13-17) for processing the set of signals to examine the shape of the object, characterised in that the apparatus is for examining a succession of the objects of at least one object per second, and comprises means (1) for feeding each successive object through the viewing zone, in that the objects are of substantially random orientation, in that the sets of signals derived from the different viewers (5) relate to substantially simultaneous views of the object and in that the objects are sorted according to shape, and comprises mechanical sorting means (6) for directing each successive object into one of at least two paths (7) according to its shape, the electronic processing means (13-17) being for processing the sets of of signals from the viewers (5) to determine in which of at least two shape categories the object falls, and for giving output signals to the sorting means for automatically directing the object into a said path (7) according to its shape.

Inventors: DITCHBURN, ROBERT WILLIAM, GOUCH, MARTIN PHILIP
Applicants: GERSAN ESTABLISHMENT
Application year: 1986
Main classification: B07C5
IPC codes: B07C5