Abstract:
A method of application of cutting a stream of products using a source of high pressure liquid is disclosed, and where a conveyor is provided for moving a stream of product along a path of travel which is at least partially unsupported, and a liquid jet is provided all which generates a pressurized liquid stream which severs individual objects in the stream of products while the individual objects are moving in an unsupported fashion along the path of travel.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    This invention relates to high throughput inspection and cutting equipment for detecting defects in products and for cutting the defects from the products with a stream of high pressure liquid as the products are being processed in a high production facility. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Many attempts have been made to devise a high throughput production system for detecting defects in elongated articles such as food products, including, but not limited to, raw potato strips and the like and for removing identified defects as the articles are being processed. Many systems have been constructed for optically inspecting articles and for separating the articles based upon whether or not the optical information indicates that the article contains a defect. Frequently the size of the defect may be quite small and the remainder of the article may be quite satisfactory. Unfortunately, processing the article to remove only the identified defect requires additional equipment and additional handling which increases the costs of processing and slows the processing speed. 
         [0003]    Attempts have been made to process articles such as sliced potatoes utilized for “french fries” in which the articles are aligned in spaced lanes with a major axis generally parallel to a path of travel and pass beneath individual lane image capturing devices such as, but not limited to, cameras and scanners, for inspecting the french fries for defects. If defects are identified, one or more knives on a rotating wheel is projected from the wheel to cut the identified defect from the identified article. One such device is illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,543,030 and 3,664,337 granted to Raye, et al. on Nov. 24, 1970 and May 23, 1972, respectively. However, because of limitations inherent in the equipment, it is difficult to process large volumes utilizing the equipment illustrated in such patents. One important limitation is the difficulty of positioning and processing the potato strips in very close proximity to each other and for moving the articles past the electrical optical inspection station and the wheel cutting station at high speeds. 
         [0004]    Along a similar line, U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,904 granted Sep. 19, 1978 to K. Vomfett, describes an apparatus for moving raw potato sticks past sensing equipment for determining whether the sticks have defects, and then past a cutting system having a pair of vertically moveable cutters that move down through slots defined in a trough conveyor for cutting out the defect. The defective segment is removed below the trough. Such a system is quite slow and incapable of handling high volume production. As the knife blades pass down through the product, the product remains substantially stationary and cannot regain its forward movement until the knives are retracted. 
         [0005]    The use of cutting knives, whether the knives are ejected using centrifugal force from a spinning wheel, or moved by any other means has occasionally been problematic in high throughput operations, especially in the food industry. Further, the repeated extension and retraction of such knives has led to mechanical wear, and occasional “sticking” of the knives in one position, or the other, which can stop the throughput process, allows defective materials to pass therethrough; or further can result in the damage or complete destruction of the knife. 
         [0006]    One possible advancement in high throughput food processing operations has been the utilization of water jet cutters which have tended to resolve the earlier mentioned issue of “sticking” cutting blades and also allowed for more rapid processing of food products. 
         [0007]    For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,623,868 to McKenna, issued Apr. 29, 1997 and discloses a carrot processing machine that uses a high pressure water jet cutter to cut off the tops and tails of carrots and which also segments the carrots into shorter lengths while the carrots are disposed within a series of pockets defined in a conveyor. Another prior art example is U.S. Pat. No. 8,549,996 to Pryor, et al. issued Oct. 8, 2013, and that uses a high pressure water jet cutter to “top” and “tail” lettuce heads, as the heads of lettuce are disposed on a feed conveyor. A still further prior art example is U.S. 2014/0272055 to Yang, et al., published Sep. 18, 2014, and which discloses an automated fruit and vegetable calyx or stem removal machine that uses a high pressure water jet cutter to remove the calyx of strawberries that are oriented on a conveyor belt. 
         [0008]    One universal characteristic of the known methods for high-throughput processing of food products is that the individual pieces of product are supported from below during the cutting process so that the knives, or high pressure stream of water may sever the pieces as desired, and the support, under the piece or object being severed, provides positional stability during the severing process. Providing a support of the individual item to be severed, during the severing process is a limiting factor in the processing of these products or objects, because the amount of space (side-to-side and end-to-end) is limited by the conveyor size, and also by the conveyor speed. Further, the support of the items or objects upon a conveyor makes it impossible to optically inspect the individual items from all sides, such that defects that are positioned immediately adjacent to the underlying and supporting conveyor cannot be imaged for sorting purposes. The inability to image all sides and surfaces of the individual items is a limitation that allows defective products to pass through the inspection process. 
         [0009]    The invention herein is an improvement over known inspection, sorting and cutting apparatus by providing an invention that releases the individual items into a predicted unsupported trajectory; that inspects individual items from all sides and surfaces during the predicted unsupported trajectory; and further that cuts/severs identified individual items by making one or more simultaneous cuts per item, to remove identified defects therein during the predicted, unsupported trajectory of the individual pieces; and by using a high pressure liquid to make the cuts. 
         [0010]    One of the principal objects of the instant invention is to provide a high volume, accurate inspection and cutting device for detecting color or shape variance defects in the articles such as potato sticks or potato strips, and then removing the defects while the sticks or articles are moving in a predicted unsupported trajectory. A still further object of this invention is to provide a high volume inspection and cutting apparatus for removing defects from articles with equipment that is quite inexpensive relative to its processing capacity. 
         [0011]    These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0012]    A first aspect of the present invention relates to a cutting apparatus using high pressure liquid which includes a frame supporting a material handling system in spaced relation relative to an underlying supporting surface, and wherein the material handling system may be a conveyor having a proximal end and an opposing distal end, and wherein the conveyor transports a stream of discrete, individual articles of interest at a predetermined speed along a first supported path of travel to the distal end of the conveyor, and wherein the stream of articles of interest includes a plurality of discrete individual articles of interest each having portions that are desirable, and some of the discrete individual articles of interest having portions that are not desirable, and wherein each individual article of interest has a major axis and a minor axis, and the individual articles of interest are oriented with the major axis generally transverse relative to the first supported path of travel, and wherein the conveyor releases the individual articles of interest into a second predicted, unsupported trajectory from the distal end of the conveyor. An inspection zone is located proximate to the distal end of the conveyor and wherein the stream of articles of interest passes through the inspection zone for inspection by an imaging device which inspects each discrete individual article of interest comprising the stream of articles of interest passing through the inspection zone; and an illumination device for illuminating the stream of articles of interest passing through the inspection zone while the stream of articles of interest are being inspected by the imaging device. A high pressure liquid manifold is coupled to a source of high pressure liquid, and wherein the high pressure liquid manifold has a plurality of individual liquid jet nozzles which are positioned downstream of the inspection zone, and wherein the high pressure liquid manifold is operatively coupled with a controller which activates and deactivates the individual liquid jet nozzles so as to release individual jet streams of high pressure liquid which sever identified discrete individual articles of interest forming the stream of articles having desirable portions, and undesirable portions, during the second, predicted unsupported trajectory. An ejector assembly is positioned downstream of the inspection zone and has a plurality of individual high pressure air nozzles which are coupled with a source of high pressure air, and wherein the ejector assembly is operatively coupled with the controller, which individually activates and deactivates individual high pressure air nozzles of the ejector assembly to release a burst of high pressure air which removes identified individual articles of interest from the stream of articles of interest that have been identified as having undesirable portions and predetermined undesirable characteristics during the second predicted unsupported trajectory. The controller is further operatively and controllably coupled to the imaging device, the illumination device, the ejector assembly and the high pressure liquid manifold, and a user interface which is controllably coupled with the controller. 
         [0013]    Another aspect of the present invention relates to a method of cutting with a high pressure liquid which includes providing a moving stream of discrete individual articles of interest, each discrete article of interest having a major axis and a minor axis. Providing a material handling system which may be a conveyor having a proximal end and a distal end which transports the stream of discrete individual articles of interest at a predetermined speed along a first supported path of travel to the distal end of the conveyor, and wherein the discrete individual articles of interest have desirable portions and some may have undesirable portions or predetermined undesirable characteristics, and the discrete individual articles of interest are each oriented with the major axis substantially transverse to the first supported path of travel, and the discrete individual articles of interest are each released from the distal end of the conveyor into a second predicted unsupported trajectory. The method includes another step of providing an inspection zone proximate to the distal end of the conveyor wherein the stream of discrete individual articles of interest pass through the inspection zone for inspection by an imaging device while being illuminated by an illumination device. The method includes another step of providing a controller which operatively communicates with the imaging device which receives imaging information from the imaging device and wherein the controller determines a present position and predicted future positions of each discrete individual article of interest having undesirable portions and undesirable characteristics, and for determining the present position and the predicted future positions of the undesirable portions during the second predicted unsupported trajectory. The method includes another step of providing a high pressure liquid manifold coupled with a source of high pressure liquid and which is located downstream of the inspection zone, and wherein the high pressure liquid manifold has a plurality of individual liquid jet nozzles, and wherein the high pressure liquid manifold and the individual liquid jet nozzles are operatively coupled with the controller, and the controller activates and deactivates the individual liquid jet nozzles to release individual jet streams of liquid having a pressure sufficient to sever identified discrete individual articles of interest forming the stream of articles of interest into separate desirable portions and undesirable portions during the second predicted unsupported trajectory. The method includes another step of providing an ejector assembly coupled with a source of high pressure air, and wherein the ejector assembly is located downstream of the inspection zone and has a plurality of individual air nozzles, and wherein the ejector assembly is operatively coupled with the controller, and wherein the controller individually activates and de-activates the individual high pressure air nozzles of the ejector assembly which release bursts of high pressure air which removes the previously identified undesirable discrete individual articles of interest from the stream of articles, and severed undesirable portions of the discrete individual articles of interest during the second predicted unsupported trajectory. 
         [0014]    These and other aspects and advantages of this invention will become apparent and will be described in greater detail hereinafter. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]      FIG. 1  is an isometric top, side and end view of the instant cutting apparatus showing the stream of discrete individual pieces of produce being aligned in a first supported path of travel and thereafter being released into a second predicted unsupported trajectory passing through an inspection zone, past an ejector assembly and past a high pressure liquid manifold and past an optional second ejector assembly with a portion of the stream of discrete individual pieces of produce being collected in a first collection container and a second portion of the stream of discrete individual pieces of produce being collected in a second collection container. 
           [0016]      FIG. 2  is an enlarged isometric top and side view of a portion of  FIG. 1  showing the stream discrete individual pieces of produce being released into the second predicted unsupported trajectory and passing through the inspection zone. 
           [0017]      FIG. 3  is an enlarged isometric top and side view of a portion of  FIG. 1  showing the stream discrete individual pieces of produce moving along the second predicted unsupported trajectory passing through the inspection zone, passing by the ejector assembly which is diverting individual pieces of produce into a removal trajectory, and showing the stream of discrete individual pieces of produce passing by the high pressure liquid manifold which is emitting jet streams of high pressure liquid to sever identified individual pieces of produce. 
           [0018]      FIG. 4  is an enlarged isometric top and side view of a portion of  FIG. 1  showing the stream discrete individual pieces of produce moving along the second predicted unsupported trajectory and past the high pressure liquid manifold which has severed identified individual pieces of produce into separate pieces, and past an optional second ejector assembly diverting identified severed pieces into a removal trajectory, and a collection container for receiving the articles. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0019]    This disclosure of the invention is submitted in furtherance of the constitutional purposes of the U.S. Patent Laws “to promote the progress of science and useful arts” (Article 1, Section 8). 
         [0020]    The instant invention generally provides a material handling system  10 , an inspection system  50 , a cutting system  60 , an ejector system  80  and a receiving system  100 . 
         [0021]    The material handling system  10  may be, but is not limited to, an elongated conveyor  11  having a top  13 , a bottom  14  and a supporting frame  12  having plural spaced apart vertical legs  15 . The conveyor  11  has a product transporting surface  17  that extends from a proximal end  18 , to a distal end  19  and the product transporting surface  17  is oriented generally between two spaced apart sidewalls  16 . The product moving surface  17 , as shown in the drawings, is an endless belt, but it is contemplated that other types of conveyors, such as vibratory or excited-frame conveyors may likewise be used as the conveyor  11 . It is expressly contemplated herein that a gravity chute (not shown) may likewise be utilized when the product transporting surface  17  is angulated to capitalize on the forces exerted by gravity. The product transporting surface  17  moves product at a predetermined speed  21  and is powered by a selectively energizable motor  22 . It is expressly contemplated that plural selectively energizable motors  22  may function synchronously to power longer and larger conveyors  11  and product transporting surfaces  17 . The product transporting surface  17  defines a path of travel  23 , and more particularly a first supported path of travel  24 . (See  FIG. 1 ). 
         [0022]    The conveyor  11  and the frame  12 , as depicted in  FIG. 1  rests in spaced relation relative to a supporting surface  20 , here illustrated as an underlying floor. However, it should be understood that the conveyor  11 , may also be suspended from an overhead supporting surface (not shown), such as a ceiling, mezzanine, or the like, in various industrial applications or environments. 
         [0023]    A stream of articles of interest  40  are carried upon the product transporting surface  17 . The stream of articles of interest  40  is comprised of a plurality of discrete individual pieces of produce  41 . Each of the discrete individual pieces of produce  41 , if elongated in nature may have a major axis  42 , and a minor axis  43 . Further, various of the discrete individual pieces of produce  41  may have an undesirable portion  45 , in addition to a desirable portion  44 . The undesirable portion  45  may be a predetermined defect, such as, but not limited to, a discoloration, a bruise, rot, or perhaps remaining skin or peel. The undesirable characteristic  46  may also be, without limitation, an undesirable length/width/thickness or other measurable quality. The stream of articles of interest  40  are deposited upon the product moving surface  17  by the material handling system  10  (See  FIG. 1 ) and are oriented so that the major axis  42  of each discrete individual piece of produce  41  is oriented generally transversely to the path of travel  23  of the product transporting surface  17 . In general, the plurality of discrete individual pieces of produce  41  are deposited upon the product transporting surface  17  at the proximal end of  18 , of the conveyor  11 . In some applications, the discrete individual pieces of produce  41  are deposited upon the product transporting surface  17  in the desired orientation (with a major axis  42  transverse to the path of travel  23 ) or, in other applications the orientation of the discrete individual pieces of produce  41  may be forcibly manipulated while the discrete individual pieces of produce  41  are moving on the product transporting surface  17 , such as with, but not limited to, high-pressure air, or gravity, so that the discrete individual pieces of produce  41  are correctly oriented prior to the discrete individual pieces of produce  41  reaching the distal end  19  of the conveyor  11 , and being released into a second, predicted, unsupported trajectory  25 . 
         [0024]    As noted previously, the product transporting surface  17  of the conveyor  11  moves at a predetermined speed which is preferably between approximately 0.5 meters per second and approximately 6.0 meters per second. 
         [0025]    The inspection system  50  is positioned proximate or juxtaposed relative to the distal end  19  of the conveyor  11 . The inspection system  50  comprises an illumination device  51  that emits electromagnetic radiation  52  of a selected predetermined wavelength so as to effectively be reflected, refracted and/or absorbed by the discrete individual pieces of produce  41  so as to allow for the desired imaging of the individual pieces and an image capturing device  53 , such as, but not limited to, a camera or a scanner is provided to effect the desired imaging. The illumination device  51  and the image capturing device  53  are aligned and focused upon an inspection zone  54  that is coincident with an illumination zone  55  so that the discrete individual pieces of produce  41  simultaneously pass through the inspection zone  54 , and the illumination zone  55 , and where the discrete individual pieces of produce  41  are illuminated by the illumination device  51 , and imaged by the image capturing device  53  for detecting the presence of undesirable portions  45  and predetermined undesirable characteristics  46 . The inspection zone  54  and illumination zone  55  may be on the product transporting surface  17 , and may also be spaced apart from the product transporting surface  17  so that the discrete individual pieces of produce  41  may be illuminated and imaged during the second predicted unsupported trajectory  25  which begins when the discrete individual pieces of produce  41  are released from the distal end  19  of the conveyor&#39;s  11  product transporting surface  17 . It is expressly contemplated the illumination of the individual pieces of produce  41  may be continuous over time, or pulsed over time, or both continuous and pulsed over time, using for example different wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation to inspect for predetermined characteristics, 
         [0026]    The second, predicted, unsupported trajectory  25  may be a generally arcuate path (See  FIGS. 1-4 ) having a gravitationally influenced component (not shown), and a horizontal component (not shown). It is also contemplated that the second, predicted, unsupported trajectory  25  may be substantially generally vertical (not shown). The second predicted unsupported trajectory  25  allows the discrete individual pieces of produce  41  to be illuminated and imaged from all sides simultaneously. This avoids the aforementioned drawback of discrete individual pieces of produce  41  having undesirable portions  45 , and undesirable characteristics  46  being hidden from the inspection system  50  by being placed/positioned immediately adjacent to underlying, supporting product transporting surface  17 . 
         [0027]    The path of travel  23 , the predetermined speed of the discrete individual pieces of produce  41  on the product transporting surface  17 , and the inspection system  50  allows a controller  28  to determine a present position  26  for each of the discrete individual pieces of produce  41 , and also allows the controller  28  to determine a predicted future position  27  of each of the discrete individual pieces of produce  41  along the entire course of the second, predicted, unsupported trajectory  25 . It is expressly contemplated herein that the image capturing device  53 , in communication with the controller  28 , may be used to calculate the speed of the discrete individual pieces of produce  41  moving along the second unsupported trajectory  25  by determining position relative to time. 
         [0028]    The cutting system  60  is located in spaced relation relative to the distal end  19  of the conveyor  11 , and adjacent to the second, predicted, unsupported trajectory  25 . The cutting system  60  comprises a high pressure liquid manifold  61  which is coupled with a source of high pressure liquid  69 . The high pressure liquid manifold  61  has a plurality of spacedly arrayed individual liquid jet nozzles  63  that are individually responsive to a signal from controller  28  so as to release a stream of high pressure liquid  62  that has a pressure sufficient to sever identified discrete individual pieces of produce  41  passing through the stream  62 . The controller  28 , which has determined the predicted future position  27  ( FIG. 2 ) of each discrete individual piece of produce  41  having an undesirable portion  45  or a predetermined undesirable characteristic  46 , uses the predicted future position  27  information to determine when to send a signal to the high pressure liquid manifold  61  to actuate the release of a stream of high pressure liquid  62  so as to cause the desired severing/cutting while the identified discrete individual pieces of produce  41  are traveling along the second predicted unsupported trajectory  25 . The streams of high pressure liquid  62  emitted from the individual liquid jet nozzles  63 , after passing through the second predicted unsupported trajectory  25  are collected in a fluid collection body  67  that is spaced apart from the high pressure liquid manifold  61 , and on an opposing side portion of the second predicted unsupported trajectory  25 . Food grade additives and other comestible substances, such as but not limited to, lubricants, (not shown) may be added to the liquid for purposes such as to enhance the cutting, improve the durability of the jet nozzles  63 , and to improve the quality of the severed products. 
         [0029]    It has been determined that the orientation of the discrete individual pieces of produce  41 , which have the major axis  42  which is generally transverse to the path of travel  23  over the course of the second predicted unsupported trajectory  25  tends to stabilize the individual pieces of produce  41  as they are severed by the stream of high pressure liquid  62 . The stabilizing of the pieces  41  may allow the controller  28  to calculate a second predicted future position  34  ( FIG. 3 ) of each portion of each severed discrete individual piece of produce  41  along the predicted unsupported trajectory  25  subsequent to the severing/cutting to permit sorting subsequent to cutting. 
         [0030]    The ejector system  80  comprises an ejector assembly  81  having a plurality of individual high pressure air nozzles  82  communicating with a source of high pressure air  84 . The ejector assembly  81  is positioned downstream of the distal end  19  of the conveyor  11  product transporting surface  17  and may be positioned either upstream of the cutting system  60 , or downstream of the cutting system  60 . In one form of the invention there may be two ejector systems  80 , one positioned upstream of the cutting system  60  and one positioned downstream of the cutting system  60 . 
         [0031]    The ejector system  80  receives a signal from the controller  28  which is generated in response to the inspection system  50 , and the image capturing device  53 . The controller determines that a discrete, individual piece of produce  41  has an undesirable portion  45  or a predetermined undesirable characteristic  46 . The controller  28  also calculates the predicted future position  27  of the identified discrete individual piece of produce  41  having the undesirable portion  45  or the predetermined undesirable characteristic  46  using data from the present position  26 , the path of travel  23 , and the predetermined speed  21 . The controller  28  transmits a signal to the ejector system  80  which responsively causes the ejector assembler  81  to release a high pressure burst of air through one or more of the plurality of individual high pressure air nozzles  82 . The burst of high pressure air  83  emitted by the plurality of individual high pressure air nozzles  82  is coincident with the controller&#39;s  28  identification of the predicted future position  27 , and the result is the burst of high pressure air  83  forcibly impacts the identified discrete individual piece of produce  41  causing the discrete individual piece of produce  41  to be deflected out of the second, predicted, unsupported trajectory  25 , and into a removal trajectory  85  for collection in the receiving system  100 . 
         [0032]    As noted previously, it is expressly contemplated herein that the ejector system  80  may be upstream of the cutting system  60  to remove identified discrete individual pieces of produce  41  from the stream of produce  40  before passing the cutting system  50 , and also that the ejector system  80 , or a second ejector system  80  may be positioned downstream of the cutting system  60  to remove identified severed pieces of the discrete individual pieces of produce  41  from the stream of produce  40  passing along the second predicted unsupported trajectory  25 . 
         [0033]    The receiving system  100  ( FIG. 4 ) has a first collection container  101  having a body  102  with a top  103 , and opposing bottom  105  and sidewalls  106  defining an interior volume  107  which has an entry orifice  104  proximate the top  103 . A sizing screen  108  may extend over the entry orifice  104  to separate the discrete individual pieces of produce  41  by size. The sizing screen  108  may have a variety of configurations, but commonly defines a plurality of predetermined sized openings  109  that allow discrete individual pieces of produce  41  having a size/dimension smaller than the dimensions of the sized openings  109  to pass through the opening  109 . Those discrete individual pieces of produce  41  having dimensions greater than, or larger than, the dimensions of the sized openings  109  do not pass through the sizing screen  108  openings  109  and may be passed for further processing or collected as desired. The receiving system  100  first collection container  101  is preferably positioned along the second, predicted, unsupported trajectory  25  opposite the product transporting surface  17 . The sizing screen  108  may be stationary or may be a moving/vibrating screen to facilitate passage of the discrete individual pieces of produce  41  thereover and therethrough, 
         [0034]    A second collection container  111  is provided and similarly has a body  112  with a top  113  and an opposing bottom  115  having sidewalls  116 , and further defining an interior volume  117  with an entry orifice  114  which is proximate the top  113 . The second collection container  111  is preferably positionally aligned with the ejector system  80 , and on a side of the second predicted unsupported trajectory  25  opposite the ejector system  80 . The entry orifice  117  is preferably oriented such that discrete individual pieces of produce  41  that are removed from the second predicted unsupported trajectory  25  by the ejector system  80 , and deflected into the removal trajectory  85  pass into the entry orifice  117  for collection within the interior volume (not shown). 
         [0035]    In the instance where the instant invention utilizes two separate ejector systems  80 , one upstream from the cutting system  60 , and a second ejector system  80  downstream of the cutting system  60 , it may be necessary to have a third collection container which would have a configuration similar to that of the second collection container  111 . 
       Operation 
       [0036]    Having described the structure of our cutting apparatus using high pressure liquid, its operation may be understood and is briefly summarized at this point. 
         [0037]    The cutting apparatus using high pressure liquid of the present invention is best illustrated by  FIGS. 1-4 . In its broadest aspect, the cutting apparatus using high pressure liquid includes a frame  12  for supporting a conveyor  11  in spaced relation relative to an underlying supporting surface  31 , and wherein the conveyor  11  has a proximal end  18 , and an opposing distal end  19 , and wherein the conveyor  11  transports a stream of discrete, individual articles of interest  40  at a predetermined speed along a first supported path  24  of travel to the distal end  19  of the conveyor  11 , and wherein the stream of articles of interest  40  includes a plurality of discrete individual articles of interest  41  each having portions that are desirable  44 , and some of the discrete individual articles of interest  41  having portions that are not desirable  45 , and wherein each individual article of interest  41  has a major axis  42 , and a minor axes  43 , and the individual articles of interest  41  are oriented on the conveyor  11  with the major axis  42  generally transverse relative to the first supported path of travel  23 , and wherein the product transporting surface  17  releases the individual articles of interest  41  into a second predicted, unsupported trajectory  25  from the distal end  19  of the conveyor  11  An inspection zone  54  is located proximate to the distal end  19  of the conveyor  11 , and wherein the stream of articles of interest  40  passes through the inspection zone  54  for inspection by an image capturing device  53  which inspects each of the discrete individual articles of interest  41 . An illumination device  51  illuminates each of the discrete, individual articles of interest  41  which are passing through the inspection zone  54  while the stream of articles of interest  40  are being imaged by the imaging capturing device  53 . A high pressure liquid manifold  61  provided, and which is coupled to a source of high pressure liquid  65 . The liquid manifold has a plurality of individual liquid jet nozzles  63  which are positioned downstream of the inspection zone  54 , and wherein the high pressure liquid manifold  61 , and the individual liquid jet nozzles  63  are operatively coupled with a controller  28  which activates and deactivates the individual liquid jet nozzles  63  so as to release individual jet streams of high pressure liquid  62  which intersect, strike and sever identified discrete individual articles of interest  41  forming the stream of articles  40  into desirable portions  44 , and undesirable portions  45 , during the second, predicted unsupported trajectory  25 . An ejector system  80  is positioned downstream of the inspection zone  54 , and has a plurality of individual high pressure air nozzles  82  that are coupled with a source of high pressure air  84 . The ejector system  80  is operatively coupled with the controller  28 , which individually activates and deactivates individual high pressure air nozzles  82  of the ejector system  80  to release a burst of high pressure air  83  which intersects, strikes and removes identified individual articles of interest  41  from the stream of articles of interest  40  that have been identified as having undesirable portions  45 , or predetermined undesirable characteristics  46 , during the second predicted unsupported trajectory  25  by forcing the identified discrete individual articles of interest out of the second predicted unsupported trajectory  25 , and into a removal trajectory  85 . The controller  28  is further operatively and controllably coupled to the conveyor  11 , the image capturing device  53 , the illumination device  51 , the ejector system  80 , the high pressure liquid manifold  61 , and a user interface  29  which is controllably coupled with the controller  28 . 
         [0038]    Another aspect of the present invention relates to a method of cutting articles of interest using high pressure liquid which includes a first step of providing a moving stream of discrete individual articles of interest  41 , each discrete article of interest  41  having a major axis  42  and a minor axis  43 . The method includes another step of providing a conveyor  11  having a proximal end  18  and a distal end  19  which transports the stream of discrete individual articles of interest  41  on a product transporting surface  17  at a predetermined speed  21  along a first supported path of travel  24  to the distal end  19  of the conveyor  11 , and wherein the discrete individual articles of interest  41  have desirable portions  44  and undesirable portions  45 , and the discrete individual articles of interest  41  are each oriented on the product transporting surface  17  with the major axis  42  substantially transverse to the first supported path of travel  24 , and the discrete individual articles of interest  41  are each released from the distal end  19  of the product transporting surface  17  into a second predicted unsupported trajectory  25 . The method includes another step of providing an inspection zone  54  which is proximate to the distal end  19  of the product transporting surface  17 , and wherein the stream of discrete individual articles of interest  41  pass through the inspection zone  54  for inspection by an image capturing device  53  while being illuminated by an illumination device  51  which emits electromagnetic radiation to facilitate the inspection by the image capturing device  53 . The illumination may be continuous over time or pulsed over time, or both continuous and pulsed using, for example different wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation. The method includes another step of providing a controller  28  which operatively communicates with the conveyor  11 , the illumination device  51 , and the image capturing device  53 , and which further receives imaging information from the image capturing device  53 , and wherein the controller  28  determines the present position  26  and predicted future positons  27  of each of the discrete individual articles of interest  41  having undesirable portions  45 , and undesirable characteristics  46 , and which further determines the present position  26 , and the predicted future positions  27  of the undesirable portions  45 ,  46  during the second predicted unsupported trajectory  25 . The method includes another step of providing a high pressure liquid manifold  61  that is located downstream of the inspection zone  54 , and is further coupled with a source of high pressure liquid  69 . The high pressure liquid manifold  61  has a plurality of individual liquid jet nozzles  63 , and wherein the high pressure liquid manifold  61 , and the individual liquid jet nozzles  63  are operatively coupled with the controller  28 , and the controller  28  activates and deactivates the individual liquid jet nozzles  63  to release individual jet streams of liquid  62  having a pressure sufficient to sever identified discrete individual articles of interest  41  forming the stream of articles of interest  40  into separate desirable portions  44  and undesirable portions  45  during the second predicted unsupported trajectory  25 . The method includes another step of providing an ejector system  80  which is coupled with a source of high pressure air  84 , and is further located downstream of the inspection zone  54 . The ejector system  80  has a plurality of individual air nozzles  82 , and wherein the ejector system  80  is operatively coupled with the controller  28 . The controller  28  individually activates and de-activates the individual high pressure air nozzles  82  of the ejector system  80  which causes the release of bursts of high pressure air  83  which intersect, strike and remove the previously identified undesirable discrete individual articles of interest  41  from the stream of articles  40 , and severed undesirable portions  45  of the discrete individual articles of interest  41  during the second, predicted, unsupported trajectory  25  by forcing the identified undesirable portions  45  into a removal trajectory  85  that is not parallel to the second predicated unsupported trajectory  25 .