Patent ID: 7173708

Claim:
A method of sorting plant products based on damage to the plant products, the method comprising the steps of: emitting an illumination light toward an outer surface of a plant product to produce a narrow beam defining a line of light on said outer surface that is perpendicular to a travel direction of the plant product; detecting with a narrow field of view overlapping said line of light on said outer surface substantially a single wavelength of a reflected light produced by the plant product responsive to the illumination light without detecting light at other wavelengths; rotating the plant product about an axis parallel to said direction of travel and at a predetermined rotation rate; determining, in response to reflected light from a plurality of detected narrow beams accumulated sequentially as the plant product is moved and rotated in a direction of travel, at least one of a presence, an amount, and a severity of damage responsive to the reflected light solely at a single wavelength; assigning a damage category to the plant product responsive to the determination of damage; and sorting a plant product on the basis of an assigned category.