Patent ID: 7351929

Claim:
A system for sorting a mixed stream of different colored glass cullet into separate groups of same colored glass cullet comprising: a. a plurality of first stage sorting devices each for receiving an input feed of different colored objects and sorting the different colored objects into a plurality of first stage output feeds, wherein the plurality of first stage sorting devices operate simultaneously, and further wherein at least one of the plurality of sorting devices sorts the different colored objects into more than two output feeds; b. a second stage sorting device configured to receive at least one of the first stage output feeds, thereby forming a second stage output feed; and c. a third stage sorting device configured to directly receive at least one of the first stage output feeds which bypass the second stage sorting device, and the second stage output feed, thereby forming a third stage output feed; each of the stages comprising: i. at least one light emitting source for transmitting at least one light of predetermined frequency through a glass cullet; ii. at least one camera having a plurality of pixels for receiving light transmitted through the glass cullet, the camera providing at least one value from the light received from at least one of the plurality of pixels, wherein the cullet moves along a designated path based on the at least one value; and iii. a processing module coupled to receive the at least one value from the camera, wherein the processing module determines a color of the glass cullet based on the at least one value which is used to determine the designated path on which the cullet is moved.