Key Technology Corporation

Src Vision, Inc.

James Ewan

Cliff J Leidecker

Duncan B Campbell

H Parks Squyres

Philip L Hoffman

Hooshmand M Kalayeh

A sorting system ( ) conveys articles, such as peaches ( ) on a conveyor belt ( ) past an inspection zone ( ) that is lighted by an illumination source ( ) radiating a number of emission peaks over visible and infrared portions of the spectrum. The illumination source generates the radiation from an Indium Iodide lamp ( ) that is reflected off a parabolic reflector ( ) and through a &ldquo;soda straw&rdquo; collimator ( ) to illuminated the peaches. A detector system ( ) employs line scanning visible and infrared cameras ( ) to sense visible and IR wavelength reflectance values for the peach meat ( ) and peach pit or pit fragments ( ). Various image processing and analysis methologies, such as subtraction, ratio, logarithmic, regression, combination, angle, distance, and shape may be employed to enhance the image contrast and classify the resulting data for sorting the peaches. Employing subtraction also cancels &ldquo;glint&rdquo; caused by specular reflections of the illumination source off the peaches and into the cameras.

Agricultural article inspection apparatus and method employing spectral manipulation to enhance detection contrast ratio

A peach sorting system (,) conveys peaches (,) on a conveyor belt (,) past an inspection zone (,) that is lighted by an illumination source (,) radiating a number of emission peaks over visible and infrared portions of the spectrum. The illumination source generates the radiation from an Indium Iodide lamp (,) that is reflected off a parabolic reflector (,) and through a &ldquo;soda straw&rdquo; collimator (,) to illuminated the peaches. A detector system (,) employs line scanning visible and infrared cameras (,) to sense visible and IR wavelength reflectance value differences existing between peach meat (,) and peach pit or pit fragments (,). Because there is a reversal in the reflectance values between the visible and infrared wavelengths, a data subtraction technique (,) is employed to enhance the detection contrast ratio. The data subtraction technique also cancels &ldquo;glint&rdquo; caused by specular reflections of the illumination source off the peaches and into the cameras.

Peach pit detection apparatus and method

A laned conveyor apparatus includes an infeed roller and an outfeed roller rotatably mounted to a frame in spaced apart relation for movably supporting a flexible product-carrying belt that forms a closed loop about the rollers to define a conveying region having a length and a width. A plurality of elastic separating bands are removably positioned around the rollers and the product-carrying belt and spaced apart at intervals along the width of the conveying region to form lanes along the length of the conveying region. The separating bands contact an outer surface of the product-carrying belt to form a frictional interface with the product-carrying belt that causes the separating bands to move in coordination with movement of the product-carrying belt. A guide mechanism mounted to the frame includes multiple guide features spaced apart at intervals along the width of the conveying region for guiding the separating bands so that the lanes are accurately and precisely positioned in relation to the frame. An adjustable tensioning device is provided for tensioning the separating bands across the conveying region to minimize slippage of the separating bands at the frictional interface. An infeed device is positioned to feed multiple streams of articles into the lanes. The frame is suitable for mounting an inspection and sorting system near the outfeed end of the conveyor apparatus for inspection and sorting of the articles as they are projected from the outfeed end of the conveyor apparatus. The rollers define effective pitch diameters of the product-carrying belt and the separating bands. The ratio of the effective pitch diameter of the separating bands to the effective pitch diameter of the product-carrying belt results in movement of the separating bands at a faster linear rate than the product-carrying belt, thereby causing an article that is inadvertently placed partly upon one of the separating bands and partly contacting the product-carrying belt to be urged or turned onto the product-carrying belt as the article is carried along the conveying region. Methods of segregating streams of articles are also disclosed.

Laned conveyor belt

A catenary conveyor belt support is provided in a conveyor system for automated bulk processing equipment. The conveyor belt launches bulk articles along a trajectory from one end to a processing station. The upper surface of the conveyor belt at one end thereof is angled with respect to a horizontal plane and determines the launch angle of the trajectory along which the articles travel. The support holds constant the catenary shape of the belt and, thus, the launch angle of the trajectory regardless of the load thereon.

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Los Altos, CA, United States of America

James Ewan