The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 20, 1978
Filed:
Feb. 04, 1977
John R Sherwood, Arlington, VA (US);
AMF Incorporated, White Plains, NY (US);
Abstract
In accordance with the present invention, light from tungsten lamps is directed onto tomatoes moving in parallel rows on a conveyor belt. Above each row of tomatoes three photodetectors having different spectral responses are employed for looking at three different wavelengths of light reflected from the tomatoes. One of the wavelengths is the visible red color, the second one is the so-called 'water dip' wavelength in the near infra red, and the third one is a reference wavelength in the near infra red. By means of logic circuitry operating in response to the three photodetector output signals, red tomatoes are separated from all other articles on the conveyor, including dirt and rocks. The logic circuitry 'asks' the following questions. Is an article present? Is the article vegetable matter? Is the article red? If all questions are answered in the affirmative the article is processed as a desired red tomato. If any one of the questions is answered in the negative the article is rejected as undesirable. Thus, non-vegetable dirt and rocks will be rejected even though they may have enough red color in them to make a logic circuit 'think' that they are a red tomato.