Article-holding cup and sorting apparatus

Abstract

An article-holding cup that has a pair of rotatable rollers for supporting an article thereon, an L-shaped arm extending outward and downward from one side, a second arm extending outward from an opposite side, and a pivotable connector for attaching the cup with others to one of a pair of conveyors in an article sorting apparatus for carrying in a direction of conveyance through a loading zone, a property-determining zone, and a discharge zone. The rollers rotate in response to a wheel rolling on a plate in a property-determining zone to expose different surface areas of the article to optical scanners. A scale and the optical sensor determine weight and color properties of each article during a single pass through the property-determining zone. The cups have lost motion in the vertical direction and travel on rails in the weighing zone, so that the weight of the article in each cup may be determined independently of the conveyor. A plurality of fabric flaps are disposed on spaced-apart rods connected between the two conveyors for gently receiving articles selectively discharged in the discharge zone for grouping with other articles having similar determinable characteristics.