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:
Dec. 21, 1999
Filed:
Jun. 03, 1996
Applicant:
Inventors:
John H Wilbur, Medford, OR (US);
Todd Hoffman, Medford, OR (US);
Assignee:
SRC Vision, Inc., Medford, OR (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
B07C / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
209639 ; 209638 ;
Abstract
A stabilizing system stabilizes light-weight articles carried on conveyors for automated bulk processing equipment. In a preferred embodiment, the light-weight articles, such as, for example, tobacco leaf products or wood chips, are moved and stabilized along a conveyor from a first infeed end to a second discharge end where they are projected in-air along a trajectory through an illumination station and sorting station. An enclosed off-belt housing is provided within which the light-weight articles are projected along a controlled trajectory to be processed by the optical inspection and sorting systems.