EP3585527B1

EP3585527B1 - Dispensing and sorting apparatus for gemstones, and according methods

Info

Publication number: EP3585527B1
Application number: EP18711621.5A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Peter Stanley Rose; Andrew John PORTSMOUTH
Original assignee: De Beers UK Ltd
Current assignee: De Beers UK Ltd
Priority date: 2017-02-27
Filing date: 2018-02-26
Publication date: 2022-03-23
Anticipated expiration: 2038-02-26
Also published as: GB201703134D0; CN110325295A; EP3585527A1; CN110325295B; RU2019129289A; RU2019129289A3; RU2766099C2; WO2018154325A1

Description

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an apparatus for and a method of dispensing gemstones. In particular, although not exclusively, the invention relates to a method and an apparatus for dispensing diamonds.

Background

Natural diamonds are stones from nature, consisting exclusively of diamond formed by geological processes over long periods of time. Synthetic diamonds are man-made stones manufactured by industrial processes, such as HPHT (high pressure high temperature) and CVD (chemical vapour deposition).
Synthetic diamonds have a wide range of industrial applications, but currently form only a small percentage of the gemstone industry, and do not attract the high values associated with natural diamonds, of similar colour and quality. Synthetic diamonds may be relatively easy to distinguish from natural diamonds when in an unpolished state, however, once polished and cut into a gemstone, identification that a stone is synthetic may be more difficult.
Advanced screening instruments, such as the DiamondSure^™ and DiamondView^™, may be used to test whether a stone is natural or synthetic. Typically, such screening involves measuring the way in which light is absorbed by or emitted from an individual diamond. It is also often necessary to screen large numbers of smaller diamonds, including stones sometimes known as melee. Melee is a term of the trade that does not have a well-defined size range, but is often considered in practice to refer to stones smaller than about 0.2 carats (20 points), and usually (but not necessarily) larger than about 0.01 or 0.02 carats. In some instances stones as small as 0.001 carats or even less may be referred to as melee. Due to their small size, melee stones are typically sold in parcels or lots. Since one parcel may contain hundreds of stones, it is possible for synthetic diamonds and non-diamond material to be mixed in with natural stones.
Melee may be automatically sorted according to their measured properties by various apparatus known in the art. For example, WO 2012/146913 describes an apparatus in which gemstones are fed by a hopper onto a rotatable disc then orientated by being passed through a pair of oscillating walls which extend generally along the direction of the travelling path of the gemstones. Once orientated into its most stable configuration, gemstones are removed one by one from the rotatable disc by a handler, such as a vacuum wand mounted on a swinging arm, and transported to a test, measurement or further processing system. The handler then dispenses the gemstone into an appropriate collection bin, depending upon the test results.
Other dispensing and removal mechanisms are well known in the art, including air jets, flap vanes and push bars. However, many of these mechanisms have drawbacks. For example, flap vanes and push bars require time to reset after each dispense, which effectively limits the degree of separation between the gemstones or parts i.e. the gemstones or parts must be further apart to allow time for the reset to occur. This restricts the overall throughput of the apparatus. Air jets do not require time to reset but are inaccurate, difficult to adjust, require baffles which can cause parts to jam, and will require wider part separation if multiple parts are not to be ejected simultaneously. Air jets also require a compressed air supply, which may not be convenient and would be inappropriate if the apparatus were to be operated outside of a laboratory environment. Air jets also tend to introduce electrostatic charging issues, which present real problems when smaller gemstones, such as melee, are being dispensed.
The challenge when selecting or designing a dispensing mechanism for a sorting apparatus, such as the one described above, is to ensure that the speed at which gemstones, or other discrete parts, can be removed from a disc or belt does not become a limiting factor in the throughput of the apparatus. This is particularly important where the disc or belt moves continuously throughout the sorting process. US5052542 describes an item transfer apparatus including a rotatable transfer device.

Summary

According to the invention there is provided a dispensing apparatus for dispensing gemstones according to independent claim 1, and a method for dispensing gemstones according to independent claim 9. Particular embodiments are the subject of the respective claims.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 illustrates an apparatus for dispensing gemstones;
Figure 2a is a side view of a wheel of the apparatus of Figure 1;
Figure 2b is an enlargement of a section of Figure 2a;
Figures 3 and 4 illustrate the wheel of Figure 1 in use;
Figure 5 illustrates the apparatus of Figure 1 in a gemstone sorting apparatus;
Figure 6 is a front view of the sorting apparatus of Figure 5;
Figure 7 is a top down view of the sorting apparatus of Figure 5; and
Figure 8 illustrates a method of dispensing gemstones.

Detailed Description

An apparatus 100 for dispensing gemstones, such as diamonds, from a horizontal moveable surface 103, will now be described with reference to Figures 1 to 4. The gemstones to be dispensed will typically comprise polished stones, both brilliant and fancy cut. A sorting apparatus 101 comprising one or more of the apparatuses for dispensing gemstones 100 will be described with reference to Figures 5 to 7. The use of the dispensing apparatus 100 described herein is not limited to this sorting apparatus 101, however. The dispensing apparatus 100 may also be used with other sorting, measuring and identifying apparatus, and the like, from which serially presented gemstones, or other discrete parts, must be dispensed or removed. A method of dispensing gemstones from a horizontal moveable surface will be described with reference to Figure 8.
The dispensing apparatus 100 comprises a wheel 106 arranged to rotate about a horizontal axis A located above the horizontal moveable surface 103. The horizontal axis A is generally parallel to a direction of travel of the surface 103. The wheel 106 is in a plane generally perpendicular to the direction of travel of the surface 103. The wheel 106 comprises one or more teeth 104a, 104b... disposed around an outer circumference thereof. The apparatus 100 further comprises a motor 116, configured to rotate the wheel 106. A sensor 112 is configured to identify when one of teeth 104a, 104b.... is located at a predetermined position so as to indicate that the wheel 106 is in a home position. The wheel 106 is arranged so that a gap is defined between the surface 103 and the wheel 106 when the wheel 106 is in the home position and so that one of the teeth 104a, 104b...comes into contact with a gemstone as the wheel 106 rotates away from the home position so as to push the gemstone off the surface103.
In the illustrated example of Figures 1 to 4, the wheel 106 has five outwardly facing teeth 104a, 104b, 104c, 104d, 104e spaced around an outer circumference of the wheel 106. In other embodiments, not shown here, fewer or more teeth may be provided. For example, one, two, three, four or more teeth may be provided. The teeth 104a, 104b... may be spaced equiangularly around the wheel 106, as shown in the illustrated example of Figures 1 to 4, where the teeth 104a, 104b... are disposed at intervals of 72° around the outer circumference of the wheel 106. Alternatively, the angular spacing between the teeth may vary.
As used herein, the term "teeth" may refer to any projecting element, such as blades, fins, arms and the like.
The wheel 106 of this illustrated example is manufactured from a high-density closed cell foam. In other embodiments, not shown here, other types of foam, or plastics materials, may be used. The foam in this example has minimal 'blow holes' (i.e. holes in the foam surface). This prevents very small stones, for example melee, from becoming embedded or otherwise attached to the foam wheel 106 during the dispensing process.
The wheel 106 is resilient. When the wheel 106 is actuated, at least a portion of a tooth 104a, 104b... of the wheel 106 sweeps across a horizontal moveable surface 103 of the sorting apparatus on which gemstones are serially presented (for example, the sorting apparatus 101 described herein), as the wheel 106 rotates. At least a portion of the tooth 104a, 104b... is deformed by contact with the surface 103. As the wheel 106 rotates and the tooth 104a, 104b... leaves the surface 103, the material of the tooth returns to its original shape. In other words, the tooth 104a, 104b... does not 'flick' off the surface 103, as would be the case with, for example, a thin shim blade. "Flicking" would increase the velocity of a gemstone being dispensed, which is undesirable as the gemstone may travel too far and miss the dispense bin 105 of the sorting apparatus 101, or may hit the bin 105 and bounce off.
The arrangement whereby, during actuation, at least a portion of the tooth 104a, 104b... is deformed by contact with the horizontal moveable surface 103 ensures that there is no clearance between the surface 103 and the tooth 104a, 104b...This enables even very small gemstones to be reliably dispensed or removed from the surface 103.
In this example, the shape of each tooth 104a, 104b... is configured such that only a portion of the tooth 104a, 104b... makes contact with the rotatable surface 103 of the sorting apparatus 101 during the dispensing process. This reduces the amount of wear on both the wheel 106 and the surface 103. It is also desirable to limit the contact area between the tooth 104a, 104b... and the surface 103 so that the motor 116 which drives the wheel 106 has to work less hard. This prevents stalling of the motor 116 and heating issues.
A leading portion of each tooth 104_L therefore extends further from the centre of the wheel 106 than a trailing portion 104_T. In other words, the teeth 104a, 104b... are asymmetric about a longitudinal axis B, as best illustrated in Figure 2b. The leading portion 104_L of each tooth 104a, 104b...faces the normal direction of travel of the wheel 106 i.e. the direction in which the wheel 106 rotates when it is removing gemstones from the moveable surface 103, which in this example is clockwise. All of the teeth 104a, 104b...in this example are substantially identical. In this example, each tooth 104a, 104b... has an approximate overall width of around 5.5 mm. It will be appreciated that the shape of the teeth 104a, 104b... described herein is not intended to be limiting and other shapes and designs may be envisaged.
Since it is advantageous to minimize contact between the teeth 104a, 104b... and the horizontal moveable surface 103, the wheel may be arranged such that the teeth 104a, 104b...do not touch the surface 103 on dispensing the gemstone, or only just touch the surface. In this case, it is beneficial to arrange the horizontal axis A of the wheel 106 so that the tooth 104a, 104b... comes as close as possible to the surface 103 as possible during dispensing, without actually coming into contact with the surface 103 or only making minimal contact. Minimal contact may mean the barest possible touch, and not enough to deform the tooth.
In the illustrated example of Figures 1 to 4, the wheel 106 is attached to a hub 111, comprising an output shaft 114. For example, the wheel 106 may be glued to the hub 111. The hub 111 is connected to a motor, such as a stepper motor 116. The stepper motor 116 may be configured such that it takes 1000 steps per revolution of the wheel 106. The stepper motor 116 is configured to drive i.e. rotate the wheel 106 about its axis A, via the hub 111. The axis A is in the same plane as the horizontal moveable surface 103 on which gemstones are transported.
Figures 5 to 7 illustrate a gemstone sorting apparatus 101 comprising an array of the dispensing apparatuses 100 described above, configured to dispense the gemstones from the horizontal moveable surface 103 according to their measured properties. The sorting apparatus 101 comprises one or more measurement locations 110a, 110b, each comprising at least one measurement device configured to measure one or more properties of a gemstone; a horizontal moveable surface 103 for supporting the gemstones thereon and for transporting the gemstones to the one or more measurement locations 110a, 110b.
In this example, the horizontal moveable surface comprises a covered rotatable disc 103 configured to receive a batch of gemstones from a hopper 102. The gemstones are supported on a substantially flat upper surface of the disc 103, which rotates at approximately 30mm/sec, and are transported by the disc 103 to an agitator 113. The agitator 113 comprises a pair of opposed parallel vertical walls which form a substantially semi-circular channel (not shown here), into which the gemstones are guided by the disc 103. The walls are oscillated such that the gemstones that are present on the surface of the rotating disc 103 are knocked into their most stable configuration i.e. their position of lowest potential energy, usually table facet down.
After orientation the gemstones are transported on the horizontal surface of the disc 103 past a separation device comprising a series of cams 107, 108. The cams 107, 108 are inclined to the direction of travel of the horizontal surface 103 such that the gemstones are pushed towards an outer region of the disc 103, which is moving faster than the central region of the disc 103. This increases the separation between the stones.
After separation the gemstones pass by a position sensor 109, such as a laser curtain, which is configured to send a signal to a controller 117 every time a gemstone passes. The passage of that gemstone past the position sensor 109 is correlated with the angular position of the disc 103 at that moment, and the location of each gemstone can subsequently by tracked by knowledge of the angular position of the disc 103.
The separated gemstones then pass through one or more measurement locations 110a, 110b one at a time, as the disc 103 rotates, and measurements of the gemstones' properties are transmitted from measurement devices at the one or more measurement locations 110a, 110b to the controller 117. According to their measured properties, each gemstone is then dispensed into an appropriate collection bin 105 by a dispensing mechanism 100, removing the gemstone from the surface of the rotatable disc 103. It will be appreciated that the sorting apparatus 101 shown in the example of Figures 5 to 7 comprises a number of dispensing apparatuses 100, so that each collection bin 105 has its own associated dispensing apparatus 100. The number of dispensing apparatuses 100 may therefore be adjusted depending upon the number of collection bins 105 required. In this example, four dispensing apparatuses are provided, hence four wheels 106 and associated hubs 111, motors 116 and sensors 112 are present, each motor 116 being linked to and actuated by the controller 117.
Since the time at which a specific gemstone passes the position sensor 109 and the rotational speed of the disc 103 are known, the controller 117 can accurately predict when the specific gemstone will pass the one or more measurement locations 110a, 110b. A measurement of one or more properties of the specific gemstone received by the controller 117 can therefore be correlated by the controller 117 with a location of the specific gemstone on the rotatable disc 103. The controller 117 can determine whether, for example, a specific gemstone is natural diamond, synthetic diamond or non-diamond, based upon the received measurements. When the specific gemstone arrives at a location adjacent the appropriate collection bin 105, the controller 117 actuates the appropriate motor 116 to its dispensing wheel 106 associated with that bin 105, to dispense the gemstone from the surface of the rotating disc 103 into the correct bin 105.
In use, the motor 116 is actuated by the sorting apparatus 101 controller 117 and used to drive the wheel 106 through one segment when a dispense operation is required. In other words, the wheel 106 is driven by the motor 116 such that it rotates through the distance between the centres of two adjacent teeth 104a, 104b...
The starting position of the wheel 106 is important as the wheel 106 must be clear of the moveable surface 103 when not dispensing. To achieve this, the wheel 106 position must be set (homed) to a predetermined position by the motor 116 at the start of each sorting operation. There are a number of ways to achieve this, but in this example a sensor 112 is mounted above the wheel 106. The sensor 112 may comprise, for example, a laser curtain, a microswitch or a Hall effect sensor. The uppermost tooth 104a, 104b... is used as a home flag and the wheel 106 is homed relative to the position of uppermost tooth 104a, 104b... as detected by the sensor 112. The direction of rotation of the wheel 106 during the initial homing operation (i.e. at the start of each sorting operation) may be in a first, normal direction of rotation (for example, clockwise).
Alternatively, the direction of rotation of the wheel 106 during the initial homing operation may be carried out in a second, opposite (in other words, in reverse i.e. anticlockwise). Reverse homing ensures that any gemstones which were left on the disk 103 after the previous sorting operation are not erroneously dispensed into the collection bins 105. By homing in the reverse direction any gemstones on the disc 103 are swept back towards the centre of the disc 103 and recycled through the feed mechanisms discussed above.
Where a five-toothed wheel 106 is used, the motor 116 can be driven 200 steps from the home position for each dispense cycle (i.e. 1000 steps per complete revolution of the wheel 106). In this example, the wheel 106 is homed each time a dispense cycle happens, and the wheel 106 is driven by the motor 116 until the sensor 112 is triggered by the next tooth 104a, 104b.... In other words, following actuation of the motor 116 by the sorting apparatus 101 controller 117, the sensor 112 is configured to send a signal to halt the motor 116 upon detection of one of the teeth 104a, 104b.... The wheel 106 is then decelerated very quickly by the motor 116 and stopped. It will be understood that any of the teeth 104a, 104b... can be used to home the wheel 106 i.e. the wheel 106 is homed once any one of the teeth 104a, 104b...is in an uppermost position, adjacent to and detected by the sensor 112.
Both the thickness of the wheel 106, which in this example is around 8 mm, and the time it takes to complete a dispense cycle, are important in achieving dispense of gemstones with minimal separation therebetween. In this example, the wheel 106 is driven so that a single dispense motion can be completed in 100 ms. A single dispense motion is understood to mean the dispensing of a single gemstone and the rotation of the wheel 106 by the distance between the centres of two adjacent teeth 104a, 104b.... In this time, the moveable disc 103 on which the gemstones are travelling will have typically moved by approximately 3 mm. The dispensing apparatus 100 can therefore dispense the gemstones without stopping the moveable disc 103. This dramatically increases the throughput of the sorting apparatus 101.
As illustrated in Figure 3, in its homed position, the wheel 106 is supported above the horizontal surface of the moveable disc 103 in such a way as to define a clear gap between the lowermost tooth 104a, 104b... of the wheel 106 and the disc 103 in the area of the path of the gemstones. This gap allows gemstones of a range of sizes to be fed under and past the wheel 106 in the case where the gemstone is not required to be dispensed at that position. If the gemstone requires dispensing, as shown in the example of Figure 4, the wheel 106 is driven clockwise through a dispense motion, with one of the teeth 104a, 104b... of the wheel 106 making contact with the gemstone and pushing the gemstone off the disc 103 and into a dispense bin 105, located below and to the outer edge of the disc 103, as illustrated in Figure 4. A portion of the tooth 104a, 104b... may be deformed by this contact with the disc 103, as previously discussed.
The wheel 106 will be halted by the motor 116 as soon as any one of the teeth 104a, 104b... is detected by the sensor 112. It will be understood that the sensor 112 may be arranged such that it is not the uppermost tooth 104a, 104b... that is detected to indicate the end of a single dispense motion. For example, the sensor 112 may be arranged to detect any one of the teeth 104a, 104b at any rotational position of the wheel 106. Further, the sensor 112 may be configured to detect the position of a specific one of the teeth 104a, 104b....
Alternatively, the stepper motor 116 may be driven for a pre-determined number of steps very quickly, to bring the tooth 104a, 104b... close but not quite within detection distance to the sensor 112, while dispensing the gemstone. The final few steps may take place more slowly to allow the tooth 104a, 104b... to be more accurately detected by the sensor 112. Once the sensor 112 detects the tooth 104a, 104b..., the wheel 106 is halted.
A method of dispensing gemstones from a horizontal moveable surface is described with reference to Figure 8. The method comprises using a motor to rotate a wheel about a horizontal axis located above the surface, the wheel comprising one or more teeth disposed around an outer circumference thereof and the horizontal axis being located such that, when the wheel is in a home position, there is a gap between the wheel and the surface; using a sensor to identify when one of the teeth is located at a predetermined position so as to indicate that the wheel is in the home position; stopping rotation of the wheel in the home position; when a gemstone passes the wheel, further rotating the wheel so that one of the teeth comes into contact with a gemstone and pushes the gemstone off the surface.
A method of sorting gemstones using the sorting apparatus 101 described above comprises supporting gemstones on a horizontal moveable surface 103, transporting gemstones to one or more measurement locations 110a, 110b, using the surface 103, measuring, at the one or more measurement locations 110a, 110b, one or more properties of the gemstones and dispensing the gemstones, according to their measured properties, from the horizontal moveable surface 103, using one or more dispensing apparatuses 100.
Where it is desired that at least a portion of the tooth 104a, 104b... is deformed by the surface 103, the horizontal axis A may be located such that upon further rotation of the wheel 106 when the gemstone passes the wheel 106, one of the teeth comes into contact with the moving horizontal surface 103 when pushing the gemstone off the surface 103.
It will be appreciated by the person skilled in the art that various modifications may be made to the above described embodiment, without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, the thickness and shape of the wheel 106 may be adapted for different applications, or where significantly larger or smaller gemstones are being dispensed.
In a further embodiment, the dispensing apparatus 100 may be arranged such that the wheel 106 can be selectively operated to rotate in reverse i.e. in the opposite direction to that normally used to dispense gemstones from the surface of the disc 103 and into a collection bin 105. Reversing the direction of rotation of the wheel 106 may cause gemstones to be directed towards an inner portion of the rotatable disc 103, rather than being pushed off the edge of the disc 103. This may be desirable in cases where gemstones arrive at the dispensing location insufficiently separated, or where measurements of the properties of the gemstones have failed and re-measurement is required.

Claims

A dispensing apparatus (100) for dispensing gemstones from a horizontal moveable surface (103), the apparatus comprising:
a wheel (106), arranged to rotate about a horizontal axis (A) located above the surface and comprising one or more teeth (104a, 104b) disposed around an outer circumference thereof;

a motor (116), configured to rotate the wheel;

characterised in that a sensor (112) is configured to identify when one of the teeth is located at a predetermined position so as to indicate that the wheel is in a home position;

wherein the wheel is arranged so that a gap is defined between the surface and the wheel when the wheel is in the home position;

and wherein the wheel is arranged so that one of the teeth comes into contact with a gemstone as the wheel rotates away from the home position, so as to push the gemstone off the surface.
A dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wheel (106) is arranged so that one of the teeth (104a, 104b) comes into contact with the horizontal moveable surface (103) as the wheel rotates away from the home position and pushes the gemstone off the surface.
A dispensing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the horizontal axis (A) is generally parallel to a direction of travel of the surface (103).
A dispensing apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the wheel (106) comprises a plurality of teeth (104a, 104b), preferably five teeth, equiangularly disposed around the outer circumference thereof, and wherein the home position is optionally defined as the position when an uppermost tooth is located at the predetermined position.
A dispensing apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein each tooth (104a, 104b) comprises a leading portion (104_L) and a trailing portion (104_T), the leading portion extending further from a centre of the wheel (106) than the trailing portion.
A dispensing apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein one or more of:
the wheel (106) comprises a closed cell foam material;

the sensor (112) comprises a light curtain.

the wheel is configured to be driven in a first direction when dispensing gemstones from the horizontal moveable surface (103), and wherein the wheel is configured to be driven in a second, opposite direction when directing gemstones to another region of the horizontal moveable surface;

the dispensing apparatus is configured to move the wheel to the home position following actuation of the motor (116).
An apparatus (101) for sorting gemstones, comprising:
one or more measurement locations (110a, 110b), each comprising at least one measurement device configured to measure one or more properties of a gemstone;

a horizontal moveable surface (103) for supporting the gemstones thereon and for transporting the gemstones to the one or more measurement locations;

one or more dispensing apparatuses (100) according to any of claims 1 to 6 configured to dispense the gemstones from the horizontal moveable surface according to their measured properties.
An apparatus for sorting gemstones according to claim 7, comprising one or more of:
a controller (117) configured to actuate the motor (116) of each of the one or more dispensing apparatuses (100);

a collection bin (105) associated with each of the one or more dispensing apparatuses;

a plurality of dispensing apparatuses (100) arranged in an array so that a gemstone on the horizontal moveable surface passes the wheels (106) of the plurality of dispensing apparatuses in succession.
A method of dispensing gemstones from a moving horizontal surface (103), comprising:
using a motor (116) to rotate a wheel (106) about a horizontal axis (A) located above the surface, the wheel comprising one or more teeth (104a, 104b) disposed around an outer circumference thereof and the horizontal axis being located such that, when the wheel is in a home position, there is a gap between the wheel and the surface;

using a sensor (112) to identify when one of the teeth is located at a predetermined position so as to indicate that the wheel is in the home position;

stopping rotation of the wheel in the home position;

when a gemstone passes the wheel, further rotating the wheel so that one of the teeth comes into contact with the gemstone and pushes the gemstone off the surface.
A method of dispensing gemstones according to claim 9, wherein the horizontal axis (A) is located such that upon further rotation of the wheel (106) when the gemstone passes the wheel, one of the teeth (104a, 104b) comes into contact with the moving horizontal surface when pushing the gemstone off the surface, and/or wherein the horizontal axis is generally parallel to a direction of travel of the surface.
A method of dispensing gemstones according to any of claims 9 to 10, wherein the wheel (106) comprises a plurality of teeth (104a, 104b) disposed equiangularly around the outer circumference of the wheel, and/or wherein each tooth has a leading portion (104_L) and a trailing portion (104_T), the leading portion extending further from a centre of the wheel than the trailing portion.
A method of dispensing gemstones according to any of claims 9 to 11, comprising moving the wheel (106) to the home position following actuation of the motor (116).
A method of dispensing gemstones according to any of claims 9 to 12, comprising driving the wheel (106) in a first direction when dispensing gemstones from the horizontal moveable surface (103), and driving the wheel in second, opposite direction when directing gemstones to another region of the horizontal moveable surface.
A method of sorting gemstones, comprising:
supporting gemstones on a horizontal moveable surface (103);

transporting gemstones to one or more measurement locations (110a, 110b), using the surface;

measuring, at the one or more measurement locations, one or more properties of the gemstones;

dispensing the gemstones, according to their measured properties, from the horizontal moveable surface, using one or more dispensing apparatuses (100) according to any of claims 1 to 6.
A method of sorting gemstones according to claim 14, comprising one or more of:
actuating the motor (116) of each of the one or more dispensing apparatuses (100) using a controller (117);

associating a collection bin (105) with each of the one or more dispensing apparatuses;

arranging a plurality of dispensing apparatuses in an array so that a gemstone on the horizontal moveable surface passes the wheels (106) of the plurality of dispensing apparatuses in succession.