GB2425104A

GB2425104A - Apparatus for sorting between two locations

Info

Publication number: GB2425104A
Application number: GB0507743A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Mark Gamble; Timothy Gulliver
Original assignee: LIMITED SPECTRAL FUSION TECHNO
Current assignee: LIMITED SPECTRAL FUSION TECHNO
Priority date: 2005-04-16
Filing date: 2005-04-16
Publication date: 2006-10-18
Anticipated expiration: 2025-04-16
Also published as: GB2425104B; GB0507743D0

Abstract

Apparatus for sorting or diverting a plurality of objects 130 to least two positions 200 300 comprises a cylindrical device 30, a drive transfer apparatus 40 connected to the cylindrical device to form a driven assembly, a conveyor 100 driven by a drive means 110, a linkage 10 such as a belt connecting the driven assembly to said drive means to drive the driven assembly, a tensioning device 20 which holds the linkage under tension, the tension device being adjustable to maintain tension, a shaft 140 disposed along a central axis of the driven assembly wherein the driven assembly is fixed to bearings which are free to rotate about the shaft, an adjustable frame 60 to which the shaft is connected, a plurality of linear members (150 fig. 2) with slots (160 fig. 2) disposed therein, the adjustable frame being constrained to move in the slots, a linear actuating device 80 in contact with the adjustable frame, and a computer for controlling said linear actuating device. Data collected by a sensor and data stored in the computer may be compared to issue a control signal from the computer to control motion of the linear actuating device.

Description

1 2425104

Description

Object Sorting System

Background to the Invention

Materials handling systems are used extensively within factories and production lines where several processes are carried out on a variety of objects. These production lines operate at a variety of speeds and handle a variety of objects of differing size, shape and dimension In the majority of production lines, it is inevitable that there is some form of inspection and / or measurement as part of the process. This inspection and / or measurement function then allows for subsequent sorting of the objects based upon parameters such as quality, size and shape.

A proficient inspection / measurement system must also be accompanied with a suitable system for sorting the object I product following the inspection stage. The system for sorting the object or product should be able to accomplish this task without damage or destruction of the object or product, and maintain the sorting criteria as formulated by the inspection and / or measuring stage, such that the (QCP) object I product will continue along the desired path within the production line, and those that are "rejected" are re-directed either for re-work (and subsequent re-inspection) or outright wastage. Another important aspect of the object or product sorting system is that it should not contribute to unnecessary delays and system downtime, which will affect subsequent processes further down the processing line. If the object or product sorting system can be designed to be simple, this should help reduce system downtime, with the added advantage of minimising costs.

Examples of systems that have been previously used for this task, include those that use a forced flow of air to push' the object or product (e.g. US patent no. 4, 099, 620), a mechanical plunger that will move across the conveyor and push the object or product on contact (e.g. EP0532978, DE3623327), and mechanical flippers' that move (usually in a sideways motion across the breadth or width or the conveyor) to deflect the path of the object.

The air blower system is limited to those instances where the object to be sorted is small, light and with little or no adhesion to the conveyor upon which it is travelling (e.g. bottle caps in GB12 76072) due to the amount of force generated by a suitably sized system. US patent no. 4,476, 981 (Yoshida et al) states that this type of system will tend to use a valve that will open and close dependent upon the movement of an electromagnetic device such as a solenoid, and consequently will be limited to the operating speeds of such devices.

The mechanical plunger and the flipper system both suffer from the potential to cause damage to the object or product through excessive force on contact. As such, they tend to be used in systems where the object or product to be sorted is rigid, or solid and can therefore withstand some degree of mechanical pressure. These two systems will also require a sufficiently large distance between subsequent objects or products in order to maintain the desired path for the object or product (to allow time for the plunger' or flipper to return to original position) . Another limitation of these two systems is in the sorting of soft' objects such as meat, fish and other raw' food items, whereby portions of the soft' object will become trapped between the conveyor and the underneath of the plunger or flipper. This will impede the movement of the plunger or flipper and cause unnecessary delays in the timing of the object sorting system, which may cause certain quantities of the object or product to be directed along an incorrect path. Eventually the amount of the soft' object that has become trapped may cause the system to become fixed in one position and therefore unable to maintain the desired path for certain quantities of the object or product, as well as causing downtime for the overall production line.

Another object sorting system is based upon a bi-directional or reversible' belt as disclosed in EP0448732. With the reversible belt system, the direction of belt travel is repeatedly reversed to maintain the desired path for objects or products. This can have problems with certain types of object or product with little or no adhesion to the conveyor, as they will have a tendency to slide along the belt and consequently do not move at the same speed as the conveyor. This system will therefore require some form of sensing of the object's position, in order to enable accurate timing of when to reverse direction of belt travel and hence maintain the desired path for the object or product. This therefore increases the complexity and cost of the system.

Another category of object or product sorting systems are based upon the concept of having a section of the conveying line that can pivot, rotate, or move from the original direction, or create an opening (or gap) within the conveying line. Such systems include a retractable belt whereby the operation of the retractable belt system is based upon displacing the entire belt backwards (or retracting), so as to create the gap between the inspection or measurement system and subsequent processing stages.

Alternatively, it may keep the gap closed so as maintain a continuous path between the inspection or measurement system and subsequent processing stages. This ensures that the object or product travels along the desired path. The disadvantages of such systems are that they are complex, expensive and potentially extend the overall size of the process line. One of the main advantages, is that the moving of the entire belt, back and forth (creating and closing the gap) is in the direction of travel of the object or product. This allows for relatively small distances to be used between subsequent objects or products, whilst still maintaining the desired path for the object or product.

An alternative to the retractable belt system, that still uses the concept of creating a temporary gap between the inspection and / or measuring system and further processing, is a trapdoor' element as disclosed in US patent no 4651881. In this system, there is a section of the conveyor that is fixed to a hinge or pivot, which can be made to move or rotate in a downwards motion (mimicking the action of a trapdoor', or remain in a horizontal position, depending on which path is desired to move the object or product along. It can be observed in this system that the trapdoor' section doesn't move in the linear horizontal direction, in the same way as the other section of the conveyor, and relies upon the previous object or product, pushing the current object or product across this static region. This would be a disadvantage if the objects or products were soft' or wet in the case of raw meat and fish, as portions of the product would tend to adhere to the surface of the trapdoor' region and eventually cause a blockage in the process line.

Another system proposed to cater for soft' or wet' objects or products such as fish is disclosed in EP0487789, which is similar to the trapdoor' system of US 4651881, in that there is a hinged flap that is connected to the second conveyor (which transports the fish to other processing areas). This hinged flap is controlled to either remain in a horizontal position (whereby the fish will pass underneath it), or rotate downwards such that it forms an inclined plane on the first conveyor belt, in order to direct the fish upwards and onto the second conveyor. The advantage of this system, is that because the flap moves in the vertical plane, it contacts the underside of the fish and hence pushes' through the height or thickness of the fish, as opposed to sideways flipper systems which contact along the length. As most fish that are processed have a physiology whereby the height or thickness is several times less than the length, this implies that there is less time required to divert the fish, and hence the overall operating speed can be higher.

Some disadvantages with this system are that when the flap moves downwards it will need to contact the first conveyor belt (as the fish is thin), which will introduce friction, increasing wear of the first conveyor belt, and add a braking effect, therefore temporarily slowing down the first conveyor belt. The method of transferring the fish from the flap to the second conveyor relies upon the kinetic energy of the fish, and the flap surface having very low friction, which may not be entirely robust, and could potentially lead to fish becoming adhered to the flap, thereby producing a blockage within the processing line.

A system with a pivotal section of conveyor in a gap between an inspection or measuring stage and further processing is disclosed in US 4938336. This document describes four alternative embodiments, three of which involve the pivoting motion of a section of conveyor belt, with the fourth using the principle of retracting this section of conveyor belt for use with larger articles. An advantage of this system is that the region of the diverting stage that will contact the object or product to be diverted, moves with a rotational action. This will cause minimal force on the object or product, due to the shallow angle that the diverting stage makes with the object or product's original travelling direction. The force produced will not cause damage or destruction of the object being diverted or sorted, however the action of the rotation will mean very low friction between the object or product and the diverting section of conveyor, hence soft' or wet' objects or products will be transferred successfully.

All of the embodiments described make use of a separate section of conveyor belt, which will require some form of drive, in order to cause the belt to move around the rollers. This patent does not teach or refer to the notion that firstly, the diverting (or sorting) section of conveyor could be replaced by the roller or drum it rotates around, and secondly that the diverting or sorting system can be driven by the same method and apparatus as the first or previous conveyor. These inventive steps further simplify the object or product sorting system and thereby allow for reduction in cost, overall system size, and potentially minimise system downtime.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention relates to a simple system that can be used to selectively sort or divert objects or products from one conveying location to one of several other locations. It is preferably used immediately following an inspection or measurement system (which itself can comprise of one, many, or all of several different units such as optical / laser, camera/vision, x-ray, ultrasonic, thermal and the like), that will produce the data from which a controller such as a computer can make calculated choices or decisions about which location to divert the object or product to. It would be especially useful in food processing lines which may have a number of soft' or wet' objects such as meat, poultry or fish.

The present embodiment comprises several sections as follows: the sorting or diverting member which is preferably in the shape of a cylinder such as a roller, drum or barrel; a shaft that is connected through the drum shape such that their two axes are concentric, with a longer cylindrical length such that a portion of the shaft will protrude from the cylinder or drum on each of the flat faces; bearing members that will be in contact with the cylinder or drum and rotate freely about the axis of the shaft; a drive transfer device which is connected to one face of the cylinder or drum; a form of linkage such as a belt, chain or suchlike that will connect between the roller of the conveyor used to transport objects or products through the inspection and or measurement system, and the drive transfer device previously described; a device for maintaining tension of the linkage; an adjustable frame or support for fixing the cylinder or drum, drive transfer device and shaft in free space; a linear actuator such as a pneumatic piston which is connected to the adjustable frame and can be used to move the adjustable frame and drum assembly under a controlled reciprocating motion; a pair of locating members with slots that will fix the path the drum and adjustable frame assembly moves along, and some form of controller that is used to decide' when to cause the linear actuator to move. This controller is preferably a computer, but can be a computer (or other intelligent' decision making device) in conjunction with some form of control.

The basic principle of operation of this system is that the cylinder or drum is held in a position to act as a bridge between a gap between two positions, where preferably the first position contains a conveying system that is used to transport objects or products through an inspection or measurement system, and the second position contains at least two further conveying systems which will transport the objects or products to further processing locations. When the object or product has passed through the inspection or measurement system, the computer or other signal processing device compares certain attributes of the object or product with definitions that have been programmed into it, and decides which of the conveying systems in the second location that the object or product has to be transferred to.

The computer or control system will then either cause the axis of the cylinder or drum to remain in its current position or move in such a manner so as to create the gap between the two positions. The method by which the computer or control system will cause the axis of the cylinder to move is envisaged to be by producing a control signal that causes a linear actuator, that the axis of the cylinder or drum is connected to, to change position and hence cause the axis of the cylinder to move.

An advantage of this present system is that the method and apparatus used to drive the first conveyor are also used to produce the rotational speed for the cylinder or drum, and hence the overall size and complexity of the system can be reduced.

It is considered within the scope of the present invention that the location of the cylinder or drum relative to the first conveying system can be adjusted dependent upon size, dimension, weight of the object or product, and the speed of the first conveying system, so as to achieve the desired result of sorting the object or product such that it travels along the desired path.

in the current invention, the cylinder or drum and the drive transfer device may be two separate entities, or it is conceivable that they may be fashioned from the same element on the proviso that they form the same apparatus, such that any motion of the drive transfer device results in a similar motion of the drum or cylinder by virtue of the two bodies being physically connected.

It is also acknowledged that the current embodiment allows for the size of the drum to be varied dependent upon application.

In another aspect of the present invention, the rotational speed of the cylinder or drum can be controlled, by varying the ratio of the diameter of the drive transfer device and the cylinder or drum. This ability to be able to vary the rotational speed of the cylinder will be used to facilitate transfer of objects from the first position to the next position.

It is also envisaged that another embodiment of this system will have an object sorting system on either side of the roller, drum, cylinder or other method for causing translational movement of the first conveying system, in such a way as to allow for the inclusion of two independently controlled object sorting systems across one continuous width of conveying system.

In a further embodiment of this system, with a finer form of control of the displacement of the linear actuator such that it can be held in a plurality of positions, then the axis of the cylinder or drum can be moved in a plurality of positions, and hence the objects or products can be sorted such that they can be transferred into more than one of two positions.

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 is a side elevation view of the invention that illustrates the assembly and different components of the current invention Figure 2 is a front elevation view of the invention showing greater detail of the assembly of the cylinder or drum and adjustable frame.

Figure 3 illustrates the first position the sorting system can be placed in Figure 4 illustrates the second position the sorting system can be placed in

Detailed description of the drawings

In Figure 1, the drum or cylinder (30) has a shaft (50) positioned such that their axes are concentric. The drum or cylinder (30) may be fabricated from any strong, durable and lightweight material, and if the object sorting system is to be used within a food processing line, then this material will need to comply with the industry regulations also. The drive transfer device (40) is fixed to one face of the drum or cylinder (30) by any appropriate means such as mechanical fastenings, adhesives or any suitable method known to those skilled in the art of physically joining two bodies together. A linkage (10) connects between the drive transfer device (40) and rotational apparatus (110), which causes the conveyor (100) to move. The linkage (10) may be fabricated from any device capable of transferring kinetic energy such as belts, chains, ropes, pulleys and suchlike. The linkage (10) is also kept under tension by a tensioning device (20) which itself can be adjusted so as to maintain a desired amount of tension.

The shaft (50) is fixed to an adjustable frame (60) by a mechanical fastening device (140). The adjustable frame (60) is comprised of a pair of identical side arms (65), which are physically connected to a rear arm (66). The rear arm (66) of the adjustable frame (60) is perpendicular to the side arm (65). The plate (70) is fixed to the rear arm (66) and also fixed to the moving section (75) of the linear actuator (80).

The moving section (75) of the linear actuator (80) is forced into motion by means of a control signal transmitted along the signal transfer device (90). The control signal is transmitted from a computer or controller (120). When the computer or controller (120) transmits a signal through the signal transfer device (90), causing the moving section (75) of the linear actuator (80) to move, this in turn will move the assembly (170) of the cylinder or drum (30), drive transfer device (40), and adjustable frame (60) along a path in a reciprocating motion.

In Figure 2, there is an identical pair of locating members (150) with slots (160) cut or machined out. The side arms (65) are fixed to the shaft (50) by the mechanical fastening device (140). The side arm (65) of the adjustable frame (60) is constrained to move only within the slot (160) in the locating member (150) and hence the path that the assembly (170) of the cylinder or drum (30), drive transfer device (40), and adjustable frame (60), moves along is dictated by the size and shape of slot (160).

In Figure 2, the drum or cylinder (30), which is connected to the drive transfer device (40), is in contact with bearing members (35), which are free to rotate about the shaft (50). The bearing members (35) may be ball bearings, low friction materials, plain bearings, rolled bearings or any other type of suitable bearing known to those skilled in the bearing art. Figure 2 illustrates that in the preferred embodiment of the present invention the drive transfer device (40) is constructed from a cylindrical shape with a groove or notch (45) cut or machined in the cylindrical length such that the diameter is narrower at this section and the linkage (10) will lie within the notch or groove (45) in order to prevent the belt or chain from slipping whilst the cylinder or drum (30) is in motion.

In Figure 3, the assembly (170) of the cylinder or drum (30), drive transfer device (40), and adjustable frame (60) is held in a position such that the cylinder or drum (30) is bridging the gap (180) between the conveying system in location 1 (100) and the conveying system in location 2 (200). Objects or products (130) will travel along the conveying system in location 1 (100), pass over the surface of the cylinder or drum (30) and continue along the path of conveying system in location 2 (200).

The surface of the cylinder or drum (30) can be smooth, roughened, fabricated with a regular or irregular pattern of grooves, small protuberances and other suchlike features in order to enhance the transfer of objects or products (130) from the conveying system in location 1 (100) to the desired next location in either the conveying system in location 2 (200) or the conveying system in location 3 (300).

In Figure 4, a change in the status of the control signal has been transmitted from the computer or controller (120) through the signal transfer device (90) which has caused the moving section (75) of the linear actuator (80) to move, which in turn will cause the assembly (170) of the cylinder or drum (30), drive transfer device (40), and adjustable frame (60) to move such that the cylinder or drum is now below and offset from the gap (180) between the conveying system in location 1 (100) and the conveying system in location 2 (200). Objects or products (130) will travel along the conveying system in location 1 (100), drop down through the gap (180) and will be directly transferred onto the conveying system in location 3 (300) under the influence of gravity and the kinetic energy of the objects or products (130).

In one embodiment of this invention the cylinder or drum (30) may be held in a position such that if the objects or products (130) drop down through the gap (180), the objects or products (130) may drop temporarily onto the surface of the cylinder or drum (30) in order to facilitate transfer to the conveying stage in location 3 (300).

The distance that the cylinder or drum (30) will retract will be dependent upon several factors such as size and construction of the objects or products (130) to be sorted, speed of arrival of these objects or products (130), and the angles that the conveying systems in location 1 (100) and 3 (300) are at with respect to each other. The important feature of the second position of the cylinder or drum (30) in Figure 4 is that it is moved a distance such that it no longer bridges the gap (180) between the conveying system in position 1 (100) and the conveying system in position 2 (200).

In the present embodiment of this invention, the cylinder or drum (30) will be held in the current position until it is caused to move due to a change in the status of the control signal sent by the computer or controller (120) to the linear actuator (80), causing the moving element (75) of the linear actuator (80) and hence the assembly (170) of the cylinder or drum (30), drive transfer device (40), and adjustable frame (60) to move.

It is considered within the scope of the present invention for the conveying system in location 3 (300) to be replaced by any type of container or receptacle which is removed when full of the objects or products being sorted, and replaced by a similar container or receptacle that is empty of such products.

The conveying system in location 1 (100) may be set at an angle other than being in a flat, horizontal position when compared with the conveying system in position 2 (200).

The present invention may be used with any objects or products capable of being conveyed and sorted such that they are transferred from one position to another.

The important features of the simplified object sorting system have been disclosed and while preferred embodiments have been stated within this document, it will be understood that it is not limited to those aspects explicitly stated but will be contained within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

Claims 1) An apparatus for sorting or diverting a plurality of objects or

products from one position to one of at least two other positions, the apparatus comprising: a) A cylindrical or drum shaped device wherein said device is physically connected to b) A drive transfer device, whereby said drive transfer device is physically connected to the apparatus used to drive a preceding conveying system by means of c) A linkage such as a belt, chain or suchlike and where said linkage is held under tension by d) A tensioning device, which may be adjustable in order to maintain satisfactory tension such that the assembly of the cylindrical or drum shaped device and the drive transfer device is constrained to move under the influence of said apparatus used to drive said preceding conveying system, wherein said assembly of cylindrical or drum shaped device and drive transfer device is physically connected to e) One or a plurality of bearing members wherein said bearing member or members is (are) free to rotate about a f) Shaft, where said shaft is fixed along the central axis of the said assembly of the cylindrical or drum shaped device and the drive transfer device, and physically connected to g) An adjustable frame wherein said adjustable frame is constrained to move within h) Slots cut or machined within I) Locating members under the influence of a j) Linear actuating device that is in physical contact with said adjustable frame, wherein said linear actuating device is caused to move in a reciprocating motion based upon the status of k) A control signal issued by 1) A computer or other form of intelligent decision making instrument or device wherein said computer or decision making instrument has issued said control signal having arrived at a decision based upon the comparison of data from m) One or a plurality of inspection, measurement or sensing systems and data used to classify each of the plurality of objects or products into one of at least two groups where said classification data may be i. Already pre-programmed within said computer or other form of intelligent decision making instrument as described in claim lj) either from a priori knowledge of the definition of each group or from artificial learning algorithms such as neural networks and suchlike or ii. Added to the data storage facility within said computer or other form of intelligent decision-making instrument as described in claim lj) at some future date.

2) An apparatus according to Claim 1 further comprising the means to drive the said assembly of cylinder or drum and drive transfer device by the same apparatus or method used to drive the conveying system of the final inspection, measurement or sensing system by virtue of a physical connection by a linkage, said linkage being a belt, chain or other suchlike device that is known to those skilled in the art, and said linkage is kept under tension by a tensioning device 3) The drive transfer device of Claim I or 2 being fabricated such that a groove or notch is cut or machined into it such that the linkage of Claim 2 may be fitted within said groove or notch, so as to allow a more secure method of fixing and prevent said linkage from having undesired motion which may induce disconnection of said linkage from said drive transfer device of Claim I or 2 4) An apparatus according to Claim 1-3 further comprising the means to vary the rotational speed of said cylinder or drum by virtue of varying the ratio of the diameter of said cylinder or drum and the diameter of said drive transfer device 5) An apparatus according to Claims 1-4 whereby size and dimensions of said cylinder or drum may be varied dependent upon the size, dimension and velocity of said plurality of objects or products to be sorted by said object sorting system 6) An apparatus according to claims 1-5 further comprising the means to alter the position and orientation of said assembly of cylinder or drum and drive transfer device in relation to the preceding conveying system, by virtue of the axis of the said assembly of cylinder or drum and drive transfer device being physically connected to an adjustable frame, whereby said adjustable frame may be positioned at a distance and orientation from said preceding conveying system so as to enable satisfactory transfer of the plurality of objects or products from said preceding conveying system to one of a plurality of other positions.

7) An apparatus according to claims 1-6 whereby the surface of said cylinder or drum may be smooth, rough, or fabricated with a regular or irregular pattern of grooves, protuberances and other suchlike features which may be employed to further enhance the transfer of said plurality of objects or products from the initial conveying position to one of a plurality of other positions 8) An apparatus according to the preceding claims whereby said cylinder or drum may be fabricated from any material possessing the qualities of being lightweight, strong and durable in addition to any such other qualities being required by any such standards, rules and regulations, legally enforceable or otherwise as required by the industry, factory, process, manufacturing, research, development or other such application said apparatus will be employed within.

9) An apparatus according to any preceding claims comprising two such object sorting systems positioned adjacent to each other, whose linear actuators can be independently controlled either by one or two computer(s) or other intelligent decision making instrument(s) or device(s) such that the said assembly of adjustable frame, cylinder or drum and drive transfer device of said first object sorting system may be in either the same position as said assembly of adjustable frame, cylinder or drum and drive transfer device of said second object sorting system, or a different position dependent on the status of the control signals issued by said one or two computer(s) or other intelligent decision making instrument(s) or device(s) 10) A method and apparatus whereby the displacement of the linear actuator of Claim 1 may be more finely controlled, by said computer or other intelligent decision making instrument or device of preceding claims, such that it can be held in a plurality of positions, and therefore can cause said assembly of said cylinder or drum and drive transfer device of preceding claims to be moved through a plurality of positions, and hence said objects or products may be sorted such that they can be transferred to a plurality of positions.

Amendments to the claims lave been filed as follows: Claims 1) Apparatus for sorting or diverting a plurality of objects from one position to one of at least two other positions, comprising: A cylindrical device; A drive transfer apparatus connected to said cylindrical device to form a driven assembly; A conveyor driven by drive means; A linkage such as a belt or chain connecting said driven assembly to said drive means, such that, in use, said driven assembly is driven by said drive means; A tensioning device which holds said linkage under tension, said tension device being adjustable to maintain tension upon the linkage; A shaft disposed along a central axis of said driven assembly, wherein said driven assembly is fixed to bearings which are free to rotate about said shaft; An adjustable frame to which the shaft is connected A plurality of linear members with slots disposed therein, the adjustable frame being constrained to move in said slots; A linear actuating device in contact with said adjustable frame; and A computer for controlling said linear actuating device.

2) A method of sorting or diverting a plurality of objects using the apparatus of claim 1, causing said linear actuating device to move in a reciprocating motion based upon a control signal issued from the computer, wherein said control signal is issued based upon the cdmparison of a first set of data collected from at least one sensor and a second set of data 3) A method according to claim 2, wherein the second set of data is classification data stored in the computer.

4) A method according to claim 3 wherein the classification data may be defined from a priori knowledge or from artificial learning algorithms such as neural networks and suchlike, and may be updated at some future date so as to maintain system performance.

5) Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the drive transfer device of Claim 1 is fabricated such that a groove or notch is cut or machined into it such that the linkage of Claim 1 may be fitted within said groove or notch, so as to allow a more secure fixing and prevent said linkage from having undesired motion which may induce disconnection of said linkage from said drive transfer device of Claim 1 6) Apparatus according to Claim I further comprising the means to vary the rotational speed of said cylinder or drum by virtue of varying the ratio of the diameter of said cylinder or drum and the diameter of said drive transfer device 7) Apparatus according to Claim 1 whereby size and dimensions of said cylinder or drum may be adjusted to suit the size, dimension and velocity of said plurality of objects or products to be sorted by said object sorting system, in order to achieve satisfactory operation of the said object sorting system.

8) Apparatus according to claim I further comprising the means to alter the position and orientation of said driven assembly of Claim 1 in relation to the preceding conveying system, by virtue of the axis of said driven assembly being physically connected to said adjustable frame of Claim 1, whereby said adjustable frame may be positioned at a distance and orientation from said preceding conveying system so as to enable satisfactory transfer of the plurality of objects or products from said preceding conveying system to one of a plurality of other positions.

9) Apparatus according to claim 1 whereby the surface of said cylinder or drum may be smooth, rough, or fabricated with a regular or irregular pattern of giooves, protuberances and other suchlike features which may be employed to further enhance the transfer of said plurality of objects or products from the initial conveying position to one of a plurality of other positions 10) Apparatus as claimed in any previous claims, comprising two such object sorting systems positioned adjacent to each other, whose linear actuators can be independently controlled either by one or two computer(s) or other intelligent decision making instrument(s) or device(s) such that the said assembly of adjustable frame, cylinder or drum and drive transfer device of said first object sorting system may be in either the same position as said assembly of adjustable frame, cylinder or drum and drive transfer device of said second object sorting system, or a different position dependent on the status of the control signals issued by said one or two computer(s) or other intelligent decision making instrument(s) or device(s) 11) Apparatus for sorting or diverting a plurality of objects from one position to another substantially as herein described above and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.