IE33050L - Apparatus for sorting bottles - Google Patents

Abstract

1,228,815. Photo-electric bottle sorting. BARRY-WEHMILLER MACHINERY CO. Ltd. April 23, 1969 [April 19, 1968], No.18561/68. Heading G1A. In an arrangement for sorting from a group of bottles those of a particular colour and/or bearing a permanent label and/or having particular dimensions, the bottles are removed from a conveyer and passed through a test position by a star wheel to which they are held by solenoid controlled suckers the suction of which is controllably released to effect the bottle discharge and thus the sorting. At the test position light is sent up through a bottle from a window in a platform and the presence of a permanent label is detected by photo-cells distributed around the trunk of the bottle and responsive to the diffuse light reflected by a label. The colour of the bottle is monitored by a fitter and photo-cell in a head above the bottle and dimensions of height neck and trunk are monitored by feelers which control the movement of a pair of apertured blades in a further photo-cell light path. The star wheels may be changed to cater for different sizes of bottle and micrometer adjustment of the blades to give aperture coincidence for a different size of bottle may be provided, the latter incorporating, if desired, means for altering the size of an aperture to alter the tolerance. A transistor control circuit controlling the suction valve solenoid includes an "AND" gate to which a bottle presence signal and one or more bottle characteristic signals are applied, and a plurality of detector circuits which may be switched to accept or reject particular characteristics connected to provide the second "AND" input through "OR" gates. The switches are actuated by the insertion of a programme card. [GB1228815A]