Flexible optical sorting of hollow bodies

摘要

The invention relates to a flexible system for the sorting of hollow bodies. The hollow bodies, which are individualised on a conveyor belt and transported without slip, first pass a station having image-transmitting sensors from which, using methods of image processing, shape features and colour features are derived, as are the presence of printing, closure caps and jars. The separation of glass and plastic is carried out using the common evaluation of shape signals and the weight determined by means of a balance. The material types are determined using non-contacting infrared, microwave or X-ray sensors, whose measuring field is deflected by the image processing to locations not disturbed by printing. The hollow bodies are moved on the belt in a slip-free manner and are sorted out by a series of sorting switches into containers, the sorting criteria being established flexibly by the user from the measured sensor signals and being assigned in each case to a sorting station.