Waste recovery systems and methods

• US 10,118,199 B2
• Filed: 07/17/2017
• Issued: 11/06/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/16/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Waste Repurposing International, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Waste Repurposing International, Inc.
• Inventors: Ripley, Christopher B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Randazzo, Thomas
• Application Number:
  US15/651,258
• Publication Number:
  US 20180065155A1
• Time in Patent Office: 477 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 2501/0054 Sorting of waste or refuse
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 5/3412 according to a code applied to the object which indicates a property of the object, e.g. quality class, contents or incorrect indication sorting according to size measured by light-responsive means B07C5/10; sorting according to optical properties B07C5/342; for packages B65D79/02; for information carriers G06K7/00
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 5/342 according to optical properties, e.g. colour according to radiation transmittivity B07C5/3416
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 43/08 Control devices operated by article or material being fed, conveyed or discharged and controlling the discharging devices B65G47/42
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 47/766 Adjustable ploughs or transverse scrapers
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/52 Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 2201/06 Recognition of objects for industrial automation
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/424 Postal images, e.g. labels or addresses on parcels or postal envelopes
• CPC Class Codes: Y02W 90/00 Enabling technologies or technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions mitigation

Abstract

In certain embodiments, a system may include at least one optical sensor configured to capture optical data associated with a waste product and a processor coupled to the at least one optical sensor. The processor may be configured to determine information about the waste product based on the optical data and to selectively direct the waste product to a selected destination in response to determining the information.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

at least one optical sensor configured to capture optical data associated with a container that was discarded, the optical data including at least one of a shape of the container and an image of a label on the container;

one or more light sources;

a processor coupled to the at least one optical sensor and to the one or more light sources, the processor configured to;

automatically determine contents of the container based on the optical data;

determine a bin configured to store material similar to the contents of the container from a plurality of bins;

selectively direct placement of the container into the determined bin; and

when the contents of the container are not automatically identified, selectively illuminate at least one of the one or more light sources to indicate that a manual inspection is needed.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a scale coupled to the processor and configured to determine a weight of the container including the contents.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to:

determine a manufacturer associated with the contents of the container based on the optical data;

automatically generate a report based on the optical data; and

send the report to the manufacturer to request information about the contents.

4. The system of claim 1,

wherein the processor is configured to control the one or more light sources to illuminate the container with a symbol indicating the manual inspection is needed when the contents of the container are not automatically identified.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine when a bin of the plurality of bins is full based on a number of containers placed in the bin; and

in response to determining the bin is full, automatically generate a shipping manifest the bin for sending the bin to a sorting system.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the sorting system includes a recycling sorting system.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the sorting system includes a household hazardous waste sorting system.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein the processor is configured to determine the bin is full when a weight of the bin determined from weights of each of a plurality of containers exceeds a threshold weight.

9. The system of claim 5, wherein the processor is configured to determine the bin is full when a number of containers in the bin is greater than or equal to a threshold number of containers.

10. The system of claim 5, wherein the processor is configured to determine the bin is full when available space within the bin is less than a pre-determined threshold.

11. A device comprising:

one or more optical sensors configured to capture optical data associated with a container;

a plurality of light sources; and

a processor coupled to the one or more optical sensors and to the plurality of light sources, the processor configured to;

process the optical data;

search one or more data sources to identify contents of the container based on the optical data;

when the contents are identified, selectively direct placement of the container into a bin of a plurality of bins, the bin including a plurality of containers having similar composition to the contents of the container; and

when the contents of the container are not automatically identified, selectively illuminate at least one of the plurality of light sources to indicate that a manual inspection is needed.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to determine a bin configured to store material similar to the contents of the container from a plurality of bins.

13. The device of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to:

determine a manufacturer associated with the contents of the container based on the optical data;

automatically generate a report based on the optical data; and

send the report to the manufacturer to request information about the contents.

14. The device of claim 11, further comprising:

one or more light sources coupled to the processor; and

wherein the processor is configured to control the one or more light sources to illuminate the container with a symbol indicating a manual inspection is needed when the contents of the container are not automatically identified.

15. The device of claim 11, further comprising a scale coupled to the processor and configured to determine a weight of the container including the contents.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein the processor is configured to determine the bin is full when a weight of the bin determined from weights of each of a plurality of containers exceeds a threshold weight.

17. The device of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine when a bin of the plurality of bins is full based on a number of containers placed in the bin; and

in response to determining the bin is full, automatically generate a shipping manifest the bin for sending the bin to a sorting system.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein the sorting system includes one of a recycling sorting system and a household hazardous waste sorting system.

19. The device of claim 17, wherein the processor is configured to determine the bin is full when a number of containers in the bin is greater than or equal to a threshold number of containers.

20. A device comprising:

a plurality of optical sensors;

a plurality of light sources;

an interface configured to communicate with a printer;

a processor coupled to the plurality of optical sensors and to the plurality of light sources, the processor configured to;

receive optical data associated with a container from the plurality of optical sensors;

automatically determine, from the optical data, contents of the container by searching one or more databases based on at least one of a shape of the container and information derived from a label on the container;

when the contents of the container are not automatically identified, selectively illuminate at least one of the plurality of light sources to indicate that a manual inspection is needed;

when the contents are automatically identified, automatically direct the container to a bin of a plurality of bins configured to store containers storing compositions similar to the contents;

determine the bin is full based on at least one of a number of containers in the bin and a weight of the bin; and

automatically send data to the printer to generate a shipping manifest for shipping the bin to a sorting facility.