Household hazardous waste recovery

• US 10,449,572 B2
• Filed: 12/16/2015
• Issued: 10/22/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/16/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Waste Repurposing International, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Waste Repurposing International, Inc.
• Inventors: Ripley, Christopher Barnard
• Primary Examiner(s): Randazzo, Thomas
• Application Number:
  US14/971,718
• Publication Number:
  US 20170174439A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,406 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 2501/0054 Sorting of waste or refuse
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 3/06 Linear sorting machines in which articles are removed from a stream at selected points
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 3/10 Apparatus characterised by the means used for detection ofthe destination methods or arrangements for reading and recognising printed or written characters or geometric figures G06V30/00
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 3/18 Devices or arrangements for indicating destination, e.g. by code marks applying data to information carriers G06K1/12
• 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: B29B 17/0047 Compacting complete waste articles
• CPC Class Codes: B29B 17/0052 Hollow articles, e.g. bottles
• CPC Class Codes: B29B 17/02 Separating plastics from other materials
• CPC Class Codes: B65F 1/0053 Combination of several receptacles
• CPC Class Codes: B65F 2001/008 Means for automatically selecting the receptacle in which refuse should be placed
• 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

Abstract

In certain embodiments, a system includes at least one optical sensor configured to capture one or more optical data associated with packaging of 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 send a signal corresponding to the information to one of a destination device and a controller based on the determined information.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a plurality of optical sensors configured to capture optical data associated with packaging of a container of a product of an unknown type that was previously discarded, the optical data including at least one image of the container;

a scale configured to determine a weight of the container; and

a processor coupled to the plurality of optical sensors and the scale, the processor to;

determine information about the product based on the optical data by searching one or more data sources to automatically determine a composition of the product within the container;

selectively sort the container into a selected bin of a plurality of bins based on the composition, the selected bin configured to store a plurality of containers, each of the plurality of containers containing a composition corresponding to the composition of the product;

add the weight of the container to a weight associated with the selected bin; and

send a signal corresponding to one of a destination device and a controller based on the determined information.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising an actuator control circuit coupled to the processor and configured to adjust a position of an actuator arm in response to the signal to direct the container into the selected bin.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a memory coupled to the processor and configured to store data about each of the plurality of bins including information about each of the containers stored in each of the plurality of bins; and

wherein the information includes the weight of each of the containers.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to automatically determine the information by processing the optical data to extract text data and by searching one or more data sources based on the extracted text data.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the processor is configured to generate a graphical user interface (GUI) including the information and at least a portion of the optical data and to provide the GUI to a destination device to allow an operator to verify the information.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to generate a graphical user interface (GUI) including data about the container and the product, the GUI including at least a portion of the optical data and including text data, the GUI including one or more user-selectable options accessible by a user to update the data associated with the waste product.

7. A device comprising:

one or more optical sensors configured to capture optical data associated with a container of a waste product previously disposed of as household hazardous waste, the optical data including an image of the container including packaging applied to the container;

a scale configured to determine a weight of the container;

a memory configured to store identification data associated with a plurality of household hazardous waste products and to store processor-executable instructions; and

a processor coupled to the scale, the one or more optical sensors, and to the memory, the processor to execute the processor-executable instructions to;

determine product data from the optical data associated with one of a shape of the container and the packaging and to search one or more data sources to identify a composition of the waste product within the container based on the product data,

capture images of the of the container and the packaging in response to failure of the identification and to generate an output signal configured to control a sorting operation to store the container into a selected bin of products of unknown compositions for subsequent sorting,

receive updated data identifying the composition of the waste product from a data source;

selectively redirect the container from the selected bin of products of unknown compositions to a second selected bin of products of compositions similar to the composition of the product based on the updated data; and

add the weight of the container of the waste product to a weight associated with the second selected bin.

8. The device of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to:

automatically generate a graphical user interface including at least a portion of the optical data and other data about the waste product; and

send the graphical user interface to a destination device.

9. The device of claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to perform optical character recognition operations on the optical data to determine text data from the container that is associated with the waste product.

10. The device of claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to determine bar code data from the optical data and to search a database for the bar code data to identify the waste product.

11. The device of claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to generate a report including the optical data and at least one of text data derived from the optical data and text data provided by an operator.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein the device further includes a network interface configured to communicate data to a destination device through a communications network.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to send the report to the destination device through the communications network.

14. The device of claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to receive information corresponding to the waste product from one or more data sources, to correlate the received information to the one or more images, and to append the identification data in the memory to include at least a portion of the one or more images and the received information.

15. The device of claim 14, wherein the processor is configured to receive optical data corresponding to the container and the waste product and to sort the the container into a selected storage bin based on the received optical data.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein the processor is configured to determine a weight of the selected storage bin based on the weight of each container stored within the selected storage bin, and to generate a shipping manifest for the selected storage bin.

17. The device of claim 16, wherein the processor generates the shipping manifest when a total weight of the selected storage bin is greater than a pre-determined threshold.

18. A system comprising:

an interface configured to communicate with a network;

one or more optical sensors configured to capture optical data associated with packaging of a container of a product of unknown composition that was previously disposed of as household hazardous waste;

a scale configured to determine a weight of the container;

a processor coupled to the interface, the scale, and the one or more optical sensors; and

a memory accessible to the processor and configured to store instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to;

determine information about the product based on the optical data by searching optical information corresponding to a plurality of household hazardous waste products in a database to identify a match based on a shape of the container;

retrieve information related to a composition of the product within the container from the database in response to identifying the match;

selectively sort the container into one of a first bin of products of similar composition into a second bin of products of unknown composition based on a result of the search; and

add the weight of the container of the waste product to a weight associated with the one of the first bin and the second bin.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the memory further includes instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:

perform optical character recognition operations on the optical data to determine text data;

automatically search one or more data sources based on the text data to determine composition data; and

automatically update the database to include the optical data and the composition data.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein, after updating the database, the instructions may cause the processor to redirect the container from the second bin of products of unknown composition to a selected bin of products of compositions similar to a composition of the product based on the composition data, the selected bin selected from a plurality of bins including the second bin.