Automatic color and grain sorting of materials
First Claim
1. Apparatus for the automatic color sorting of a part having top and bottom faces to be color and grain sorted, comprising:
- a materials conveyor for moving the part;
top and bottom color cameras positioned to view the top and bottom faces, respectively, of the part, said top and bottom cameras defining fields of view through which the top and bottom faces pass and outputting color image data representing the colors of the top and bottom faces;
top and bottom light sources positioned to illuminate the top and bottom faces, respectively, of the part;
a power supply providing power to said top and bottom light sources; and
computer means for analyzing the data from said top and bottom camera, said computer means including color sorting means for performing color sorting in real time with parts moving on said conveyor past said top and bottom cameras, said color sorting means including means for computing a black/white histogram of a part face based on the data analysis, and means for applying a character mark algorithm to the black/white histogram to find a threshold value for eliminating the effects of character marks from a part face for use in the color sorting of the part faces.
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Abstract
A system for automatically color and grain sorting materials includes a pair of color cameras positioned to view the top and bottom faces, respectively, of each part. A computer analyzes the data from the top and bottom cameras, and also controls the voltage on the input line to each camera. Camera controllers accept analog data from the camera heads and digitize it so that the information can be passed to the computer for analysis. A white target inserted into the field of view of each camera allows the computer to collect the data needed to do "shading compensation" on the collected color image data. Three basic categories of algorithms are used in the sorting system in accordance with the present invention: (1) training algorithms used to teach the system to identify the color and grain classes that are to be used during the sorting process, (2) real-time operation algorithms which perform the color and grain sorts with parts moving through the system at the desired throughput rate, and (3) utility algorithms which allow operators to display images, perform system tests, etc. In the training and sorting algorithms, the computer produces a black/white histogram of a part face based on the data analysis, and applies a character mark algorithm to the black/white histogram to find a threshold value for eliminating the effects of character marks from the color and grain classification and sorting of the part.
94 Citations
55 Claims
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1. Apparatus for the automatic color sorting of a part having top and bottom faces to be color and grain sorted, comprising:
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a materials conveyor for moving the part; top and bottom color cameras positioned to view the top and bottom faces, respectively, of the part, said top and bottom cameras defining fields of view through which the top and bottom faces pass and outputting color image data representing the colors of the top and bottom faces; top and bottom light sources positioned to illuminate the top and bottom faces, respectively, of the part; a power supply providing power to said top and bottom light sources; and computer means for analyzing the data from said top and bottom camera, said computer means including color sorting means for performing color sorting in real time with parts moving on said conveyor past said top and bottom cameras, said color sorting means including means for computing a black/white histogram of a part face based on the data analysis, and means for applying a character mark algorithm to the black/white histogram to find a threshold value for eliminating the effects of character marks from a part face for use in the color sorting of the part faces. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method of automatically color sorting a part having opposite top and bottom faces to be color sorted, comprising the steps of:
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providing top and bottom color cameras positioned to view the top and bottom faces, respectively, of a part, the top and bottom cameras defining fields of view through which the top and bottom faces pass; illuminating the fields of view; moving the part past the top and bottom cameras so that the top and bottom faces pass through the fields of view of the top and bottom cameras; using the top and bottom cameras to output color image data representing the colors of the top and bottom faces; computing black/white histograms of each of the top and bottom faces based on the color image data output by the cameras; applying a character mark algorithm to the black/white histograms of each of the top and bottom faces to produce a threshold value for eliminating the effects of character marks from a part face for use in the color sorting of each of the top and bottom faces; eliminating the effects of character mark from the data from the top and bottom cameras using the threshold value produced by the character mark algorithm for eliminating the effects of character marks from a part face; determining the color class of the top and bottom faces based on the data from the top and bottom cameras; and determining which of the top and bottom faces is the better looking based on the determination of the color class of the top and bottom faces. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A method of automatically color sorting a part having opposite top and bottom faces to be color sorted, comprising the steps of:
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providing a color sorting system including; top and bottom color cameras positioned to view the top and bottom faces, respectively, of a part and for outputting color image data representing the colors of the top and bottom faces; and processing means for processing the data from the top and bottom cameras; training the system to identify a plurality of color classes that are to be used during color sorting; collecting a color image of the part face using the cameras; computing black/white histograms of each of the top and bottom faces based on the color image data output by the cameras; applying a character mark algorithm to the black/white histograms of each of the top and bottom faces to produce a threshold value for eliminating the effects of character marks from a part face for use in the color sorting of each of the top and bottom faces; eliminating the effects of character marks from the data from the top and bottom cameras using the threshold value for eliminating the effects of character marks from a part face; and performing color sorting with parts moving through the system using the data from the top and bottom cameras, based on the color classes identified during said training step. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
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Specification