Granted Patent B2

US 12,522,442 · App. 18/491,683 · Granted Jan 13, 2026

Inventors: Lakshmi Chellappan (Markle, IN); Manuel Gerardo Garcia, Jr. (Austin, TX); Hoang Triet Giang Le (Fort Wayne, IN); Casey Hughlett (Fort Wayne, IN)

Assignee: SORTERA TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

B65G43/08B07C5/342B07C5/346G01N23/223G06V10/255G06V10/764B65G2203/044B65G2811/0673G01N2223/643

Abstract

Claims (39)

1 . A method comprising:

capturing information associated with a material piece by a sensor system;

classifying the material piece as a function of the captured information to produce a first classification;

capturing a visual image of the material piece;

analyzing the captured visual image to determine if the material piece has a thin strip shape; and

changing the first classification to a second classification when (i) the first classification is that the material piece is composed of an aluminum alloy with a relatively low copper content and (ii) the material piece is determined to have a thin strip shape,

wherein the second classification is that the material piece is composed of an aluminum alloy with a relatively high copper content.

2 . The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the first classification is that the material piece is composed of either a 6xx2 aluminum alloy or a 5xx3 aluminum alloy, and wherein the second classification is that the material piece is composed of a 6xx3 aluminum alloy.

3 . The method as recited in claim 2 , further comprising sorting the material piece as a function of the second classification.

4 . The method as recited in claim 2 , wherein the sensor system is an x-ray fluorescence (“XRF”) system and the captured information is an XRF spectrum.

5 . The method as recited in claim 4 , wherein the thin strip shape is defined as having a cross-sectional dimension less than a diameter of an x-ray beam spot produced by an x-ray emitter of the XRF system.

6 . The method as recited in claim 4 , wherein the thin strip shape is defined as a material piece having an elongated shape with a length of the material piece that is substantially greater than a width of the material piece.

7 . The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein an aluminum alloy with a relatively high copper content has a copper content greater than 0.2%, wherein an aluminum alloy with a relatively low copper content has a copper content less than 0.2%.

8 . A material handling system comprising:

a conveyor system configured to convey a mixture of material pieces;

a sensor configured to capture one or more characteristics of each of the mixture of material pieces;

first circuitry configured to classify certain ones of the mixture of material pieces as belonging in a first class of materials based on the one or more captured characteristics of the mixture of material pieces;

a vision system configured to capture visual images of each of the mixture of material pieces;

second circuitry configured to analyze the captured visual images to determine which of the material pieces have a thin strip shape;

third circuitry configured to change a classification of a material piece as belonging in the first class of materials to a classification that the material piece belongs in a second class of materials when (i) the first class of materials is low copper content aluminum alloys and (ii) the material piece is determined to have a thin strip shape, wherein the second class of materials is high copper content aluminum alloys; and

a sorter configured to sort the material piece from the first mixture of materials as a function of the change of the classification of the material piece.

9 . The material handling system as recited in claim 8 , wherein the sensor is an XRF system, and wherein the one or more captured characteristics are captured in an XRF spectrum.

10 . The material handling system as recited in claim 9 , wherein the first class of materials is either a 6xx2 aluminum alloy or a 5xx3 aluminum alloy, and wherein the second class of materials is a 6xx3 aluminum alloy.

11 . The material handling system as recited in claim 10 , wherein the thin strip shape is defined as having a cross-sectional dimension less than a diameter of an x-ray beam spot produced by an x-ray emitter of the XRF system.

12 . The material handling system as recited in claim 10 , wherein the thin strip shape is defined as a material piece having an elongated shape with a length of the material piece that is substantially greater than a width of the material piece.

13 . The material handling system as recited in claim 10 , wherein high copper content aluminum alloys have a copper content greater than 0.2%.

14 . A process for sorting material pieces comprising:

conveying a heterogeneous mixture of material pieces past an XRF system and a vision system;

capturing an XRF spectrum associated with a first one of the material pieces by the XRF system;

classifying the first one of the material pieces as a function of the captured XRF spectrum to produce a first classification that the first one of the material pieces is composed of a low copper content aluminum alloy;

capturing a visual image of the first one of the material pieces with the vision system;

analyzing the captured visual image to determine if the first one of the material pieces is a thin strip material piece;

changing the first classification to a second classification when the first one of the material pieces is determined to be a thin strip material piece, wherein the second classification is that the first one of the material pieces is composed of a high copper content aluminum alloy; and

sorting the first one of the material pieces as a function of the second classification.

15 . The process as recited in claim 14 , wherein the first classification is that the first one of the material pieces is composed of a 6xx2 aluminum alloy, and wherein the second classification is that the first one of the material pieces is composed of a 6xx3 aluminum alloy.

16 . The process as recited in claim 14 , wherein the first classification is that the first one of the material pieces is composed of a 5xx3 aluminum alloy, and wherein the second classification is that the first one of the material pieces is composed of a 6xx3 aluminum alloy.

17 . The process as recited in claim 14 , wherein the thin strip material piece has a cross-sectional dimension less than a diameter of an x-ray beam spot produced by an x-ray emitter of the XRF system.

18 . The process as recited in claim 17 , wherein the thin strip material piece has an elongated shape with a length of the thin strip material piece that is substantially greater than a width of the thin strip material piece.

19 . The process as recited in claim 14 , wherein the high copper content aluminum alloy has a copper content greater than 0.2%.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (4)

References Cited (185)