Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~49333
Background of the Invention
This invention relates to systems for receiving and evalu-
ating empty beverage containers of a type known in the trade as
returnable. These are containers, usually glass bottles, for
which the beverage purchaser is charged a deposit fee at the time
of purchase. ~hen the purchaser returns the empty container to
a designated redemption center, the deposit fee is refunded. Most
beverage sales outlets also operate redemption centers, and the
operation of these centers is usually a troublesome matter whiah
takes clerks away from other more profitable tasks.
Beverages are commonly sold in containers of many different
sizes, and in cartons containing groups of 5iX or eight such
containers. The customer may return the containers either indivi-
dually or in cartons and may mix different types of containers in
a single carton. It is the task of the redemption center clerk to
sort or classify the containers in accordance with their deposit
values and to calculate the refund which is due. The clerk may
make an actual refund or may give the customer a refund slip which
can be redeemed at another location. This operation is so unprofit-
able that many supermarkets simply operate on an honor system,whereby customers stack their empties at a receiving location and
report the return to a checkout clerk, who makes the appropriate
refund.
An alternative to the above described redemption techniques
is an automatic system such as a system of the type described in
Planke U.S. Patent 3,955,179. This system has a pair of conveyors,
one for individual empty bottles and one for cartons. In operation
the customer places the returned bottles and cartons on the
appropriate conveyor for transportation through an illumination
station. At the illumination station the containers are illumi-
nated by a beam of collimated light, and a shadow of the containers
is projected against an array of photodetectors. The containers
are identified by their shadows.
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q'his iden~ification results in control si~nals for a
logic nctwork~ ~thich computes the amount of the refund
and controls the printing of a refund slip by an
associated printer.
Sumn~L Of The Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus for
receiving individua] empty beverage containers and cartons
of empty beverage containers on a conveyor and handling
the containers for refund purposes. An oscillating
alignment arm urges the individual containers and the
- cartons into single file progression for passage through
an illuminating station. A switch arrangement recognizes
cartons for conditioning identification means. An arrange-
ment of photocells within the illumination station transmit
other signals to the identification means as a result of
which properly filled cartons are distinguished from
improperly filled cartons. At the sarne time the return
value of all empty containers is determined. A paddle
mechanism moves the cartons off the conveyor to a separ-
ating station. The paddle mechanism includes a seriespaddles swung in ferris ~7heel fashion upon a pair of
chains. An arm and track arrangement provide the
necessary support for maintaining the paddles firmly
against the cartons. At the separating station a roller
arrangement transports properly filled cartons in one
direction for storage. Improperly filled cartons are
transported in another direction for return to the
customer.
Brief Description Of The Drawin~s
-
Fig. 1 is a schematic drawing of the-mechanism
of this inv~ntion.
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Fig. 2 is a plan vicw of container handling
mechanism in accvrdancc with this invention.
Fig. 3 i5 a 3~hm~tie illustration of container
movement during reco~nition by a row of photocells and
S associated circuitry.
Figs. 4A and 4B is a schematic drawing of
registrat]~on circuitry.
Figs. 5A and 5B is a schematic drawing of carton
latch circuitry.
Figs. 6A and 6s are a schematic drawiny of money
select circuitry.
Figs. 7A and 7B are a schem~tic drawing of cal-
culation circuitry.
Description Of The Preferred Embodiment
-
1$ A conveyor arrangement lO in accordance with
this invention may be constructed as schematically illus-
trated in Fig. l. The arrangement includes a conveyor
belt ll, with associated driving elements, aligning
mechanism as indicated generally at 15 and a paddle
arrangement as indicated generally at 12. The cooperating
operation of conveyor belt 11, paddle arrangement 12,
and aligning mechanism 15 can best be understood by ref-
erence to Fig. 2.
Movement of belt 11 is initiated by pushing a
start button on a control panel tnot illustrated). A
customer who ~ishes to obtain a refund for empty beverage
containers pushes the start button and thereafter loads
individual empty containers 23 and cartons of empty
containers 24 upon belt ll. Loading is performed at a
receiving station, which is separated from the major
portions of conveyor lO by a wall 25.
After being loaded upon bel~ ll, individual con-
tainers 23 and cartons 24 are met by a friction surface
26 on arm 27 of aligniny mechanism 15. A ratchet arrange-
ment causes arm 27 to oscillate back and forth as illus-
trated generally by the arrow 28, and this urges the
containers and cartons sidcwardly against sideboard 14.
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Siclcboard 1~ has a friction surface, ~Ihich retards forward
movement of the containers and cartons. The containers
and cartons are trapped against sidcboard 1~ and behind
arm 27 until released by outward movement of the arm.
A blade 29 is pivotally attached to arm 27 and is urged
against thc cartons and containers by a spring mechanism
30. This produces separation between the cartons and
containers in the direction of belt movement.
After movement ~ast aligning mechanism 15, the
containers and cartons pass a series of microswitches
(not illus~rated), which are positioned so as to be
actuated only by cartons. Thereafter. the containers and
cartons pass into an illumination region between an illum-
inatin~ apparatus 16 and a series of pho~osensors 18.
Illuminatin~ apparatus 16 generates a series of illumin-
ating beams 17, which are directed angularly with respect
to the direction transverse to the direction of conveyor
movement. The angle between the beam direction and the
transverse direction is preferably in the order of about
18 degrees, so that the identification circuits can
recognize pairs of containers wit~in a carton. Each beam
17 is directed toward an individual photocell 31 (Fig. 3~,
and the beams are prefera~ly beams of collimated infrared
light produced by TIL 31 infrared light sources and
collimating lenses. Prefera~ly each beam 17 has a diameter
in the order of about one-quarter inch.
After passage through 'the illuminating station
the containers and cartons pass under paddle arrangement
12. Paddle arrangement 12 includes a series of paddles
13, which may be actuated to move in the direction indi-
cated by the arrow 21. Paddle-arrangement 12 is actuated
whenever a carton 24 is positioned thereunder. As men-
tioned previously, the system is conditioned by a series
of switches to dis,criminate between cartons and individual
containers. Thus paddle arrangement 12 is never actuatcd
~uring passage of an individual container thereunde'r', so
that individual containers are carried along to a bottle
,
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storage axea.
~ hen padd]~ arrangement 12 is actuated, a pad-
dle 13 is brought into contact with the side of a carton,
and the carton is pushed transversely onto a separating
station 19. Paddlcs 13 swing freely in ferris wheel fash-
ion on chains 51, but during the lower quadr.lnt of their
movement, they are held rigidly downward by arms 52 which
include a roller 53 ~or bearing against a track 54. This
enables the paddles to push sidewardly against cartons.
Separating station 19 comprises a series of rol-
lers 20, which are driven either for~ardly or reversely
by a drive motor 22. If the system l;ecognizes the carton
as being properly loaded, then drive motor 22 drives rol-
lers forwardly, and the carton is accepted. If the carton
is improperly loaded with bottles of different size or
has empty cells, then motor 22 drives rollers 22 reversely,
and the carton is rejected.
- The technique for identifying a container for
refund purposes can be understood by reference to Fig. 3.
As the belt 33 carries a container 23 in front of photo-
sensor~array 18, the light falling upon the vertically
arranged ro~ of photocells 31 is periodically blocked.
Each photocell 31 has an output line 32, which transmits
an electrical signal corresponding to light and dark
conditions at the photocell. sy way o~ example, the
illustrated photocell 31a may be the first photocell to
sense the presence of the container 23. This causes a
transition in the output signal from line 32a as indic-
ated at 33. A second photocell 31b has a light to dark
transition somewhat later in time, followed at a still
later time by a darX to light transition, both transitions
being indicated by the output signal on line 32b. The
. latter transition on the output signal from line 32b is
indicated by the reference numeral 34. Lines 32 are
connected through a series of gates to diferent ones
of a plurality of registration circuits. For processing
the container illustrated in Fig; 3, one such registration
circuit is connected to lines 32a and 32b and is config-
ured in such a manner as to generate a re~istration pulse
if the transition 34 occurs after time tl and before
time t2. The time period between time tl and t2 is
established by counting a series of cloc~ pu]ses 35 gen-
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erated by a encoder 36 arranged for viewing an optical disc37 mounted on the drive motor 38. Output pulses from
encoder 36 are carried by line 39.
It will be seen that clock pulses 36 occur in
synchronism with the actual physical movement of container
23. In a typical case such an encoding arrangement may
generate a new clock pulse 35 each time container 23 moves
a distance of 0.01 inches. Thus by counting the clock
pulses 35 the registration circuitry responds to beverage
containers having a particular horizontal dimension within
some predetermined dimensional range. For instance, a
particular registration circuit may be configured for
recognizing bottles having an illustrated dimension X equal
to 2.5 inches. A bottle meeting this criterion would cause
the transition 34 to occur on line 32b at a point in time
determined by counting 250 of the clock pulses 35. In
order to allow for some error a registration "window" of
perhaps 20 clock pulses might be employed. This would
cause generation of a registration signal for bottles
having a dimension X ranging between 2.4 inches and 2.6
inches. It is apparent that a system constructed in
accordance with this invention could be made to recognize a
great many different registration conditions.
Electrical circuitry for controlling the apparatus
of Figs. 1 and 2 and generating container value signals is
illustrated in Figs. 4A, 4B, 5A, 5B, 6A, 6B, 7~ and 7B. In
addition to the illustrated circuitry the apparatus
utilizes fairly conventional power supplies, display
controls, transmission lines, clock signal generators,
photosensor drivers, and amplifiers. Table I lists circuit
types for integrated circuits illustrated in the detailed
electrical schematics presented herein. The listed numbers
are standard part numbers which may be utilized for
purchasing CMOS integrated circuits from any one of a
number of manufacturers. For instance, the circuits may be
purchased from Motorola Semiconductor Products, Inc., in
which case the order should include the letters "MC"
immediately preceding the part numbers.
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T~ Bl,E_I .
~eferenc~ Numeral Ci.~cuit Ty~e
401 4013
402 1~557
40 ~ ~ 4013
405 14557
406 14557
1040 9 1 ~ 557
410 4013
411 ~013
' ~ 4013
15 413 14528
501. ' ,4076
502 4076
503 4013
205054 l4o4lo
506 4013
507 4013
601 4008
25 602 4008
60i 4008
604 . 4076
660o56 4407766
6078 ~ ~ . 4029
609 ; 4029
701 ~ - 4013
704 4013
706 4013
70~ 4013
40 708 440013
710 4013
. 711 ~013
712 4013
45 713 4029
714 4013
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Figs. ~ and ~ illustrat:e the registration
circuitry, wllich generates the above mentloned regis-
tration pulses. The circuitry of ~`iys. ~A and 4B gen-
erates a registration signal for a container having a
particular dimension within sorne predetermined range or
for different eontainers haviny the speeified dirnension
within that ranye. Typically empty eontainers can be
grouped in groups haviny some eommon dimensional eharac-
~eristic within a relatively small dimensional ranye and
a common refund value. The eircuitry of Fiys. 4A and
4B would yenerate a registration siynal for all such con-
tainers, and this reyistration siynal would appear at
output terminals 6 and 7 of inteyrated circuit 413. Con-
tainers having a different common dimensional characteristic
are identified by registration eireuitry similar to the
eircuitry of Figs. 4A and 4B but proyrammed in a different
manner as hereinafter described. ~dditional registration
eireuits are provided for reeognizing pairs of containers
positioned within cartons. For sueh pairs of eontainers
the reeognition count beyins at the leading edge of one
contaiher and terminates at the trailing edge of the other
eontainer. This type of reeognition or registration is
performed by observiny those portions of the eontainer
pairs whieh extend upwardly above the sides of the carton.
Conveyor clock pulses 35 are reeeived at termina].
J of the reyistration eireuitry and are appIied to the
clock terminals of eounters 402 and 403. Counting of such
clock pulses is enabled by a signal at terminal B, and
this signal may be the transition 33 appearing on line 32a
as described above with referenee to Fig. 3. The signal
level at terminal C also controls eonveyor clock eounting.
Terminal C is eonnected to that one of photocells 31 which
is loeated at a heiyht imrnediately over the top of the
eontainer. The photocell which is eonnected to terminal
C must be illurninated to order for eountiny to be enabled.
It will be seen that eounter 402 is connected to
a counter ~05 in serial fashion, so that an output
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appears at tcrminal 10 of counter 405 after a predetermined
number o conveyor clock pulses have been counted. This
count, which takes ylace during a time period tl as illus-
trated in Fig. 3, is controlled by presetti.ny the counting
control terminals o~ counters 402 and 405.
When the preset count is reached, flip-flop 409
is set, and counter 407 is enabled to bcgin counting
conveyor clock pulses. Counter 407 is set to count
a predetermined number of conveyor clock pulses corres-
ponding to the desired registration window. Flip-flop
409 is reset when this predetermined count has been
reached.
While clock 407 is counting, input terminal 5
of flip-flop 411 is HI, so that the flip-flop is condit-
ioned to respond to a signal transition, such as thetransition 34, appearing on input terminal H. If the
signal transition occurs at terminal H during the regis-
tration window, then flip-flop ~ is triggered to produce
an output for application to gate portion 416 of inte-
grated circuit 413. Integrated circuit 413 producesregistration output signals on its N and P terminals.
Six terminals 421 through 426 are provided for
added counting flexibility. For a simple registration,
as above described, a jumper is attached between
terminals 421 and 423, and another jumper is attached
between terminals 425 and 426. Different jumper con-
nections may be made in order to enable registration
on the basis of photocell transitions appearing at both
of terminals D and H. In the case where photocell
transi~ions appearing at terminal D are to be recognized,
counters 403, 406 and 408 are utilized. These counters
work in a manner similar to counters 402, 405, and 407
for controlling flip-flops 410 and 412. If it is desired
to condition the registration signal output upon occur-
rence of appropriately timed signal transitions at both
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of terlllin.lls D and ~l., thcn a jurnper is placed betwe~n
terminals 422 and 423 and another jumper is placed between
terminals ~25 and 426. A sequential count registration
condition can be made by placing a jumper hetween term-
inals 421 and ~23 and another jumper between terminals424 and 426.
When reyistration signals are generated by the
registration circuitry, t~ley are applied to input term~
inals for money select circuitry as illustratcd in Figs.
6A and 6B. Connections to this circuitry in general
depend upon the types of containers expected. For instance,
in a market area wherein there are only lD cent bottles
and 20 cent bottles to be received, the money select cir-
cuitry may be connected to receive registration inputs
only from terminals M-l through M-4 as illustrated.
Terminal M-l might be connected to receive registration
signals from registration circuitry which recognizes in-
dividual 10 cent bottles, while terminal M~2 might be
connected to receive registration signals only from
circuitry which recognizes pairs of 10 cent bottles
arranged side by side in cartons. Similarly, input
terminals M-3 and M-4 may~receive reyistration signals
for individual 20 cent bottles and 20 cent bottle pairs
respectively.
If 10 cent bottles are returned in a six bottle
caxton, three registration signals will appear at term-
inal M-2, and three 20 cent counts will be made by the
system. If a single 10 cent bottle is reyistered, then
a single 20 oent count is made. The calculation cir-
cuitry of Figs. 7~ and 7B perform a division by 2 in
order to reduce such a single 20 cent count to a 10 cent
output. 20 cent bottles are handled in a simi ar manner.
For the above example money counts are added
by integrated circuits 602 and 605 and later counted
.;.
~ . .
1~49;~
down sericllly through a counting chain comprising counters
607, 608 and 609. ~or thc described arrangemellt inte-
grated circuits 601, 603, 604 and 606 are not utilized.
Counting of the stored money value is initiated by a
5 signal at line 611, ~hich is generated by the calculation
circuitry of Fic3s. 7h and 7s and appears as an output
at line 715 thereof~ The money select circuitry counts
100 RHz clock pulses appearing at line 610, and when the
countdown is completed a DONE signal appears at line 612.
Figs. SA and 5B illustrate the carton latch
circuitry, which conditions other circuitxy for recognizing
and handling carton registratjon info'rmation. Carton
recognition information is provided by three microswitches
located on th~ conveyor'and by the lower most o photo-
cells 31. The three microswitches are il]ustrated
schematically on Fig. 5A as swi~ches 50S, 509 and 510.
The input signal from the lowermost photocell is received
by the carton latch circuitry on line 512. 'During a
condition when the lower most photocell is darkened and
switches 508 through 510 are closed, an output from
gate 5il sets flip-flop 504. ~t the same time gate 515
is activated to permit later shutdown of the system.
When flip-flop 504 is set, the reset output at
pin 12 enables counter 505 to ~egin counting convey'or
, 25 cloc~ pulses 35 received on line 513. The output count
from counter 505 is applied to a small bottle gate 516
and a large bottle gate 517. When the output count from
counter 505 indicates a aistance equal to the maximum
dimension of a pair of small bottles~ then gate 516
~nables another gate 518. If at that time gate 518 is
also sensing a small bottle output signal from pin 2
of flip-flop 506, then flip-flop 507 i5 set to provide
failure signals on lines 519 and 520. Similarly gate
517 creates large bottle'failure signals through gate
521 and flip-flop 507. This enables the circui,try
of Figs. 5~ and 5B to provide a failure signal
on lines 519 and 520 if a carton is detected and one
~L49~33
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of the carton cells is ~Inpty.
I~egistration signals for bottle pairs aîe trans~
mit-ted frol~ the rcgistratioll circui.ts 1-o the carton
latch circuitry on lines 522 through 528. ~egi.stration
circuits fo~ lclxge bottle pairs ar.c conn~cted to lines
522 througll 52~, while registration circui.ts for small
bottle pairs are connected to lines 525 through 528.
Signals on lines 522 through 528 control the setting of
flip-flop 506 through gate 529. Each time the carton
latch circuitry recei~es a reg.istrati.on signal or a
bottle pair (or a single bottle in special type cartons)
an output pulse is provided on line 5r30, provided,
however, that no failure signal has previously been
generated. Whenever conditions are met for generating
a carton ~ailure signal, a signal is also generated on
line 531 or inhibiting latches 501 and 502 and preventing
transmission of registration signals by line 530.
The carton latch circuitry also utilizes a
carton registration delay signal, which it receives on
line 532 and a master clear signal, which it receives
on line 514.
When a carton failure signal appears on line 519,
it is transmitted to the calculation circuitry of Figs.
7A and 7s for reception on line 716. The failure signal
on line 520 is transmitted to other circuitry which con-
trols the operation of reversing motor 22.
The calculation circuitry of Figs. 7A and 7B
generally control5othercircuitry, not illustrated,
which operate displays, printers, coin changers, or the
like. The output signal or controlling such peripheral
equipment appears as a series of pulses on line 717.
Line 717 transmits one pulse for each cent to be printed,
indicated or di.splayed. The calculation circuitry is
able to generate the correct number of pulses by counting
master clock pulses (100 Kllz) on line 718. The counting
is carried out synchronously with the money count in;.thc
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money select circuitry. ~s statecl previously the money
sclcct COUllt is initiated by a signal on ]ine 715 of
the calculation circuitry and terminates when counters
607 through 609 have been counted down. rrhe DONE signal,
which appears on line 612 to signify end of count, is
transn~itted to the calculation circuitry for reception
by line 719.
The calculation circuitry receives other input
signals on lines 720 through 724. The signai on line
720 is a delayed registration signal. Whenever the
system senses an individual empty container and generates
a registration signal at the output of onç of the regis-
tration circuits, the registration signal is also applied
to delay circuitry, not illustrated. ~fter a suitable
delay in the order of about 5 microseconds, the regis-
tration signal is applied to line 720.
Line 721 receives a carton recognition signal
from line 533 of the carton latch circuit. This carton
recognition signal prevents double registration when a
carton is present.
I,ine 722 is connected to receive carton regis-
tration pulses from line 530-of the carton latch circuit.
As stated previously, these pulses represent carton
bottle pairs.
Line 723 receives a`master clear LO signal from
status circuitry, not illustrated. The signal on line
723 goes LO 250 milliseconds after power is applied to
the system.
Line 724 receives delayed carton registration
signals from delay circui~ry, not illustrated. This
signal is required for processing carton having a single
row of tandem bottles. The bottle count for single
containers is doubled in the bottle select circuitry.
Thc signal on line 724 informs the calculation circuitry
that the multiplication need not be performed, even
though a carton is present. The multiplication operation
1~9;~33
is performcd throucJh interconIIcction between ~lip~flop
712 and counter 713.
Output line 72~ carries a bottle coun~. Line
725 transmits one pulse ~or each empty heverag~ container
which is recoynized by the system. If the containers
are carried by a carton, line 725 transmits one pulse
for each container in the carton.
Output lines 726 and 727 are connected to the
monev select circuitry of Fig. 6. IJine J26 s~lpplies the
clock signal, which is received by the money select
circuitry on line 610. Line 727 provldes a latch reset
signal, which is received by the money se?ect circuitry
on line 613. Lines 728 through 731 are optional calcu-
lation output lines for use in computing sales tax.
The money count division, which has been referred
to above, is carried out by flip-flop 709. This divis-
ion provides a true return value for individua] empty
- ~ containers.
While the form of apparatus herein described
constitutes a preferred embodiment of the invention,
it is to be understood that the invention is not limited
to this precise form of apparatus, and that changes may
be made therein without departing from the scope of the
invention.
