US PATENT SUBCLASS 209 / 509
SORTING SPECIAL ITEMS, AND CERTAIN METHODS AND APPARATUS (E.G., POCKET TYPE AND LIGHT RESPONSIVE SORTING, ETC.) FOR SORTING ANY ITEMS

Current as of: June, 1999
Click HD for Main Headings
Click for All Classes

Internet Version by PATENTEC © 1999      Terms of Use


209 /   HD   CLASSIFYING, SEPARATING, AND ASSORTING SOLIDS

509SORTING SPECIAL ITEMS, AND CERTAIN METHODS AND APPARATUS (E.G., POCKET TYPE AND LIGHT RESPONSIVE SORTING, ETC.) FOR SORTING ANY ITEMS {11}
510  DF  .~> Sorting eggs or components thereof {2}
517  DF  .~> Sorting lumber, logs, pipes, rails, or like items {2}
522  DF  .~> Sorting bottles, ampoules, jars, drinking vessels, or like ceramic or glass containers {1}
534  DF  .~> Sorting paper money
535  DF  .~> Sorting cigarettes, cigars, or packages thereof {2}
538  DF  .~> Nonconveying driven means for turning item at separating or inspecting station to facilitate sorting
539  DF  .~> Traveling items shifted to form line, or into end or edge alignment, to facilitate inspection or separation
540  DF  .~> Traveling item turned to predetermined position {5}
546  DF  .~> Signalling, indicating, or display means {5}
552  DF  .~> Condition responsive means controls separating means {13}
606  DF  .~> Separating means {33}

DEFINITION

Classification: 209/509

SORTING SPECIAL ITEMS, AND CERTAIN METHODS AND APPARATUS (E.G., POCKET TYPE AND LIGHT RESPONSIVE SORTING, ETC.) FOR SORTING ANY ITEMS:

(under the class definition) Methods and apparatus which separate special items by means other than electrostatic, or

which separate any items by the means named in indents hereunder.

(1) Note. Included as "special" items are the following: fruits and vegetables such as nuts, oranges, apples, potatoes, and tomatoes; food items such as fish, poultry, eggs, and potato chips; manufactured items of all kinds, including, for example, ball bearings, tools, light bulbs, razor blades, silverware, pellets, bullets, shoe heels, rivets, and electronic components; and items such as railroad ties, cut flowers, seeds, lumber, etc.

(2) Note. Bulk materials (such as grains and ore) are not considered special items and are generally sorted by methods and apparatus of the type classifiable in subclasses 1-3, 4-44, 45-70 and 127.1-508. However, includible in subclasses indented under subclass 509 are methods and apparatus not provided for in the subclasses listed in the preceding sentence, and bulk material sorting (as well as special item sorting) effected by use of such methods and apparatus will be classified in these indented subclasses.

(3) Note. Classifiable in Class 209 are devices which discriminate between items on the basis of a physical difference therein and separate them accordingly. For devices which sense a difference in position or orientation of articles and separate them accordingly, see appropriate subclasses in Class 198, Conveyors: Power-Driven.

(4) Note. A patent claiming in an apparatus claim sensing or analyzing means of the type provided for in Class 33, 73, 235, 250, 324, 340, 356, and 374, for example, coupled with a mere recitation of a "reject signal", "reject means", "sorting means", or the like, but not claiming a specific feature of the reject, separating, or sorting means, will be classifiable in the class taking the sensing or analyzing means.

(5) Note. This class does not include methods and apparatus wherein an operator selects a destination for an item and utilizes a device such as a keyboard to actuate a separating means directing the item to the selected destination. Such methods and apparatus are classifiable in Class 414, Material or Article Handling, subclasses 134+. Where an operator marks or tags items for subsequent automatic separation of the items on the basis of such marking or tagging, see subclass 3.3 of this class (209).

(6) Note. This class does not include the combination of testing containers for fluid leakage and rejecting those items failing to pass such testing. Such methods and apparatus are classifiable in Class 73, Measuring and Testing, subclasses 37+. However, where physical defects (e.g., such as flaws in the rim of a container) are sensed by the application of a fluid pressure or vacuum to items, see subclasses 522+ (bottles) and 591 (other items) of this class.

(7) Note. This class does not include methods and apparatus for separating items carried on a conveyor wherein a code or distinguishing marking is placed on the conveyor or on a special receptacle used for holding an item while it is on the conveyor (containers such as envelopes and mailbags which are used in handling an item after it is removed from a conveyor are not included as "special" receptacles used with a conveyor). Such methods and apparatus are classifiable in Class 198, Conveyors: Power-Driven.

(8) Note. Included in this class is a patent claiming a process wherein items are separated by sensing physical differences therein and wherein the step of separating the items is only nominally recited, even where no specific separating means is disclosed in the patent.

SEE OR SEARCH THIS CLASS, SUBCLASS:

127.1+, for electrostatic methods and apparatus for sorting either special or nonspecial items.

SEE OR SEARCH CLASS

15, Brushing, Scrubbing, and General Cleaning, for sorting followed by cleaning of the sorted items.

73, Measuring and Testing,

40+, for the combination of testing containers for leakage and the rejection of those failing the test.

83, Cutting, particularly

27, 79+, and 102+ for methods and devices which involve a cutting operation followed by sorting. This subclass and subclasses indented thereunder (i.e., subclasses 509+ of Class 209) include apparatus for cutting combined with inspecting and sorting where the cutting apparatus is nominally recited, or no significant relation of the cutter to the sorting means is recited. Classified in Class 83 is apparatus in which a cutting device operates in synchronous (i.e., timed) relation to a sorting device, or which includes details of the cutter. However, a recitation of the spatial location of a sorting means relative to a cutter (e.g., stating that a sorting device is longitudinally spaced a certain distance from a cutting device) is not considered significant to cause classification in Class 83. Class 83 includes apparatus in which the operation of a sorting device is initiated by a cutting device, and also includes all methods reciting a cutting step, regardless of scope, in combination with a sorting step.

198, Conveyors: Power-Driven, 398, for means distinguishing between alternatively faced (e.g., right side up or inverted) items and conveying only

uniformly faced items.

199, Type Casting,

40, for type casting machines with font sorting means.

234, Selective Cutting (e.g., Punching),

40, for a sorting device combined with a selective punch device (e.g., to segregate "error" cards, or to stack master and detail cards separately).

300, Brush, Broom, and Mop Making,

18, for devices for sorting bristles according to their length in brush manufacture.

374, Thermal Measuring and Testing,

4+, for details of a thermal leakage test combined with a sorting arrangement responsive to the test.

453, Coin Handling,

3+, for coin sorting devices. 470, Threaded, Headed Fastener, or Washer Making: Process and Apparatus,

164+, for machines for feeding blanks to nail, nut, rivet, or screw making machines, and separating the finished article from imperfect work, chips, etc.