Optical sorting is a process that seems to be a complicated technology for the layman.

However, it turns out that many of us use optically sorted products every day.

The process of manufacturing and packaging products is so complex that we do not aware of the individual stages and technologies that were used to produce the products we consume.

Optical sorting is used in the processing of vegetables, fruits, cereal, rice, all kinds of nuts, seeds, and pulses, even coffee or tea.

When we put a vegetable seasoning to the soup, we do not wonder if there was a rock or a lump of soil with which the carrot was growing. And the groats we eat do not contain glass or plastic particles. This is what optical sorters are used for – to protect the products we eat.

However, it is not about impurities that are visible to the naked eye, but mainly about particles of various foreign materials that may be found in these products.

Therefore, optical sorting is very important not only for consumers but also for suppliers whose products are checked very rigorously in terms of quality.

The raw material is fed to the buffer tank installed above the optical sorter, then it is dosed by vibrating feeders and goes to the chute. Material on the chute falls by gravity, thus it is distributed evenly to increase the distance between the individual particles. Then, in the inspection area, with the help of advanced sensors and cameras and the use of an appropriate background, it is analyzed. After analyzing by highly developed electronics and the device’s operating system signal is send to the appropriate ejector installed in the machine to open the nozzle, when the material is not properly quality requirements. A suitable Magleva® ejector hits the center of gravity of the thrown material with a compressed air beam to effectively eliminate an undesirable defect. The approved material falls directly into the good product channel.

Most machines have the option of resorting, which means sorting again the products to achieve more accurately separating and minimalize the loss of the accept product.

The MEYER company also offers belt sorters, which the operating principle of which is very similar to that of chute sorters, with a difference in feeding and separating the sorted material. The input product is dosed by a vibrating feeder onto a belt conveyor with a selected width and working speed, where it is evenly distributed on the belt plane and fed to the detection zone. Advanced vision systems (cameras operating in the visible light spectrum and the infrared, ultraviolet and X-ray electromagnetic spectrum) detect more or less subtle defects to eliminate dangerous foreign materials and particles that do not match qualitatively. In the case of belt optical sorters, the rejection of unwanted defects takes place vertically downwards, which allows for more effective rejection of even the heaviest contaminants. Belt sorters are used for materials with a more delicate structure, in which it is important not to damage the sorted product, as well as for very light and very heavy products that cannot be sorted using gravity separators, which operate on the principle of free fall.