Patents by Inventor Robin D. Tillett

Robin D. Tillett has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 5748324
    Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for detecting the presence of pit fragments as small as 2 mm.sup.2 in pitted peach halves. Pitted peach halves are agitated into a cup-up position, are conveyed to a position adjacent an inspection zone and are launched airborne into the inspection zone. Each peach half in the inspection zone is illuminated by a pair of quartz halogen lights and the diffusely reflected light is separated into first and second beams. The first and second beams are filtered to extract a first relatively wide wavelength band centered at 600 nm and a second relatively wide wavelength band centered at 750 nm. Preferably, each wavelength band is approximately 70 nm. Each of the wavelength bands enters a separate line scan camera for acquiring image signals from each wavelength band. The signals from both cameras are combined and enhanced to determine the presence or absence of fragments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 1995
    Date of Patent: May 5, 1998
    Assignee: Atlas Pacific Engineering Company
    Inventors: M. Scott Howarth, Robin D. Tillett, Christine R. Bull