Method and apparatus for sorting non-ferrous metal pieces

Abstract From the Canadian patent

Mixed pieces of different non-ferrous metals are sorted by initially moving the pieces through a high density, rapidly changing magnetic flux field and immediately, thereafter, freely moving the pieces along unsupported forwardly and downwardly directed trajectories resulting from the momentum of the pieces the force of gravity and the, magnetically induced repulsive forces developed in the pieces by the flux field. The magnitude of the magnetically induced repulsive forces differ for different non-ferrous metals so that the lengths of the trajectories of generally similar size and shape pieces vary accordingly for separating pieces formed of different metals. The magnetic field is provided …