Key Technology COMPASS Belt-Fed Optical Sorters

Key Technology has introduced its COMPASS belt-fed optical sorter. Similar to the chute-fed version introduced in 2023, the belt-fed system is designed to provide removal of foreign material and defects while being easier to use, with simplified controls, sanitation and maintenance.

Designed for wet, sticky and delicate products, the belt-fed sorter is suitable for a variety of produce, snack foods and other products that cannot be handled by chute-fed sorters. 

Features include: recipe-driven operation for consistent sorting performance; and a user interface that mimics smartphone app navigation for ease of learning. Processors can create new recipes in under 10 min and switch between products in less than a minute. Complete changeovers, including washdown, take 15 min.

Powered by Key’s NEXT sort engine, the sorter finds and rejects plastic, glass, paper, wood and other organic and inorganic foreign material, as well as processor-specified product defects. Equipped with customisable camera options and up to eight channels of multispectral sensor data, the sorter can detect the colour, size, shape and structural properties of every object to identify more, smaller defects than systems with conventional three-channel cameras.

Designed for maximum sanitation with open architecture, the belt can be quickly removed for thorough cleaning, while the open design facilitates easy access for workers and minimises cleaning and maintenance requirements.

Every unit is equipped with Key Discovery, a data analytics and reporting software that turns the sorter into an IIoT-connected device and information centre.

Available in a range of configurations and sizes to meet users’ application and capacity requirements, each belt-fed sorter is engineered with a compact footprint that simplifies installation and minimises floor space requirements in existing facilities. The system can be installed at a variety of points in the processing line, from upstream near raw receiving to final inspection just prior to packaging, depending on the application.