In the production of plastic components by an injection molding process, the mold cavities corresponding to the components are interconnected by a network of supply channels through which the molten plastic material is delivered to the various cavities during each injection cycle of the molding machine. Such channels necessarily result in the formation of plastic "runners" much like the branches of a tree to which the components are attached as the molten plastic is cured. Although most modern machines automatically detach the components from the runners as the mold halves separate upon completion of the cycle, it is still necessary to sort out the runners from the components such that the runners can be reprocessed if desired and the components can be assembled with other parts or otherwise handled.
Typically, these parts have been sorted by hand, but this can be a tedious, routine and unduly costly procedure. Some machinery is presently available to replace hand sorting, but such machinery is less than entirely reliable and is quite bulky, occupying considerably more than the desired amount of space which could otherwise be directed to better purposes.
For example, one type of known machine utilizes a linear conveyor belt on which the mixture of components and runners drops by gravity. The belt moves the mixture toward a dumping point, and at that location, as the end of the belt is reached, the smaller components drop off the belt while the larger, tree-like runners are caught in the fingers of a closely positioned upwardly moving belt at the point of drop off, thereby lifting the runners off the end of the main belt and conveying them to a separate location.