Green beans on an TOMRA 5B sorting machine

Technology

Belt

TOMRA’s Belt sorting technology uses stable product flow and advanced lighting to detect even the smallest defects. Ideal for sticky, wet, or fragile produce needing precise visual inspection.

Not every product should fly through the air or slide down a chute. Produce that’s wet, sticks together, or doesn’t fly or slide is best sorted when gently and evenly distributed onto a belt.

Usually, the difficulty of belt sorting is capturing the right image at the correct angle. To overcome this, you need to manage the light source and the background. Light illuminates colors and textures and defines clear separation of objects — but it can also cast long shadows. Belt sorting delivers the stability, product visibility and processing time needed to optimize decision making.

The TOMRA 5B doesn’t just eliminate defects and foreign material. It eliminates shadows for real sorting precision.

With the dome position of the high intensity LEDs, TOMRA creates uniform light reflection on all visible surfaces of every piece of product with minimal shadow. Combined with a reflective belt, TOMRA’s belt sorters separate each piece of product and set them up individually for a perfectly highlighted picture.

Why choose Belt handling

Detect even the smallest defects & color deviations

Belt sorting provides stability of both the light and the product, and it allows the highest resolution cameras to do their best work on the top and sides of all objects. Plus, TOMRA’s long sorting belt remains stable at high speeds, and it doesn’t require an automatic tracking adjustment. When combined with TOMRA’s shape, length, and color machine learning algorithms, TOMRA belt sorters can spot even the most minute deviations.

Maximum elimination of good from bad

With the clearest possible picture as the product travels the belt, the combination of multiple TOMRA’s machine learning algorithms are perfectly primed to eliminate bad product with a far lower number of false detections. This allows you to deliver excellent quality while optimizing yield.

Less adjustment provides a stellar operator experience

The user interface allows complete control with flexibility and access to functions based on the simplified user profiles. Our innovative software combined with the belt’s infrared illumination capabilities allows the software to distinguish between stains on the belt and foreign material. Additionally, our belts are easier for processors to use because they require less time to clean and less frequent replacement.

Watch our Belt portfolio in action across a wide range of applications, from french fries to spinach.

Dive deeper into the TOMRA Belt portfolio

TOMRA 5B

Coupling the latest sensor technology with advanced algorithms, the TOMRA 5B belt sorter enables you to reach the most challenging quality targets and yields.
Applications: Berries, Cherries, Mangoes, Pineapple, Stonefruit, Dried Fruit, Diced Peaches, Pears and Tomatoes, Diced Peaches, Pears and Tomatoes, Almonds, Cashews, Hazelnuts, Peanuts, Raisins, Walnuts, French fries, Potato Crisps, Beans, Bell Peppers, Broccoli Carrots, Cauliflower, Corn, Garlic, Green Beans, Leafy Greens, Mushrooms, Onions, Peas, Gherkins, Radishes, Spinach

discover the TOMRA 5B

TOMRA 5X

The TOMRA 5X’s advanced X-ray sensor inspects materials on food lines with unprecedented clarity.

Applications: Nuts, Peas

discover the TOMRA 5X

TOMRA 5B Working principle

Infeed: Product is distributed uniformly on the infeed belt.

Sensors: Lasers and smart surround view cameras inspect the product in different inspection zones.

Accept or reject: Smart ejection system removes bad product and foreign material in 1 or 2 reject streams; good produce continues along the processing line

An illustration of the TOMRA 5B working principle, from infeed to accept/reject feeds, showing how produce moves along the belt and is then sorted by air ejectors

Explore associated technologies

Artificial Intelligence

TOMRA Food has deployed everything from the simplest forms of artificial intelligence up to the most advanced deep learning in our products for over a decade. Explore the forms of AI available on your machine.

Learn more about Artificial Intelligence

Camera

Discover how TOMRA’s advanced camera-based imaging systems, featuring pulsed LED illumination technology, deliver reliable, cost-effective solutions for food sorting and grading. As pioneers in free-fall and belt sorting applications, TOMRA offers flexible, stable, and high-performance camera solutions for bulk sorting, lane grading, and quality control. Cameras detect foreign materials and sort by color, size, shape, and defects — ensuring superior accuracy across a wide range of applications.

Explore Our camera technologies

Laser

TOMRA Food leverages proprietary laser sensing technologies to achieve the highest contrast in food sorting, accurately distinguishing between good products and defects, including foreign materials and invisible toxins. TOMRA’s technology enables fine-tuned detection of specific product properties, such as surface structure, for consistently reliable results. Learn more about TOMRA's Biometric Signature Identification (BSI), Advanced Foreign Material Detector™ (AFMD) , Detox™, and Fluo™ features

Explore our Laser technologies

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