Sense and Count Circuit

I have an assignment to design a Counter Circuit for a Overlock Machine (SOCKS) in which a sensor sense every (CLIP=a part cut from the sock looks exactly like a shape of rubberband) produced by the machine and counts every clip when came out from the machines...

So the question arises, what type of sensor i used which sense the cutting part from the sock? secondly how i create the counter which counts such a huge amount of counting ?

Given:

1) In one minute almost 60 Clips cut off from the socks and out from the machine.

2) Machine contineously running to 8Hrs so it produces approx 5000/clip... so counter must reach up to 5000 counts and show the status on the LCD.

Assistance:

Kindly assist me as soon as possible, and if somebody gave me the complete circuit diagram i shall be thankful to him, i hope everybody clears the whole situation..

Awaiting your quick Response...

Regards,

Zohaib Moazzam Khan