GB1060371A - Apparatus for gripping and vibrating an article - Google Patents

Abstract

1,060,371. Picking fruit. FMC CORPORATION. Jan. 27, 1964 [Jan. 31, 1963], No. 3389/64. Heading A1F. [Also in Division B4] Apparatus for gripping and shaking an article such as the branch of a tree comprises a pair of opposed gripper heads 43, 43A carried on the end of a long arm 11, each head comprising vibration transmitting means which automatically adjusts to the contour of the article to be gripped, and hydraulic means being provided for effecting relative movement of the heads towards and away from each other. The end of the arm 11 comprises hollow sections 16, 17 secured together by a bolted flange connection 19. The gripper head 43A is carried by a hollow tube 18 which extends within the sections 16, 17 and is connected through a rod 20 to a double acting piston assembly 23, Fig. 1 (not shown), which is slidable in the tube section 17 to selectively direct pressurized fluid to either side of the piston assembly 23. The clamping head 43 is carried by a frame member 12 having at one end spaced plates 31, 31A which are secured to the end of the long arm 11. Rotation of the head 43A is prevented by a guide 70 mounted on the frame member 30. Each gripper head comprises a cup shaped base 44 and a cup 48 of deformable but non-stretchable material such as rubber tyre fabric, and a filler 51 of yieldable but substantially non-compressible material such as steel balls, rubber, grease or other fluid. Each head is mounted on an identical support plate 33, the arcuate outer base 44 of each cup fitting slidably in the arcuate plate 33. The arcuate movement of the head is limited by a set screw 58 which extends longitudinal through a transverse slot 56 in the plate. The apparatus may be vibrated manually or by a known vibrating mechanism.