JP2022173422A - Harvesting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a harvesting device for harvesting an object while suppressing damages.

SOLUTION: A harvesting device includes: a holding member including a pair of arms; a cutting member provided between the pair of arms; and a control unit for controlling holding motion of constraining part of an object between the pair of arms and cutting motion of cutting the part of the object constrained by the holding motion with the cutting member.

SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

COPYRIGHT: (C)2023,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present disclosure relates to a harvesting device for harvesting fruits such as tomatoes.

Automation of the harvesting work of agricultural products is desired.

In the harvesting work of fruits and the like, a method of harvesting by cutting the fruit stalk with a knife or the like is generally adopted. In automating the harvesting work, it is necessary to prevent damage to vegetation such as crop stocks and fruits, etc., as well as infrastructure and cultivation supplementary materials necessary for cultivation adjacent to the vegetation due to blades and the like.

Conventionally, as an example of a fruit stem cutting and harvesting finger that suppresses damage, for example, a fruit stem cutting mechanism described in Patent Document 1 is known.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a main part of a conventional harvesting device described in Patent Document 1. As shown in FIG.

A recess 70c recessed in the +X' direction when viewed from the +Z' direction is formed in a part of the first finger 70a facing the second finger 70b, and a cutting blade 71 is provided so as to cover the recess from the +Z' direction. At the same time, the cutting edge of the cutting blade 71 is set to be flush with the -X end face (portion other than the recess 70c) of the first finger 70a. This suppresses contact of the fruit peduncle with the cutting blade 71 when the peduncle enters between the cutting edge of the cutting blade 71 and the second finger 70b.

FIG. 1(a) shows a state before the peduncle of the fruit is sandwiched between the first finger 70a and the second finger 70b, and FIG. and the second finger 70b.

JP 2012-110257 A

However, in the conventional harvesting apparatus described above, depending on the type of fruit to be harvested, if a portion such as the main stem or fruit stem is erroneously inserted between the fruit and the blade between the blades, the vegetation may be affected by the cutting operation or the like. The potential for damage remains. Also, in the field, there is a possibility that auxiliary cultivation materials such as an attracting rope for cultivation, a hanging wire, a chemical supply hose and the like exist near vegetation, and they are mistakenly inserted between the blades.

An object of the present disclosure is to solve the above problems, and to provide a harvesting device capable of harvesting objects while suppressing the occurrence of damage.

In order to achieve the above object, the harvesting device of the present disclosure
a scissors member having a pair of arms;
a cutting member provided between a pair of arms;
a control unit that controls a pinching operation for restraining a part of the object between the pair of arms and a cutting operation for cutting the part of the object restrained by the pinching operation with a cutting member.

According to the harvesting device of the present disclosure, the target can be harvested while suppressing the occurrence of damage.

Schematic configuration diagram of the harvesting device disclosed in Patent Document 1 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a harvesting device according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. The perspective view which pulled out the retraction member drive mechanism shown in FIG. State diagram of retraction operation flow Retraction operation flow A diagram showing a bunch of fruit that is the object of harvest A view showing the appearance of the upper harvesting ring shown in FIG. A view showing the appearance of the lower harvesting ring shown in FIG. State diagram of the flow of inserting fruit into the upper and lower harvesting rings Perspective view showing the mechanism for pinching the peduncle and the mechanism for cutting the peduncle. State diagram of the operation flow of the mechanism for pinching the peduncle The perspective view which shows the attachment state of a cutting blade. A perspective view showing an operating state of the cutting blade Perspective view showing how the blade holder and the cutting blade are attached Diagram showing the pull-in member Diagram showing scissors The figure which shows the operation state of a scissors member The figure which shows the operation state of a scissors member

Hereinafter, embodiments of a harvesting device according to the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment)
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the harvesting device 100 according to this embodiment. A part of the second mounting base 22 is cut out for easy understanding.

In FIG. 2, the harvesting apparatus 100 includes a mechanism (drawing members 1, 2, etc.) for selectively pulling in the fruits such as tomatoes desired to be harvested to the vicinity of the harvesting apparatus 100, and inserting only the fruits to be harvested into the harvesting apparatus 100. A mechanism (upper harvesting ring 15, lower harvesting ring 16, etc.) that draws the fruit to the vicinity of the set cutting position, a scissors mechanism (scissors 17, 18 etc.), a mechanism (cutting blade 20 etc.) for cutting the peduncle, and a control device (not shown).

The control device controls each operation of the harvesting device 100 .

In the following description, the vertical direction is the direction parallel to the gravity, the downward direction is the direction in which the earth's gravity pulls the fruit, etc., and the upward direction is the opposite direction. Also, the front-rear direction is the approaching/separating direction of the fruit viewed from the harvesting device 100, the forward direction is the direction in which the harvesting device 100 approaches the fruit, and the rearward direction is the direction in which the harvesting device 100 moves away from the fruit. Further, the upward swinging is defined as a movement to flip up the front side of the harvesting device 100 with the harvesting section swinging shaft 26 as a rotation axis, and the downward swinging is defined as vice versa. The home position of the harvesting device 100 before approaching the fruit for harvesting is the lower limit position of the downward swing.

FIG. 6 shows a bunch of fruit, which is an object to be harvested. Tomato clusters are exemplified here. A part of the chamfer 51 is omitted from the drawing. A tomato cluster 500 is composed of a plurality of dense clusters of fruits branched from a main stem 60 by stems 53 and connected by small stems 52 . The fruit 50 is connected to the peduncle 52 at the calyx 51 , and the peduncle 52 is connected to the peduncle 53 . The fruit 50 generally hangs down due to its own weight or the like. Grapes and the like are other examples of fruits that develop in this manner. Moreover, some of the fruits 50 are directly connected from the main stem 60 by small peduncles and bear fruit. Examples of such fruits 50 include strawberries, cucumbers, eggplants, and the like. The harvesting device 100 can harvest the fruit regardless of how it is formed.

Many of these fruits 50 are adjacent to the main stem 60 or fruit peduncle 53, or a plurality of fruits 50 are clustered together and bear fruits 50 adjacent to each other. Therefore, in order to harvest only desired fruits 50, the harvesting device 100 is provided with retracting members 1 and 2 as a mechanism for attracting only specific fruits 50 to the harvesting device 100 side, as shown in FIG.

A mechanism for attracting the desired fruit 50 to the harvesting device 100 side is a retracting member (hereinafter referred to as "retracting members 1 and 2") constituted by a pair of retracting arms 1 and 2 facing each other in a substantially horizontal direction. , a drawing member drive mechanism (here, link pin 3, link pin 4, link pin 5, first rod 6, first lever 7, holder 8, link pin 9, slide a shaft 10, a second lever 11, a second rod 12, an actuator 13, a link pin 14a, a link pin 14b, and a link pin 14c).

FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing the lead-in members 1, 2 in their closed mated state. The pull-in members 1 and 2 have R-shaped tip portions 1a and 2a, respectively, and the R dimension is approximated to the shape so as not to damage the harvested fruit when pulled in.例文帳に追加Tip gaps 33 are provided at the tip portions 1a and 2a. In order to insert the harvested fruit, it is shaped to have a gap 34 between the drawing members 1 and 2 that is larger than the harvested fruit. The tips 1a and 2a are flexible so as not to damage the harvested fruit, and are made of a soft material such as resin.

As shown in FIG. 2, the drawing members 1 and 2 having rounded tip portions 1a and 2a are opened in advance with the tip portions 1a and 2a separated from each other. 2a is passed through both sides of the fruit 50 in the diametrical direction, and the tip portions 1a and 2a are inserted to a position where the fruit 50 can be held, and then the tip portions 1a and 2a are closed in a narrowing direction to remove the fruit 50. A desired fruit 50 is selected and pulled in from a dense group of fruits by performing a drawing operation to the harvesting device 100 with the tip portions 1a and 2a closed.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the pulling member driving mechanism extracted from the harvesting device 100 shown in FIG. In order to facilitate understanding, a part of the upper surface of the holder 8 is cut away to make the structure easier to see. Further, the actuator 13 and the slide shaft 10 are actually fixed to the first mounting base 27, but the drawing of the first mounting base 27 is omitted, so the actuator 13 and the slide shaft 10 float in the air. is depicted as

The drawing members 1 and 2 are rotatably attached to the holder 8 with the link pin 3 and the link pin 4 as rotation axes, respectively. Also, the drawing members 1 and 2 are connected to the first rod 6 via link pins 5, respectively. A first lever 7 is attached to the holder 8 so as to be rotatable about a link pin 9 as a rotation axis. The first lever 7 rotates about the link pin 9 with respect to the holder 8 . The first lever 7 is connected to the first rod 6 via the link pin 14c. The first rod 6 is constrained so as to move back and forth in parallel with respect to the holder 8 along the groove shape formed on the holder 8 . Therefore, the retracting members 1 and 2 are opened and closed by the back and forth movement of the first rod 6 . The drawing members 1 and 2 are arranged above the upper harvesting ring 15 .

The retracting member driving mechanism has an actuator 13 that generates a rotational driving force, a second lever 11 connected to the actuator 13 , and a second rod 12 connected to the second lever 11 . The second rod 12 has one end connected to the second lever 11 via a link pin 14a and the other end connected to the first lever 7 via a link pin 14b.

A mechanical stopper (not shown) is provided between the first rod 6 and the holder 8 to restrict the amount of forward and backward movement set in advance. The opening and closing angle of is restricted.

When the first lever 7 exceeds the limit angle and is pushed by the second rod 12 , the holder 8 moves forward along the slide shaft 10 fixed to the first mounting base 27 . Therefore, the drawing members 1 and 2 move forward together with the holder 8 while being open.

When the second rod 12 is pulled, the first lever 7 rotates within the limit angle, the first rod 6 is pulled rearward, and the pull-in members 1 and 2 close. When the first lever 7 is pulled beyond the limit angle, the pull-in members 1 and 2 are pulled rearward together with the holder 8 .

The tip portions 1a and 2a of the drawing members 1 and 2 have an R shape, and the shape is such that the fruit 50 fits into the gap formed when the tip portions 1a and 2a are butted against each other.

Since it is necessary for the fruit 50 to slip through, when the leading ends 1a and 2a of the drawing members 1 and 2 are in an open state, the gap between the leading ends 1a and 2a is equal to or larger than the diameter of the fruit 50 (this time, depending on the fruit to be harvested). 40 mm or more). In order to hold and draw the fruit 50 while the tips 1a and 2a are butted against each other, the gap between the tips 1a and 2a is larger than the diameter of the fruit 50 when the tips of the drawing members 1 and 2 are closed. is also of small size.

During the pulling operation, it is assumed that foreign objects such as the main stem of vegetation, metal fittings for cultivation, ropes, etc., and foreign objects such as a plurality of adjacent fruits 50 are pulled in between the pulling members 1 and 2 at the same time. be. If the harvesting device 100 is forcibly pulled out of the vegetation in this state, the vegetation and the harvesting device 100 itself may be damaged. Therefore, it is preferable to provide a gap between the tip portions 1a and 2a when the drawing members 1 and 2 are closed. As a result, when the harvesting device 100 is pulled out from the vegetation, damage is avoided by allowing the above-described foreign matter to pass through between the pulling members 1 and 2.例文帳に追加

In addition, damage to vegetation and breakage of the harvesting device 100 are minimized by making the pull-in members 1 and 2 into shapes that are easily elastically deformable and by selecting materials.

In this example, the gap between the tips 1a and 2a of the pull-in members 1 and 2 is set to about 2 to 20 mm (the maximum radius of the harvested fruit) from the size of the harvested fruit used for harvest verification. . The pull-in members 1 and 2 are made of resin materials (urethane resin and ABS resin in this example), and the thickness in the direction in which the gap spreads is reduced (2 to 3 mm in this example). The gap between the tip portions 1a and 2a of the contact and the amount of elastic deformation are combined to allow foreign matter to pass through.

It is necessary to change the size of the gap and the resin material according to the characteristics of the harvested fruit. Also, in the worst case of failing to pass through, the resin pull-in members 1 and 2 are broken to provide a fail-safe function to protect the vegetation.

The pull-in operation will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 shows the pull-in operation flow. 4(a) to (d) show state diagrams of the operation flow of the retraction mechanism. Although the holder 8 moves along the slide shaft 10, the slide shaft 10 is omitted in FIG. 4 (see FIG. 3).

As a premise for the retraction operation, the state where the holder 8 is retracted to the rearmost position and the first lever 7 is rotated forward is assumed to be the initial position (step S1). That is, as shown in FIG. 4A, before the fruit 50, the drawing members 1 and 2 are opened.

Next, the fruit 50 is placed inside the drawing members 1 and 2 (step S2). Specifically, the counterclockwise rotation of the actuator 13 causes the second lever 11 to rotate, and the holder 8 moves forward via the second rod 12 while the first lever 7 remains pushed. Therefore, the pull-in members 1 and 2 are moved forward together with the holder 8 to the side of the fruit 50 while the pull-in members 1 and 2 are open, and the fruit 50 enters between the pull-in members 1 and 2 as shown in FIG. 4(b).

Next, the fruit 50 is held (step S3). Specifically, the actuator 13 is driven to rotate clockwise. The first lever 7 swings rearward via the second lever 11 and the second rod 12 . This swinging action pulls the first rod 6 linked to the first lever 7 rearward, and the link pin 4 arranged on the first rod 6 closes the pull-in members 1 and 2 . Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4(c), the fruit 50 is held between the retracting members 1 and 2. As shown in FIG.

Finally, the fruit 50 is drawn in (step S4). Specifically, when the actuator 13 is further rotated to the right after the drawing members 1 and 2 are closed, the holder 8 is pulled backward. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4D, the drawing members 1 and 2 draw the fruit 50 toward the harvesting device 100 side.

Next, in the harvesting device 100 shown in FIG. 2, a mechanism for inserting only the fruit 50 to be harvested and drawing the fruit 50 to the vicinity of the cutting position of the harvesting device 100 will be described.

A mechanism for drawing the fruit 50 to the vicinity of the cutting position of the harvesting device 100 includes an upper harvesting ring 15, a lower harvesting ring 16, and a ring drive mechanism (not shown) that moves the upper harvesting ring 15.

The upper harvesting ring 15 and the lower harvesting ring 16 arranged vertically below it are mechanisms for pulling the fruit 50 pulled in by the pulling members 1 and 2 to the harvesting position of the harvesting device 100 .

Here, the upper harvesting ring 15 and the lower harvesting ring 16 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the upper harvesting ring 15. As shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the lower harvesting ring 16. As shown in FIG.

The upper harvesting ring 15 is fitted into the groove 16c of the lower harvesting ring 16. As shown in FIG. The upper harvesting ring 15 is slidably supported rearward along the groove 16c of the lower harvesting ring 16. As shown in FIG. The lower harvesting ring 16 is fixed to the swing base 28 . The swinging base 28 swings up and down by the harvesting section swinging actuator 25 with the harvesting section swinging shaft 26 as the rotation axis. The upper harvesting ring 15 and the lower harvesting ring 16 each have oval holes 15a, 16a. In the state before the upper harvesting ring 15 is caused to perform the pulling operation, the elliptical hole 15a of the upper harvesting ring 15 and the elliptical hole 16a of the lower harvesting ring 16 overlap each other and form one elliptical shape in plan view. form a hole.

The operation of drawing the fruit 50 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 shows an operating state diagram of a mechanism for inserting only the fruit to be harvested and drawing the fruit 50 to the harvesting position of the harvesting device 100 .

The harvesting device 100 is at the lower swing limit position of the home position before the harvesting operation.

As shown in FIG. 9A, the fruit 50 is pulled into the elliptical holes 15a and 16a of the upper and lower harvesting rings 15 and 16 by the retracting operation of the retracting members 1 and 2 described above. is in a state of

Next, the elliptical holes 15a and 16a of the upper and lower harvesting rings 15 and 16 are inserted through the fruits 50 from below by the upper swinging motion of the swinging base 28 . After the elliptical holes 15a and 16a swing up until the fruit 50 is inserted, they stop as shown in FIG. 9(b).

Next, the peduncle 52 is hooked on the depression 15b provided in the tip region of the elliptical hole 15a of the upper harvesting ring 15, and the upper harvesting ring 15 is moved backward along the groove 16c of the lower harvesting ring 16. Attract. At that time, since the lower harvesting ring 16 is held as it is, the peduncle 53, which is the base side of the peduncle 52, is provided in the tip region of the elliptical hole 16a of the lower harvesting ring 16. It is kept separate from the harvesting device 100 by the recessed portion 16b. As a result, as shown in FIG. 9( c ), among the plurality of fruits 50 present in the tomato cluster 500 , only the fruits 50 of one peduncle 52 are drawn to the harvesting device 100 .

According to the pulling operation described above, only objects that can be passed through the elliptical holes 15a and 16a in the upper and lower harvesting rings 15 and 16 are attracted to the harvesting device 100. Harvesting operations are not performed for items such as stems and cultivation ropes that do not have an opening on the bottom side and cannot be inserted from below. Therefore, it is possible to reduce erroneous cutting of objects other than small stems.

Next, a mechanism for sandwiching the fruit 50 drawn near the cutting position of the harvesting device 100 will be described.

The mechanism for pinching the fruit 50 is provided above the upper harvesting ring 15 and is composed of a pair of arms 17 and 18 facing substantially horizontally (hereinafter referred to as "scissors 17 and 18"). ), and a scissors drive mechanism (here, composed of a third lever 21, a second mounting base 22, a scissors member rotation shaft 29, and a scissors member rotation shaft 30) that causes the scissors members 17 and 18 to sandwich the fruit 50. are provided).

FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing scissor members 17 and 18. FIG. The scissor members 17 and 18 have hook-shaped tip portions 17a and 18a and have a function of hooking the peduncle 52 of the fruit 50 existing inside the hook. The scissor members 17, 18 also have smooth R-shaped inner surfaces 17b, 18b for drawing the peduncle 52 together.

17 and 18 show the operating state of the scissor members 17 and 18. FIG. 17(a) and 18(a) show a state in which the scissors 17 and 18 are open, and FIGS. 17(b) and 18(b) show a state in which the scissors 17 and 18 are closed.

In the harvesting device 100 shown in FIG. 2, the peduncle 52 of the fruit 50 drawn near the cutting and harvesting position of the harvesting device 100 by the upper harvesting ring 15 and the lower harvesting ring 16 can be cut by the cutting blade 20. is restrained within the limited range of the cutting and harvesting position (the restraining range 31 when the scissors members 17 and 18 are closed). This limited range is set to be narrower than the operation range of the cutting blade 20 while having a sufficient size to accommodate the small fruit stem 52, so that the cutting operation of the cutting blade 20 reliably cuts the small fruit stem 52. is possible. In this example, the cutting method by shearing by the cutting blade 20 is used, but it is also possible to cut the peduncle 52 using other cutting members such as scissors and nippers.

17(a) and 18(a) show tip trajectories 17d, 18d in pinching motion from open to closed of pinchers 17, 18 and position 17c when pinchers 17, 18 are closed; 18c. The peduncle 52 is placed within the restraint range 31 (corresponding to the “second range” of the present invention) formed between the scissors members 17 and 18 and the second mounting base 22 by the sandwiching operation of the scissors members 17 and 18. constrained by

A mechanism for pinching the peduncle 52 will be described with reference to FIG. 10 . FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a mechanism for pinching the peduncle 52 and a mechanism for cutting the peduncle 52. FIG. These mechanisms are located on the second mounting base 22 and are located directly above the upper and lower harvesting rings 15 and 16 . FIG. 10 shows a state in which the upper harvesting ring 15 has performed a pulling action, and the upper harvesting ring 15 is pulled backward with respect to the lower harvesting ring 16 . Also, some parts are omitted from the illustration so as not to hinder understanding.

The scissor member 17 and the scissor member 18 are mounted on the second mounting base 22 by the scissor member rotation shafts 29 and 30 and are geared together. The scissors member 17 meshes with a gear-shaped third lever 21, and when the third lever 21 is rotated, the scissors members 17 and 18 rotate in opposite directions. The scissors members 17 and 18 are linked to a blade holder 19, and the blade holder 19 moves in the front-rear and oblique directions according to the movement of the scissors members 17 and 18. - 特許庁A cutting blade 20 is attached to the blade holder 19, and as will be described later, it has a mechanism for cutting the peduncle 52 held and fixed between the scissors members 17 and 18. FIG.

The operation of pinching the peduncle will be described with reference to FIG. 11 . FIG. 11 shows an operating state diagram of the mechanism for pinching the peduncle. To facilitate understanding, illustration of the blade holder 19, the cutting blade 20, and the like is omitted.

First, the fruit 50 and peduncle 52 are drawn together by the upper harvest ring 15, as shown in FIG. 11(a). In the initial state of operation, the scissors 17 and 18 are in an open state. The scissors 17, 18 have a hooked shape. The pinch members 17, 18 are shaped so that in the open position they do not interfere with the footprints of the oval shaped holes 15a, 16a of the upper and lower harvesting rings 15, 16 shown in FIGS. That is, before the pinching operation by the scissors driving mechanism is started, the scissors members 17 and 18 are in a restraining range 15a' where the upper harvesting ring 15 restrains the peduncle 52 (when the upper harvesting ring 15 pulls toward the upper harvesting ring 15). It means the ring portion formed between the elliptical hole 15a of the upper harvesting ring 15 and the second mounting base 22 in the state of being executed. not.

At this time, the peduncle 52 is present anywhere within the restricted area 15a' formed by the upper harvesting ring 15. As shown in FIG.

Next, the third lever 21 is rotated to rotate the scissor members 17 and 18 in a closing direction. As a result, as shown in FIG. 11(b), the scissors members 17 and 18 sandwich the peduncle 52 while narrowing the range in which the peduncle 52 can exist. The pinching members 17 and 18 are shaped to reliably catch the peduncle 52 in the gap between the upper harvesting ring 15 and the second mounting base 22 during the pinching operation. It is preferable that the upper harvesting ring 15 is closer to the harvesting device 100 than the tips of the pinching members 17 and 18 when the pinching members 17 and 18 start pinching.

Once the pinching action is complete, the peduncle 52 is secured in a cutting and harvesting position in the space inside the scissor members 17 , 18 and the second mounting base 22 .

Before the pinching members 17, 18 intersect (that is, before the pinching action is performed), the restraining range 31 formed by the pinching members 17, 18 is, in plan view, the upper side when the pulling action is completed. It is desirable not to overlap with the restraint range 15a' formed by the harvesting ring 15 (see FIG. 11(b)). Also, it is desirable that the bounding range 31 formed by the pinching members 17, 18 is larger than the binding range 15a' formed by the upper harvesting ring 15 in plan view before the pinching members 17, 18 cross each other. Further, after the pinching members 17, 18 cross each other (that is, after performing the pinching operation), the constraining range 31 formed by the pinching members 17, 18 surrounds the entire periphery in plan view, and It is preferably smaller than the bounding range 15a' formed by the upper harvesting ring 15. This allows the pinching members 17, 18 to reliably pinch the peduncle 52 existing anywhere within the restricted area 15a' formed by the upper harvesting ring 15. As shown in FIG.

A mechanism for cutting the peduncle 52 will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13. FIG.

The mechanism for cutting the peduncle 52 includes a cutting member (here, the cutting blade 20) disposed above the scissors members 17 and 18, and a cutting member driving mechanism (here, (composed of a blade holder 19, a blade holder rotating shaft 23, and a fixed roller 24).

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing how the cutting blade 20 is attached.

FIG. 12(a) shows the initial position of the cutting blade 20 in which the blade holder 19 and the cutting blade 20 are attached to the scissors members 17 and 18 in the open state by a link mechanism. The cutting blade 20 is completely inside the footprint of the second mounting base 22, and the cutting edge does not protrude. That is, when the scissors 17 and 18 are separated from each other, the cutting blade 20 is positioned so as not to overlap the restricted range 15a' formed by the upper harvesting ring 15 as viewed from above. Therefore, even if vegetation enters and touches it, it will not cause damage. When the scissors members 17 and 18 perform the pinching operation, as the scissors members 17 and 18 rotate in the closing direction, the blade holder 19 slides obliquely forward as shown in FIG. It pops out from the second mounting base 22 while moving. Due to this movement, the peduncle 52 fixed by the scissors members 17 and 18 is cut by the protruding edge while sliding laterally, and the fruit 50 is harvested.

The operation of cutting the peduncle 52 will be described with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14. FIG. FIG. 13 shows the action of the cutting blade. In order to clearly show the link mechanism, the upper surface of the blade holder 19 is cut off, and the cutting blade 20 is drawn with imaginary lines. FIG. 14 shows a perspective view of the blade holder 19 and the cutting blade 20 viewed from the front and back.

14(a) is a perspective view of the blade holder 19 as seen from the front, and FIG. 14(b) is a perspective view of the blade holder 19 as seen from the back. As shown in FIG. 14(b), the rear surface of the blade holder 19 is provided with a fulcrum hole 19b for a fulcrum of the link and an arcuate groove 19a for restraining the movement of the blade.

As shown in FIG. 13, a blade holder rotating shaft 23 is attached to the scissors member 17, and a fulcrum hole 19b of the blade holder 19 is fitted in the blade holder rotating shaft 23. As shown in FIG. A fixed roller 24 is attached to the second mounting base 22, and the arcuate groove 19a of the blade holder 19 is fitted into the fixed roller 24. As shown in FIG. When the scissors 17 and 18 are open, the cutting blade 20 is at the initial position due to the positional relationship among the blade holder rotating shaft 23, fixed roller 24, fulcrum hole 19b, and arcuate groove 19a. When the scissors members 17 and 18 gradually rotate in the closing direction, the rotation of the scissors member 17 causes the blade holder rotating shaft 23 to rotate around the scissors jig rotating shaft 29, and the groove 19a follows the fixed roller 24. , the blade holder 19 rotates around the blade holder rotation axis 23 . Due to these link mechanisms, the cutting blade 20 placed on the blade holder 19 moves obliquely, and finally protrudes between the scissors 17 and 18 as shown in FIG. 13(b). become. At this time, although not shown in FIG. 13, the peduncle 52 is actually fixed between the pinching members 17 and 18 as shown in FIG. 11(b). When this state is viewed from the viewpoint of the small fruit stem 52, the cutting blade 20 slides sideways and comes forward while being constrained by the scissors members 17 and 18, and finally cuts into the small fruit stem 52. The blade 20 bites in and slides sideways. In order to cut efficiently with a blade, this sliding and biting motion is necessary.

As a result, the peduncle 52 is cut at the cutting and harvesting position, and the fruit 50 is harvested.

[effect]
As described above, the harvesting device 100 according to the present embodiment is arranged substantially horizontally at a position overlapping the upper harvesting ring 15, which is disposed substantially horizontally, and the upper harvesting ring 15 in plan view. a pair of scissors 17 and 18 disposed above the upper harvesting ring 15 and configured by a pair of arms substantially horizontally facing each other; a cutting member 20 disposed above. Then, the harvesting device 100 according to the present embodiment removes the upper harvesting ring 15 while the fruits 50 are inserted through the upper harvesting ring 15 and the lower harvesting ring 16 and the position of the lower harvesting ring 16 is held. , a first action of moving the fruit 50 from the ripened plant toward the device main body, and scissors members 17 and 18 so as to constrain the fruit 50 drawn toward the device main body by the first action between the pair of arms. and a third operation for causing the cutting blade 20 to perform a cutting operation so as to cut the upper portion of the fruit 50 restrained between the pair of arms in the second operation. Run.

As a result, it is possible to harvest the fruit 50 while suppressing the occurrence of damage.

A harvesting system can also be constructed by mounting the harvesting device 100 according to the present disclosure on a manipulator arm installed on a mobile cart. This system makes it possible to automatically harvest objects by moving them around the farm with the mobile trolley.

The harvesting device according to the present disclosure can be applied to various fruits and the like.

Reference Signs List 1, 2 drawing member 1a, 2a tip 3, 4, 5, 9, 14, 15, 16 link pin 6 first rod 7 first lever 8 holder 10 slide shaft 11 second lever 12 second rod 13 actuator 15 upper side Harvest Ring (1st Harvest Ring)
15a elliptical hole 15b hollow portion 15a' constraining range formed by upper harvesting ring 15 (first range)
16 lower harvesting ring (second harvesting ring)
16a elliptical hole 16b depression 16c groove 17, 18 scissors 17a, 18a tip 17b, 18b inner surface 17d, 18d tip locus 19 blade holder 19b fulcrum hole 20 cutting blade 21 third lever 22 second mounting base 23 Cutting tool holder rotating shaft 24 Fixed roller 25 Harvesting section rocking actuator 26 Harvesting section rocking shaft 27 First mounting base 28 Rocking base 29 Scissors member rotating shaft 30 Scissors member rotating shaft 31 Restraint range formed by scissors members 17 and 18 ( second range)
33 tip gap 34 gap between retracting members 1, 2 50 fruit 51 sepal 52 small stem 53 fruit stem 60 main stem 70a first finger 70b second finger 70c recess formed in first finger 71 cutting blade 100 harvesting device 500 tomato bunch

Claims (5)

a scissors member having a pair of arms;
a cutting member provided between the pair of arms;
a control unit that controls a pinching operation for restraining a part of an object between the pair of arms and a cutting operation for cutting a part of the object restrained by the pinching operation with the cutting member; comprising a
harvesting equipment. The scissors member constrains a part of the object within a predetermined range defined by the pair of crossed arms in the pinching operation.
Harvesting device according to claim 1 . The cutting member is a cutting blade arranged so that the blade is included within the predetermined range in the cutting operation,
Harvesting device according to claim 2. Further comprising a driving mechanism for moving the cutting blade from the outside of the predetermined range to the inside of the predetermined range in the cutting operation,
A harvesting device according to claim 3. 5. The harvesting device according to claim 4, wherein said drive mechanism moves said cutting blade in synchronization with movement of said pair of arms during said sandwiching operation.

Images