JPH0255003B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention The present invention is applicable to, for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 57-140021 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.
The present invention relates to a completely new fruit-harvesting robot hand for use in a fruit-harvesting device as already proposed by the applicant in No. 59-31614).

It is important for this type of robot hand to be configured so that the fruit to be harvested can be reliably taken in to a position within the fruit catching section of the hand where the fruit stem can be cut. For this purpose, a mechanism that can reliably capture the fruit is required. However, the positions of fruits growing on fruit trees are generally random, and fruits, branches, and leaves may overlap. Therefore, it is difficult to capture all the target fruits by always approaching from a certain direction (for example, below the target fruit), and in order to reliably capture such fruits, it is necessary to One possible example would be a configuration that allows the robot to grab a fruit, but a typical configuration for such industrial robots would be too complicated and large-scale to be practical.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a fruit harvesting robot that has a relatively simple configuration but is equipped with a fruit capture mechanism that can reliably capture the fruits to be harvested. The goal is to offer a hand.

In order to achieve the above object, the fruit harvesting robot hand according to the present invention has a plurality of bendable finger members erected on the periphery of the open end of the cylindrical fruit storage base end. A wire is provided that loosely penetrates the tip of the finger member, and by pulling the wire, each finger member is bent inward of the open end to capture the fruit. It has the characteristics of:

Because of this characteristic structure, there is no need to incorporate a mechanism for bending the finger member itself, so the structure of the finger member can be made very simple and compact, and the flexibility in selecting the structure is also increased. We were able to expand the range. In addition, the wire passed through the tip of the finger member is automatically grasped by simply pulling it, and the finger tip is closed with a space inside surrounded by the finger member.
It has now become possible to reliably capture fruit from any direction.

Another feature of the fruit harvesting robot hand according to the present invention is that a plurality of bendable finger members are provided upright on the periphery of the open end of the cylindrical fruit storage base end, and the tip portions of these finger members are erected. A wire is provided that passes through the fruit in a loosely-fitting manner, and by pulling the wire, each finger member is bent inward of the open end to capture the fruit, and the wire is pulled. Particularly, it is provided with a cutter for cutting the stem of the fruit, and its functions and effects are as follows.

That is, since the cutter which cuts the captured fruit by pulling the wire cuts the stalk of the fruit, the structure for cutting the fruit can be simplified.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the fruit harvesting device of this embodiment has a flexible arm 1 attached to a movable main body (not shown), and a fruit harvesting robot hand 2 is attached to the tip of this arm 1. At the same time, a fruit conveying shooter 3 for conveying fruits to a storage section (not shown) is connected to the hand 2.

To explain this robot hand 2, 4
is a cylindrical base end portion which is configured to be able to control its direction with respect to the arm 1, and is moved by the arm 1 to introduce the fruit to be captured into the interior thereof through the introduction port 5. Reference numeral 6 indicates fingers for capturing fruit provided around the fruit introduction port 5 of the base end portion 4. A contact sensor 7 is provided at the tip of the finger 6, and sends a signal to the control device to control the arm 1 when capturing fruit. Reference numeral 3 is a photoelectric sensor that detects whether the fruit has entered the inside of the hand 2 to a position where the stem can be cut.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the structure of the finger 6 is such that the middle portion 6C, excluding the distal end 6A and the proximal end 6B, is made of a coiled spring. It is made bendable. A hole 9 passing through the tip 6A is provided in the tip 6A, and a wire 10 is provided to loosely fit through the hole 9. Therefore, each of the fingers 6 is configured to be automatically bent toward the inside of the fruit introduction port 5 at the same time.

The wire 10 has one end fixed to one side end 11A of the proximal end member 11 provided on the cylindrical proximal end portion 4, and the other end attached to the convexly curved front edge 11B of the proximal end member 11. The wires 10 are configured to cross each other and be drawn downward, and the drawing of the wire 10 is performed by winding the wire 10 with a drive device (not shown) such as a motor (winding). (The removal mechanism is not shown).

Incidentally, a blade portion 1 is provided on the front edge 11B of the base end member 11.
1C, and is configured to function as a cutter for cutting the fruit stem by crossing the wires 10.

The fruit harvesting robot hand 2 is constructed as described above, and its control is performed as follows.

That is, the robot hand 2 is first moved toward the position of the fruit detected by the fruit position detection means (not shown), and at this time, a signal from the contact sensor 7 provided at the tip of the finger 6 is detected. The position of the hand 2 is corrected by , and the fruit is introduced into the central gap formed by the fingers 6 . When the fruit has entered sufficiently, the photoelectric sensor 8 detects the fruit, and at this point the wire 10 is pulled by a drive device (not shown) to bend the finger 6 and capture the fruit, and at the same time, the proximal member 11 Pull the stem of the fruit in the direction. When the front edge 11B of the base end member 11 intersects with the wire 10, the stem of the fruit is automatically cut and the fruit is picked. The picked fruit passes through the inside of the base end portion 4 and is sent to a storage section (not shown) by the shooter 3. When the fruit has been picked, the wire 10 is loosened and the fingers 6 are erected by their own spring force.

Another embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

In addition, in each example shown below, the above-mentioned first
Components with the same numbers as in FIGS. 3 to 3 are members having the same functions.

As shown in FIG.
It is fixedly attached to the upper end of one of the wires 10 and is configured so that when the finger 6 is bent toward the inside of the fruit introduction port 5 by drawing the wire 10, the fruit stem is automatically cut.

FIG. 5 is a drawing showing the configuration of another embodiment of the present invention, in which a cutter 12 is attached to the wire 10 so as to follow the movement of the wire 10. That is, as the wire 10 is pulled in, the fingers 6 are bent into the fruit introduction port 5, and at the same time the cutter 12 is projected into the fruit introduction port 5, and the stem is automatically cut in the same manner as described above. It has been structured as much as possible.

Note that the wire 10 may be made of a relatively thin steel wire or the like without using the cutter 12, and the wire 10 itself may be used to cut the fruit stem by squeezing the wire 10.

Further, as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 2, a V-shaped recess 11D is provided at the center of the front line 11B of the base end member 11.
may be provided. In this case, the concave portion 11D serves as a guide when cutting the fruit stem, and the fruit stem can always be cut at a constant position, so that automatic cutting of the fruit stem becomes more reliable.

The fingers 6 may be entirely formed of a wound spring except for the finger tips 6A, or may be formed of other flexible members such as rubber. Furthermore, multi-jointed fingers may be employed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the robot hand for fruit harvesting according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is an overall view of the robot hand, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the main part, and FIG. 3 is a side view thereof.
4 and 5 are drawings showing the configuration of another embodiment. 4... Cylindrical base end portion, 6... Finger member, 10... Wire,
11...Proximal member, 11C or 12...Cut, 11
D...V-shaped recess.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. On the periphery of the open end of the cylindrical fruit storage base end 4,
A plurality of bendable finger members 6 are provided upright, wires 10 are provided that loosely fit through the tips of these finger members 6, and each of the fingers is pulled by pulling the wire 10. A robot hand for fruit harvesting, characterized in that the member 6 is configured to be bent inward from the open end to capture the fruit. 2. One end of the wire 10 is fixed to one side end of the proximal end member 11 that stands up on the periphery of the open end, and the other end of the wire 10 is fixed to the proximal end member 11.
The base member 11 is configured to be retractable along the other end thereof, and is configured such that the wire 10 and the front edge of the proximal end member 11 intersect with each other when the wire 10 is retracted. A robot hand for fruit harvesting as described in Scope 1. 3. The fruit harvesting robot hand according to claim 1, wherein one end of the wire 10 is fixed to the upper end of any one of the finger members 6. 4 A plurality of bendable finger members 6 are erected on the periphery of the open end of the cylindrical fruit storage base end 4, and
Wires 10 are provided that pass through the tips of these finger members 6 in a loosely fitted manner, and by pulling the wires 10, each of the finger members 6 is bent inward of the opening to capture the fruit. A robot hand for fruit harvesting, which is configured as shown in FIG.