JPH0256042B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a state in which the arm is retracted to the cylindrical case for taking in fruits connected to the tip of the arm, and a state in which it protrudes from the case so as to press and support the fruit stem in a predetermined position. The present invention relates to a fruit harvesting robot hand in which a plurality of fruit stem pressing members which can be switched and operated are arranged in the circumferential direction of the case and provided in the case.

Such robot hands have been researched and developed to safely and efficiently harvest fruits such as mandarin oranges and apples, but in the robot hand that the applicant has already proposed, the pedestal pressing member is Since it was formed in the form of a band plate that was pivoted so as to be able to move forward and backward around the base end, the two parts could be adjacent to each other when they were protruded due to the fact that they could swing forward and backward around the base end. There is a risk that the contact resistance between the pressing members will increase and the movement will become unstable due to an inconsistent egress and retraction trajectory, and as a result, the cutter may not be able to properly contact the fruit stalk. Yes, there was room for improvement.

In addition, it is necessary to have a structure in which the member for pressing the fruit stalk can move in and out of the case, and if the pressing member is supported in a so-called cantilever manner with respect to the case, it becomes unstable to maintain the locus of movement in and out. This has the disadvantage that the structure of the drive mechanism becomes complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to enable accurate cutting of fruit stems through simple modification.

In order to achieve the above object, the robot hand for fruit harvesting according to the present invention includes a pair of support parts at both ends of the pedestal pressing member, which are pivotally supported to be swingable in and out of the case side. It is characterized by certain points.

Because of the above characteristics, the following excellent effects have been achieved.

In other words, since the pedestal pressing member is pivoted by a pair of support parts to move it in and out of the case, there is no need to increase the strength of the pedestal pressing member itself, and it is not necessary to increase the strength of the pedestal pressing member itself, unlike the conventional case. Since there is no cantilever support, the structure can be made extremely simple.

In other words, since it is supported on both sides by a pair of supporting parts, it is possible to move it in and out of the case by swinging or rotating the pedestal pressing member around this pair of pivot points. Therefore, the configuration of the drive mechanism can be simplified.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, a pair of left and right propulsion wheels 1,
A swivel base 5 that is rotatably driven by an electric motor 4 is attached to a vehicle body equipped with a pair of front and rear idle wheels 2 and a plurality of outriggers 3 that can be raised and lowered, and a lift device A that can be raised and lowered is rotated. At the same time, the robot hand B for fruit harvesting is attached to the upper end of the lift device A,
A fruit harvesting machine is configured.

The lift device A includes a screw member 24 that is rotatably driven by an electric motor or the like and drives the base end of the arm 6 up and down, and guide members 25 and 25 for an up-and-down locus, and is driven by the forward and reverse rotation of the screw member 24. The arm 6 is configured to move up and down.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the fruit harvesting robot hand B includes a first arm 6a that can be vertically swung relative to the lift device A;
The second arm 6a can be freely swung up and down with respect to the arm 6a.
A multi-joint arm 6 including an arm 6b and a third arm 6c that can be vertically swung relative to the arm 6b.
A forked support frame 8 is provided, and supports the fruit intake cylindrical case 7 so as to be freely swingable around the horizontal axis X.
The third arm 6c is pivoted at the tip thereof so as to be freely rotatable around an axis Y along the arm's longitudinal direction, and protrudes from the case 7 so as to be retracted toward the cylindrical case side and to cover the fruit to be harvested. A plurality of pedestal pressing members 9, which can be freely switched between states, are mounted in the case 7.
A handle-like part connecting the fruit to be harvested and the branch, so-called an arc-shaped cutter 10 for cutting the fruit stalk, is arranged in the circumferential direction of the case 7, with both ends serving as fulcrums, together with the stalk pressing member 9. A case guiding contact sensor 12 is pivoted to be able to move in and out of the case, and further outputs information for horizontally moving the case 7 away from the fruit when it comes into contact with the fruit.
A plurality of these are arranged in parallel around the opening periphery of the case 7.

That is, the fruit intake cylindrical case 7 is maintained in an upward position by its own weight. Then, by operating the multi-joint arm 6 or operating the lift device A, the cylindrical case 7 is moved upward from a position below the target fruit to a height suitable for harvesting the fruit,
In addition, during the upward movement, the fruit is corrected to be located at the center of the opening of the cylindrical case 7 based on the detection information of the contact sensor 12, and then the stem pressing member 9 and the cutter 10 are operated to protrude. After covering the fruit to be harvested, the cutter 10 is operated to cut the stem and collect the harvested fruit.

More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, one end 9a of each pressing member 9, which is formed by bending an elastic wire such as a wire into an arc shape, is connected to the case 7. The other end side 9b is pivotally supported through the case 7, and is rotated around its fulcrum using both ends 9a, 9b of the pedestal pressing member 9 as supporting parts. In particular, it is configured to be able to move in and out of the case 7 at will.

In order to move the fruit stem pressing member 9 into and out of the case 7, the case 7 is moved between the inner cylinder 7a and the outer cylinder 7b.
The inner cylinder 7a is supported by being fitted into the outer cylinder 7b in a rotatable state around the vertical axis Z, and an L-shape for egress/retraction operation is formed from the other end 9b of the peduncle pressing member 9. The L-shaped portion 9d is extended.
A slit 11 along the vertical direction that the tip of the slit 11 engages with.
is formed on the outer surface of the outer cylinder 7b, and is further provided with an air cylinder 14 that rotationally drives the inner cylinder 7a by a link 13, so that the fruit stem pressing member 9 is moved into the case as the inner cylinder 7a rotates in the forward and reverse directions. It is configured to swing in and out relative to 7.

To explain the cutter 10, as shown in FIG.
5, 15', and a pair of arcuate band-shaped blades 16, 1 that are moved relative to each other in the longitudinal direction to perform a cutting action.
6' is provided. Both ends of the cutter 10 are pivotally connected around an axis Q along the radial direction of the case 7, and a link 17 is fixed to one end side, and a link 17 is fixed to the tip of the link 17 to press the fruit stem. In the same manner as the member 9, the slit 11 is
An engaging pin 18 is provided which engages with the inner cylinder 7a, and the inner cylinder 7a is rotated to swing in and out of the case 7 together with the pedestal pressing member 9.
As shown in the figure, after the fruit stem is positioned and held in the gap _S1 formed at the center of the upper part of the case 7 by the intersecting of the pressing part 9c of each fruit stem pressing member 9 and this cutter 10, The blade portions 15, 15' are configured to cut the fruit stalk.

To support the pair of blade bodies 16, 16' relatively movably, a link 17 pivotally supports both ends of the outer blade body 16 and engages with one end of the inner blade body 16'. This link 17 is connected to the air cylinder 1.
9 in the vertical direction, the inner blade 16' is moved relative to the outer blade 16.
can be moved in its longitudinal direction. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the blade portions 15 and 1 are activated by the operation of the air cylinder 19.
The fruit stem positioned in the recess 5', that is, the gap _S1 formed in the center of the case 7, is cut.

Incidentally, when using the fruit harvesting machine having the above configuration, it is preferable to install a television camera 20 for detecting fruits as shown in FIG. 1, and remotely control the robot hand B based on the detection information thereof. ,
For remote control, it would be more convenient to include a control device that automatically operates the robot hand B based on a starting operation command while confirming the position of the target fruit using a distance measuring device or the like.

Furthermore, in that case, as shown in FIG. 2, the bifurcated support frame 8 is rotationally driven around the axis Y of the arm 6c by a motor 21 equipped with an electromagnetic clutch and an encoder for detecting the rotational state, and Similarly, the case 7 is rotated around the axis X by a motor 22 and a chain 23 equipped with an electromagnetic clutch and an encoder, and the direction of the case 7 relative to the fruit is adjusted to approach the target fruit. It is better to do this. Then, when the case 7 reaches the target position, the motor 2
When the clutches 1 and 22 are disengaged, the case 7 is automatically maintained in an upward position by its own weight, as described above.

Next, another example will be described.

The fruit stem pressing member 9 may be formed of an elastic wire such as a wire into an arc shape, or may be formed into a curved plate shape. Further, the pressing portion 9c may be covered with a flexible member such as rubber to protect the fruit from damage, and the specific configuration of the pedestal pressing member 9 can be modified in various ways.

Furthermore, the structure for driving the fruit stem pressing member 9 in and out of the case 7 is also achieved by relatively rotating the inner cylinder 7a and the outer cylinder 7b of the case 7 by an air cylinder 14 and a link 13, or by using a motor or the like. Direct rotational drive may also be used. Furthermore, the end 9b of the member 9 for pressing the fruit stem
In addition to being moved in and out by the engagement of the tip with the slit 11 of the outer cylinder 7b, each support portion 9 of the pedestal pressing member 9 is
It is also possible to provide one of the a and 9b with a gear that rotates integrally with the gear, and provide a rack that engages with the gear on the outer cylinder 7b, so that the direct pressing member 9 can be moved in and out by rotating around its support. Good, you can make various changes.

Further, the cutter 10 can be of various configurations, and may be provided independently in addition to being used as a member for pressing the fruit stem as shown in this embodiment. Further, the driving structure thereof may be driven not only by the air cylinder 19 but also by a motor, a link, etc., and various changes can be made.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the fruit harvesting robot hand according to the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is an overall side view of the fruit harvesting machine, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the hand, Fig. 3 is a side sectional view of the hand, and Fig. 4 is a side view of the fruit harvesting machine. This figure is a plan view of the kerat pressing member when it is projected, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are explanatory diagrams of the operating state of the cutter. 6... Arm, 7... Cylindrical case for fruit intake,
9... Fruit stem pressing member, 9c... Pressing action part, 9
a, 9b...Support part.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A state in which it is retracted to the side of a cylindrical case 7 for fruit intake connected to the tip of the arm 6, and a state in which it protrudes from the case 7 so as to press and support the fruit stem in a predetermined position. A plurality of switchable pedestal pressing members 9 are lined up in the circumferential direction of the case 7, and the case 7 is
The robot hand for fruit harvesting is provided with a pair of support parts 9a and 9b at both ends of the member 9 for pressing the fruit stem, which are pivotably supported to be swingable in and out of the case 7 side. A robotic hand for fruit harvesting. 2. The fruit harvesting robot hand according to claim 1, wherein the fruit stem pressing member 9 is formed in a semicircular arc shape.