JPH0697907B2 - Fruit and vegetable harvesting equipment - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a fruit and vegetable harvesting apparatus for harvesting fruit and vegetables such as apples, mandarins and tomatoes.

[Conventional technology]

In such a fruit and vegetable harvesting apparatus, it is considered that a catching section provided with a vacuum pad for adsorbing the fruit and vegetables is provided so that the fruit and vegetables can be accurately captured with a simple configuration.

Then, in order to guide the capture unit toward the harvested fruit and vegetables,
An image pickup means for picking up the fruits and vegetables to be harvested is provided, and guidance is automatically performed based on the information of the image pickup means.
Conventionally, for example, as shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-106215 and FIG. 7, as shown in FIG. 7, the trapping portion (51) is provided with the suction port of the vacuum pad (50) facing upward, and the fruit and vegetables to be harvested (52). The guide part was guided to the lower part of the, and then the capturing part (51) was moved upward toward the fruit and vegetables to be harvested.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional configuration, since the trapping portion is once guided to a location below the harvest target fruit and vegetables, and then the trapping portion is moved upward to capture the target fruit and vegetables,
Since the capturing part cannot be efficiently moved to the target fruit and vegetables, there is a disadvantage that it is difficult to efficiently perform the harvesting work.

In addition, when another fruit or vegetables is located below the harvested fruit or vegetables, the movement of the capture unit is hindered by the other fruit or vegetables and the capture unit can be guided as prescribed. There was a fear that it would disappear.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object thereof is to efficiently guide a fruit and vegetable capturing section provided with a vacuum pad to a harvested fruit and vegetable. is there.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, the fruit and vegetable harvesting apparatus according to the present invention is provided with a capturing unit that is equipped with a vacuum pad for adsorbing fruits and vegetables, and is provided with an imaging unit that images the fruit and vegetables to be harvested.
Based on the information of the image pickup means, a trapping portion guiding means for automatically guiding the trapping portion toward the harvestable fruit vegetables while maintaining the state where the suction port of the vacuum pad faces the harvested fruit vegetables. The feature is that it is provided.

The operation and effect of this characteristic configuration are as follows.

[Action]

That is, while maintaining the state in which the suction port of the vacuum pad is opposed to the fruit vegetables to be harvested, the trapping portion is directly guided toward the fruit vegetables to be harvested, and the suction of the vegetables and the like by the vacuum pad and the subsequent The harvest work is done.

〔The invention's effect〕

Therefore, the catching unit can be efficiently moved to the harvested fruit vegetables as compared with the conventional method in which the catching unit is once guided to the lower part of the harvested fruit vegetables and then continuously moved upward. Even when another vegetable is located in the lower part, it can be harvested accurately without being disturbed by the other vegetable, which is efficient and avoids troubles as much as possible. It has become possible to carry out good harvesting work in this state.

〔Example〕

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

As shown in FIG. 1, a fruit harvesting device (2) as a fruit and vegetable harvesting device is provided in the front part of the passenger car body (1), and a fruit harvesting device (3) is provided on the lateral side of the passenger car body (1). With the provision
A fruit harvesting machine mainly used for harvesting apples and mandarins is provided with a carrying device (4) for carrying fruits from the fruit harvesting device (2) to the storage container (3). 2) will be described in detail.

A guide frame (6) for guiding the boom mount (5) to move up and down is attached to the front part of the passenger vehicle (1), and the lifting electric motor (7) and the boom mount (5) are chained. The boom mount (5) can be adjusted up and down by interlocking connection at (8).

The plate-shaped boom (9) is pivotally mounted on the boom mount (5) so as to be horizontally swingable around a vertical axis (P ₁ ), and an electric motor (10) for swinging the boom is provided. ), A multi-joint type telescopic arm (11) is pivotally mounted about a vertical axis (P ₂ ) and an arm pivoting motor (12) is provided. A fruit capturing part (H) is provided at the tip.

A first arm (11a) on a base end side, a second arm (11b) pivotally supported by a tip end portion of the first arm (11a), and a second arm thereof are included in the telescopic arm (11). Each of the third arms (11c) pivotally supported at the tip of (11b) is provided, and the first motor (11a) is operated to swing about the horizontal axis with respect to the boom (5) ( 13a), an electric motor (13b) for swinging the second arm (11b) with respect to the first arm (11a) around a horizontal axis, and a third arm (1
An electric motor (13c) for swinging 1c) with respect to the second arm (11b) around a horizontal axis is provided.

To form the fruit catching section (H), as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a U-shaped base frame (14) in plan view is bolted to the tip of the telescopic arm (11). The catch case (15) is bolted to the tip of the base frame (14).

The ventilation pipe (16) is slidably fitted in and supported by the tubular portion (15a) of the capturing portion case (15), and the soft rubber vacuum pad (17) is attached to the tip of the ventilation pipe (16). The outer pipe is attached to the base of the ventilation pipe (16), and a branch pipe (1
8) is fitted on the outside and the branch pipe (18) is connected to a flexible bellows-type hose (19), and the bellows-type hose (19) is sucked in as shown in FIG. Pumps (20)
It is connected to the pipe. Further, a negative pressure sensor (21) for detecting that the fruit has been adsorbed on the vacuum pad (17) is attached to the branch pipe (18).

A photo sensor (22) for detecting that the capturing unit (H) has approached the fruit to be harvested is provided. In other words, the sensor body (22a) that houses the light emitting unit, the light receiving unit, etc. is connected to the branch pipe (18).
Optical fiber cable (22b) for transmitting and receiving, which is held inside and is fed from the sensor body (22a)
Through the inside of the ventilation pipe (16) to the inside of the vacuum pad (17), and the extending end is supported by the vacuum pad (17) by the holder (23).

An air cylinder (24) for moving the vacuum pad (17) in and out is interposed between the trap case (15) and the ventilation pipe (16). That is, when guiding the capturing part (H) toward the fruit to be harvested as described below, the vacuum pad (17) is operated to the protruding side, and after the fruit is adsorbed to the vacuum pad (17), As will be described later, the vacuum pad (17) is operated toward the retreat side.

There is provided a fruit cutting device comprising an arc-shaped and strip-shaped hair clipper-type cutter (25) and an arc-shaped and strip-shaped fruit pulp supporting member (26).

That is, the hair clipper type cutter (25) and the fruit pulp support member (2
An electric motor that pivots both ends of 6) around a coaxial core so that it can oscillate freely and swings the clipper-type cutter (25) and fruit pulp support member (26). (27) is provided and the hair clipper type cutter (2
5) A driving air cylinder (28) is provided so that the fruit stem is supported between the hair clipper type cutter (25) and the fruit pulp support member (26) along with the standing operation, and the supported fruit pulp is cut. It is configured to be disconnected by the operation of (25).
Although not described in detail, the hair clipper type cutter (25) and the fruit pulp support member (26) are interlockingly connected to the electric motor (27) through the differential mechanism (29) to form the hair clipper type cutter (25). In the case where either one of the fruit pulp support members (26) and the fruit pulp support member (26) comes into contact with the fruit pulp first, the standing operation of the fruit pulp support member (26) or the clipper type cutter (25) that comes into contact with the fruit pulp first is stopped. Thus, the fruit-stalk supporting member or the hair clipper type cutter (25) on the other side can be continuously erected.

Further, a limit switch (30) for detecting the stand-up operation completion and a limit switch (31) for detecting the retreat operation completion are provided on the protrusion (3) attached to the input gear (29A) of the differential mechanism (29).
It is provided so that it can be operated in 2).

As shown in FIG. 1, the telescopic arm (11) is provided with a television camera (33) as an image pickup means for picking up an image of fruits to be harvested.
Is provided inside the first arm (11a). By the way, the image pickup range of the television camera (33) is set so that the passenger body (1) moves, the boom mount (5) moves up and down, the boom (9) swings horizontally, and the telescopic arm (11) moves relative to the boom (9). It will be set by horizontal swing or back and forth swing.

As shown in FIG. 4, a control device (34) configured by using a microcomputer is provided with an image pickup information of the television camera (33), detection information of the photosensor (22), and a negative pressure sensor (21). Input the detection information, the detection information of the limit switch (30) for detecting the stand-up operation completion, and the detection information of the limit switch (31) for detecting the completion of the retreat operation, and then enter these information and the previously stored information. Based on the expansion / contraction arm drive motors (13a), (13b), (13
c) Operation circuit (35), operation circuit (36) of electric motor (27) for ups and downs operation of fruit pulp support member (26) of hair clipper type cutter (25), air cylinder for operation of hair clipper type cutter (25) Control valve for (28) (37), vacuum pad (1
Control valve (3) for air cylinder (24)
8) and control valve (3) for vacuum pad (17)
9) Each is given an operation instruction from the control device (38) so that the capturing part (H) is guided to the fruit to be cut and the fruit to be harvested is automatically collected. There is. That is, using the control device (H), as shown in FIG. 6, a state in which the suction port of the vacuum pad (17) is directed toward the harvest target fruit (M) side,
That is, the trapping unit that automatically guides the trapping unit (H) toward the harvest target fruit (M) in a state where the suction port of the vacuum pad (17) faces the harvest target fruit (M). Inducing means and inducing trap (H)
Is configured to automatically operate to cut and harvest the fruit stem of the fruit to be harvested, and these means will be described next with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

That is, the TV camera (23) captures an image of the area where the harvested fruits are located, removes branches and leaves, and performs image processing to extract only the harvested fruits, and positions the extracted harvested fruits. Compute the direction.

Based on the calculated direction, the vacuum pad (1
The expansion part (11) is extended while maintaining the state where the suction port of 7) is directed toward the fruit to be harvested, and the capturing part (H)
To approach the target fruit.

After the approach operation described above, the detection information of the photo sensor (22) is checked, and if it is determined that the capturing unit (H) has approached the fruit to be harvested, the suction operation of the vacuum pad (17) is started. Then, when it is determined that the capturing unit (H) is not close to the fruit to be harvested, it is determined whether or not the approach distance is the set value or more, and it is determined that the approach distance is less than the set value. When the approach is continued and it is determined that the value is equal to or more than the set value, the approach is stopped, the telescopic arm (11) is shortened, and the capturing unit (H) is returned to the position before the approach.

After the suction operation of the vacuum pad (17), the capturing unit (H) is moved forward by the set distance (for example, 30 to 50 mm) toward the fruit to be harvested. After that, the fruit to be harvested is vacuum pad (17) based on the information detected by the negative pressure sensor (21).
If it is adsorbed as desired, the vacuum pad (17) is retracted, and at the same time, the capturing section (H) is moved forward along the vacuum pad retracting direction. Let me pick up the fruits to be harvested. When the suction is not performed as desired, the suction operation of the vacuum pad (17) is stopped, and then the telescopic arm (11) is shortened to return the capturing portion (H) to the position before the approach.

After the fruit to be harvested is taken in as described above, the clipper-type cutter (25) and the fruit-stalk supporting member (26) are erected.
Then, the limit switch (30) for detecting the stand-up operation completion
Based on the detection information of, the stand-up operation is judged whether or not it is completed, and if it is not completed, it is judged that there is a trouble such as another object such as a branch being caught, and the clipper is used. After the mold cutter (25) and the peduncle support member (26) are laid down, the telescopic arm (11) is shortened to return the capturing part (H) to the position before the approach.

When the standing operation is completed, the suction operation of the vacuum pad (17) is stopped, the catching section (H) is retracted in that state, and the clipper-type cutter (25) is placed on the base side of the fruit pruning. After setting the position, the hair clipper type cutter (25) is driven to cut the peduncle. Immediately after cutting, suction operation of the vacuum pad (17) is started to adsorb the fruit after cutting of the fruit stem again, and then the clipper-type cutter (25) and the fruit-bearing support member (26) are laid down to extend and contract. Return (11) to the position before the approach, project the vacuum pad (17), then vacuum pad (17)
The suction operation of is stopped and the harvested fruits are supplied to the transport device (4).

In addition, when a plurality of fruits are extracted based on the imaging information of one time when calculating the direction in which the fruits to be harvested are located as described above, the extracted fruits on the lower side to the extracted fruits on the upper side are extracted. Will continue to work in the order of harvesting. Therefore, each time the harvesting operation for one fruit is completed, the presence or absence of the unharvested fruit is determined, and if it is present, the harvesting operation is performed by the above-described operation.

Other Embodiments In carrying out the present invention, the configuration of each part can be variously changed, such as the specific configuration of the capturing part (H) and the specific configuration of the telescopic arm (11) provided for guiding the capturing part (H).

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the case of harvesting fruits is exemplified, but the invention can be applied to harvesting vegetables such as tomatoes.

[Brief description of drawings]

Drawing shows an embodiment of a fruit and vegetable harvesting apparatus according to the present invention,
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a fruit harvester, FIG. 2 is a side view of a notch of a catching section, FIG. 3 is a plan view of the notch, FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control configuration, and FIG. 5 is a control. FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the operation, and FIG. 6 is a schematic side view showing the guiding operation of the capturing portion. FIG. 7 is a schematic side view of a conventional example. (17) …… vacuum pad, (33) …… imaging means,
(H) ... Capturing unit.

Front page continued (72) Inventor Yoshifumi Yoshishige 64 Ishizukitacho, Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture Kubota Iron Works Co., Ltd.Sakai Works (72) Inventor Ueda ▲ Yoshi ▼ 64 Ishizukitamachi, Sakai City, Osaka Kubota Iron Works Ceremony In Sakai Seisakusho Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A-59-95809 (JP, A) JP-A-59-106215 (JP, A) JP-A-60-149314 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A capture unit (H) having a vacuum pad (17) for adsorbing fruits and vegetables is provided, and imaging means (33) for imaging the fruits and vegetables to be harvested is provided, and information of the imaging means (33) is provided. Based on the above, a trapping portion guiding means for automatically guiding the trapping portion (H) toward the harvested fruit vegetables while maintaining the state where the suction port of the vacuum pad (17) faces the harvested fruit vegetables is provided. Fruit and vegetable harvesting equipment provided.