JPS59106219A - Robot hand for harvesting fruit - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a completely new fruit-harvesting robot hand used in a fruit-harvesting device such as that already proposed by Ganto Honda in Japanese Patent Application No. 140021/1982.

It is important for this type of robot hand to be configured in such a way that the fruit to be harvested can be reliably placed in the fruit trapping part of the hand to the point where it can be tenon-cut without misjudging branches or leaves as fruits. be. To do this, it is necessary to reliably determine whether the object that has fallen into the opening of the fruit trapping part of the hand is a fruit or a foreign object such as a branch or leaf before moving the robot hand further. There is. However, it is not possible to determine whether a fruit is a fruit or not by simply installing a sensor such as a light sensor or a microswitch, and if a determination mechanism based on pattern recognition is to be adopted, the method itself is extremely difficult. Instead, the configuration becomes extremely complex and large-scale.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to distinguish whether or not it is a fruit while having a relatively simple configuration. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a robot hand for fruit harvesting equipped with a sensor capable of harvesting fruit at a distance of 1 m.

In order to achieve the above object, the fruit harvesting robot hand according to the present invention has a structure in which the fruit harvesting robot hand has a cylindrical fruit trapping part.
A steady state in which the cross-sectional shape is approximately similar to the cross-sectional shape of the target fruit and slightly smaller than the fruit's cross-sectional shape, and a deformed state in which the shape expands as the fruit passes through the fruit are y-shaped. ]' A pair of contact bars are provided, and a sensor is provided to detect the state of the contact bars.

Because of this characteristic configuration, it is possible to detect only when something of the same size and shape as the fruit to be harvested passes by, and it is possible to detect it only when something that is smaller than the fruit or has a significantly different shape passes by.
This has made it possible to prevent the hand from detecting foreign objects such as branches or leaves by moving it even further and causing it to fall into place.

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

As shown in Figure 1, the fruit harvesting device is moved. A bendable and extensible arm (2) is housed in a main body (not shown) capable of JJ, and a fruit-catching hand (3) is housed at the tip of the arm (3) so that its direction can be changed freely through a joint (1). has been done.
This fruit catching hand (3) has a hollow cylindrical catching part (4).
One opening is formed as a fruit introduction port (5), and the other opening is connected with a muter (6) for conveying picked fruits to a storage section (not shown). The fruit inlet (6) of the hand (3) is provided with a contact sensor (13) for controlling the hand (3) to introduce the fruit into the inlet (5), and a capturing part ( 4) A cutter (7) is provided for cutting the tenon of the fruit introduced into the container. This cutter (7) has a catching part (4)
It operates when the sensor (8) installed inside the tray detects that the fruit has been correctly introduced into the trap, and cuts the tenon of the fruit, and is configured so as not to damage the fruit when cutting the tenon. has been done.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 8, the sensor (8) includes a pair of contact bars (9) having a substantially semicircular contact portion (9).
10), 1lO) is a semicircular contact part +91,
The contact parts +91 and +91 are made to protrude near the inlet in the catching part (4) so as to face each other to form a channel, and these opposed contact parts +91 and +91 are movable so as to move away from each other. The contact bar 110 to be configured
1, (The proximal end (ill, (11) of 101 is fitted into the capture part (4) in the 1J0T function, and the solid contact part +9), +91 is urged toward the approaching side and the contact part is It forms the inside of the road.

Each contact bar tlol, proximal end (u) of tlol
, (n) is provided with a limit switch (121, (12)) that turns ON-OFF by its rotation,
When the fruit enters the inlet (6), the solid contact area +91, +
91 are moved so that each contact bar 1101 is expanded.
, (ln)'s base end portions 1111 and 110 rotate.

This time # limits switch (12), (+
2) is turned on, it is detected that the fruit has reached the inlet (al), and when the fruit has completely passed through the inlet (6), the contact bar (101 (lO) is the limit switch (12
1. (Since the odor is turned off, it is possible to detect that the fruit has passed through the inlet (5) and the tenon has reached the cutter (7) position. In this way, the fruit is completely inserted into the trap (4). When it is detected that the fruit has entered the fruit, the cutter (7) is activated and the fruit is harvested by cutting the fruit.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the fruit harvesting robot hand according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of the fruit harvesting device, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the main part, and FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of the main part. (4)... Fruit catching section, (10)...
Contact bar, (12)...Sensor (limit switch).

Claims (1)

[Claims] Inside the cylindrical fruit trapping part (4), there is a steady state in which the cross-sectional shape is approximately similar to the cross-sectional shape of the target fruit and slightly smaller than the cross-sectional shape of the fruit, and a shape that expands as the fruit passes through. A pair of contact bars t101 and tlol are provided which can be deformed over a deformed state in which the contact bars 101 and tlol are deformed, and sensors 112) and t+2) are provided to detect the states of the contact bars 101 and tlol. Robotic hand for fruit harvesting.