JPS62111612A - Hand for harvesting fruit vegetables - 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] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention provides a cutter in which a pair of blades in the shape of a semicircular band and a semi-circular arc are moved relative to each other in the longitudinal direction of the blades in an overlapping state to perform cutting. , a strip-shaped and semicircular arc-shaped handle support member is provided to be swingable and switchable between a cutting position for the handle of the captured fruits and vegetables and a retracting position to allow introduction of the fruits and vegetables; The present invention relates to a hand for harvesting fruits and vegetables that is swingably switchable between a cutting position facing the cutter and a retracted position to allow the introduction of fruits and vegetables.

[Conventional technology]

In such a harvesting hand, the cutter is conventionally configured by a pair of blade bodies (100a) and (100b), respectively, as shown in FIG. 9<4) and (El).
- blade portions (101a) and (101b) are formed at the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the blade body.

Then, before each of the cutter (100) and the handle support member (102) are swung to the cutting position, the blade part (101a) of the cutter (100) is placed in the cutting position for cutting the handle of fruits and vegetables.

In order to hold (101b) in advance at the location where it should be located,
For example, a pair of semicircular arc-shaped auxiliary handle support members (103).

(103) was configured to be swingable in and out along the longitudinal direction of the blade.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

According to the above conventional structure, since it is necessary to provide an auxiliary handle support member to support the fruit and vegetable handles in advance, the overall structure not only becomes complicated and expensive, but also has the disadvantage of increasing the overall weight. .

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to enable cutting of fruit and vegetable stalks without supporting them in advance.

[Means for solving problems]

The characteristic configuration of the hand for harvesting fruits and vegetables according to the present invention is that each of the pair of blade bodies has a blade section arranged in parallel along the longitudinal direction of the blade body, and the functions and effects thereof are as follows. be.

[Function] With the blades arranged in parallel along the longitudinal direction of the blade body, the handle of fruit vegetables can be cut no matter where the handle of the fruit vegetable is located in the longitudinal direction of the blade body.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Since it is no longer necessary to support the fruit and vegetable handle in advance at a predetermined position in the longitudinal direction of the blade, the multiple handle support members mentioned in the conventional structure are no longer necessary, and the structure can be simplified and lightened. Became.

〔Example〕

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

As shown in Figure 6, fruit acid f! A device (2) is provided, a fruit storage container (3) is provided on the sideways core of the passenger vehicle body (1), and a conveyance device (4) that transports the fruit from the fruit harvesting device (2) to the storage container (3). The fruit harvesting device (2) is mainly used for harvesting apples and tangerines.The fruit harvesting device (2) will be described in detail below.

A guide frame (6) that guides the boom mount (5) in a vertically movable manner is attached to the front part of the passenger vehicle body (1), and the electric motor for lifting (7) and the boom mount (5) are connected by a chain. (
8) so that the boom mounting base (5) can be adjusted up and down.

A plate-shaped boom (9) is pivotally attached to the boom mounting base (5) so as to be horizontally swingable around a vertical axis (Pl), and an electric motor (10) for swinging the boom is provided, and the boom (9) At the tip of the multi-joint telescopic arm (11)
), and the arm rotation motor (
12), and a hand (11) for harvesting fruits and vegetables is provided at the tip of the telescoping arm (11).

The telescoping arm (11) includes a first arm (lla) on the proximal end side, a second arm (llb) pivoted to the distal end of the first arm (lla), and the second arm. The third arm (llc) is pivotally supported at the tip of (llb).
), and an electric motor (13a) for swinging the first arm (lla) about the horizontal axis relative to the boom (5), and an electric motor (13a) for swinging the first arm (lla) about the horizontal axis with respect to the boom (5),
The electric motor (13b) that swings around the horizontal axis with respect to the third arm (llc) is connected to the second arm (],
1b), an electric motor (13c) is provided for swinging operation around a horizontal axis.

The harvesting hand (H) is constructed as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
As shown in the figure, a U-shaped base frame (14) in plan view is bolted to the tip of the telescopic arm (11), and the base frame (14) is bolted to the tip of the telescopic arm (11).
4) is connected to the catching part case (15) with a bolt.

A ventilation pipe (16) is slidably fitted and supported in the cylindrical part (15a) of the trapping part case (15), and a vacuum pad (17) made of soft rubber is attached to the ventilation pipe (16).
A branch pipe (18) for ventilation is fitted onto the base of the ventilation pipe (16), and a branch pipe (18) for ventilation is fitted onto the base of the ventilation pipe (16).
A telescopic bellows-type hose (19) is connected, and as shown in FIG. 7, the hose (19) is connected to an intake pump (20).

Further, a negative pressure sensor (21) is attached to the branch pipe (18) to detect when fruit is adsorbed to the vacuum band (17).

A photosensor (22) is provided to detect when the harvesting hand (H) approaches the fruit targeted for acid phase.

In other words, the sensor body (22
a) is held in the branch pipe (18), and the optical fiber cable (22b) for emitting and receiving light fed out from the sensor main body (22a) is passed through the inside of the ventilation pipe (16) to the vacuum pad (17). ), and its extending end is supported by a vacuum pad (17) with a holder (23).

a fruit stalk adsorbed to the vacuum band (17);
A fruit stem cutting device is provided, which includes a so-called clipper-type cutter (25) for cutting the fruit stem, and a fruit stem support member (26) that prevents the fruit stem from separating from the cutter (25).

That is, each of the cutter (25) and the stem support member (26) is configured in an arc shape and a band shape, and the cutter (
Both ends of the cutter (25) and the fruit stem support member (26) are pivotally connected to the catcher case (15) around the coaxial core.
) and the fruit stem support member (26) are configured to be able to be switched between a cutting position in which they are erected and swung toward the target fruit side and a retracted position in which they are lowered and swung away from the target fruit.

Then, a hair clipper type cutter (25) and a fruit stem support member (
An electric motor (27) is provided for swinging the clipper type cutter (26), and an air cylinder (27) for driving the clipper type cutter (25) is provided.
28), thereby swinging toward the cutting position, that is,
The structure is such that the fruit stem is supported between the hair clipper-type cutter (25) and the fruit stem support member (26) in accordance with the upright operation, and the supported fruit stem is cut by the operation of the cutter (25).

As will be described in detail later, the clipper type cutter (25) and the stem support member (26) are interlocked and connected to the electric motor (27) via the differential mechanism (29). 25) and the stalk support member (26) contact the stalk first, the raising operation of the stalk support member (26) or the clipper type cutter (25) that came into contact first is stopped. In this state, the stem supporting member (26) or the clipper type cutter (25) on the other side can be operated in an upright manner.

Also, a limit switch (30) for detecting the completion of the standing operation;
And a limit switch (31) for loading after the lodging operation is completed.
is provided to be operated by a protrusion (32) attached to the input gear (29A) of the differential mechanism (29).

The air cylinder (24) for moving the vacuum pad (17) in and out is connected to the trap case (15) and the ventilation pipe (16).
) is interposed between the That is, the vacuum pad (
17) is protruded toward the target fruits and vegetables side than the cutter (25) in the retracted position, and the cutter (25)
) can be switched to the handle cutting position which is retracted to the side.

Furthermore, the cutter (25) and the fruit stem support member (2
6), when viewed in the direction of its swing axis, place the vacuum pad (
17) It is provided so that it can be swung far away from the target fruit and retreated from the position perpendicular to the moving direction.

As shown in FIG. 6, the telescopic arm (1
It is provided inside the first arm (lla) in 1). By the way, the imaging range of this TV camera (33) is
Moving the passenger vehicle body (1), raising and lowering the boom mount (5),
Setting is performed by horizontal rocking of the boom (9), horizontal rocking of the telescoping arm (11) relative to the boom (9), and back and forth rocking.

As shown in Figure 7, the microcontroller? The television camera (33) is connected to a control device (34) configured using a user.
), detection information of the photosensor (22),
Input the detection information of the negative pressure sensor (21), the detection information of the limit switch (30) for detecting the completion of the standing operation, and the detection information of the limit switch (31) for detecting the completion of the retiring operation. , based on the information stored in advance, the telescopic arm drive motor (13a), (
13b), (13c) operating circuit (35), operating circuit (36) for the electric motor (27) for raising and lowering the clipper-type cutter (25) and the stem support member (26), and the operation circuit (36) for the clipper-type cutter (25). A control valve (37) for the operating air cylinder (28), a control valve (38) for the air cylinder (24) for operating the vacuum band (17), and a control valve (39) for the vacuum pad (17), respectively. The control device (33) gives operating instructions to the device so as to automatically guide the harvesting hand ( ) to the fruit to be harvested and to harvest the fruit to be harvested. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the control device (1) is used to control the vacuum pad (1).
7) hand guiding means for automatically guiding the harvesting hand (j Each of the hand driving means is configured to automatically operate the hand ()l) to cut and harvest the stalk of the fruit to be harvested, and then these means are operated based on the flowchart of FIG. explain.

In other words, the TV camera (23) captures an image of the area where the fruit to be harvested is located, and performs image processing to remove the grains, leaves, etc. and extract only the fruit to be harvested, and then Compute the direction.

Based on the calculated direction, vacuum pad (1
While maintaining the state in which the suction port 7) faces toward the fruit to be harvested, the telescopic arm (11) is extended and the harvesting hand (H) approaches the fruit to be harvested.

After the above approach operation, the detection information of the photo sensor (22) is checked, and when it is determined that the harvesting hand (If) has approached the fruit to be harvested, the vacuum pad (1
7) Start the suction operation.

If it is determined that the harvesting hand (H) is not approaching the fruit to be harvested, it is determined whether the approach distance is greater than or equal to the set value, and it is determined that the approach distance is less than the set value. Then, the approach continues, and when it is determined that the value is greater than or equal to the set value, the approach is stopped, the telescoping arm (11) is shortened, and the harvesting hand (11) is shortened.
) is returned to its pre-approach position.

After the suction operation of the vacuum pad (17), the harvesting hand (H) is moved forward by a set distance (for example, 30 to 50 fins) toward the fruit to be harvested. After that, the negative pressure sensor (2
Based on the detection information of 1), it is determined whether or not the fruit to be harvested is adsorbed to the vacuum pad (17), and if the fruit is adsorbed as desired, the vacuum pad (17) is operated to retire, and at the same time, Harvesting hand (H)
Move the vacuum band forward along the direction of egress and egress,
Take in the fruit to be harvested. Furthermore, if the harvesting hand (11) is not suctioned as desired, the suction operation of the vacuum pad (17) is stopped, the telescopic arm (11) is shortened, and the harvesting hand (11) is returned to the position before the approach.

As described above (after taking in the fruit to be harvested, the clipper type cutter (25) and the stem support member (26) are operated to raise the fruit. Then, the glue mint switch (3) for detecting the completion of the raising operation is activated.
Based on the detection information of 0), it is determined whether or not the standing operation has been completed, and if it is not completed, it is determined that a problem has occurred such as a branch or other object getting caught, and the clipper is removed. After lowering the mold cutter (25) and the stem support member (26), the telescoping arm (11) is shortened and the catching part (
Return H) to the position before the approach.

In addition, when the standing operation is completed, the suction operation of the vacuum pad (17) is stopped, and in this state, the capturing part (
11) is moved back to position the clipper type cutter (25) on the base side of the fruit stem, and then the clipper type cutter (25) is driven to cut the fruit stem. Immediately after cutting, the suction operation of the vacuum pad (17) is started to adsorb the fruit after cutting the stem again, and then the clipper type cutter (25) and the stem support member (26) are operated to fall down,
The telescopic arm (11) is returned to the position before the approach, the vacuum pad (17) is projected, and the suction operation of the vacuum pad (17) is then stopped to supply the harvested fruit to the conveying device (4).

In addition, when calculating the direction in which the fruit to be harvested is located as described above, if a plurality of fruits are extracted based on one imaging information, the upper extracted fruit is obtained from the lower extracted fruit. The work will continue in the order specified. Therefore, each time the harvesting operation for one fruit is completed, it is determined whether or not there are unharvested fruits, and if there are any unharvested fruits, the harvesting operation is performed according to the above-mentioned operation.

Next, the structure of the swinging operation of the cutter (25) and the stem support member (26), and the structure of the cutter (25) will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the fruit stem support member (26)
The first input pinion (41) is attached to the support pin (40) to which one end is externally fitted, and the input pinion (41) is
1) is provided with a first rank (42) that interlocks with the first rank (42). A cylindrical member (
43), one end of the cutter (26) is fitted onto the cylinder member (43), a second manual pinion (44) is fitted onto the cylinder member (43), and a second manual pinion (44) is fitted onto the cylinder member (43). It is equipped with a tsuk (45). Then, the fruit stem support member (2
a first output pinion (46) with which the first rack (42) on the side 6) engages, and a second output pinion (47) with which the second rank (45) on the cutter (25) side engages. The differential mechanism (29) is provided with the following.

That is, a differential case (48) that rotates integrally with the input gear (29A) of the differential mechanism (29) is provided, and the case (
A pair of first and second output bevel gears (50) that mesh with an idling bevel gear (49) supported by a shaft (48).

(51) is provided, and the first output bevel gear (50) is externally fitted to the support shaft (52) on which the second output bevel gear (51) is externally fitted so as to be relatively rotatable. A second output pinion (46) is fitted onto the second output bevel gear (51), and a second output pinion (47) is fitted onto the second output bevel gear (51).

The cutter (25) is constructed by attaching a pair of arc-shaped and strip-shaped blade bodies (25a) and (25b) to a pin (5).
3) and a long hole (54), the blades are connected in an overlapping state and slidably relative to each other in the longitudinal direction of the blade body.

Further, the pair of blade bodies (25a) and (25b) have blade portions (Ka) and (Kb) arranged in parallel along the longitudinal direction of the blade bodies, respectively.

A cutter driving pinion (
56) before being externally fitted. Then, the pair of blade bodies (2
Which blade body (25b) is one of (5a) and (25b)?
) is fitted onto the pinion (56) so as to be relatively rotatable, and a face gear (57) which can freely engage with the pinion (56) is provided at the end of the other blade (25a). Then, a rack (
58) is connected to the cutter operating air cylinder (28) using a relay member (59).

[Another example]

In the above embodiment, the case of harvesting fruits was illustrated, but the present invention can also be applied to harvesting vegetables such as tomatoes.

In carrying out the present invention, the specific configuration of the harvesting hand (H) can be modified in various ways. For example, the cutter (25) may be pivotally attached to a bottomed cylindrical trapping case.

In addition, a structure for swinging the cutter (25), a structure for swinging the cutter (25),
) can be modified in various ways for relatively moving the respective blade bodies (25a) and (25b).

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the hand for harvesting fruits and vegetables according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a plan view of the notch of the hand for harvesting, FIG. 2 is a side view of the notch, and FIG. 3 is a diagram of the stem cutting device. Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional front view showing the drive structure, Fig. 4 is a longitudinal rear view of the same, Fig. 5 is a schematic plan view showing the slide drive structure of the cutter, Fig. 6 is a side view of the fruit harvester, and Fig. 7 is a control structure. Block diagram shown, No. 8
The figure is a flowchart showing the control operation. Figure 9 C4
) and (Il+) are plan views of the conventional example. (25)...Cutter, (25a), (25
b)...Blade body, (Ka), (Kb)...
...Blade.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A pair of blade bodies (25a), (25
b) are relatively moved in the longitudinal direction of the blades in an overlapping state, and the cutter (25) that performs cutting is placed in a cutting position with respect to the handle of the captured fruits and vegetables and in a retracted position to allow introduction of the fruits and vegetables. A handle supporting member (26) in the shape of a strip and a semi-circular arc is provided so as to be freely switchable and swingable, and is placed in a cutting position opposite to the cutter (25) in the cutting position and allowing the introduction of fruits and vegetables. The hand for harvesting fruits and vegetables is provided so as to be able to freely switch and swing between a retracting position and a retracting position, wherein each of the pair of blade bodies (25a) and (25b) has a blade portion along the longitudinal direction of the blade body. A hand for harvesting fruits and vegetables with (Ka) and (Kb) arranged side by side.