JPS62285723A - Stem cutter in hand for harvesting fruits - 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] 3. Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides a method for controlling captured fruits and vegetables in a state in which they protrude toward the handle side and in a state in which they are retracted to allow the introduction of fruits and vegetables. A swingable band-shaped first blade is provided, and a second blade that slides in the longitudinal direction of the first blade to perform cutting is slidably connected to the first blade. , a swing operation mechanism for the first blade body is provided so that the protrusion operation position can be automatically changed in accordance with the position of the handle of fruits and vegetables, and the swing operation mechanism for the first blade body is provided such that the protrusion operation position can be automatically changed according to the position of the handle of the fruit and vegetable, and A pinion with a gear is provided along the second blade, and the second blade is provided with a gear that can freely engage with the pinion and has teeth arranged in the longitudinal direction of the blade, and a rack that engages with the pinion; The present invention relates to a handle cutting device for a fruit and vegetable harvesting hand that is provided with a cylinder that slides and drives the rack.

[Conventional technology]

In such a handle cutting device for a hand for harvesting fruits and vegetables, the connection between the cylinder and pinion that drives the rack is cut off, and the second blade is cut off when the second blade is not slid.
It is desirable to simplify the configuration by reducing the length of the gear provided in the blade along the longitudinal direction of the blade.

In other words, if the pinion and cylinder are always linked, as the first blade is moved to the protruding side, the gear of the second blade will mesh with the non-rotatable pinion and move along the outer periphery of the pinion. As the protruding position of the first blade changes to match the position of the handle, the position where the second blade engages the pinion of the gear changes in the longitudinal direction of the blade. Different. As a result, in order to appropriately move the second blade with a desired stroke as the pinion is rotationally driven, the length of the gear of the second blade in the longitudinal direction of the blade must be made sufficiently large.

However, when the first blade body is moved 13 times with the link between the pinion and the cylinder cut off, the pinion and gear, which are in an idle state, change their occlusion position as the first blade body swings. As a result, the length of the gear of the second blade in the longitudinal direction of the blade can be reduced.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, the applicant has made it possible to operate the ridge (58) by the cylinder (24) to a position where it disengages from the pinion (56), and the second blade When the body (21b) is slid, the rack (58) is moved by the pinion (5) as the cylinder (24) is operated.
6) We have previously proposed a means to allow the teeth to interlock. (Refer to Utility Model Application No. 61-43607) [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] According to the above-mentioned conventional means, when the second blade slides up and down, the pinion is engaged with the pinion. The separated rack and pinion cannot always be brought into smooth engagement, and the second blade cannot be slid in a predetermined manner, which may lead to a harvesting error.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned actual situation, and its purpose is to enable accurate sliding operation of the second blade while cutting off the connection between the cylinder and pinion that drive the rack. The point is to be able to do that.

[Means for solving problems]

The characteristic structure of the handle cutting device in the hand for acidity of fruits and vegetables according to the present invention is that the slide driving cylinder of the rack is
It is provided separately from the rack so that it can be pressed against the rack only when the slide is driven, and its functions and effects are as follows.

[For production]

That is, the cylinder is separated from the rack so that the connection between the pinion and the cylinder can be cut off except when the second blade is being slid, and the second blade is moved by pushing the rack with the cylinder. It allows you to slide your body.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Therefore, even though the cylinder and pinion can be disconnected from each other except when the second blade is slid, the rack and pinion can always be kept in an engaged state. It is now possible to avoid the above-mentioned inconveniences when engaging and disengaging, and to perform a good harvesting operation while accurately sliding the second blade body.

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

As shown in Fig. 7, a fruit harvesting device mainly used for harvesting apples and oranges has a boom (1) attached to a vehicle body (2) so as to be able to rise and fall and turn freely, and an auxiliary boom (3) that swings horizontally. It can be freely attached to the boom (1), and the working eyebrow break (4) can be attached to the tip of the auxiliary boom (3).

However, in the figure, (5) is a cylinder for lifting and lowering the boom, (6) is an electric motor for swinging the boom, and (7) is an electric motor for swinging the auxiliary boom.

The working manipulator (4) consists of a multi-joint telescopic arm (8) and a harvesting hand (l()) attached to the tip of the arm (8). The electric motor (9a) rotates around the vertical axis (X), and the electric motor (9b) allows the electric motor (9b) to swing around the horizontal axis (Y). Medium (9
C) is an electric motor for arm extension/contraction operation.

To explain the harvesting hand (H), as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a U-shaped base frame (10) in plan view is bolted or bolted to the tip of a telescoping arm (8). , and a capture part case (11) is bolted to the tip of the base frame (10).

The ventilation pipe (12) is slidably fitted and supported in the cylindrical part (lla) of the trapping part case (11), and the soft rubber vacuum pad (13) is attached to the ventilation pipe (12).
A branch pipe (14) for ventilation is fitted externally to the base of the ventilation pipe (12), and a branch pipe (14) for ventilation is fitted to the base of the ventilation pipe (12).
A telescopic bellows-type hose (15) is connected, and as shown in FIG. 8, the bellows-type hose (14) is connected to an intake pump (16) by piping. Further, a negative pressure sensor (Sυ) is attached to the branch pipe (14) to detect when fruit is adsorbed to the vacuum pad (13).

A photo-type proximity sensor (S2) is provided to detect when the harvesting hand (11) approaches the fruit targeted for acid phase.

In other words, the sensor body (17
) is held in the branch pipe (14), and the fiber optic cable (18) for emitting and receiving light fed out from the sensor body (17) is passed through the inside of the ventilation pipe (14) to the vacuum pad (13). extends into the interior of the
Attach the extended end to the holder (19) using a vacuum pad (
13).

A stalk cutting device is provided for cutting the stalk, or so-called stalk, of the fruit captured while being attracted to the vacuum pad (13).

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, both ends of the first blade (21a) having a strip-shaped semicircular arc shape and the handle support member (22) having a strip-shaped semicircular arc shape are connected around the coaxial core. In the trap case (
11) so that the first blade body (21a) and the handle support member (22) each protrude to support the handle of the captured fruit and vegetable between them. It is designed to be able to move in and out to form a passageway for introducing and retracting. Further, a second blade (21b) that performs cutting by sliding in the longitudinal direction of the first blade (21a) is slidably connected to the first blade (21a) to create a sliding type blade. It comprises a delivery cutter (21). And the first blade body (21a)
and an electric motor (M) that swings the handle support member (22).
), and an air cylinder (24) for sliding the second blade body (21b) is provided, so that the first blade body (21a) and the handle support are connected electrically (toward the protruding side), that is, with the raising operation. A handle is supported between the blade member (22) and the supported handle is cut by the operation of the second blade (21b).

As will be detailed later, the first blade body (21a) and the handle support member (22) are interlocked and connected to the electric motor (M) via the differential mechanism (25), so that the first blade body (21a) or the handle support member (22) contacts the handle first, the raising operation of the second blade (21b) or handle support member (22) that contacted first is stopped. In this state, the handle support member (22) on the other side or the first blade body (22) can be continuously operated to stand up. In other words, the protruding positions of the first blade (21b) and the handle support member (22) are automatically changed in accordance with the position of the captured fruit handle.

In addition, Rimi Gutosuinochi (S3) for detecting the completion of standing up operation
, Glue Misoto Inch (S4) for detecting completion of retirement operation,
It is provided so as to be operated by a protrusion (27) attached to the manual gear (26) of the differential mechanism (25).

The air cylinder (20) that operates the vacuum pad (13) in and out is connected to the trap case (11) and the ventilation pipe (14).
). That is, the vacuum pad (
13) is protruded toward the target fruit side from the cutter (21) at the retracted position, and the cutter (25) from that position.
It is designed so that it can be switched to the retracted position and to the side.

A hemispherical and net-like cover unit (28) that covers the outer periphery of the hand is attached to the trapping part case (11). A fruit passage opening (29) is formed in the integral cover (28) at a location facing the suction opening of the vacuum pad (13).

To explain the negative pressure sensor (S,), the sixth
As shown in the figure, the piston (30), which is suctioned and moved by the negative pressure in the branch pipe (14), is
It is provided so that it is locked to the operation piece (β) of L), so that the limit switch (L) can detect that a negative pressure has been created.

As shown in FIG.
8) is provided inside the proximal arm (8a). By the way, the imaging range of this TV camera (So) is
Settings are made by moving the vehicle body (2), turning and raising/lowering the boom (1), horizontally swinging the auxiliary boom (3), and swinging the telescoping arm (8) relative to the auxiliary boom (3) and swinging back and forth.

As shown in FIG. 8, the television camera (So
), detection information of the negative pressure sensor (S+), detection information of the proximity sensor (S2), detection information of the glue tip inch (S3) for detecting the completion of the standing operation, and detection information of the limit switch (S4) for detecting the completion of the retiring operation. The detection information is inputted, and based on the information and the information stored in advance, the control valve (32) of the lifting cylinder (5) of the boom (1) and the turning motor of the boom (1) are controlled. (6) drive controller (33), drive controller (34) for the drive motor (7) of the auxiliary boom (3), telescopic arm (
8) The drive controller (3) for the swing motor (9a)
5), an electric motor (9b) for swinging the telescopic arm (8);
) drive controller (36a), telescopic arm (8)
Controller (3) for driving the electric motor (9c) for telescoping
6b), a controller (37) for driving the electric motor (gate) for raising and lowering the lever (21) and handle support member (22);
, a control valve (38) for the air cylinder (20) that operates the vacuum pad (13), and a control valve (39a) for the air cylinder (24) that operates the cutter (21).
, and outputting an operation command to each of the control valves (39c) for controlling the suction operation of the vacuum pad (13) to guide the harvesting hand (H) to the fruit to be harvested;
and harvesting the fruit, each of which will be done automatically.

That is, in the control device (31), a hand guide means for guiding the harvesting hand (11) toward the target fruit while the suction port of the vacuum pad (13) is directed toward the target fruit, and Each of the hand driving means is configured to automatically operate the guided harvesting hand to cut and harvest the stem of the fruit to be harvested.

Next, each of the above means will be explained based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

That is, the video camera (So) captures an image of the range where the fruit to be harvested is located, and performs image processing to remove the background such as leaves and leaves to extract image information corresponding only to the target fruit. The direction in which the extracted fruit is located is calculated.

Next, based on the calculated direction, the telescoping arm (8) is telescopically operated while maintaining the state in which the suction port of the vacuum pad (13) faces toward the fruit to be harvested, and the harvesting hand (! 1) to approach the target fruit.

After this approach operation, when it is determined based on the detection information of the proximity sensor (S2) that the hand (11) has approached the fruit to be harvested within a set distance, the suction operation of the vacuum pad (13) is performed. Begins. However, even if the approach distance exceeds the set value, the proximity sensor (
If S2) is not activated, the telescoping arm (8) is shortened, the harvesting hand (I+) is returned to the approach starting position, and the approach is stopped.

After the suction operation of the vacuum pad (13), the harvesting hand (11) is moved at a set distance (for example, 30 to 50 mm).
The negative pressure (Sυ
It is determined whether or not the target fruit has been adsorbed based on the detection information of the
13) and at the same time operate the single acidity hand (
11) is moved forward along the direction in which the vacuum pad (13) moves in and out to take the fruit to be harvested into the cover (28) and move it to the operating range of the cutter (21). However, if the negative pressure sensor (S,) does not operate, it is determined that the neem pad (13) cannot be harvested.
is projected, its suction operation is stopped, the telescopic arm (9) is shortened, and the harvesting hand (11) is returned to the approach starting position.

After taking in the fruit to be harvested into the harvesting hand (II), the cutter (21) and the one-yen support member (22
) toward the front side, and based on the detection information of the standing operation completion detection switch (S3),
It is determined whether the standing operation is completed. If this rising operation is completed, the vacuum pad (13
), and at the same time, move the acid phase hand (II) backward and attach the cutter (21) to the base side of the handle.
), the cutter (21) is operated to cut the handle. Immediately after cutting, use a vacuum pad (
13) starts the suction operation to suck up the fruits after the deadline has expired again, and then operates the cutter (21) and handle support member (22) to fall down until the retirement operation completion detection switch (S4) is activated. . Subsequently, the telescoping arm (8) is shortened, the harvesting hand (11) is returned to the approach start position, the vacuum pad (13) is protruded, and its suction operation is stopped, and the harvesting hand (11) is returned to the approach start position, and the suction operation is stopped. End the harvest operation. However, if the stand-up operation completion detection switch (S,) does not operate and the stand-up operation is not completed,
It is determined that a trouble has occurred such as another object being caught, and the cutter (21) and the work handle member (22) are operated to fall down until the retirement operation completion detection switch (S4) is activated. Similarly to stopping the suction of the vacuum pad (13), the telescoping arm (8) is shortened, the harvesting hand (H) is returned to the approach starting position, and the harvesting operation is stopped.

In addition, as mentioned above, when calculating the position direction of the fruit to be harvested, if a plurality of fruits are extracted based on one imaging information, for example, the fruits are harvested in order from the lower fruit to the upper side. Alternatively, the work may be continued in order, such as picking the largest fruit, that is, the fruit closest to the harvesting hand (11).

Therefore, each time the harvesting operation for - fruits is completed, it is determined whether or not there are any unharvested fruits, and the above-mentioned harvesting operation is repeated until no fruit can be extracted within the imaging range.

The configuration of the delivery cutter (21) and the first blade (
21a) and the swing operation mechanism (k) for the handle support member (22).

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a first input pinion (41) is attached to a support pin (40) into which one end of the handle support member (22) is fitted, and the first input pinion (41) (41
) is provided with a first rack (42) that engages with it. A cylindrical member (4) is fitted onto the support pin (40) so as to be relatively rotatable.
3), one end of the first blade body (21a) of the cutter (21) is fitted onto the tube, and a second manual pinion (44) is fitted onto the cylinder member (43), and the second pinion (44) is fitted onto the cylinder member (43). (4
4) is provided with a second rack (45) that engages with it. A first output binion (46) is engaged with the first rack (42) on the handle support member (22) side, and a second output binion (46) is engaged with the second rack (45) on the cutter (21) side. The differential mechanism (25) is provided with respective pinions (47).

That is, a differential case (48) that rotates integrally with the manual gear (26) of the differential mechanism (25) is provided, and the case (48) is provided.
A pair of first and second output bevel gears (50) and (51) are provided which mesh with the free rotating hevel gear (49) supported by the first output bevel gear (50), and the first output bevel gear (50) is fitted onto the outer tube, The first output pinion (4
6), and a second output pinion (47) is fitted onto the second output bevel gear (51).

The cutter (21) includes a pair of arc-shaped and strip-shaped blade bodies (21a) and (21b) connected to a pin (5).
3) and a long hole (54), the blade bodies are connected to each other so as to be slidable relative to each other in the longitudinal direction, and each blade body (21a)
.

(21b), the blade portions are arranged in parallel along the longitudinal direction of the blade body.

A cutter drive pinion (5
6) is fitted externally.

Then, the first blade body (21a) is connected to the pinion (5).
6) so as to be relatively rotatable, and the second blade body (2
1b) is provided with a gear (57) which can freely engage with the pinion (56) and has peaks arranged in the longitudinal direction of the blade.

Further, the pinion (56) is configured such that the first blade body (21
It is provided with teeth along the circumference centered on the swing axis of a), and is provided with a rack (58) that engages with the pinion (56), and slides and drives the rack (58). The cutter hill acting cylinder (25) is provided separately from the rack (58) so that the cylinder (25) contacts and presses the rack (58) only when the slide is driven. However, since the rack (58) is pushed in only one direction by the cylinder (58), a tension spring (59) is provided to return the rack (58).

Note that by biasing the rack (58) with the spring (59), the pinion (56) is also biased, but the direction of the biasing force is such that it should rotate as the cutter (21) protrudes. Since the direction coincides with the direction, the gear (57) and pinion (56) can be rotated together as desired as the canter protrudes.

[Another example]

In carrying out the present invention, the configuration of each part can be changed in various ways, such as the specific configuration of the acid phase hand (11) and the specific configuration of the telescoping arm (8) provided for dissolving the ablation hand (11). .

Furthermore, although the above embodiments have been exemplified in the case of harvesting fruits, the present invention can also be applied to the acid phase of vegetables such as tomatoes.

In addition, each of the cutter (21) and handle support member (22),
It may also be made to swing around an axis along the horizontal direction.

Further, in the above embodiment, the rack (58) is driven reciprocally using the spring (59), but it may be driven using two cylinders, a forward cylinder and a backward cylinder, or , to the cylinder (24),
Of course, it is possible to drive the forward movement abutment part and the backward movement abutment part by connecting them without using the spring (59).

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the handle cutting device for a hand for harvesting fruits and vegetables according to the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of the force/7-taper drive structure, FIG. Figure 3 is the bottom view of the same hand Figure 4 is the delivery date of 1tl? Fig. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional front view showing the drive structure of the device, Fig. 5 is a longitudinal cross-sectional rear view of the same structure, Fig. 6 is a cutaway side view of the negative pressure sensor, Fig. 7 is a side view of the fruit harvester, and Fig. 8 is the control configuration. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the control operation. FIG. 10 is a side view of a conventional example. (21a)...First blade body, (21b)...
...Second blade body, (24)...Cylinder, (56
)...Pinion, (57)...Gear,
(58)... Rack, (K)... Rocking operation mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A first band-shaped plate that can swing freely between a state in which the captured fruits and vegetables protrude toward the handle side and a state in which the fruits and vegetables are retracted to allow introduction of the fruits and vegetables.
A blade body (21a) is provided, and the first blade body (21a) is provided.
b) A second blade (21b) that performs cutting by sliding in the longitudinal direction is slidably connected to the first blade (21a), and a swing operation mechanism for the first blade (21a) is provided. (K) is provided so that the protruding operation position can be automatically changed according to the position of the handle of fruits and vegetables, and the first blade body (
A pinion (56) equipped with a gear is provided along a circumference centered on the swing axis of 21a), and a pinion (56) having a blade length that can freely engage the pinion (56) is provided on the second blade body (21b). A rack (58) that engages with the pinion (56), and a cylinder (58) that slides and drives the rack (58) are provided with a gear (57) in which teeth are arranged in the hand direction.
24) in a hand for harvesting fruits and vegetables, in which the slide driving cylinder (24) of the rack (58) cuts the rack (58) only when the slide is driven.
The rack (58) is pressed so that the rack (58)
) A handle cutting device for a hand for harvesting fruits and vegetables, which is provided separately from the handle.