NL2020742B1

NL2020742B1 - Apparatus and Method for Placing Bulbs

Info

Publication number: NL2020742B1
Application number: NL2020742A
Authority: NL
Inventors: Struijk Wim; Van Der El Wim; Wagner Andrew
Original assignee: Ig Specials B V
Priority date: 2018-04-10
Filing date: 2018-04-10
Publication date: 2019-10-16
Also published as: NL2022385A; NL2022385B1

Abstract

There is discussed a method and apparatus for picking and placing ornamental bulbs. 5 In the method the bulbs are picked from a supply and reoriented and placed into a holder in Which the bulbs can bloom. When the bulb is picked from the supply, it is gripped at opposed ends of at minor axis, perpendicular to its main axis. Figure 3D

Description

Field of the invention

The invention relates to an apparatus for picking and placing bulbs. The invention further relates to a method of picking and placing bulbs. The invention also relates to a pick-and-place head for picking and placing bulbs. Furthermore, the invention relates to an apparatus for picking and placing bulbs.

Background of the invention

Ornamental bulbous plants, often called ornamental bulbs or just bulbs in gardening and horticulture, are herbaceous perennials, which have underground or near ground storage organs. Within the general term ‘‘bulbs” there are true bulbs, corms, rhizomes, tubers, tuberous roots, etc.

Ornamental bulbs produce blooms as a crop for cut flower growers. Particular examples of ornamental bulbs include amaryllis, tulips, daffodils, lilies, dahlias, begonias and gladiolas.

A traditional technique to bring bulbs to bloom involves growing outdoors in beds of soil, followed by harvesting to give a crop of cut flowers. Another technique involves forcing bulbs to bloom in hydroponic systems. In such systems, the roots of a bulb are exposed to a soilless, aqueous, nutrient solution, typically indoors, such as in a hot house or greenhouse. In this manner, bulbs can be forced to bloom out of their normal growing season.

In hydroponic blooming the bulbs are typically placed and held upright (shoot upward and roots downward) in trays or crates and their roots are then exposed to an aqueous nutrient solution supplied into the base of, or under, the tray or crate. Forcing the bulbs to bloom may then occur within a week of a couple of weeks, ready for harvesting the cut flower crop.

Two kinds of trays and crates are commonly used. One kind is an egg crate type, and another type is a prong type. In the egg crate type, bulbs are cradled in appropriately sized recesses. In the prong-type, the bulbs are impaled (e.g. pierced skewered) onto upwardly oriented pins, such as prongs or lances, and held fast thereon. The prong type holders have the advantages that they are able to accommodate bulbs of various sizes, and that the bulbs are more firmly held against reorientation during further handling of the tray or crate.

Examples of trays, crates and other holders for bulbs can be found in prior art patent publications. For example, Dutch patent publication NL1032206C2 discusses a holder with engagement devices for plant bulbs, e.g. lily bulbs or tulip bulbs, with engagement devices; Dutch patent publication NL1027087C2 discusses a container for bringing bulbs into flower, and has a base with pins for pinning or impaling the bulbs at a distance from the base to leave a space beneath the bulbs that can be filled with water into which roots can grow; European patent publication EPl 190619 discusses a bulb container with several pockets for the bulbs; and Dutch patent publication NL1011346C1 discusses a floating tray for growing inter alia bulbs

It is of importance to the flower crop, that the bulbs are upright within the trays or crates when they are brought to bloom. Such an orientation helps to ensure that it is the roots that are exposed to the nutrient solution, and that the height of the eventual blooms in a tray or crate are similar for harvesting and sale. If a shoot is not upwardly oriented, e.g. it is horizontal, or downward, then it must first grow past or around the it own bulb body before growing upward, and this results in a bloom that is relatively vertically shorter than those of its upwardly oriented neighbour bulbs. Hence, for efficient growth, bulbs cannot simply be poured or tipped into a tray or crate from a supply conveyor or bag, but must be carefully placed or arranged in the upright orientation.

The placing of bulbs into the trays is currently done predominantly manually. This is labour intensive. As a result, placing the bulbs into the trays or crates is an expensive step in the industry. In addition, the shoot-tip of a bulb can be highly sensitive to mechanical damage, such that (accidentally) rough manual handling of a bulb with an exposed shoot, may lead to failure of that bulb.

It is desirable to automate the placement of bulbs into hydroponic growth systems. Prior attempts have been made without complete satisfaction.

For example Dutch patent publication NL1009435, published 1999, discusses a system in which bulbs are poured into a water filled tank, where they float to the surface. The bulbs are lifted out of the water by grid plates that are matched with trays that are pressed onto them such that the ends of pins are inserted in the bases of the bulbs. Such systems can, among other problems, be inaccurate, and can result in shoot damage during collection from the tank water.

Dutch patent publication NL1028145, published 2006, discusses a packing method in which a plurality of bulbs are placed onto a support in a predetermined, inverted orientation (shoot downward and roots upward), and a pin carrying tray is then pushed down onto the rooted ends of the bulbs, whereafter the pinned container with the bulbs are impaled therein, is reinverted and used for hydroponic blooming.

Dutch patent publication NL2014327, published 2016, discusses an assembly and method for pinning bulbs into crates. In that method and apparatus, bulbs are randomly supplied on a conveyor belt and a robot with a single nozzle suction-cup is used to collect individual bulbs by application of negative pressure on one side thereof. The collected bulbs are placed in a vertically inverted orientation into an intermediate holder. An inverted crate with pins is then pushed from above onto the resulting array of inverted bulbs, the pins of the crate piercing the rooted ends of the bulbs, and the tray crate with held bulbs vertically rotated to an upright position. Similarly to NL1028145, this involves inversion and reinversion of the pinned tray or crate. In addition, in practical application, collection of the bulbs from the conveyor belt and accurate placement into the intermediate holder, may not be consistently successful or accurate.

A technique for automated bulb transplanting into a soil filled crate has been discussed by CMP Automation Inc. ( http://www.cmpautomation.ca), in which method bulbs are supplied pre-oriented in foam cups upon a conveyor belt and are then transferred from the conveyor belt to a soil filled crate via a suction cup carried on a robot arm. That technique requires careful pre-orientation of the bulbs prior to supply, which may be manually arduous and lead to inaccuracies. It is also not shown to use the technique with hydroponic growing techniques, or with pinned trays or crates.

There is a need to improve the processes and apparatuses for placement of bulbs, in particular into hydroponic systems.

The present invention is concerned with addressing one or more the above concerns, and with providing further useful devices and methods for placing bulbs, while at the same time maintaining high levels of effectiveness and efficiency.

Summary of the invention

It is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus and method for accurately picking, orienting and placing bulbs, in particular into hydroponic systems, more particularly into hydroponics trays, crates and other holders or containers for hydroponic growth, with excellent performance, in particular with respect to throughput, precision and reliability.

In an aspect of the invention there is provided a method of picking and placing bulbs, comprising:

• supplying a plurality of bulbs on a supply surface of a bulbs supply system;

• identifying a bulb as suitable for pick up, • picking said identified bulb from the supply surface with a pick-andplace head;

• reorienting the picked bulb; and • placing the reoriented bulb into a holder, wherein the method comprises:

• identifying a major axis of the identified bulb, • identifying and selecting a minor axis of the identified bulb, said minor axis being substantially perpendicular to the major axis, and wherein the step of picking said identified bulb comprises the pick-and-place head gripping said identified bulb at opposed ends of said minor axis, and the step of reorienting the picked bulb comprises shifting the major axis.

In a preferred embodiment, the method further comprises a step of impaling bulbs, shoot-first and roots-last, into a pin-bearing holder. The pin-bearing holder is preferably a pin-bearing tray or crate, examples of which are well know in hydroponic blooming of bulbs. In an alternative embodiment, the bulbs may be placed into holders that do not bear pins. For example, the bulbs may be placed into holders such as vases, decorative vases, pots, dishes or ornamental holders, suitable for direct sale to consumers as growing bulbs, for example, as growing flowers instead of as cut flowers. Again, in such embodiments, the bulbs should not be askew, in order to benefit the growth of the bulb and improve the ornamental value.

A pick-and-place head is a tool-head that carries out both picking and placing of a bulb. In some embodiments, the placing can be placement into an intermediate bulb transfer-receptacle, which temporarily clutches the bulbs placed within it, prior to those bulbs being impaled onto upstanding pins in a pin-bearing holder. In alternative embodiments, the placing may be a direct impalement of the picked bulbs in a pin-bearing holder by the pick-and-place head.

In line with the method above, a grasper for gripping the identified bulb at opposed ends of the selected minor axis offers excellent pick up control and/or orientation control of the bulb, both during pick up, as well as during placing. In particular, pick up of the bulbs from a horizontal surface such as a conveyor belt can be complex for automation. The bulbs lie in a variety of orientations, mainly upon their side with either the root-end or shoot-end tilted toward the carrying surface. Prior art attempts have attempted to pluck bulbs with such an attitude using a suction cup applied to the upward facing side of the bulb. However, the present inventors have identified that such methods may result in lower than desired levels of pick up of bulbs, and correct orientation.

The present inventors have identified that problems in the prior may result because the tunic of bulbs (papery outer covering) leads to unpredictable picking and carrying characteristics. In particular the tunic may shift or release from the bulb, leading to the bulb being dropped or mis-oriented. Bulb-peeling to remove the tunic entirely could provide a solution to the problem, but increases labour.

Furthermore, bulb shapes are far from consistent, and not all bulbs have surfaces, or present surfaces in the orientation upon the conveyor that are suitable for suction cup pick up.

The present aspect of the invention picks a bulb by gripping it at opposed ends of a minor axis. This can improve pick up and orientation, because a compressive force is applied across the bulb body (the minor axis), such that the tunic is less likely to shift or release, and the technique is less sensitive to irregularly shaped bulb surfaces. Preferably the selected minor axis is substantially at the thickest perpendicular cross-section of the bulb, preferably it passes through the thickest perpendicular cross-section of the bulb. This can provide a still surer hold on the bulb body.

Furthermore, gripping the bulb at a minor axis offers simple reorientation of the bulb, such that it can be suitable aligned for placement into either an intermediate receptable, or pinned into a holder. Vertical rotations of the major axis of about 90° are most preferred. Preferably the picked bulb is rotated to have its major axis within 50° of vertical, preferably within 40°, preferably within 30°, preferably within 20°, preferably within 10°, more preferably within 10° and most preferably substantially vertical. Other rotations are possible, depending upon circumstances and the orientation of transfer-receptacles or pinned holders.

In this respect, it is preferable that the step of reorienting the picked bulb comprises shifting the major axis toward a substantially vertical orientation. That is, bulbs are typically supplied spread across the surface of a substantially horizontal conveyor belt. The bulbs have an attitude in which their major axis (defined as a line running centrally through the shoot and roots) is close to horizontal. When pinned into a pin-bearing holder, it is desirable that the bulb major axis is substantially perpendicular to the base of the pin-bearing holder (i.e. substantially vertical when the tray base is horizontal; as is the case during blooming of the bulbs) with the root-end pinned and the shoot-end facing outward.

Gripping the bulb at opposed ends of a minor axis allows for simple reorientation of the picked bulb by rotation of the picked bulb about said minor axis while it is gripped by the pick-and-place head. In a preferred example, the method involves rotating or turning the bulb about said minor axis.

In this respect a further aspect of the invention lies in a pick-and-place head for picking and placing bulbs, comprising a grasper wherein said grasper comprises opposed grasping surfaces for grasping a bulb therebetween, with at least one of said grasping surfaces being actively rotatable to rotate a grasped bulb about the selected minor axis of said bulb. Preferably the actively rotatable grasping surface is mechanically driven preferably both of the grasping surfaces are mechanically driven for rotation.

The bulb can in this manner be easily rotated or turned about the minor axis to align the major axis to a more vertical orientation suitable for placement, preferably to a substantially vertical orientation.

In one embodiment, both grasping surfaces are actively rotatable.

In one embodiment, both grasping surfaces are rotatable, preferably wherein one of the grasping surfaces is freely rotatable.

In one embodiment, one of the grasping surfaces is passively or freely rotatable.

In another embodiment one of the grasping surfaces is not rotatable, but has a low rotational coefficient of friction, allowing a grasped bulb to rotate without rotation of the non-rotatable grasping surface.

Advantageously, the grasped bulbs may be reoriented to a substantially inverted orientation or to a substantially upright orientation. The user may select the desired orientation dependent upon the orientation of the receptacle or holder the bulbs are to be transferred to.

This offers flexibility in the orientation of the further receptacles and holders in the process. For example, in the prior art it has been known to provide pin-bearing crates above an array of inverted bulbs, the pin-bearing crate being driven downwardly upon the array of bulbs to impale them, before the crate with bulbs, is then rotated to an upright orientation to allow the bulbs to bloom. This process involves a complex supply system for the crates, requiring raising of crates and rotation thereof, also while the bulbs have already been impaled.

The pick-and-place head preferably comprises a grasper comprising two opposed grasper members for grasping upon a selected portion of the identified bulb. Preferably the grasper comprises at least one elongate member, and one of the two opposed grasping surfaces form an inner surface of the elongate member. More preferably the grasper comprises two opposed, elongate members the two opposed grasping surfaces being provided on the opposed elongate members. Preferably each elongate member has a distal end, an inner surface of each distal end forming a grasping surface. The grasping surface of the distal end may be planar; raised e.g. a resilient rubber nub; protruding; recessed; or concave e.g. to cup a bulb’s side. Appropriate configurations may be or resemble pincers, tongs, tweezers or forceps. The grasper may preferably comprise opposed fingers with distal gripping surfaces. The opposed fingers may be pivoted at a proximal end, or may be held movably in relation to one another for effecting gripping and releasing motions in another manner, such as by movement laterally toward and away from one another.

The opposed fingers are preferably resiliently flexible, and preferably formed of plastics or metal, most preferably spring steel, stainless steel or aluminium. A degree of resilient flex within the fingers allows for a firm grip upon the bulb without application of excessive force that might cause damage. The force applied by the grasper upon a bulb can be controlled by pneumatics.

The pick-and-place head or grasper may be pivotable in a vertical plane. This is such that the head can collect a bulb in a horizontal orientation and rotate it into a substantially vertical orientation ready for placing.

In one embodiment of the invention, the placing by the pick-and-place can be a placement into an intermediate bulb transfer-receptacle, which temporarily clutches the bulbs placed within it, prior to those bulbs being impaled onto upstanding pins in a pin-bearing holder. The picking and placement steps are preferably repeated to arrange more than one bulb in the transfer-receptacle, preferably 5 or more bulbs, preferably 10 or more bulbs, preferably 50 or more bulbs.

Clutching of the bulbs may be done in any suitable manner, but is preferably achieved by either a compressive gripping element, or more preferably by application of a negative pressure.

Placement of the bulbs into an intermediate transfer-receptacle, advantageously allows optimization of the pick-and-place head for pick-and-place actions, and optimization of the transfer-receptacle for placement of the bulbs into a pin-bearing holder. For example, in a preferred embodiment, the transfer-receptacle is configured to clutch an array of bulbs, so that a plurality of bulbs in a fixed array can be impaled in a pin-bearing holder in a single step.

The bulbs are preferably placed into the transfer-receptable with the shoot inward (shoot-first) and with the roots outward (roots-last), such that the shoot can be protected within the receptacle from damage, and the roots are available for impalement in a pin-bearing holder.

The transfer-receptacle temporarily clutches the bulbs placed within it. This advantageously allows the transfer-receptacle to hold the bulbs as pendant, that is underneath the transfer-receptacle in some orientations. The transfer-receptacle with an array of pendant bulbs, can be pushed into contact with an upright pin-hearing holder (tray or crate) to achieve impalement. This advantageously avoids the need to reorient the pin-bearing holders, either before or after the bulbs have been added.

To clutch the bulbs, the transfer-receptacle preferably has a support surface that abuts and supports an upper surface of the bulb, adjacent to the shoot of the bulb, and which has an aperture leading to a hollow where the shoot enters. This can avoid mechanical damage of the fragile shoot. In a preferred embodiment, the bulb receiving aperture is defined by an edge, wherein the aperture is sized to receive the bulb-shoot and to abut an upper surface of the bulb adjacent to the shoot, preferably about, and more preferably fully around the shoot. More preferably an internal negative pressure is applied to the aperture to hold the bulb in said aperture and in abutment with said edge. The negative pressure may be supplied by any known means, such as a pump in communication with aperture. A preferred example of an aperture is comprised in a suction-cup.

In an embodiment the picked bulbs are placed, shoot-first, roots-last into the transfer-receptacle in a substantially inverted orientation from above, to provide an array of clutched, inverted bulbs. The transfer-receptacle is then rotated vertically to flip the bulbs into an upright orientation. Thereafter, the then pendant array of bulbs is impaled onto upstanding pins in a pin bearing holder.

In an alternative embodiment, the picked bulbs may be placed into the transfer-receptacle by the pick-and-place head in a substantially upright orientation from below the transfer-receptacle, to provided a pendant array of bulbs beneath the transfer-receptacle. The rooted base of the bulbs are then impaled onto upstanding pins in a pin bearing holder beneath the transfer-receptacle.

In another aspect of the invention, the placing of the bulbs by the pick-andplace head may be a direct impalement of the picked bulbs into a pin-bearing holder by the pick-and-place head. In this embodiment it is preferred that the picked bulb is reoriented to a substantially upright orientation, while gripped by the pick-and-place head. The bulb can then be placed into an upright holder, such as a pin-bearing tray or crate. The steps are preferably repeated to arrange more than one bulb in the holder, preferably 5 or more bulbs, preferably 10 or more bulbs, preferably 50 or more bulbs.

It is preferred in this embodiment that there is a step of moving the pick-andplace head with gripped bulb toward said pin-bearing holder, and impaling the bulb onto upstanding pins in a pin-bearing holder, wherein the method comprises providing a shoot-side support to the picked and reoriented bulb during impalement, preferably wherein the shoot-side support comprises a bulb abutment surface adjacent but spaced from the shoot, preferably the abutment surface comprises a partial ring, a full ring, a frame or a scaffold.

A pick-and-place head with an upper, shoot-side, bulb support can be advantageous because during the transfer process a bulb need only be subjected once to a grasping and placement action. This can limit the number of handlings a bulb undergoes. This can be advantageous in avoiding damage to bulbs (especially for bulbs that already have a shoot and are thus relatively fragile) and in avoiding machine complexity required to maintain correct planting orientation of the bulbs when planting.

The abutment of the pick-and-place head preferably comprises a partial ring or a ring, scaffold or frame, wherein distal end-faces abut an upper surface of the bulb adjacent but not in contact with the shoot. Such a support surface ram can be of various shapes, but is preferably composed of a number of elongate members with radially extending faces. The radially extending faces can abut a top of the bulb. Alternatively a ring may be used, the shoot portion of the bulb passing through the rings open centre, and the ring abutting the upper surface of the bulb. The support surface may, however, have any form suitable for abutting an upper surface of the bulb’s body. For example, it may be planar or it may be concave, ribbed, or contoured to generally match an abutted surface of a bulb. It may also be flexible or resilient to aid in the avoidance of bulb damage.

The shoot-side support and bulb can be brought into contact prior to or simultaneously with the step of impaling the bulb, and preferably after reorientation of the bulb.

The bulb-support element provides at least a reaction force to the upper surface of said bulb during a bulb-impaling action, or may itself actively pressure the bulb.

Thus, according to a preferred embodiment, the pick-and-place head further comprises at least one bulb-support element against which bulb-support elements a grasped bulb abuts, at least during impalement upon pins. Preferred examples of an bulb-support element include one or more selected from the group consisting of a partial ring, a full ring, a frame or a scaffold. Preferably, the bulb-support element has a bulb engagement configuration, contacting the gripped bulb, and a bulb nonengagement configuration, spaced from the gripped bulb.

The pick-and-place head is preferably carried by a robotic carrier, preferably a robotic arm.

In a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of picking and placing bulbs, comprising:

• supplying a plurality of bulbs upon a supply surface of a bulbs supply system;

• identifying a bulb as suitable for individual pick up, • picking said identified bulb from the supply surface, with a pick-andplace head;

• reorienting the picked bulb; and • impaling the reoriented bulb, roots-first, onto pins in a pin bearing holder, characterized in that the method comprises:

transferring the picked bulb from the pick-and-place head, shoot-first and roots-last, to a transfer-receptacle comprising at least one bulb-receptor, wherein said bulb-receptor temporarily clutches said bulb.

Clutching of the bulbs may be done in any suitable manner, but is preferably achieved by either a compressive gripping element, or more preferably by application of negative pressure.

The transfer-receptacle temporarily clutches the bulbs placed within it. This advantageously allows the transfer-receptacle to hold the bulbs as pendant, that is underneath the transfer-receptacle in some orientations. The transfer-receptacle with an array of pendant bulbs, can be pushed into contact with an upright pin-hearing holder (tray or crate) to achieve impalement. This advantageously avoids the need to reorient the pin-bearing holders, either before or after the bulbs have been impaled.

The method may preferably further comprise providing the transfer-receptacle in a first orientation and placing each picked bulb into a each of a plurality of bulbreceptors, shoot-first and roots last;

rotating said transfer-receptacle in a vertical plane to a second orientation in which the bulbs clutched in the bulb-receptors are at an attitude from substantially horizontal to substantially upright, prior to the impaling step; and wherein the method comprises the step of impaling the bulb in said holder while the bulb is the bulbreceptor.

In one embodiment, the transfer-receptable is initially oriented with the at least one bulb-receptor at an underside, and a pick-and-place head is arranged to place picked bulbs into said bulb-receptor from below at an attitude selected from substantially horizontal to substantially upright.

In one embodiment, the picked bulb is transferred in a substantially inverted orientation, and placed atop the transfer-receptable, and the method comprises the steps of reorienting the transfer-receptacle to upright the bulb, and thereafter impaling the upright bulb onto upstanding pins in said pin-bearing holder while the bulb is clutched in said bulb-receptor.

In an aspect of the invention, there is provided a transfer-receptable for receiving bulbs, may be provided, said transfer receptacle comprising an array of bulb-receptors configured to temporarily clutch a plurality of bulbs, characterised in that said bulb receptors each configured to receive a bulb-shoot and abut an upper surface of the bulb adjacent to the shoot, preferably about the shoot.

Preferably, the each bulb-receptor is provided with an aperture defined by an edge, wherein the aperture is sized to receive a bulb-shoot and to abut an upper surface of the bulb adjacent to the shoot, preferably about the shoot.

A source of negative pressure is preferably applied to the apertures, preferably by way of a pump in communication with the bulb-receptors, to clutch said bulbs in abutment with the edges of the apertures. A preferred example of a bulb-receptor is a suction-cup.

In a preferred embodiment, the array of bulb-receptors is vertically rotatable, preferably rotatable between an orientation in which clutched bulbs are inverted, to an orientation in which clutched bulbs are upright.

Still more preferably the array of bulb-receptors is vertically moveable to press held bulbs into a holder, preferably a hydroponic holder, preferably a hydroponic holder bearing pins.

The transfer-receptacle is preferably arranged to receive an array of 5 or more bulbs, preferably 10 or more bulbs, preferably 50 or more bulbs.

In a further aspect of the invention, there is provided, an apparatus for picking and placing bulbs, comprising:

a bulbs supply system for supplying a plurality of bulbs;

a camera system for identifying the orientation of supplied bulbs using pattern recognition; and at least one, but preferably both, of:

a pick-and-place head as discussed above, a transfer-receptacle as discussed above.

In a preferred embodiment, the pick-and-place head is carried on a robotic carrier, preferably a robotic arm.

In a still preferred embodiment, the apparatus comprises a supply of pin bearing hydroponic holders, preferably trays or crates; and the transfer-receptacle and the holder supply system are configured for relative movement to impale bulbs in the pin bearing holders.

In above apparatus the bulb supply system preferably comprises a supply surface that is substantially horizontal. This aids in a stable dispersion of the bulbs over the supply surface because the bulbs remain stably immobile unless purposefully agitated for dispersion. The apparatus may be configured such that the pick-and-place head picks up identified bulbs at opposed ends of a selected minor axis depending upon data from one or more images obtained with the camera system.

Preferably, the apparatus is provided with any of the pick-and-place heads as described above.

In general application to the various aspects of the invention, a bulbs supply system comprises a moveable surface for supporting the supplied bulbs. The moveable surface preferably comprises the substantially horizontal supply surface. Use of a moveable surface may aid in spreading the bulbs, and so aid in identification and pick-up of individual bulbs among the plurality of bulbs.

The moveable surface may be moveable in dependence on one or more images obtained via the camera system. On the basis of the actual placement and orientation of bulbs in the supply system a movement program may be executed for controlling movement of the moveable surface.

Movement of the surface may be used to haphazardly distribute or disperse the bulbs over the horizontal supply surface. Vibrating, shaking, pulsating, jabbing, wave imparting, and irregular motions may be used to disperse the bulbs. A discussion of various movements and suitable systems are found in international patent publication WO2013/174893, the contents of which is herein incorporated in its entirety by reference.

In a further embodiment of the method the bulbs supply system comprises a conveyor belt, and the conveyor belt comprises the substantially horizontal supply surface.

In a further embodiment identified bulbs are grasped at opposed ends of a minor axis, in dependence on one or more images obtained with the camera system.

The apparatus for may comprise a computer system comprising a processor with peripherals to enable operation of a method of pick and placing bulbs as described above. The processor may be connected with one or more memory units which are arranged for storing instructions and data, one or more reading units, one or more input devices, such as a keyboard, touch screen, or mouse, and one or more output devices, for example a monitor. Further, a network Input/Output (FO) device may be provided for a connection to the networks.

The processor may comprise several processing units functioning in parallel or controlled by one main processor, that may be located remotely from one another, possibly distributed over the local area network, as is known to persons skilled in the art. The functionality of the present invention may be accomplished by a combination of hardware and software components. Hardware components, either analogue or digital, may be present within the processor or may be present as separate circuits which are interfaced with the processor. Further it will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that software components that are executable by the processor may be present in a memory region of the processor.

Embodiments of the method may be stored on a computer readable medium, for example a DVD or USB-stick, for performing, when executed by the processor within the bulb placement apparatus, embodiments of the method. The stored data may take the form of a computer program, which computer program is programmed to implement an embodiment of the method when executed by the computer system after loading the computer program from the computer readable medium into the computer system.

As used herein the term “upright” referring to a bulb indicates an orientation which is shoot upward and roots downward, with the major axis within 60° of vertical, preferably within 45° of vertical, preferably within 30° of vertical, preferably within 20° of vertical, preferably within 10° of vertical., and most preferably substantially vertical

As used herein the term “inverted” referring to a bulb indicates an orientation which has the shoot below horizontal, and preferably within 60° of vertical, preferably within 45° of vertical, preferably within 30° of vertical, preferably within 20° of vertical, preferably within 10° of vertical.

Brief description of the drawings

Various aspects of the invention will be further explained with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a hydroponics tray filled with upright bulbs; FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a hydroponics crate filled with upright bulbs; FIGS. 3A-D show an apparatus for picking and placing bulbs into hydroponic trays or crates;

FIG.4 shows a pick-and-place head;

FIG.5 shows a pick-and-place head grasping a bulb

FIGS.6A-6D show a gripped bulb in various orientations;

FIG.7 cross-section through an array of bulbs in a transfer-receptacle comprising suctions cups;

FIG.8 shows an alternative pick-and-place head with a bulb-support;

FIG.9 shows the pick-and-place head of FIG.8 in a impaling configuration

Description of illustrative embodiments

The following is a description of various embodiments of the invention, given by way of example only and with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a hydroponic tray 4 filled with upright bulbs 2. The bulbs 2 are impaled upon upright pins (not shown) as is known in the art. The bulbs 2 may be forced to bloom by hydroponics when in such a tray 4. An aqueous nutrient solution is provided to the root-side (the underside in figure 1) of the bulbs 2 and bulb tray 4. The resultant blooms (not shown) can be harvested as a cutflower crop. In order to give reasonable consistency in the height of eventual blooms, the bulbs 2 are upright and vertically oriented. While the shown trays and crates are adapted for hydroponics, the invention is not limited to handling of bulbs in hydroponics systems, and the holders may also be non-hydroponic holders, such as sand or soil containing trays or crates, (ornamental-)vases, or (omamental-)dishes.

FIG.2 shows a perspective view of a hydroponic crate 6 filled with upright bulbs 2. The crate 6 is an alternative to tray 4.

FIG.3 shows an apparatus 8 of picking and placing bulbs into hydroponic trays

4. The apparatus is provided with a bulb supply system in the form of a single-file conveyor belt 10, upon which bulbs 2 are supplied to a picking-zone of a pick-andplace head 12 carried by robot arm 14. The conveyor belt 10 may be any type of conveyor belt, for example a continuous loop conveyor belt. Alternatives to conveyor belts are known and may be used, for example, a line of rotating friction surfaces or brushes that propel a bulb 2 lying atop of them.

The bulbs 2 may be bulbs of any sort, and may include bulbs 2 that are already sprouting. A bulb is a roughly ovoid object, although there is much variation. For the present disclosure, a bulb 2 has a major axis X (figure 3) running centrally through its shoot-end 16 and roots-end 18. A minor axis Y of the bulb runs perpendicular to the major axis X, through the substantially thickest cross-section of the bulb’s main body 20. The main body 20 of a bulb 2 is comprised of scales and a basal stem.

The bulb supply system 10 may comprise a bulb inlet for supply of bulbs 2 to the bulbs supply system 10. The bulbs 2 may be placed onto the bulbs supply system 10 via an opening, either manually by a human operator or automatically, for example via a conveyor belt.

The shown bulbs supply surface 10 is horizontal, and this provides for a stable distribution of the bulbs over the surface. Supply surfaces angled slightly from horizontal are possible and may still provide a stable distribution, but are not preferred.

The apparatus is further provided with a tray 4 or crate 6 supply system in the form of conveyor belt upon which trays 4 or crates 6 are supplied to an impalement zone. The conveyor belt may be any type of conveyor belt, for example a continuous loop conveyor belt.

The apparatus further comprises a camera system 22 (shown in figure 3D) for identifying the position and orientation of individual bulbs 2. The camera system 22 comprises one or more cameras. Based on images obtained with the one or more cameras, bulb 2 position and orientation are identified using pattern recognition techniques. For example, the camera system 22 may be arranged to identify the shootend 16, roots-end 18, a major axis X and a minor axis Y, of a bulb 2. The images provided by the camera system 22 may be any type of suitable image including 2dimensional images and 3-dimensional images. In the case of 3-dimensional imaging, the camera system 22 generally includes more than one camera.

The apparatus further comprises a pick-and-place head 12. The pick-and-place head 12 is communicatively coupled to the camera system 22. The pick-and-place head 12 is arranged for picking up bulbs 2 identified by the camera system 22, the pick-and-place head 12 grasps the bulb 2 at opposed ends of the identified and selected minor axis Y and picks it from the supply system 10. The pick-and-place head 12 of figure 3 is further arranged to reorient a picked bulb 20 into a vertically, inverted orientation (shoot-down; roots-up) by rotating it about the minor axis Y, while it is gripped. For this purpose, the bulb position (for example using Cartesiancoordinates, as will be understood by a person skilled in the art) and the orientation of the bulb are obtained using images from the camera system 22 in combination with pattern recognition. The pick-and-place head is discussed in more detail in relation to figures 4 and 5.

The shown pick-and-place head 12 is carried by a robot arm 14. The robot arm 14 is preferably provided with a number of degrees of freedom to position and orient the pick-and-place head for pick up, transport, and placement of picked-up bulbs.

In some applications a robot ami 14 having 4 degrees of freedom is provided,

i.e. 3 rotation axes, where one axis is arranged to allow transfer along the axis (preferably in a direction substantially perpendicular to the bottom surface of the bulbs supply system) is sufficient. In alternative applications a more sophisticated robot arm 14 is provided, for example a robot arm 14 capable of picking up bulbs in a variety of three-dimensional (3D) orientations using 3D-images. These more sophisticated robot arms 14 may be arranged to operate with 6 degrees of freedom.

The robot aim 14 is programmed to move the pick-and-place head 12 to a selected bulb 2 on the supply surface of the bulbs supply system 10, and to position the pick-and-place head 12 into a suitable orientation to grasp, i.e. pick, a bulb 2. For this purpose, the bulb 2 position (for example using Cartesian-coordinates, as will be understood by a person skilled in the art) and the orientation of the blub are obtained using images from the camera system 22 in combination with pattern recognition.

Once the pick-and-place head 10 has grasped the bulb 2, the robot arm 32 is programmed to move the pick-and-place head 10 along with the grasped bulb 2 to an unoccupied bulb-receptor 28 of a transfer-receptacle 26.

The transfer-receptacle 26 comprises a single-file array of bulb-receptors 28. More detailed views of the bulb-receptors are found in figures 3B, 3C and 7. The bulb-receptors in transfer-receptacle 26a are initially in a vertically inverted orientation (figure 3B), and receive vertically inverted bulbs 2 from the pick-andplace head 12, in a shoot-first, roots-last orientation from above. The bulbs 2 are received into the bulb-receptors shoot-first, and are clutched therein under a negative internal pressure within each bulb-receptor 28.

Once the array of bulb-receptors 28 is filled with bulbs 2 by the pick-and-place head 12, the array of bulb-receptors 28 rotate vertically through 180° to take on an upright orientation as for transfer receptacle 26b of figure 3, enlarged in figure 3C. The then upright bulbs 2 in transfer receptacle 26b are impaled upon upstanding pins within supplied trays 4 or crates 6 below the transfer receptacle 26b. The picking, placing and impaling is repeated to fill suppled trays 4 or crates 6. Once filled to the desired level, the trays 4 or crates 6, are transported to bulb growth environment for hydroponic blooming.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show views of an embodiment of a pick-and-place head 12 for attachment to a robot arm 14 via a connector 32. The pick-and-place head 12 is provided with a grasper 36 arranged for picking up a bulb 2 at opposing ends of a minor axis Y. The shown grasper is particularly suitable for grasping the main body 20 of a bulb 2.

The grasper 36 comprises two opposed members 38a, 38b. The members 38a, 38b are generally pincer shaped, and extend from a proximal end to a distal end. The members 38a, 38b are adjoined to the body of the pick-and-place tool 12 at their proximal ends and converge with one another toward their distal ends so as to form pincers for grasping a bulb 2.

Each member 38a, 38b is provided on an inner surface of its distal end with a grasping surface 40a, 40b for grasping the main body of the bulb 2. The grasping surfaces 40 are provided with flexible or resilient radially inward projections the illustrated frustoconical form is advantageous, but exemplary only. The projections resiliently engage a side surface of a bulb 2, as shown in figure 5. The projections may be contoured or ribbed to aid in grasping the bulb 2. The bulb 2 is grasped by applying a compression force between the grasping surfaces 40a, 40b.

The members 38a, 38b are preferably resiliently flexible transverse to the grasping direction. Such resilient flex provides a firm grasp on the bulb 2, while at the same time avoiding an excessively forceful clamping that might damage a bulb 2. Forming the members 38a, 38b from resiliently flexible plastics or metals can achieve this flex. The members 38a, 38b preferably comprise spring steel, stainless steel, aluminium, or aluminium alloys in this respect.

The members 38a, 38b are movable transversely toward and away from one another. This is achievable by opposing movement of the attachment blocks 42a, 42b to which the members 38a, 38b are respectively joined at their proximal ends. By movement of the attachment blocks 42a, 42b toward one another, the grasping surfaces 40 are brought together and grasp upon the bulb 2. It will be clear to the skilled reader that the members 38a, 38b could be brought together by other movements. For example, the members 38a, 38b could be hinged to one another at a distal position, and pivoted toward and away from one another for grasping and releasing respectively.

At least one of the grasping surfaces 40 is driven for active rotation, to rotate the grasped bulb 2 about the minor axis Y as illustrated by arrow Z in figure 5. In this manner the bulb can be reoriented from a generally horizontal orientation to a more vertical orientation. The driven rotation may be achieved by any known means such as via an electrical motor. In figure 6A the bulb 2 has been reoriented to be vertically inverted; in figure 6B the bulb 2 has been reoriented to be vertically upright; in figure 6C the bulb 2 has been reoriented to have an upward attitude at about 45° to from horizontal; and figure 6D has been reoriented to have an attitude opposite to that shown in figure 5. While vertically upright and vertically inverted attitudes are generally preferred for placing bulbs into transfer-receptacles or holders; other orientations may be used as suitable, for example, those orientations shown in figures 6C and 6D may offer alignment for holder, e.g. trays or crates supplied in a nonhorizontal state.

Figure 7 shows a cross-section through an array of bulbs 2 in a transferreceptacle comprising bulb-receptors 28 in the form of suctions cups. Four bulbreceptors 28 are shown.

Each bulb-receptor 28 is provided with a bulb aperture 44 sized to receive the bulb-shoot and to abut an upper surface 46 of the bulb adjacent the shoot 16, preferably about the shoot 16. The shoot 16 is received within a hollow within the bulb-receptor 28, and is thus protected from mechanical damage.

The aperture 44 of the bulb-receptor 28 is preferably flexible and resilient to form a flexible engagement and at least partial seal with the bulb’s 2 upper surface 46. A natural or synthetic rubber type material is suitable to achieve this. A gasket or sock may in particular be applied.

The bulb-receptors 28 are commonly in communication with a negative pressure, vacuum, via manifold 50. The negative pressure is calibrated to firmly clutch bulbs 2 into engagement therewith, for example to avoid loss due to gravity when pendant, without causing damage thereto.

An alternative embodiment of the pick-and-place head is shown in figure 8, which pick-and-place head 12 is additionally suitable for directly impaling picked bulbs 2 into a pin-bearing holder 4, 6, without first handing-off to transfer-receptacle 28.

The pick-and-place head 12 is similar to that of figures 4 and 5, with the addition of a shoot-side abutment provided in the form a frame comprising elongate abutment members 52 with radially extending faces, which can be brought into abutment with a grasped bulb 2, as shown in figure 9. Distal end-faces of the abutment members 52 abut an upper surface 46 of the bulb 2 adjacent but not in contact with the shoot 16. The radially extending faces can abut the top 46 of the bulb

2. Alternatively a ring may be used, the shoot portion of the bulb passing through the rings open centre, and the ring abutting the upper surface 46 of the bulb 2.

In this embodiment the picked bulb 2 of figure 8 is reoriented to a substantially upright orientation, as shown in figure 9, while gripped by the pick-andplace head. The bulb 2 can then be placed into an upright holder, such as a pinbearing tray or crate 4, 6.

According to this embodiment, the robot arm 14 moves the pick-and-place head 12 along with the grasped bulb 2 away from the bulb supply surface into an open volume where bulb 2 is rotated about 90° about axis X translating the bulb 2 from a generally horizontal orientation to a generally vertical orientation, and upright (roots downward ready for impalement in a tray or crate 4, 6.

The robot arm simultaneously, or thereafter, positions the pick-and-place head 12 at pre-impalement coordinates above a tray or crate 4, 6.

The pick-and-place head descends to impale the bulb 2 upon upstanding pins of the tray or crate 4, 6, during which action the bulb 2 abuts the abutment members 52.

Finally, the pick-and-place head 12 is earned away from the cutting by the robot arm 14, and impalement of the bulb 2 within the crate, tray 4, 6 is complete.

The above steps are repeated to fill the tray or crate with impaled bulbs.

The invention has been described by reference to certain embodiments discussed above. It will be recognized that these embodiments are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms well known to those of skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, although specific embodiments have been described, these are examples only and are not limiting upon the scope of the invention, which is defined in the accompanying claims.

Claims

CONCLUSIONS

A method for gripping and placing spheres, comprising:

Supplying a plurality of spheres to a supply surface of a spherical supply system;

• identifying a sphere suitable for grasping;

Gripping a grab and place head of said identified sphere from the supply surface;

• refocusing the grasped sphere; and • placing the refocused sphere in a holder, preferably a holder with pins;

characterized in that the method comprises:

• identifying a major axis of the identified sphere;

• identifying and selecting an axis of the identified sphere, said axis being substantially perpendicular to the major axis, and wherein the step of grasping said identified sphere comprises that the grasp and location head of said identified sphere engages opposite ends of said secondary axis, and wherein the step of reorienting the gripped sphere comprises changing the major axis.

The method of claim 1, wherein the step of reorienting the gripped sphere comprises changing the major axis to a substantially vertical orientation.

The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the step of reorienting the gripped sphere comprises rotating the gripped sphere about said secondary axis, while the gripped sphere is gripped by the grab and place head.

The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the gripped sphere is refocused to a substantially inverted orientation, while the gripped sphere is gripped by the grab and place head.

The method of any one of the preceding claims, further comprising the step of placing said gripped sphere, end-button first and root-last, in a transport receiver, said transport receiver comprising a support surface for touching and supporting the sphere near an end button of the sphere.

The method of claim 5, wherein the transport receiver comprises an opening defined by an edge, wherein the opening is adapted to receive the bulb end button and an adjacent upper surface of the bulb near the end button, preferably to the end button .

The method of claim 6 or 7, wherein the transport receiver exerts an internal negative pressure to retain the sphere in said opening and in contact with said edge.

The method of any one of claims 5-7, wherein the gripped sphere is placed in the transport receiver in a substantially inverted orientation, and wherein the method optionally further comprises the step of reorienting the transport receiver to allow the globe to stand upright and wherein the method preferably further comprises the step of pinching a rooted bottom of the sphere into raised pins in said pin holder.

The method of any one of claims 5-7, wherein the gripped sphere is placed in the transport receiver in a substantially upright orientation, and wherein the method optionally further comprises the step of reorienting the transport receiver to invert the globe, and wherein the method preferably further comprises the step of inserting a rooted bottom of the sphere into raised pins in said pin holder.

The method of any one of claims 1-4, wherein the gripped sphere is refocused in a substantially upright orientation, while the gripped sphere is gripped by the grab and place head.

The method of any one of claims 1 to 4 or claim 10, wherein the holder is a holder with pins, and wherein the method further comprises the step of moving the grab-and-head with gripped sphere toward the said pin holder, and inserting the sphere into raised pins in the pin holder, the method further comprising: providing an end button support for the gripped and refocused sphere during the insertion, wherein preferably the end button support a sphere touch surface includes near but spaced from the end button, wherein preferably the touch surface comprises a partial ring, a full ring, a skeleton or a scaffold.

A gripping and placing head for gripping and placing spheres, comprising a gripper wherein said gripper comprises: opposite gripping surfaces for gripping a sphere therebetween, wherein at least one of said surfaces is actively rotatable about a gripped rotate the sphere about a minor axis of the said sphere.

The gripping and locating head according to claim 12, further comprising at least one sphere supporting element against which a gripped sphere deposits, at least during pin fixing.

The grab and place head of claim 13, wherein said spherical support member comprises one or more from the group of partial ring, a full ring, a skeleton or a scaffold.

The grab and place head of claim 13 or 14, wherein the sphere support element has a sphere bonded configuration and a sphere unbound configuration.

The grab and place head of any one of claims 13-15, wherein the grab and place head comprises a grab, the grab comprising two opposite grab elements for grabbing a portion of the identified sphere; wherein the gripper preferably comprises at least one elongated element, and wherein one of the two opposite gripping surfaces forms an inner surface of the elongated element, and preferably wherein the grippers comprises two opposite elongated elements in which the two opposite gripping surfaces are represented on the opposite elongated elements.

A robot carrier comprising a grab and place head as claimed in any one of claims 12 to

16, preferably wherein the robot carrier is a robot arm.

18. A method for gripping and placing spheres, comprising:

• identifying a sphere that is suitable for individual grasping;

• grasping with a grab and place head of said identified bulb of the supply system;

• refocusing the grasped sphere; and placing the refocused bulb, roots first, in a container, preferably wherein the container is a container with pins and the refocused bulb is pinned with the roots first, in pins in the container with pins, characterized in that the method includes:

transporting the grasped globe from the grab-and-place head, end-button first and roots last, to a transport receiver comprising at least one globe receiver, wherein said globe receiver temporarily grasps the globe.

The method of claim 18, comprising the steps of:

providing a transport receiver in a first orientation and placing said gripped globe in said at least one globe receiver, end button first and roots last;

rotating said transport receiver in a vertical plane in a second orientation in which the sphere gripped in the sphere receiver assumes a substantially horizontal to substantially upright posture before the insertion step is performed; and wherein the method includes the step of inserting the bulb into said container while the bulb is in the bulb receiver.

The method of any one of claims 18-20, wherein said at least one bulb receiver comprises an opening defined by an edge, and a negative pressure is applied in the opening to press the bulb against the edge, preferably wherein the bulb receiver is a suction head.

The method of any one of claims 18-20 wherein the grasped globe is transported in a substantially inverted orientation, and is placed on top of the transport receiver, and wherein the method comprises the steps of reorienting the transport receiver to make the globe upright and then placing the upright bulb in the holder, and preferably inserting the upright bulb into raised pins in a holder with pins; while the sphere is gripped in the said sphere receiver.

The method of any one of claims 18 to 21, wherein a plurality of bulb receivers are provided, and a plurality of bulb receiver openings are filled with bulbs before these bulbs are inserted.

The method according to any of claims 18-22, comprising a follow-up of the grip and placing steps to arrange more than one sphere in the container, preferably 5 or more spheres, preferably 10 or more spheres, preferably 50 or more bulbs.

The method of any one of claims 1 to 11 or 18 to 23 wherein the gripped sphere is rotated so that its major axis is within 50 ° of the vertical, preferably within 40 °, preferably within

30 °, preferably within 20 °, preferably within 10 °, more preferably within 10 ° and most preferably substantially vertical.

25. A transport receiver for receiving bulbs, comprising:

a row of sphere receivers adapted to temporarily hold a plurality of spheres, characterized in that in said sphere receivers are each adapted to receive a sphere end button and an adjacent upper surface of the sphere near the end button, preferably to the end button.

The transport receiver of claim 25 further comprising a negative pressure source, preferably a pump, in communication with the bulb receivers, to hold the bulbs by pressing said bulbs against the edges of the openings.

The transport receiver of claim 25 or 26, wherein the row of bulb receivers are vertically rotatable, and are preferably rotatable between an orientation in which the retained bulbs are inverted, and an orientation in which the retained bulbs are upright.

A device for gripping and placing spheres, comprising: a spherical supply system for supplying a plurality of spheres;

a camera system for identifying the orientation of supplied spheres by using pattern recognition; and at least one of the following:

a robot carrier according to claim 24; and / or a transport receiver according to any of claims 25-27.

An apparatus according to claim 28 comprising both a robot carrier according to claim

24 and a transport receiver according to any of claims 25-27; further comprising a supply of hydroponics containers with pins; and wherein the transport receiver and the container supply system is arranged for relative movement to pin spheres in the pin holders.

The method of any one of claims 1 to 11 and 18 to 24, wherein the grab and place head is arranged according to any of claims 12 to 17.

The method of any of claims 6-9 and 18-24 wherein the transport recipient is configured according to any of claims 24-27.

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