WO1997048269A1

WO1997048269A1 - Fruit cutter

Info

Publication number: WO1997048269A1
Application number: PCT/JP1997/002115
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hiroaki Sugiyama
Original assignee: Hiroaki Sugiyama
Priority date: 1996-06-20
Filing date: 1997-06-19
Publication date: 1997-12-24
Also published as: JP3280233B2; JPH104744A; AU3190597A

Abstract

A fruit cut-off or pluck-off device capable of easily cutting or plucking off a fruit from a branch without damaging the branch. Two arm portions (1a, 1b) are elastically combined at the rear end (1c) and expand at the front end. A blade portion (3a, 3b) is disposed in the proximity of the front end of each arm portion (1a, 1b), and the two arm portions (1a, 1b) are gripped and brought close to each other against the elasticity acting between them so that the branch of the fruit clamped between the blade portions (3a, 3b) is cut by the blade portion (3a, 3b). In the case of a fruit pluck-off device, clamping portions for clamping the branch of the fruit are disposed in place of the blade portions.

Description

Description Fruit fruit cutter Technical field

The present invention relates to a fruit cutter or fruit extractor useful for cutting and ripping fruits such as strawberries, grapes or apples from its branches. Background art

Every fall, pear picking, mandarin orange picking, grape picking, apple picking, and so on are popular as rejuvenators. Recently, strawberries are picked by house cultivation throughout the year. The method of cutting and ripping these fruits from the branches depends on the fruit.It is important to be careful not to damage the original branches with the fruits in any case. Has been making various efforts, such as instructing users on how to cut and rip properly. Strawberries, in particular, have a very thin and weak branch with fruit, and must be very carefully cut.

Taking strawberry hunting as an example, conventionally, to cut a strawberry from the original branch, hold the part of the branch close to the fruit with your thumb and forefinger, pinch the branch with your two fingernails, and lightly grasp the fruit. If you pull it while twisting it to the right, you can get the fruit away from the original branch.But because the strawberry branch is difficult to cut with your claws, when you pull the fruit, you pull up to the original branch together. May be frustrated. In severe cases, strawberry seedlings may be able to break through. In the case of apples, grab the fruits by hand and twist them to the right or left to remove them from the original branch, leaving a branch. In any case, children may be treated wildly or lack careful attention. Arboretum owners are about to hurt.

There were similar problems with other fruits, even if they were cut and cut from the original branch, but no solution has been proposed so far.

Disclosure of the invention

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a fruit cutter or a cutter that can easily cut or rip a fruit from a former branch without damaging the former branch.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention proposes a fruit cutter in which two arms are elastically joined at a rear end and spread at a front end, and each of the arms has a blade near the front end. The two arms are held close to each other against the elasticity acting between them, so that the fruit branch sandwiched between the blades of both arms is cut by the blades of both arms. did.

Instead of providing a blade for each of the two arms, the blade is provided only on one arm, and the other arm is provided with a receiving part for receiving the blade, and the two arms work between them By gripping against the elasticity, the fruit branches sandwiched between the blade and the receiving part are cut in cooperation with each other.

In the case of fruits such as apples, which rip fruit from the original branch, the two arms are elastically connected at the rear end and spread at the front end, and the two arms are piled to the elasticity acting between them. It was configured so that a fruit branch was sandwiched between the tips of the arms and the fruit was peeled off from the original branch together with the technique. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of a fruit cutter according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state of using the fruit cutter shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a view of the fruit cutter shown in FIG. Fig. 4 is a front view of the fruit cutter in the condition shown in Fig. 3, And 5B show the use state of the fruit cutter shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the fruit cutter according to the present invention, and FIG. 7 is the use of the fruit cutter shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a perspective view of still another embodiment of the fruit cutter according to the present invention, and FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an embodiment in which a fruit storage net is attached to the fruit cutter according to the present invention. It is. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 to 5 show an embodiment of a fruit cutter according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the whole fruit cutter, FIG. 2 is a perspective view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a state in which an arm is closed. Figure 4 shows the front view, Figure 4 shows the front view, and Figures 5A and 5B show how to use the fruit cutter.

According to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the fruit cutter 1 is integrally formed of a plastic (for example, PPS (Bolifenylene Sulfide) resin or LCP (Liquid Crystal Bolima-1) resin) material. The two symmetrical arms 1a and 1b are integrally connected at a rear end 1c. At the front of each arm 1a, 1b are formed fruit holding parts 2a, 2b, each of which has a shape close to a part of the spherical surface. The b is formed and the rear part smoothly following the front part is plate-shaped. An arc-shaped notch 4a, 4b is formed at the bottom of each of the arms la, 113 at the bottom of the fruit holding portions 2 &, 2b. When the user grips the back of both arms 1 a, lb with the hand 100 as shown by the dashed line in FIG. 2 and grips it against the elasticity of the plastic, the state shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is obtained, An almost hemispherical fruit holding space A (see Fig. 2) is formed at the front. At this time, there is an opening 5 at the bottom that does not allow fruit to fall, and the blades 3 & and 3 b of both arms la and 113 overlap as shown in Fig. 4, and if there is an object between them, it will be cut . When the hand is loosened, both arms 1a and 1b are elastic To return to the state shown in FIG. For example, to pick strawberries using this fruit cutter 1, grasp the back of the fruit cutter 1 with your hand as described above, and bring the arms 1a and 1b together until they are close to the state shown in Fig. 3, and 5 As shown in Fig. 5A, align the fruit cutter 1 so that the strawberries 10 are inserted into the fruit holding space Α formed in the front of the fruit cutter 1. At this time, the strawberry branch (also called “vine”) 10a is inserted between the blades 3a and 3b provided at the front end of the fruit cutter 1. As shown in Fig. 5B, the strawberry fruit 10 is placed in the fruit holding space A, and the vine 1◦a is inserted between the blades 3a and 3b. As shown in Fig. 3, the blades 3a and 3b overlap and the vine 10a is cut, and the fruit 10 leaves the branch and fits in the fruit holding space A. Strawberry vine 10a is cut by blades 3a and 3b, so strawberry can be picked without pulling vine 10a.

6 and 7 show another embodiment of the fruit cutter according to the present invention, FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the whole fruit cutter, and FIG. 7 is a front view.

The fruit cutter 1 of this embodiment is composed of two plastic arms 1a and 1b, and both arms la and 1b are joined to a certain extent by a spring metal piece 2 at the rear end. I have. The front portion of the arm portion 1a has a curved shape, and a trapezoidal convex blade 3a is formed at the front end. On the other hand, an almost hemispherical fruit holding portion A is formed at the front of the arm 1b, and a trapezoidal concave portion 3c is formed at the front end at a position corresponding to the convex blade 3a. .

To remove strawberries using this fruit cutter 1, grasp the arms 1a and 1b together and hold the strawberries in the fruit holder A formed at the front of the arm 1b. Then, move the whole cutter so that the strawberry branch enters the concave part 3c, and when both are inserted, grasp the arms 1a and 1b further, and as shown in Fig. 7, the arm 1a Convex blade 3a Force S hooks into concave portion 3c of arm 1b and cuts strawberry branch. As a result The goose leaves the branch and falls into the fruit holder A. After that, if the gripping hands are released, the arms 1 a and 1 b return to the state shown in FIG. 6 by the spring action of the metal piece 2, so that the strawberries in the fruit holding portion A can be taken out. Also in this embodiment, there is no fear of damaging the original branch when cutting strawberries. As in the present embodiment, since the concave portion 3c cooperating with the convex blade 3a is formed in a concave shape, the vine becomes easy to enter and the usability is improved. Even when cutting strawberries relatively far away, the strawberry fruit itself is stored in the fruit holding section A, so there is no fear that the fruit will fall out even if the fruit cutter 1 is tilted or placed sideways. In this embodiment, a flat cutting portion may be used instead of the convex blade 3a and the concave portion 3c.

FIG. 8 shows still another embodiment.

The fruit cutter 1 is also integrally formed of a plastic material, and the arm 1a and the arm 1b are integrally connected at a rear end 1c. The front portions of the arm portions 1a and 1b each have a curved shape, and the front ends are formed with blades 3a and 3b, respectively, by molding.

First, a strawberry is placed on the curved portion formed at the front of the arm 1b, and the vine is placed on the blade 3b, and the arms 1a and 1b are gripped. As a result, the arm 1b moves to the position shown by the chain line in FIG. 8 and approaches the arm 1a, and the strawberry branch is cut off by being sandwiched between the blades 3a and 3b. When the hand is loosened, the arms 1a and 1b return to their original positions with their own elasticity, so that the strawberries can be taken out.

When apples of this type are used to remove apples, they are large and heavy, unlike strawberries, so it is convenient to attach a net without a bottom as shown in Fig. 9 and let them flow down.

Fig. 9 shows the fruit cutter 1 of the form shown in Figs. 1 to 4 with a net for storing fruit attached.

In this embodiment, a fruit storage net is provided around the outer periphery of the front of the fruit cutter 1. The force at which 20 is attached The mouth of the net 20 is the force of the arms 1a and 1b of the fruit cutter 1; it must be large enough to spread as shown in Figure 1. The strawberry picked up as shown in Fig. 1 spreads the arm 1a and the arm lb by loosening the hand, and the opening 5 at the bottom of the fruit holding part A expands. Fall into By attaching the net 20 to the fruit cutter 1 in this manner, it is not necessary to transfer the cut strawberries to a strawberry or the like each time.

All of the above embodiments have been described on the premise that the fruit cutter is used manually, but the machine is installed on the machine even when the mechanical fruit such as a robot is picked automatically instead of a human. By attaching a similar mechanism to the tip of the hand, the cutting and stripping function that does not damage the base branch can be performed. In such a case, the net of the embodiment shown in FIG. By connecting the end of the net to a work station for post-processing such as a fruit sorter, the sorting operation can be automated, and the subsequent boxing operation can be automated. Instead of a net, a soft paper or cloth bag that does not damage the fruit may be used.

In the fruit cutter of the present invention, it is important to have a blade for cutting off the branch on which the fruit is directly attached. In the above embodiment, two blades are overlapped and cut (FIGS. 1 to 4), and one blade is pressed against a flat portion (FIGS. 6 and 7). The fruit cutter according to the present invention has a basic structure in which two arms are elastically connected at one end to open in a V-shape. With the hand grip, the two arms are piled up elastically and brought close together, cutting the fruit branch with the blade provided at the tip of both arms, and loosening the grip spreads the two arms again in a V-shape The fruit holder at the front of the arm is not always necessary, but it goes without saying that it is more convenient.

The fruit cutter according to the invention is manufactured in one piece using plastic material A metal plate may be used, although it is convenient from above and in terms of cost.

The fruit cutter according to the present invention can be used for fruits and vegetables other than strawberries, such as grapes, tomatoes and mandarins, without changing the basic structure.

In the case of fruits, which are not cut off branches like apples or pears, but are cut off, blades are not required at the ends of both arms, and a holding portion for strongly sandwiching the branches is required.

With the fruit cutter or fruit extractor according to the present invention, the fruit can be easily cut or harvested without any damage to the original branches, so that amateurs and children can hunt like strawberries, grapes or apples. It is effective to use when cutting or picking fruits. Industrial applicability

The fruit cutter or fruit extractor according to the present invention can also be used by an operator when harvesting fruits such as apples or pears that tend to hurt branches when harvesting fruits with weak branches such as strawberries. Although it can be used, it can be used for automatic cutting, automatic picking, and automatic picking of fruits by attaching it to the hand of a fruit cutting robot in combination with a fruit detector.

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. The two arms are elastically connected at the rear end and spread at the front end, each of the arms has a blade near the front end thereof, and the two arms are gripped against the elasticity acting between them. A fruit cutter, which is brought close to and cuts a fruit branch sandwiched between the blades of the both arms by the blades of both arms.

2. The fruit cutting device according to claim 1, wherein the whole is integrally formed of plastic and sack material.

3. The fruit cutter according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a concave fruit holding portion for temporarily holding the fruit to be cut is provided at a front portion of the two arms.

4. The fruit cutter according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a concave fruit holding portion for temporarily holding a fruit to be cut is provided at a front portion of one of the two arms.

5. The two arms are elastically connected at the rear end and spread at the front end, have a blade near the front end of one arm, and close to the front end of the other arm near the front end of the one arm. A receiving portion for the blade portion at a position corresponding to the blade portion, wherein the two arm portions are gripped and brought close to each other against the elasticity acting between the two, and the blade portion of the one arm portion and the other portion; A fruit cutter which cuts a fruit branch sandwiched between a receiving portion of an arm portion and the blade portion in cooperation with the receiving portion.

6. The fruit cutter according to claim 5, further comprising a concave fruit holding portion for temporarily holding a fruit to be cut, at a front portion of the other arm portion.

7. At the lower part of the fruit holding part provided at the front of the two arms, a net or a bag was attached to store the cut fruits or to guide them to a work stage for post-processing. A fruit cutter according to claim 3.

8. The two arms are elastically connected at the rear end and spread at the front end, and the two arms are piled and held close to the elasticity acting between them, A fruit stripper, characterized in that a fruit branch is sandwiched between the branches and the fruit is stripped from the original branch.