Flexible airflow staged fruit device

Abstract

This invention discloses a flexible airflow fruit grading device, comprising: a support frame fixedly mounted on the ground, with a first support plate fixedly mounted at one end and a second support plate fixedly mounted at the other end; a fruit collecting mechanism fixedly mounted on the first support plate, the fruit collecting mechanism having a fruit outlet; a fruit transport pipe with its inlet fixedly mounted on the fruit outlet, the fruit transport pipe including a large fruit outlet, a small fruit outlet and an exhaust port; a controllable air source fixedly mounted horizontally on the ground, the controllable air source being connected to the exhaust port of the fruit transport pipe for extracting gas from the fruit transport pipe, adjusting the negative pressure of the gas inside the fruit transport pipe, thereby minimizing collisions of the fruits during transport; and a fruit grading collection box, the inlet of which is fixedly connected to the large fruit outlet and the small fruit outlet.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of fruit harvesting, and in particular to a flexible airflow fruit grading device. Background Technology

[0002] my country boasts abundant hilly and mountainous resources, and spherical fruits such as apples and citrus are the most produced and consumed fruits in the country. In recent years, agricultural product quality inspection technologies based on machine vision and near-infrared spectroscopy have matured both domestically and internationally, enabling efficient and automatic identification of quality conditions such as size, shape, color, damage, and decay in agricultural products. With the increasing trend towards high-throughput inspection and commercial processing of agricultural products at their origin, efficient grading devices and methods that match front-end inspection are particularly important.

[0003] Currently, most fruit grading is done manually, with a few being done by machine. Manual sorting is inefficient and costly, while machine sorting cannot effectively protect the fruit from collisions during transportation and cannot properly secure the fruit stems during harvesting, potentially causing damage. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of this invention is to provide a flexible airflow fruit grading device to achieve flexible transport and classified collection of fruits.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention is implemented through the following technical solution:

[0006] A flexible airflow fruit grading device, characterized in that it includes:

[0007] A bracket is fixedly installed on the ground, with a first support plate fixedly installed at one end of the bracket and a second support plate fixedly installed at the other end of the bracket;

[0008] A fruit collecting mechanism, which is fixedly mounted on a first support plate, has a fruit outlet.

[0009] The fruit transport pipeline has its inlet end fixedly installed at the fruit outlet. The fruit transport pipeline includes a large fruit outlet, a small fruit outlet, and an air extraction port.

[0010] A controllable air source is fixedly installed horizontally on the ground. The controllable air source is connected to the air extraction port of the fruit transport pipeline to extract the gas from the fruit transport pipeline and adjust the negative pressure of the gas inside the fruit transport pipeline, thereby minimizing the collision of the fruit during transport.

[0011] A fruit grading and collection box, wherein the inlet of the fruit grading and collection box is fixedly connected to the outlet of large fruit and the outlet of small fruit.

[0012] The fruit collection mechanism includes:

[0013] A robotic arm is fixedly mounted on a first support plate and has an output end on which a pipe support frame is fixedly mounted.

[0014] A collection connecting pipe is fixedly installed on a pipe support frame, and one end of the collection connecting pipe is set as a fruit outlet;

[0015] An inlet mechanism, wherein the inlet mechanism has a first outlet and a flared inlet, and the other end of the collecting connecting pipe is connected to the first outlet.

[0016] A first soft pad is fixedly installed at the bottom of the trumpet-shaped feed inlet.

[0017] The aforementioned importing agencies also include:

[0018] The first fixing ring is fixed horizontally at one end of the horn-shaped inlet near the ground, and multiple first hinge seats are distributed on the outer circumference of the fixing ring;

[0019] A plurality of first hinge rods are correspondingly disposed on each of the first hinge seats;

[0020] Several second hinge seats, the same number as the number of first hinge rods, each second hinge seat is hinged at one end to a first hinge rod;

[0021] The second fixing ring has a plurality of second hinge rods fixedly installed on its outer side, the number of which is the same as the number of second hinge seats. One end of each second hinge rod is hinged to the corresponding second hinge seat.

[0022] The bellows is fixed vertically on the second fixing ring;

[0023] A cylinder is vertically fixed at one end of the second fixed ring near the ground, and the output end of the cylinder is vertically fixed on the first fixed ring through a bellows.

[0024] The clamping device is fixedly mounted on the corresponding second hinge seat.

[0025] The clamping device includes:

[0026] A multi-segment gripper is fixedly mounted vertically on a corresponding second hinge seat, and the multi-segment gripper has multiple cavity structures inside.

[0027] Two auxiliary grippers are fixedly mounted vertically on corresponding second hinge seats, and each auxiliary gripper is fixedly mounted with a mesh pattern.

[0028] The pneumatic shears are fixed horizontally on a plane away from and parallel to the ground on the pipe support frame, with their vertical direction pointing towards the multi-segment grippers.

[0029] The fruit transport pipeline includes:

[0030] The main transport pipeline is fixedly connected at one end to the fruit outlet.

[0031] The first three-way connecting pipe has one end fixedly connected to the other end of the main transport pipeline. One end of the first three-way connecting pipe is a small fruit outlet, which is fixedly installed on the support. A first air distribution pipe is processed on the pipe wall of the first three-way connecting pipe.

[0032] The second three-way connecting pipe is symmetrically arranged on both sides of the support with the first three-way connecting pipe. One end of the second three-way connecting pipe is the large fruit outlet. A second air inlet pipe is machined on the pipe wall of the second three-way connecting pipe. A net is fixedly installed at the interface of the second air distribution pipe.

[0033] The secondary transport pipe has one end fixedly connected to the movable end of the first three-way connecting pipe, and the other end fixedly connected to the second three-way connecting pipe.

[0034] The gas supply pipe has one end fixedly connected to the first air inlet pipe and the other end fixedly connected to the second air inlet pipe.

[0035] Several collision sensors are fixedly installed in both the main transport pipeline and the secondary transport pipeline.

[0036] The fruit grading and collection box includes a large fruit collection box and a small fruit collection box. The small fruit collection box is fixedly installed on the ground, and a second soft pad is fixedly installed at the bottom of the small fruit collection box. The large fruit collection box is fixedly installed horizontally on a second support plate, and a third soft pad is fixedly installed at the bottom of the large fruit collection box.

[0037] The controllable gas source includes:

[0038] An air pump, the output end of which is fixedly installed at the air inlet;

[0039] The controller has its output connected to an air pump and its input connected to a collision sensor. The controller controls the air pump to extract gas from the fruit transport pipe and make the negative pressure of the gas in the fruit transport pipe reach a preset value. The collision sensor feeds back the collision information of the fruit in the transport pipe to the controller, and adjusts the negative pressure of the gas in the fruit transport pipe, thereby minimizing the collision of the fruit during transport.

[0040] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages:

[0041] This device is equipped with soft pads at all points where the fruit may collide. During transportation, the flexible gas prevents collisions with the transport pipes. By controlling the wind speed, smaller fruits are sucked away when passing through the small fruit outlet, while larger fruits continue to be transported unaffected and exited from the large fruit outlet. This achieves better grading, better protection of the fruit, and also improves production efficiency and reduces production costs. Attached Figure Description

[0042] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a flexible airflow fruit grading device according to the present invention;

[0043] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a flexible airflow fruit grading device according to the present invention;

[0044] Figure 3 This is a partial three-dimensional exploded structural diagram of the present invention;

[0045] Figure 4 This is a partial three-dimensional exploded structural diagram of the present invention;

[0046] Figure 5 for Figure 4 A magnified view of a section at point A in the middle;

[0047] Figure 6 A partial three-dimensional exploded structural diagram of the fruit collection mechanism in this embodiment;

[0048] Figure 7 for Figure 6 A magnified view of a section at point B in the middle;

[0049] Figure 8 This is a partial three-dimensional structural schematic diagram of an embodiment;

[0050] Figure 9 for Figure 8 A magnified view of a section at point C;

[0051] Figure 10 This is a block diagram of a controllable gas source. Detailed Implementation

[0052] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and by providing a detailed description of a preferred embodiment.

[0053] like Figures 1-10 As shown, a flexible airflow fruit grading device includes:

[0054] The bracket is an aluminum profile bracket. The aluminum profile bracket 1 is fixedly installed on the ground. A first support plate 2 is fixedly installed at one end of the aluminum profile bracket 1, and a second support plate 3 is fixedly installed at the other end of the aluminum profile bracket 1.

[0055] A fruit collection mechanism is vertically fixed on a first support plate 2 and has a fruit outlet 4.

[0056] The fruit transport pipeline has its inlet end fixedly installed at the fruit outlet 4. The fruit transport pipeline includes a large fruit outlet 5, a small fruit outlet 6, and an air extraction port 7.

[0057] A controllable air source is fixedly installed on the ground in a horizontal state. The controllable air source is connected to the air extraction port 7 of the fruit transport pipeline to extract the gas from the fruit transport pipeline and adjust the negative pressure of the gas in the fruit transport pipeline, so as to minimize the collision of the fruit during the transport pipeline.

[0058] A fruit grading and collection box, wherein the inlet of the fruit grading and collection box is fixedly connected to the large fruit outlet 5 and the small fruit outlet 6.

[0059] The fruit collection mechanism includes:

[0060] The robotic arm 8 is fixedly mounted vertically on the first support plate 2 and has an output end, on which a pipe support frame 9 is fixedly mounted.

[0061] A collection connecting pipe 10 is fixedly installed horizontally on a pipe support frame 9, and one end of the collection connecting pipe 10 is a fruit outlet 4;

[0062] The inlet mechanism has a first outlet 11 and a flared inlet 12, and the other end of the connecting pipe 10 is fixedly connected to the first outlet 11. A first soft pad is fixedly provided at the bottom of the flared inlet 12.

[0063] The purpose of robotic arm 8 is to fix the fruit collection mechanism in a fixed position and provide support.

[0064] Furthermore, the importing agency also includes:

[0065] The first fixing ring 13 is fixedly installed horizontally at one end of the horn-shaped feed inlet near the ground, and three first hinge seats are distributed on the outer circumference of the fixing ring.

[0066] A plurality of first hinge rods 14, each of the first hinge seats is hingedly provided with a first hinge rod 14;

[0067] A number of second hinge seats 15, the same number as the number of first hinge rods 14, each of the second hinge seats 15 being hinged at one end to the first hinge rod 14;

[0068] The second fixing ring 16 has a plurality of second hinge rods 17 fixedly arranged on its outer side, the number of which is the same as the number of second hinge seats 15. One end of each second hinge rod 17 is hinged to the corresponding second hinge seat 15.

[0069] The bellows 18 is fixedly mounted on the second fixing ring 16 in a vertical position;

[0070] The cylinder 19 is vertically fixed at one end of the second fixing ring 16 near the ground, and the output end of the cylinder 19 is vertically fixed on the first fixing ring 13 through the bellows 18.

[0071] The clamping device is fixedly mounted on the corresponding second hinge seat 15.

[0072] The first soft pad at the bottom of the trumpet-shaped feed inlet 12 is to prevent the fruit from falling and getting injured after being picked up. When picking the fruit, the cylinder 19 drives the bellows 18 to shorten, thereby driving the first fixing ring 13 to move downward, which in turn drives the first hinge rod 14 to tighten inward, thereby driving the second hinge seat 15 to tighten inward, and then driving the clamping device to tighten, thus achieving the effect of clamping the fruit root.

[0073] The clamping device includes:

[0074] The multi-segment gripper 20 is fixedly mounted vertically on the corresponding second hinge seat 15. The multi-segment gripper 20 has multiple cavity structures inside.

[0075] Two auxiliary grippers 21 are fixedly mounted vertically on the corresponding second hinge seats 15, and each auxiliary gripper 21 is fixedly mounted with a mesh pattern.

[0076] The pneumatic shears are fixed horizontally on a plane away from and parallel to the ground on the pipe support frame 9, and their vertical direction is towards the multi-segment gripper 20.

[0077] The multi-segment clamp 20 is designed to better clamp the fruit stems. The outer shell of the multi-segment clamp 20 is made of elastic material, which will not damage the fruit. The multi-segment clamp 20 is connected to an inflation device (not shown in the figure). When working, the inflation device inflates the multi-segment clamp 20 to make it bend and clamp the fruit stems. The outer shells of the two auxiliary clamps 21 are made of elastic material. When clamping the fruit, they tightly wrap the fruit and provide a guide to prevent the fruit from colliding with the funnel-shaped feed inlet 12 during the fall. The pneumatic scissors are existing technology and are not shown in the figure.

[0078] The fruit transport pipeline includes:

[0079] The main transport pipeline 22 is fixedly connected at one end to the fruit outlet 4, and a collision sensor is fixedly installed in the main transport pipeline 22.

[0080] The first three-way connecting pipe 23 has one end fixedly connected to the other end of the main transport pipe 22. One end of the first three-way connecting pipe 23 is a small fruit outlet 6. The small fruit outlet 6 is fixedly installed on the aluminum profile support 1. A first air distribution pipe 24 is processed on the pipe wall of the first three-way connecting pipe 23.

[0081] The second three-way connecting pipe 25 is fixedly installed vertically on the aluminum profile support 1. It is symmetrically arranged on both sides of the aluminum profile support 1 with the third-way connecting pipe 23. One end of the second three-way connecting pipe 25 is the large fruit outlet 5. The second air distribution pipe 26 is processed on the pipe wall of the second three-way connecting pipe 25. A barrier net is fixedly installed at the inlet of the second air distribution pipe 26.

[0082] The secondary transport pipe 27 has one end fixedly connected to the movable end of the first three-way connecting pipe 23, and the other end fixedly connected to the second three-way connecting pipe 25.

[0083] The air supply pipe 28 has one end fixedly connected to the first air inlet pipe 24 and the other end fixedly connected to the second air inlet pipe 26.

[0084] Both the main transport pipeline 22 and the secondary transport pipeline 27 are equipped with collision sensors. The number and location of the collision sensors can be reasonably arranged according to the actual needs of the main transport pipeline 22 and the secondary transport pipeline 27.

[0085] The controllable air source is activated when the fruit is picked. Driven by the airflow, the fruit passes through the connecting pipe 10 and the main transport pipe 22. When the small fruit passes through the first three-way connecting pipe 23, since the first three-way connecting pipe 23 is connected to the second three-way connecting pipe 25 through the air supply pipe 28, the small fruit enters the small fruit outlet 6 under the suction of the first three-way connecting pipe 23 and enters the corresponding collection box. However, the large fruit will continue to move in the transport auxiliary pipe 27 under the drive of the gas, thus falling into the large fruit outlet 5 and then into the corresponding collection box.

[0086] The fruit grading and collection box includes a large fruit collection box and a small fruit collection box. The small fruit collection box is fixedly installed on the ground, and a second soft pad is fixedly installed at the bottom of the small fruit collection box. The large fruit collection box is fixedly installed horizontally on the second support plate 3, and a third soft pad is fixedly installed at the bottom of the large fruit collection box.

[0087] The second cushion is to buffer the small fruits when they fall into the small fruit collection box, and the third cushion is to buffer the large fruits when they fall into the large fruit collection box.

[0088] The controllable gas source includes:

[0089] An air pump, the output end of which is fixedly installed at the air intake 7;

[0090] The controller, which is fixedly mounted on the air pump, is used to control the air pump's wind speed.

[0091] The control terminal is connected to the collision sensor. The controller controls the air pump to extract the gas in the fruit transport pipe and make the negative pressure of the gas in the fruit transport pipe reach a preset value. The collision sensor feeds back the collision information of the fruit in the transport pipe to the controller, controls the wind speed provided by the air pump, and then adjusts the negative pressure of the gas in the fruit transport pipe, so as to minimize the collision of the fruit during the transport pipe.

[0092] Working principle: During operation, cylinder 19 is activated first, followed by the controllable air source. Cylinder 19 drives the multi-stage clamping pliers and auxiliary clamping pliers 21 to clamp the fruit stem. The pneumatic shears then cut the stem, causing the fruit to fall into the trumpet-shaped inlet. The first soft pad of the trumpet-shaped inlet protects the fruit. Under the action of the flexible gas pumped by the air pump, the fruit enters the main transport pipe 22. Small fruits, passing through the first three-way connecting pipe 23 (connected to the second three-way connecting pipe 25 via the air supply pipe 28), enter the small fruit outlet 6 under the suction of the first three-way connecting pipe 23 and then into the small fruit collection box. However, larger fruits continue to move in the secondary transport pipe 27 under the influence of the gas, eventually falling into the large fruit outlet 5 and then into the large fruit collection box. The above process continues... The negative pressure of the gas in the transport pipeline reaches a preset value, which is the size of the airflow that the air pump starts to draw out. This value is determined experimentally, and a flexible gas with this flow rate is initially used to drive the fruit flow. The collision sensor is used to detect the collision of the fruit in the transport pipeline and feeds the collision information back to the controller. The controller increases / decreases the wind speed provided by the air pump, thereby adjusting the negative pressure of the gas in the fruit transport pipeline. This minimizes the collision of the fruit during transport. At this time, the air pump is controlled to stabilize the airflow it provides. The airflow it provides allows small fruits to be sucked into the small fruit outlet and enter the small fruit collection box, while allowing large fruits to continue moving in the main transport pipeline 22 and the secondary transport pipeline 27. Finally, the large fruits enter the large fruit collection box through the large fruit outlet, and the baffle at the inlet of the second air inlet pipe 26 acts as a barrier to prevent the fruit from moving.

[0093] In summary, the present invention provides a flexible airflow grading fruit device that enables flexible transport and classified collection of fruits.

[0094] Although the present invention has been described in detail through the preferred embodiments above, it should be understood that the above description should not be considered as a limitation of the present invention. Various modifications and substitutions to the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art after reading the above description. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A flexible airflow fruit grading device, characterized in that, include: A bracket is fixedly installed on the ground, with a first support plate fixedly installed at one end of the bracket and a second support plate fixedly installed at the other end of the bracket; A fruit collecting mechanism, which is fixedly mounted on a first support plate, has a fruit outlet. The fruit transport pipeline has its inlet end fixedly installed at the fruit outlet. The fruit transport pipeline includes a large fruit outlet, a small fruit outlet, and an air extraction port. A controllable air source is fixedly installed horizontally on the ground. The controllable air source is connected to the air extraction port of the fruit transport pipeline to extract the gas from the fruit transport pipeline and adjust the negative pressure of the gas inside the fruit transport pipeline, thereby minimizing the collision of the fruit during transport. A fruit grading and collection box, wherein the inlet of the fruit grading and collection box is fixedly connected to the outlet of large fruit and the outlet of small fruit; The fruit transport pipeline includes: The main transport pipeline is fixedly connected at one end to the fruit outlet. The first three-way connecting pipe has one end fixedly connected to the other end of the main transport pipe. One end of the first three-way connecting pipe is a small fruit outlet, which is fixedly installed on the support. A first air inlet pipe is machined on the pipe wall of the first three-way connecting pipe. The second three-way connecting pipe is symmetrically arranged on both sides of the support with the first three-way connecting pipe. One end of the second three-way connecting pipe is the large fruit outlet. A second air inlet pipe is machined on the pipe wall of the second three-way connecting pipe. A net is fixedly installed at the interface of the second air inlet pipe. The secondary transport pipe has one end fixedly connected to the movable end of the first three-way connecting pipe, and the other end fixedly connected to the second three-way connecting pipe. The gas supply pipe has one end fixedly connected to the first air inlet pipe and the other end fixedly connected to the second air inlet pipe. Several collision sensors are fixedly installed in both the main transport pipeline and the secondary transport pipeline.

2. The flexible airflow fruit grading device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The fruit collection mechanism includes: A robotic arm is fixedly mounted on a first support plate and has an output end on which a pipe support frame is fixedly mounted. A collection connecting pipe is fixedly installed on a pipe support frame, and one end of the collection connecting pipe is set as a fruit outlet; The inlet mechanism has a first outlet and a flared inlet, and the other end of the collecting connecting pipe is connected to the first outlet.

3. The flexible airflow fruit grading device as described in claim 2, characterized in that, A first soft pad is fixedly installed at the bottom of the trumpet-shaped feed inlet.

4. The flexible airflow fruit grading device as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The aforementioned importing agencies also include: The first fixing ring is fixed horizontally at one end of the horn-shaped feed inlet near the ground, and multiple first hinge seats are distributed on the outer circumference of the first fixing ring. A plurality of first hinge rods are correspondingly disposed on each of the first hinge seats; Several second hinge seats, the same number as the number of first hinge rods, each second hinge seat is hinged at one end to a first hinge rod; The second fixing ring has a plurality of second hinge rods fixedly installed on its outer side, the number of which is the same as the number of second hinge seats. One end of each second hinge rod is hinged to the corresponding second hinge seat. The bellows is fixed vertically on the second fixing ring; A cylinder is vertically fixed at one end of the second fixed ring near the ground, and the output end of the cylinder is vertically fixed on the first fixed ring through a bellows. The clamping device is fixedly mounted on the corresponding second hinge seat.

5. The flexible airflow fruit grading device as described in claim 4, characterized in that, The clamping device includes: A multi-segment gripper is fixedly mounted vertically on a corresponding second hinge seat, and the multi-segment gripper has multiple cavity structures inside. Two auxiliary grippers are fixedly mounted vertically on corresponding second hinge seats, and each auxiliary gripper is fixedly mounted with a mesh pattern. The pneumatic shears are fixed horizontally on a plane away from and parallel to the ground on the pipe support frame, with their vertical direction pointing towards the multi-segment grippers.

6. The flexible airflow fruit grading device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The fruit grading and collection box includes a large fruit collection box and a small fruit collection box. The small fruit collection box is fixedly installed on the ground, and a second soft pad is fixedly installed at the bottom of the small fruit collection box. The large fruit collection box is fixedly installed horizontally on a second support plate, and a third soft pad is fixedly installed at the bottom of the large fruit collection box.

7. The flexible airflow grading fruit device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The controllable gas source includes: An air pump, the output end of which is fixedly installed at the air inlet; The controller has its output connected to an air pump and its input connected to a collision sensor. The controller controls the air pump to extract gas from the fruit transport pipe and make the negative pressure of the gas in the fruit transport pipe reach a preset value. The collision sensor feeds back the collision information of the fruit in the transport pipe to the controller, and adjusts the negative pressure of the gas in the fruit transport pipe, thereby minimizing the collision of the fruit during transport.

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