Cutting type apple flexible picking mechanical claw

Abstract

The invention discloses a cutting type apple flexible picking mechanical gripper, and belongs to the technical field of apple picking mechanical grippers. The winding device comprises a barrel frame connected with a robot arm, a wheel shaft rotationally arranged on the barrel frame, a driving motor fixedly arranged on the outer side of the barrel frame and used for driving the wheel shaft to rotate, a winding wheel fixedly arranged on the wheel shaft, a sliding barrel arranged in an axial sliding mode, a support fixedly connected with the lower portion of the barrel frame and a guide rod. The upper end of the claw assembly is hinged to the support, the two ends of the connecting rod are hinged to the sliding barrel and the claw assembly respectively, one end of the flexible rope is wound around the reel, the other end of the flexible rope is connected with the sliding barrel, the upper clamping ring is fixedly arranged at the upper end of the guide rod, and the lower clamping ring is fixedly connected with the sliding barrel. The driving spring is sleeved on the guide rod, and two ends of the driving spring are respectively connected with the upper clamping ring and the lower clamping ring. The flexible picking mechanical gripper is reasonable in structure, has a fruit stem cutting function and can adapt to the shapes of apples.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention mainly relates to the technical field of apple picking mechanical claws, and particularly refers to a cutting-type flexible apple picking mechanical claw. Background Art

[0002] The automated picking of fruits has become a development trend of agricultural automation. As a kind of fruit, apples are more suitable for industrial harvesting due to their very similar structural characteristics. In traditional technologies, the picking of apples is usually manual operation, that is, people first manually grasp the apples and then forcefully break the fruit stems. This picking method has a large labor intensity and low work efficiency. In the prior art, there are also mechanical claws that simulate the actions of human hands to pick apples, that is, after grasping the apples with rigid mechanical claws, the apples are driven to move by the movement of the mechanical claws and then the fruit stems are forcefully broken. Although the prior art has realized the automated picking of apples, there are still the following technical problems: First, the mechanical claws for grasping apples are rigid and cannot automatically adjust the pressure of the contact surface due to the differences in the external shapes of apples, that is, the mechanical claws cannot achieve flexible grasping of apples; Second, the action mode of the mechanical claws for picking apples is the same as the manual mode, so there is a significant impact force during the process of breaking the fruit stems, which is likely to damage the apple surface. Therefore, there is an urgent need to design a flexible cutting-type apple picking mechanical claw. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is: Aiming at the technical problems existing in the prior art, the present invention provides a cutting-type flexible apple picking mechanical claw with a reasonable structure, a function of cutting fruit stems, and capable of adapting to the shape of apples.

[0004] To solve the above problems, the solution proposed by the present invention is: A cutting-type flexible apple picking mechanical claw, including a cylinder frame connected to a robot arm, a wheel shaft rotatably installed on the cylinder frame, a driving motor fixedly installed on the upper outer side of the cylinder frame for driving the wheel shaft to rotate, a winding wheel fixedly installed on the wheel shaft, a sliding cylinder axially slidably installed inside the cylinder frame, a bracket fixedly connected to the lower part of the cylinder frame, a guide rod with the lower end fixedly installed on the bracket and the upper end extending into the sliding cylinder, a claw assembly with the upper end hingedly installed on the bracket, a connecting rod with one end hingedly connected to the sliding cylinder and the other end passing through the cylinder frame and hingedly connected to the claw assembly, a flexible rope with one end wound around the winding wheel and the other end connected to the sliding cylinder, an upper clamping ring fixedly installed at the upper end of the guide rod and slidably connected to the sliding cylinder, a lower clamping ring slidably sleeved on the guide rod and fixedly connected to the sliding cylinder, and a driving spring sleeved on the guide rod and connected to the upper clamping ring and the lower clamping ring at both ends respectively.

[0005] The claw assembly is used for cutting the fruit stalk and flexibly grasping the apple. The claw assembly includes: a plurality of flexible claw components symmetrically distributed axially, and a cutting knife elastically slidably mounted at the bottoms of two opposite flexible claw components; the lower end of the connecting rod is hinged to the flexible claw component, and the upper end of the flexible claw component is hinged to the bracket; the connecting rods and the flexible claw components are arranged in one-to-one correspondence.

[0006] Further, the flexible claw component includes: a claw body hinged to the lower end of the connecting rod and having an arc-shaped curved surface, and an elastic airbag mounted on the inner surface of the claw body and capable of elastic deformation; the elastic airbag is filled with gas inside.

[0007] Further, the material of the elastic airbag is high-elastic rubber, and the material of the claw body is aluminum alloy material.

[0008] Further, when the claw assembly is closed, the cutting edges of the two cutting knives elastically abut against each other to cut the fruit stalk.

[0009] Further, an installation platform is provided at the bottom of the claw body, a cutting-stem spring is provided inside the installation platform, and the handle of the cutting knife slidably passes through the installation platform and is connected to the cutting-stem spring.

[0010] Further, the driving spring is always in a compressed state.

[0011] Further, a circular air cushion concentric with the bracket is installed at the lower part of the bracket.

[0012] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages and beneficial effects:

[0013] A cutting-type flexible apple picking mechanical claw of the present invention is provided with a flexible claw component for flexibly grasping the apple and a pair of cutting knives for cutting the fruit stalk, so that the claw assembly can cut off the fruit stalk first and then stably grasp the apple during the closing process; an elastic airbag capable of significant elastic deformation and internally connected is provided inside the flexible claw component, so that the claw assembly can undergo adaptive elastic deformation during the closing process, and then adaptively match different shape characteristics of the apple to protect the surface of the apple from damage; in addition, the closing power of the claw assembly comes from the elastic potential energy of the driving spring, so a plurality of flexible claw components will have slight opening and closing fluctuations during the process of abutting against the apple, which helps the gas in the elastic airbag to circulate quickly. It can be seen that the present invention is a flexible picking mechanical claw with reasonable structure, having the function of cutting the fruit stalk, and can adapt to the shape of the apple. Description of the Drawings

[0014] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural principle diagram of a cutting-type flexible apple picking mechanical claw of the present invention.

[0015] Figure 2 is Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the structural principle after removing the cylinder frame.

[0016] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the relative movement principle between the sliding cylinder and the bracket in the present invention.

[0017] In the figure, 1 - bracket; 2 - guide rod; 3 - connecting rod; 4 - sliding cylinder; 5 - cylinder frame; 6 - driving motor; 7 - output shaft; 8 - sleeve coupling; 9 - wheel shaft; 10 - winding wheel; 11 - flexible rope; 12 - upper snap ring; 13 - driving spring; 14 - lower snap ring; 15 - circular air cushion; 16 - claw body; 17 - cutting knife; 18 - elastic airbag. Specific embodiments

[0018] The present invention will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0019] See Figures 1 to 3 , a cutting - type flexible apple picking mechanical claw of the present invention, which includes a cylinder frame 5 connected to a robot arm, a driving motor 6 fixedly installed at the upper end outside the cylinder frame 5, a wheel shaft 9 rotatably installed on the cylinder frame 5, a winding wheel 10 fixedly installed on the wheel shaft 9, a sliding cylinder 4 axially slidably installed inside the cylinder frame 5, a bracket 1 fixedly connected to the lower part of the cylinder frame 5, a guide rod 2 fixedly installed at the lower end of the bracket 1 and extending into the inside of the sliding cylinder 4 at the upper end, a claw assembly hingedly installed at the upper end of the bracket 1, a connecting rod 3 hingedly connected to one end of the sliding cylinder 4 and passing through the cylinder frame 5 at the other end and hingedly connected to the claw assembly, a flexible rope 11 wound around the winding wheel 10 at one end and connected to the sliding cylinder 4 at the other end, an upper snap ring 12 fixedly installed at the upper end of the guide rod 2 and slidably connected to the sliding cylinder 4, a lower snap ring 14 slidably sleeved in the middle and lower part of the guide rod 2 and fixedly connected to the sliding cylinder 4, and a driving spring 13 sleeved on the guide rod 2 and connected to the upper snap ring 12 and the lower snap ring 14 at both ends respectively. Specifically, during implementation, the cylinder frame 5 is cylindrical, the wheel shaft 9 is installed perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder frame 5, and its two ends pass through rolling bearings and are rotatably installed on the side wall of the cylinder frame 5, and the winding wheel 10 is fixedly sleeved in the middle part of the wheel shaft 9; the output shaft 7 of the driving motor 6 is connected to one end of the wheel shaft 9 through a sleeve coupling 8, the sliding cylinder 4 includes a large - diameter solid section and a small - diameter hollow section arranged coaxially, and the solid section of the sliding cylinder 4 is in clearance - type sliding fit connection with the cylinder frame 5, so that the sliding cylinder 4 can slide axially along the cylinder frame 5; the guide rod 2, the upper snap ring 12, the driving spring 13, and the lower snap ring 14 are installed in the hollow section of the sliding cylinder 4, the lower snap ring 14 is clamped and fixed at the lower end of the sliding cylinder 4, and the upper snap ring 12 is in clearance - type sliding fit connection with the sliding cylinder 4. A rectangular groove allowing the connecting rod 3 to pass freely is opened on the side wall of the cylinder frame 5.

[0020] During use, the driving motor 6 drives the wire winding wheel 10 to wind the flexible rope 11, and the sliding cylinder body 4 and the lower clamping ring 14 move away from the bracket 1. The distance between the upper clamping ring 12 and the lower clamping ring 14 becomes smaller, that is, the driving spring 13 is compressed and shortened to store elastic potential energy, and the connecting rod 3 pulls the claw assembly to open; the driving motor 6 drives the wire winding wheel 10 to release the flexible rope 11, and the sliding cylinder body 4 and the lower clamping ring 14 move towards the bracket 1 under the action of the elastic potential energy of the driving spring 13. The distance between the upper clamping ring 12 and the lower clamping ring 14 becomes larger, the length of the driving spring 13 increases, and the connecting rod 3 pulls the claw assembly to close.

[0021] The claw assembly is used for cutting the fruit stem and flexibly grasping the apple. The claw assembly includes: a plurality of flexible claw components symmetrically distributed, and a cutting knife 17 elastically slidably installed at the bottoms of two opposite flexible claw components; the lower end of the connecting rod 3 is hinged to the flexible claw component, and the upper end of the flexible claw component is hinged to the bracket 1; the number of the connecting rods 3 is equal to the number of the flexible claw components and they are in one-to-one adaptation. Preferably, the flexible claw component includes a claw body 16 which is hinged to the lower end of the connecting rod 3 and has an arc-shaped curved surface, and an elastic airbag 18 which is installed on the inner surface of the claw body 16 and can undergo significant elastic deformation; the elastic airbag 18 is filled with gas inside. When the claw assembly is closed, the cutting edges of the two cutting knives 17 elastically abut. The material of the elastic airbag 18 is high-elastic rubber, the gas is nitrogen or compressed air, and the material of the claw body 16 is aluminum alloy material. The driving spring 13 is always in a compressed state. A circular air cushion 15 concentric with it is installed at the lower part of the bracket 1. When picking apples, the upper part of the apple elastically contacts the circular air cushion 15, so as to protect the surface of the apple from being damaged. Specifically in implementation, when the elastic airbag 18 is filled with gas and in a non-elastic deformation state, its thickness is uniform, about 1-3 mm. When a part of the elastic airbag 18 is pressed, due to the fact that the gas inside it is in a communicating state, other parts of the elastic airbag 18 can undergo significant elastic bulging. An installation table (not shown in the figure) is provided at the bottom of the claw body 16, a stem-cutting spring (not shown in the figure) is provided inside the installation table, and the handle of the cutting knife 17 slides through the installation table (not shown in the figure) and is connected to the stem-cutting spring, so as to realize the elastic sliding installation of the cutting knife 17. The stiffness of the stem-cutting spring is selected to ensure that after the claw assembly is closed, the two cutting knives 17 can completely cut off the fruit stem of the apple. As Embodiment 1, the number of the flexible claw components is two, the number of the connecting rods 3 is two, the lower ends of the two connecting rods 3 are respectively hinged to the two claw bodies 16, and the two cutting knives 17 are respectively elastically slidably installed on the two claw bodies 16. As Embodiment 2, the number of the flexible claw components is four, the number of the connecting rods 3 is four, the lower ends of the four connecting rods 3 are respectively hinged to the four claw bodies 16, two of the claw bodies 16 are provided with cutting knives 17, and the other two claw bodies 16 are not provided with cutting knives 17, and the two claw bodies 16 provided with cutting knives 17 are not adjacent.

[0022] The working principle of the present invention is as follows: Suppose the claw assembly is currently in an open state. The robot arm drives the cylinder frame to move, so that the claw assembly surrounds the position of the apple to be picked; the driving motor 6 drives the wire winding wheel 10 to release the flexible rope 11, and the claw assembly gradually closes under the action of the driving spring 13; several axially symmetrically distributed flexible claw components gradually approach the surface of the apple, and the paired cutting knives 17 approach each other to cut the fruit stalk until the claw assembly moves to a closed state. After the cutting knives 17 complete the cutting, they slide relative to the claw body 16 due to mutual contact and compress the stem cutting spring (not shown in the figure). The above process realizes cutting the fruit stalk while grasping the apple. And during the above grasping process, apples with different external dimensions enable the elastic airbag 18 to adapt to the shape of the apple, that is, the gas in the elastic airbag 18 flows from the more convex contact part of the apple to the more concave contact part of the apple, and significant elastic deformation can occur at the more concave contact part of the apple to adapt to the shape of the apple.

[0023] The above is only the specific implementation manner of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any change or replacement that can be thought of without creative work should fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A cutting-type flexible apple picking mechanical claw, comprising a cylinder frame (5) connected to a robot arm, characterized in that: It further includes a wheel shaft (9) rotatably installed on the cylinder frame (5), a driving motor (6) fixedly installed on the cylinder frame (5) for driving the rotation of the wheel shaft (9), a winding wheel (10) fixedly installed on the wheel shaft (9), a sliding cylinder (4) axially slidably installed inside the cylinder frame (5), a bracket (1) fixedly connected to the lower part of the cylinder frame (5), a guide rod (2) with its lower end fixedly installed on the bracket (1) and its upper end extending into the sliding cylinder (4), a claw assembly with its upper end hingedly installed on the bracket (1), a connecting rod (3) with one end hingedly connected to the sliding cylinder (4) and the other end passing through the cylinder frame (5) and hingedly connected to the claw assembly, a flexible rope (11) with one end wound around the winding wheel (10) and the other end connected to the sliding cylinder (4), an upper clamping ring (12) fixedly installed at the upper end of the guide rod (2) and slidably connected to the sliding cylinder (4), a lower clamping ring (14) slidably sleeved on the guide rod (2) and fixedly connected to the sliding cylinder (4), and a driving spring (13) sleeved on the guide rod (2) and connected to the upper clamping ring (12) and the lower clamping ring (14) at both ends respectively; The claw assembly is used for cutting the fruit stalk and flexibly grasping the apple. The claw assembly includes: a plurality of flexible claw components symmetrically distributed about an axis, and a cutting knife (17) elastically slidably installed at the bottoms of two opposite flexible claw components; the lower end of the connecting rod (3) is hingedly connected to the flexible claw component, and the upper end of the flexible claw component is hingedly connected to the bracket (1); the connecting rod (3) is arranged in one-to-one correspondence with the flexible claw component.

2. The cutting type flexible apple picking mechanical claw according to claim 1, wherein: The flexible claw component includes: a claw body (16) with an arc-shaped curved surface and hingedly connected to the lower end of the connecting rod (3), and an elastic airbag (18) installed on the inner surface of the claw body (16) and capable of elastic deformation; the elastic airbag (18) is filled with gas inside.

3. The cutting type flexible apple picking mechanical claw according to claim 2, wherein: The material of the elastic airbag (18) is high-elastic rubber, and the material of the claw body (16) is aluminum alloy material.

4. A cutting-type flexible apple picking mechanical claw according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the claw assembly is closed, the cutting edges of the two cutting knives (17) elastically abut against and cut the fruit stalk.

5. The cutting type flexible apple picking mechanical claw according to claim 4, characterized in that: An installation table is provided at the bottom of the claw body (16). A stem-cutting spring is provided inside the installation table. The handle of the cutting knife (17) slidably passes through the installation table and is connected to the stem-cutting spring.

6. The cutting type flexible apple picking mechanical claw according to claim 1, characterized in that: The driving spring (13) is always in a compressed state.

7. A cutting-type flexible apple picking mechanical claw according to claim 1, characterized in that: A circular air cushion (15) concentric with it is installed at the lower part of the bracket (1).

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