Automatic spherical fruit sorting system and sorting method

Abstract

The invention discloses an automatic spherical fruit sorting system and method. The system comprises a fruit feeding device, a fruit taking component, an image collecting device, a fruit turning and discharging mechanism, a fruit conveying chain belt and a fruit collecting component. The fruit feeding device divides disordered spherical fruits into double-channel single-row ordered arrangement through the synergistic effect of a W-shaped gradually-shrinking sliding way and an anti-blocking rotating disc. The image acquisition device is driven by combining a friction rotating fruit front wheel and a transmission ratio of 1: 1, so that the spherical fruit rotates for half a circle for secondary image acquisition, and surface defect detection is realized by adopting an integrated HSV color space YOLOv8 visual model based on spectral image fusion; the fruit turning and discharging mechanism dynamically adjusts the height of a main fruit turning guide rail through an electromagnetic push rod and is matched with a discharging turning plate to switch a sorting path, and the spherical fruits are classified into A-class or B-class collection boxes. The problems that existing sorting equipment cannot comprehensively collect fruit surface information, blockage is prone to occurring, and the grading precision is low are solved, the sorting efficiency and accuracy are improved, and meanwhile the fruit collision damage risk is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of agricultural product sorting, and particularly relates to an automated spherical fruit sorting system and a sorting method. Background Art

[0002] The continuous improvement of consumers' requirements for the quality of agricultural products has promoted the popularization and application of agricultural product quality detection technologies. Replacing manual labor with automated agricultural product sorting equipment to perform simple and repetitive tasks, a reasonable design of the sorting equipment is beneficial to the automation and scale of machine vision recognition and sorting. In recent years, with the rapid development of machine vision technology, based on machine vision, it is possible to identify and judge the quality from aspects such as shape, volume, color, surface defects, and even internal defects; as the main body of the sorting function, agricultural product sorters cover a series of key processes: fruit feeding, supporting, transporting, combined with machine vision to complete quality detection and grading, and achieve efficient and accurate automated sorting of agricultural products.

[0003] Nowadays, the design schemes for sorting different types of fruits have become increasingly perfect. The general idea is to design fruit cups adapted to the shape of the fruit and install them on the transmission chain or chain of the sorter, and sequentially set modules such as feeding, detection, and grading on the transmission line. For example, the Chinese invention patent with the authorization announcement number CN116174344A discloses a grading device for pitayas. This device uses a tray to support the irregularly shaped pitayas to achieve feeding, detection, and grading of pitayas. The combination of the tray and the electromagnet effectively improves the stability of the grading channel. However, there are still certain problems in the transmission and sorting of this sorting device and most other existing devices. Using a tray to support fruits can improve the sorting stability while keeping the structure simple, but it completely abandons the function of rotating the fruits during transportation, making it impossible for the camera to capture the entire surface of the fruits, resulting in a large deviation between the quality results obtained based on machine vision and the actual situation, seriously affecting the accuracy of fruit grading. At the same time, due to the flat-based design of the tray and the small spacing between trays, even with the assistance of baffles during the automated feeding process, the prevention effect on situations such as multiple fruits falling into the same tray or jamming in the feeding area is still limited. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Aiming at the above technical problems, the purpose of the present invention is to propose an automated spherical fruit sorting system and a sorting method, which orderly arrange the spherical fruits in a stacked state after picking, collect the surface information of the spherical fruits while transporting them, classify the spherical fruits that have completed collection and grading, and through the cooperation of the conveying unit, the transmission chain belt, and the fruit turning guide rail, avoid collisions of the spherical fruits during the sorting process, and improve the efficiency and accuracy of spherical fruit sorting.

[0005] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides an automated spherical fruit sorting system, including:

[0006] The fruit loading device (1) is fixedly installed directly above the whole machine and fixed to the profile used for the fuselage by bolts. It is used to divide the disordered spherical fruits into two channels and arrange them orderly in their respective channels. The fruit loading device (1) includes a loading guide rail (1a), an anti-blocking turntable (1b), and a turntable motor (1c).

[0007] The fruit picking component (2) is fixedly installed in the middle of the rear end of the whole machine and is set at the end of the fruit loading device (1). It stacks the orderly arranged spherical fruits onto the fruit picking hook (2b). The fruit picking component (2) includes a fruit picking component housing (2a) and a fruit picking hook (2b).

[0008] There are two image acquisition devices (3) fixedly installed in the middle of the whole machine at the same horizontal height as the fruit picking component (2). Through the cameras (3b) distributed at the top, the surface information of the fruits conveyed by the fruit transmission chain belt (5) is collected, and the fruit grades are classified. The image acquisition device (3) includes an image acquisition device housing (3a), cameras (3b), a light-shielding curtain (3c), an observation window plate (3d), an observation window handle (3e), and a spring hinge (3f).

[0009] The fruit turning and discharging mechanism (4) is fixedly installed on both sides at the horizontal height in the middle of the whole machine. It is used to guide the fruit transmission unit (5b) of the fruit transmission chain belt (5). According to the classification information of the fruit grades, the electromagnetic push rod (4e) is used to control the main fruit turning guide rail (4a) to adjust the heights of the first-level fruit turning guide rail (4b) and the second-level fruit turning guide rail (4c) to guide the fruit transmission unit (5b) to turn the fruits into the Class A fruit collection box (6a) or the Class B fruit collection box (6b). The fruit turning and discharging mechanism (4) includes a main fruit turning guide rail (4a), a first-level fruit turning guide rail (4b), a second-level fruit turning guide rail (4c), a fruit turning mechanism support profile (4d), and an electromagnetic push rod (4e).

[0010] The fruit transmission chain belt (5) is fixedly installed on both sides at the horizontal height in the middle of the whole machine. It is used to convey the fruits in the fruit picking hook (2b). The fruits are conveyed through the image acquisition device (3) to complete image acquisition. According to the classification information of the image acquisition device (3), the fruits are conveyed to the first-level fruit turning guide rail (4b) or the second-level fruit turning guide rail (4c) to complete the classification and categorization of the fruits. The fruit transmission chain belt (5) includes a transmission chain plate belt (5a), a fruit transmission unit (5b), and a chain plate belt motor (5c). The fruit transmission unit (5b) includes a friction fruit rotating front wheel (5ba), a discharging flap (5bb), and a fruit picking and fruit supporting seat (5bc).

[0011] The fruit collection component (6) is fixedly installed at the center of the whole machine and is divided into Class A fruit collection box (6a) and Class B fruit collection box (6b), which receive the fruits conveyed by the fruit turning and discharging mechanism (4). The Class A fruit collection box (6a) is for Class A fruits, and the Class B fruit collection box (6b) is for Class B fruits. The fruit collection component (6) includes the Class A fruit collection box (6a) and the Class B fruit collection box (6b).

[0012] The fruit feeding device includes a feeding guide rail (1a), an anti-blocking turntable (1b) and a turntable motor (1c). The front end of the fruit feeding device (1) is W-shaped, and the rear end is a slideway composed of double baffles. The whole is in a diagonal shape from top to bottom and gradually shrinks to a fixed width, that is, the rear end. The front end is connected to the front profile of the whole machine, and the rear end is connected to the upper section of the fruit picking component (2). There are two anti-blocking turntables (1b) fixedly installed in the middle of the fruit feeding device (1), and two turntable motors (1c) are fixedly installed directly below the anti-blocking turntables (1b) to drive rotation and rearrange the fruits blocked due to width change.

[0013] The fruit picking component includes a fruit picking component housing (2a) and fruit picking hooks (2b). There are two fruit picking component housings (2a) connected to the rear end of the fruit feeding device (1) and at the same horizontal height as the image acquisition device (3). Cooperating with the two fruit picking hooks (2b), they carry the fruits arranged in order on the fruit feeding device (1) and interact with the fruit transmission chain belt (5) to take away the fruits one by one.

[0014] The image acquisition device includes an image acquisition device housing (3a), cameras (3b), light-shielding curtains (3c), observation window plates (3d), observation window handles (3e) and spring hinges (3f). There are two image acquisition device housings (3a) connected to the fruit picking component (2) and fixedly installed above the fruit transmission chain belt (5). There are two light-shielding curtains (3c) fixedly installed at the front end of the image acquisition device housing (3a) to reduce the influence of external light on the inside of the image acquisition device housing (3a). There are two observation window plates (3d) respectively fixedly installed on the outside of the image acquisition device housing (3a) and connected to the image acquisition device housing (3a) through four spring hinges (3f). There are two observation window handles (3e) respectively fixedly installed on the outside of the observation window plates (3d) and cooperating with the observation window plates (3d) and spring hinges (3f) to observe the inside of the image acquisition device housing (3a) and adjust the posture of the cameras (3b). There are two cameras (3b) respectively fixedly installed at the center position of the top inside the image acquisition device housing (3a), perpendicular to the ground, and cooperate with the fruit transmission chain belt (5) to complete the acquisition of the surface information of the fruits.

[0015] The fruit turning and discharging mechanism includes a main fruit turning guide rail (4a), a primary fruit turning guide rail (4b), a secondary fruit turning guide rail (4c), a support profile for the fruit turning mechanism (4d), and an electromagnetic push rod (4e). There are two main fruit turning guide rails (4a) which are respectively fixedly installed at the top of the electromagnetic push rod (4e), cooperate with the primary fruit turning guide rail (4b) to form a variable track, and classify fruits into the Class A fruit collection box (6a) through the fruit transmission unit (5b); the primary fruit turning guide rail (4b) and the secondary fruit turning guide rail (4c) are fixedly installed in parallel on the support profile for the fruit turning mechanism (4d). There are two secondary fruit turning guide rails (4c) which are non-variable tracks, and cooperate with the fruit transmission unit (5b) to classify fruits into the Class B fruit collection box (6b); there are two support profiles for the fruit turning mechanism (4d) which are fixedly installed on the left and right sides of the middle of the whole machine, and are the component support frames of the fruit turning and discharging mechanism (4); there are two electromagnetic push rods (4e) which are respectively fixedly installed at the rear end of the support profile for the fruit turning mechanism (4d), and regulate the height of the main fruit turning guide rail (4a) through the grading information obtained by the image acquisition device (3).

[0016] The fruit transmission chain belt includes a transmission chain plate belt (5a), a fruit transmission unit (5b), a friction fruit rotating front wheel (5ba), a discharging flap (5bb), a fruit picking and supporting seat (5bc), and a chain plate belt motor (5c). There are two transmission chain plate belts (5a) located at the middle level of the height of the whole machine; there are thirty-six fruit transmission units (5b), with eighteen on each side evenly installed above the transmission chain plate belt (5a). The discharging flap (5bb) cooperates with the main fruit turning guide rail (4a), the primary fruit turning guide rail (4b), and the secondary fruit turning guide rail (4c) to discharge fruits. The fruit picking and supporting seat (5bc) accumulates fruits with the fruit picking hook (2b) at the rear end. The friction fruit rotating front wheel (5ba) drives the fruit to rotate by friction with the camera (3b); the chain plate belt motor (5c) controls the transmission chain plate belt (5a) through a long shaft to drive the fruit transmission unit (5b) to convey forward.

[0017] The fruit collection components include a Class A fruit collection box (6a) and a Class B fruit collection box (6b). The Class A fruit collection box (6a) and the Class B fruit collection box (6b) are fixedly installed side by side on the central profile of the whole machine. The Class A fruit collection box (6a) cooperates with the primary fruit turning guide rail (4b) and the fruit transmission unit (5b) to classify Class A fruits; the Class B fruit collection box (6b) cooperates with the secondary fruit turning guide rail (4c) and the fruit transmission unit (5b) to classify Class B fruits.

[0018] Preferably, the fruit feeding device is made of stainless steel; the rear chute of the fruit feeding device is composed of two mutually perpendicular acrylic plates, and a layer of Teflon tape is covered on the surface, which can reduce the friction coefficient between the fruit and the chute; the edges and corners of the front chute of the fruit feeding device, including the sharp middle part, are chamfered to avoid secondary damage to the fruit.

[0019] Preferably, the fruit hook is used to carry fruits stacked in the vertical direction, and its support structure is partially hollowed out, which can cooperate with the conveying unit to take away the fruits.

[0020] Preferably, the light-shielding curtain is made of black light-impermeable flexible material, fixed to the opening edge of the image acquisition device, and distributed in a hanging sheet shape.

[0021] The fruit transmission unit is fixed to the surface of the transmission chain belt through bolts. The whole fruit transmission unit is made of rubber and the edges are chamfered to avoid secondary damage to the fruits. The surface of the friction fruit-rotating front wheel has rough stripes to increase the friction with the fruits.

[0022] An automatic spherical fruit sorting method includes the following steps:

[0023] S1, The spherical fruits enter the upper chute above the machine through the upper fruit feeding device, and pass through a chute that gradually shrinks to a fixed width. At the same time, the turntable motor drives the anti-blocking turntable to rotate to prevent the fruits from blocking at the shrinking opening, changing the disordered spherical fruits into an orderly double-channel single-row sorting.

[0024] S2, The spherical fruits pass through the fruit feeding device and are stacked vertically above the fruit hook, waiting to be taken away by the fruit transmission chain belt.

[0025] S3, The fruit transmission chain belt conveys the spherical fruits to directly below the image acquisition device. There is a friction plate in the middle of the image acquisition device, which can cooperate with the friction fruit-rotating front wheel to rotate, driving the fruits to rotate. The transmission ratio is 1:1, that is, when the friction fruit-rotating front wheel rotates half a turn, the spherical fruits rotate half a turn. The camera fixedly installed at the top inside the image acquisition device takes pictures of the spherical fruits vertically downward every half turn, takes pictures continuously twice, and through the YOLOv8 deep learning recognition algorithm based on spectral image fusion, integrating the HSV color space conversion module, analyzes the collected image information, rates the spherical fruits, and enters the grade information of the collected spherical fruits into the database in the order of passing through the image acquisition device.

[0026] S4, The controller judges whether it is grade A or grade B according to the grade information of the spherical fruits entered into the database, and then judges whether to lift the main fruit-turning guide rail. If it is grade A, the main fruit-turning guide rail is lifted, and the discharge flap cooperates with the first-level fruit-turning guide rail to lift the spherical fruits, making them fall into the A-class fruit collection box. If it is grade B, the main fruit-turning guide rail is not lifted, and the discharge flap cooperates with the second-level fruit-turning guide rail to lift the spherical fruits, making them fall into the B-class fruit collection box.

[0027] In step S4, the database adopts a structured storage mode, creates an independent data unit for each spherical fruit, and accurately records the category characteristics of its epidermal defects, the area ratio of each defect category, and the time sequence number of the fruit in the detection pipeline. Based on this data architecture, quality traceability and visual analysis of the sorting process can be realized.

[0028] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows:

[0029] By covering the stainless-steel slideway of the fruit loading device with Teflon tape to reduce friction, and setting the synergistic effect of the W-shaped tapered slideway and the anti-blocking turntable, the two-channel orderly arrangement and continuous feeding of stacked spherical fruits are realized.

[0030] Through the drive of the friction rotating fruit front wheel and the chain belt with a 1:1 transmission ratio, the spherical fruit rotates 180° and triggers double image acquisition. Combining with the YOLOv8 deep learning recognition algorithm based on spectral image fusion, and integrating the HSV color space conversion module to analyze surface defects, the detection accuracy is better than that of traditional vision.

[0031] By adjusting the height of the main fruit turning guide rail in real time through the electromagnetic push rod, and combining the cooperation of the unloading turning plate and the fixed guide rail, the dynamic switching of the sorting path is realized, and the sorting action is strictly synchronized with the transmission speed, reducing the collision rate. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0032] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the fruit loading device of the present invention;

[0034] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the fruit picking component of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 4 It is a bottom view of the image acquisition device of the present invention;

[0036] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the fruit turning and unloading mechanism of the present invention;

[0037] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the fruit transmission chain belt of the present invention;

[0038] Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of the fruit transmission unit of the present invention;

[0039] Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of the fruit collecting component of the present invention;

[0040] Figure 9 It is a schematic diagram when the fruit turning and unloading mechanism of the present invention realizes its function;

[0041] Figure 10This is the workflow diagram of the present invention.

[0042] As shown in the figure:

[0043] 1. Fruit feeding device; 2. Fruit picking component; 3. Image acquisition device; 4. Fruit turning and discharging mechanism; 5. Fruit transmission chain belt; 6. Fruit collecting component; 1a. Feeding guide rail; 1b. Anti-blocking turntable; 1c. Turntable motor; 2a. Fruit picking component housing; 2b. Fruit picking hook; 3a. Image acquisition device housing; 3b. Camera; 3c. Light-shielding curtain; 3d. Observation window plate; 3e. Observation window handle; 3f. Spring hinge; 4a. Main fruit turning guide rail; 4b. First-stage fruit turning guide rail; 4c. Second-stage fruit turning guide rail; 4d. Fruit turning mechanism support profile; 4e. Electromagnetic push rod; 5a. Transmission chain plate belt; 5b. Fruit transmission unit; 5c. Chain plate belt motor; 5ba. Friction fruit-rotating front wheel; 5bb. Discharging flap; 5bc. Fruit picking and fruit supporting seat; 6a. Class A fruit collection box; 6b. Class B fruit collection box. Specific embodiments

[0044] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. The described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0045] In this application, the terms "including", "comprising" or any other variant thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements not only includes those elements but also includes other elements not expressly listed, or further includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. Without further limitation, an element defined by the statement "including one......" does not exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the said element.

[0046] As Figure 1-9 shown, the present invention accurately and automatically grades spherical fruits of different grades. Taking spherical fruits as an example, this application will be described in detail.

[0047] Please refer to Figure 2, the fruit feeding device 1 is used to divide the disordered spherical fruits into two channels and arrange them orderly in their respective channels. The fruit feeding device 1 includes a feeding guide rail 1a, an anti-blocking turntable 1b and a turntable motor 1c. The front end of the fruit feeding device 1 is W-shaped, and the rear end is a slideway composed of double baffles. The whole is an inclined line from top to bottom and gradually shrinks to a fixed width, that is, the rear end. The front end is connected to the front profile of the whole machine, and the rear end is connected to the upper section of the fruit picking component 2; there are two anti-blocking turntables 1b fixedly installed in the middle of the fruit feeding device 1 and driven to rotate by two turntable motors 1c fixedly installed directly below the anti-blocking turntable 1b to rearrange the fruits blocked due to the width change to avoid blockage.

[0048] Please refer to Figure 3 , the fruit picking component 2 stacks the orderly arranged spherical fruits onto the fruit picking hooks 2b, including a fruit picking component housing 2a and fruit picking hooks 2b. There are two fruit picking component housings 2a connected to the rear end of the fruit feeding device 1 at the same horizontal height as the image acquisition device 3, and cooperate with two fruit picking hooks 2b to carry the fruits arranged in rows by the fruit feeding device 1, and interact with the fruit transmission chain belt 5 to take away the fruits one by one.

[0049] Please refer to Figure 4 , there are two image acquisition devices 3 fixedly installed in the middle of the whole machine at the same horizontal height as the fruit picking component 2. Through the cameras 3b distributed at the top, the surface information of the fruits conveyed by the fruit transmission chain belt 5 is collected, and the grades of the fruits are classified. The image acquisition device 3 includes an image acquisition device housing 3a, cameras 3b, light-shielding curtains 3c, observation window plates 3d, observation window handles 3e and spring hinges 3f. There are two image acquisition device housings 3a connected to the fruit picking component 2 and fixedly installed above the fruit transmission chain belt 5; there are two light-shielding curtains 3c fixedly installed at the front end of the image acquisition device housing 3a to reduce the influence of external light on the inside of the image acquisition device housing 3a; there are two observation window plates 3d respectively fixedly installed on the outside of the image acquisition device housing 3a and connected to the image acquisition device housing 3a through four spring hinges 3f; there are two observation window handles 3e respectively fixedly installed on the outside of the light-shielding curtain 3c and cooperate with the observation window handles 3e and spring hinges 3f to observe the inside of the image acquisition device housing 3a and adjust the posture of the cameras 3b; there are two cameras 3b respectively fixedly installed at the center position of the top inside the image acquisition device housing 3a, perpendicular to the ground, and cooperate with the fruit transmission chain belt 5 to complete the collection of the surface information of the fruits.

[0050] Please refer to Figure 5, the fruit turning and discharging mechanism 4 is fixedly installed on both sides of the middle horizontal height of the whole machine, and is used to guide the discharging flap 5bb of the fruit transmission chain belt 5. According to the grading information of the fruit grades, the electromagnetic push rod 4e is used to control the height of the main fruit turning guide rail 4a to adjust the heights of the secondary fruit turning guide rail 4c and the primary fruit turning guide rail 4b, so as to guide the discharging flap 5bb to turn the fruit into the Class A fruit collection box 6a or the Class B fruit collection box 6b. The fruit turning and discharging mechanism 4 includes a main fruit turning guide rail 4a, a primary fruit turning guide rail 4b, a secondary fruit turning guide rail 4c, a fruit turning mechanism support profile 4d and an electromagnetic push rod 4e. There are two main fruit turning guide rails 4a, which are respectively fixedly installed at the top of the electromagnetic push rod 4e, cooperate with the primary fruit turning guide rail 4b to form a variable track, and classify the fruits into the Class A fruit collection box 6a through the discharging flap 5bb; the primary fruit turning guide rail 4b and the secondary fruit turning guide rail 4c are fixedly installed in parallel on the fruit turning mechanism support profile 4d. There are two secondary fruit turning guide rails 4c, which are immutable tracks, and cooperate with the discharging flap 5bb to classify the fruits into the Class B fruit collection box 6b; there are two fruit turning mechanism support profiles 4d, which are fixedly installed on the left and right sides of the middle of the whole machine, and are the component support frames of the fruit turning and discharging mechanism 4; there are two electromagnetic push rods 4e, which are respectively fixedly installed at the rear end of the fruit turning mechanism support profile 4d, and regulate the height of the main fruit turning guide rail 4a through the grading information obtained by the image acquisition device 3.

[0051] Please refer to Figure 6 , Figure 7 and Figure 8 , the fruit transmission chain belt 5 is fixedly installed on both sides of the middle horizontal height of the whole machine, and is used to convey the fruits in the fruit picking hook 2b. The fruits are conveyed through the image acquisition device 3 to complete image acquisition. According to the grading information of the image acquisition device 3, the fruits are conveyed to the primary fruit turning guide rail 4b or the secondary fruit turning guide rail 4c to complete the grading and classification of the fruits. The fruit transmission chain belt 5 includes a transmission chain plate belt 5a, a fruit transmission unit 5b, a friction fruit rotating front wheel 5ba, a discharging flap 5bb, a fruit picking and fruit supporting seat 5bc, and a chain plate belt motor 5c. There are two transmission chain plate belts 5a located in the middle of the whole machine at the horizontal height; there are thirty-six fruit transmission units 5b, with eighteen on each side evenly installed above the transmission chain plate belt 5a. The discharging flap 5bb cooperates with the main fruit turning guide rail 4a, the primary fruit turning guide rail 4b and the secondary fruit turning guide rail 4c to discharge the fruits. The fruit picking and fruit supporting seat 5bc stacks the fruits taken by the fruit picking hook 2b at the rear end. The friction fruit rotating front wheel 5ba drives the fruits to rotate by friction with the image acquisition device 3; the chain plate belt motor 5c controls the transmission chain plate belt 5a through a long shaft to drive the fruit transmission unit 5b to convey forward.

[0052] Please refer to Figure 9, the fruit collection component 6 is fixedly installed at the center position of the whole machine, and is divided into Class A fruit collection box 6a and Class B fruit collection box 6b, which receive the fruits conveyed by the fruit turning and discharging mechanism 4. The Class A fruit collection box 6a is for Class A fruits, and the Class B fruit collection box 6b is for Class B fruits. The fruit collection component 6 includes the Class A fruit collection box 6a and the Class B fruit collection box 6b. The Class A fruit collection box 6a and the Class B fruit collection box 6b are fixedly installed side by side on the central profile of the whole machine. The Class A fruit collection box 6a cooperates with the first-stage fruit turning guide rail 4b and the discharging flap 5bb to classify Class A fruits; the Class B fruit collection box 6b cooperates with the second-stage fruit turning guide rail 4c and the discharging flap 5bb to classify Class B fruits.

[0053] Please refer to Figure 10 , an automated spherical fruit sorting system and sorting method, including the following steps:

[0054] S1, The spherical fruits enter the upper chute above the machine from the upper fruit feeding device, and pass through a chute that gradually shrinks to a fixed width. At the same time, the turntable motor drives the anti-blocking turntable to rotate to prevent the fruits from being blocked at the shrinkage opening, and changes the disordered spherical fruits into an orderly double-channel single-row sorting.

[0055] S2, The spherical fruits pass through the fruit feeding device and are stacked vertically above the fruit picking hook, waiting to be taken away by the fruit transmission chain belt.

[0056] S3, The fruit transmission chain belt transports the spherical fruits to directly below the image acquisition device. There is a friction plate in the middle of the image acquisition device, which can rotate in cooperation with the friction fruit-rotating front wheel to drive the fruits to rotate. The transmission ratio is 1:1, that is, when the friction fruit-rotating front wheel rotates half a turn, the spherical fruits rotate half a turn; the camera fixedly installed at the top inside the image acquisition device takes pictures of the spherical fruits vertically downward every half turn, takes pictures continuously twice, and through the YOLOv8 deep learning recognition algorithm integrated with spectral image fusion, integrates the HSV color space conversion module, analyzes the collected image information, rates the spherical fruits, and enters the grade information of the collected spherical fruits into the database in the order of passing through the image acquisition device.

[0057] S4, The controller judges whether it is Class A or Class B according to the grade information of the spherical fruits entered in the database, and judges whether to lift the main fruit turning guide rail. If it is Class A, the main fruit turning guide rail is lifted, and the discharging flap cooperates with the first-stage fruit turning guide rail to lift the spherical fruits, so that they fall into the Class A fruit collection box. If it is Class B, the main fruit turning guide rail is not lifted, and the discharging flap cooperates with the second-stage fruit turning guide rail to lift the spherical fruits, so that they fall into the Class B fruit collection box.

[0058] In the step S4, the database adopts a structured storage mode, establishing an independent data unit for each spherical fruit, accurately recording the category features of its epidermal defects, the area ratio of each defect category, and the sequential number of the fruit product in the detection pipeline. Based on this data architecture, quality traceability and visual analysis of the sorting process can be realized.

[0059] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, those of ordinary skill in the art can understand that various changes, modifications, substitutions, and variations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. An automated spherical fruit sorting system, characterized in that, include: The fruit feeding device (1) has a W-shaped tapered structure at the front end and a double baffle slide at the rear end, and comprises an anti-blocking turntable (1b) and a turntable motor (1c), and is used to sort the disordered spherical fruits into double-channel single-row orderly arrangements; A fruit picking component (2) is arranged at the end of the fruit feeding device (1), comprising a fruit picking hook (2b) for receiving the vertically stacked spherical fruits; The fruit transmission chain belt (5) comprises a transmission chain plate belt (5a) and evenly distributed fruit transmission units (5b), wherein the transmission unit (5b) is provided with a friction fruit rotation front wheel (5ba) and a discharge flap (5bb) for conveying and driving the spherical fruit to rotate; An image acquisition device (3), arranged above the fruit conveying chain (5), comprises a camera (3b) and a photographic curtain (3c), and is configured to acquire surface images of spherical fruits and classify them through a visual model; The fruit turning and unloading mechanism (4) comprises a liftable fruit turning guide rail P (4a), a fixed guide rail A (4b) and a guide rail B (4c), and switches the sorting path in response to the classification result through an electromagnetic push rod (4e); The fruit collecting part (6) includes a type A collection box and a type B collection box; The system realizes orderly loading, rotation imaging, grading and collision-free sorting of spherical fruits through the cooperation of various components.

2. The automated spherical fruit sorting system according to claim 1, characterized in that The rear end slideway of the fruit feeding device (1) is composed of a vertical acrylic plate, the surface of which is covered with Teflon tape, and the front end corners are chamfered.

3. The automated spherical fruit sorting system according to claim 1, characterized in that The fruit picking hook (2b) is a partially hollowed-out structure, and forms a hollowed-out fruit picking mechanism together with the fruit picking support seat (5bc) of the transmission unit (5b).

4. The automated spherical fruit sorting system according to claim 1, wherein, The surface of the friction fruit rotating front wheel (5ba) is provided with rough stripes, and the transmission ratio with the chain plate belt motor (5c) is 1:1, which drives the spherical fruit to rotate half a circle to cooperate with the camera to shoot at two angles.

5. The automated spherical fruit sorting system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The fruit turning guide rail P (4a) is raised and lowered by an electromagnetic push rod (4e) to form a variable unloading channel with the guide rail A (4b), and the guide rail B (4c) is a fixed channel.

6. An automated spherical fruit sorting method, characterized in that, include: S1, arranging the spherical fruits into a double channel and a single row through a tapered slide and a rotating anti-blocking turntable (1b); S2, the spherical fruits are received by the fruit picking hook (2b) and picked up one by one through the transmission unit (5b); S3, driving the spherical fruit to rotate and collecting the surface image of the spherical fruit by the camera (3b), analyzing the defect features and classifying them based on the visual model; S4, according to the classification results, the fruit turning guide rail P (4a) is controlled to rise and fall, and the spherical fruits are guided into the corresponding collection box; S5, establish a structured database to record the time sequence number, defect category and area proportion of each spherical fruit.

7. The automated spherical fruit sorting method according to claim 6, wherein The visual model calculates the total proportion of defect areas by fusing the dual-angle images and divides the grades accordingly.

8. The automated spherical fruit sorting method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The lifting action of the electromagnetic push rod (4e) is synchronously triggered by the spherical fruit position signal of the transmission chain belt (5a).

Images