Telescopic fruit picking mechanical arm and picking method
By designing an internal fruit-sliding channel and fruit-receiving basket structure in the high-altitude harvesting equipment, the problem of fruits not being able to slide down automatically was solved, improving harvesting efficiency and reducing costs, and realizing automatic fruit transport.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- FUJIAN JINGONG MACHINERY
- Filing Date
- 2026-05-09
- Publication Date
- 2026-06-05
AI Technical Summary
Existing high-altitude harvesting equipment cannot automatically slide the fruit to the desired position after harvesting, resulting in low harvesting efficiency. In addition, the additional fruit-sliding structure increases the complexity and cost of the robotic arm.
Design a telescopic fruit-picking robotic arm with an internal fruit-sliding channel. The fruit is automatically transported from a height by a fruit-receiving basket that works in conjunction with the fruit-sliding channel. An arc-shaped support body and a drive mechanism are used to move the cutting mechanism and the fruit-receiving basket above the feed inlet, through which the fruit enters the fruit-sliding channel.
It improves harvesting efficiency, reduces the structural complexity and manufacturing cost of the robotic arm, and enables automatic fruit transport without the need for an additional fruit-sliding structure.
Smart Images
Figure CN122139568A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This invention relates to the field of harvesting robotic arms, specifically to a telescopic fruit-picking robotic arm and a harvesting method. Background Technology
[0002] Palm fruits grow on palm trees, typically at high points, sometimes exceeding 10 meters. To facilitate the harvesting of these high-altitude palm fruits, aerial harvesting equipment has emerged; for example, Chinese invention patent CN202411942008.X, filed on December 27, 2024, discloses such an aerial harvesting device. However, the aforementioned existing aerial harvesting equipment has the following drawbacks in practical use:
[0003] After the robotic arm drives the cutting mechanism to harvest the fruit, it needs to be used to place the fruit in the desired position before harvesting can continue. The inability to allow the fruit to automatically slide to the desired location significantly reduces harvesting efficiency. Furthermore, adding an external fruit-guiding structure to the robotic arm increases its complexity and manufacturing costs. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a harvesting robotic arm that can both drive the cutting mechanism to harvest the fruit and directly guide the fruit for collection. Summary of the Invention
[0004] To address the shortcomings of existing technologies, this invention provides a telescopic fruit-picking robotic arm and a picking method. This telescopic fruit-picking robotic arm can both drive a cutting mechanism to pick fruits and directly slide the fruits to achieve fruit harvesting.
[0005] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides the following technical solution:
[0006] In the first aspect, a telescopic fruit-picking robotic arm includes a support frame, a telescopic robotic arm, and picking attachments;
[0007] The telescopic robotic arm has a fruit-passing channel formed inside along its length. One end of the telescopic robotic arm forms a discharge port, and the other end forms a feed port. One end of the telescopic robotic arm is connected to the support frame.
[0008] The harvesting attachment includes an arc-shaped support body, at least one cutting mechanism movably mounted on the arc-shaped support body, a drive mechanism that drives the cutting mechanism to move, and a fruit receiving basket connected to the cutting mechanism; the bottom of the other end of the telescopic robotic arm is connected to the arc-shaped support body. After the fruit receiving basket catches the fruit harvested by the cutting mechanism, the drive mechanism drives the cutting mechanism to move the fruit receiving basket above the feed inlet.
[0009] Furthermore, the telescopic robotic arm includes at least two tubes that are sequentially nested together from the inside out, and at least one telescopic drive cylinder; the interiors of each tube are connected to form a fruit-passing channel, and the exteriors of adjacent tubes are connected by a telescopic drive cylinder.
[0010] Furthermore, the tube body is a polygonal tube body.
[0011] Furthermore, it also includes a first swing drive cylinder connected between the support frame and the outermost tube, with the bottom of one end of the telescopic robotic arm rotatably connected to the support frame.
[0012] Furthermore, the telescopic robotic arm includes three tubes that are sequentially nested together from the inside out, and two telescopic drive cylinders connected between the exteriors of two adjacent tubes.
[0013] Furthermore, the feed inlet adopts an oblique opening structure.
[0014] Furthermore, the fruit receiving basket is an openable fruit receiving basket.
[0015] Furthermore, it also includes a second swing drive cylinder, a first connecting rod, and a second connecting rod; a first connecting part is provided in the middle of the outer side of the arc-shaped support body, and a second connecting part is provided at the bottom of the other end of the telescopic robotic arm; the upper end of the first connecting part is rotatably connected to the upper end of the second connecting part; a second connecting rod is provided on both sides of the middle part of the second connecting part; the fixed end of the second swing drive cylinder is rotatably connected to the lower end of the second connecting part; one end of the second connecting rod is rotatably connected to the middle part of the second connecting part; and the other end of the second connecting rod is rotatably connected to the movable end of the second swing drive cylinder; one end of the first connecting rod is rotatably connected to the lower end of the first connecting part; and the other end of the first connecting rod is rotatably connected to the movable end of the second swing drive cylinder.
[0016] Furthermore, the top of the first connecting part is formed with a guide surface for guiding the fruit into the feed inlet; the top of the arc-shaped support body is provided with a limiting stop at the middle position of the corresponding guide surface, and the cutting mechanism is provided with a limiting baffle on the side away from the limiting stop to cooperate with the limiting stop to achieve the limiting. When the driving mechanism drives the cutting mechanism to move until the limiting baffle contacts the limiting stop, the fruit receiving basket is above the feed inlet.
[0017] Secondly, a harvesting method for a telescopic fruit-picking robotic arm, the harvesting method comprising the following steps:
[0018] When the telescopic robotic arm extends and drives the picking attachment to clamp the trunk of the fruit tree, the drive mechanism drives the cutting mechanism and the fruit basket to move together to the position of the fruit, controls the cutting mechanism to pick and cut the fruit, and makes the picked fruit fall into the fruit basket.
[0019] After the fruit falls into the receiving basket, the cutting mechanism and the receiving basket are driven together by the drive mechanism until the receiving basket is above the feed inlet. The fruit in the receiving basket is released and enters the fruit conveying channel through the feed inlet. The fruit conveying channel then transports the fruit down from the height.
[0020] By adopting the above-described technical solution of the present invention, at least the following beneficial effects are achieved:
[0021] 1. By using a fruit receiving basket in conjunction with a fruit conveyor, fruits can be automatically transported from a high position to the desired location without the need for a robotic arm to place the fruits in the desired position, thus improving harvesting efficiency.
[0022] 2. A fruit-passing channel is directly formed inside the telescopic robotic arm, which not only drives the cutting mechanism to rise and pick the fruit, but also directly uses the fruit-passing channel inside the telescopic robotic arm to pass the fruit to achieve harvesting, without the need for additional fruit-passing structures. This can effectively reduce the structural complexity of the telescopic robotic arm and reduce manufacturing costs. Attached Figure Description
[0023] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of a telescopic fruit-picking robotic arm of the present invention in its extended state;
[0024] Figure 2 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of a telescopic fruit-picking robotic arm of the present invention in its retracted state;
[0025] Figure 3 This is an internal structural diagram of a telescopic fruit-picking robotic arm of the present invention in its extended state;
[0026] Figure 4 This is a top view of the telescopic robotic arm of the present invention in the extended state;
[0027] Figure 5 This is a top view of the telescopic robotic arm of the present invention in its retracted state.
[0028] Figure 6 for Figure 1 Enlarged view of part A in the middle;
[0029] Figure 7 This is a structural diagram of the harvesting attachment of the present invention;
[0030] Figure 8 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the fruit-collecting basket of the present invention when it is in the open state.
[0031] Figure label:
[0032] 100-meter telescopic fruit-picking robotic arm;
[0033] Support frame 1;
[0034] Telescopic robotic arm 2, fruit chute 21, discharge port 22, inlet port 23, tube body 24, telescopic drive cylinder 25, second connecting part 26;
[0035] Harvesting attachment 3, arc-shaped support body 31, first connecting part 311, guide surface 3111, cutting mechanism 32, limiting baffle 321, limiting stop 33, fruit receiving basket 34, annular body 341, material receiving opening 3411, fruit basket fixed part 342, fruit basket movable part 343, opening and closing drive cylinder 344.
[0036] First swing drive cylinder 4;
[0037] Second swing drive cylinder 51, first connecting rod 52, second connecting rod 53. Detailed Implementation
[0038] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.
[0039] Example 1
[0040] Please see the appendix Figures 1 to 8 As shown, the present invention provides a telescopic fruit-picking robotic arm 100, which includes a support frame 1, a telescopic robotic arm 2, and a picking attachment 3. The support frame 1 is used to meet the support requirements, the telescopic robotic arm 2 is used to drive the picking attachment 3 to perform telescopic movement, and the picking attachment 3 is used to pick the fruit.
[0041] The telescopic robotic arm 2 has a fruit-passing channel 21 formed inside along its length. One end of the telescopic robotic arm 2 forms a discharge port 22 to output the fruit. The other end of the telescopic robotic arm 2 forms a feed port 23 to input the fruit into the fruit-passing channel 21. One end of the telescopic robotic arm 2 is connected to the support frame 1.
[0042] Please refer to the following carefully. Figure 7As shown, the harvesting attachment 3 includes an arc-shaped support body 31, at least one cutting mechanism 32 movably mounted on the arc-shaped support body 31, a drive mechanism (not shown) that drives the cutting mechanism 32, and a fruit-receiving basket 34 connected to the cutting mechanism 32. During operation, the drive mechanism specifically drives the cutting mechanism 32 and the fruit-receiving basket 34 to move together along a circumferential direction. The bottom of the other end of the telescopic robotic arm 2 is connected to the arc-shaped support body 31. When the fruit-receiving basket 34 catches the fruit harvested by the cutting mechanism 32, the drive mechanism drives the cutting mechanism 32 to move the fruit-receiving basket 34 above the feed inlet 23. The arc-shaped support body 31, the cutting mechanism 32, and the drive mechanism are all existing technologies. For details, please refer to the detailed description in Chinese Invention Patent CN202511341468.1. Therefore, a detailed description of the arc-shaped support body 31, the cutting mechanism 32, and the drive mechanism will not be provided here. In practical use, the lower end of the support frame 1 of the telescopic fruit-picking robotic arm 100 of the present invention can be set on various walking devices (not shown) so that the walking devices can be used to transport the telescopic fruit-picking robotic arm 100 to the required position.
[0043] This invention forms a fruit-sliding channel 21 directly along its length inside the telescopic robotic arm 2, and sets a fruit-receiving basket 34 on the harvesting attachment 3 to cooperate with the fruit-sliding channel 21. During harvesting, after the fruit is caught by the fruit-receiving basket 34, a drive mechanism moves the basket 34 above the feed inlet 23, releasing the fruit from the basket 34. The fruit then automatically slides down the fruit-sliding channel 21 from a height, eliminating the need for the robotic arm to place the fruit in the desired position before harvesting can continue. Therefore, by adopting the above-mentioned technical solution of this invention, at least the following beneficial effects are achieved:
[0044] 1. The fruit can be automatically transported from a high position to the required position by the fruit receiving basket 34 and the fruit conveying channel 21, without the need to use a robotic arm to place the fruit in the required position, which can improve the harvesting efficiency.
[0045] 2. A fruit-passing channel 21 is directly formed inside the telescopic robotic arm 2, which not only drives the cutting mechanism 32 to rise to pick the fruit, but also allows the fruit to pass through the fruit-passing channel 21 inside the telescopic robotic arm 2 to collect the fruit, without the need for additional fruit-passing structures. This effectively reduces the structural complexity of the telescopic robotic arm 2 and lowers the manufacturing cost.
[0046] In some embodiments of the present invention, please refer to the following: Figures 3 to 5As shown, the telescopic robotic arm 2 includes at least two tubes 24 that are sequentially nested together from the inside out, and at least one telescopic drive cylinder 25. The telescopic drive cylinder 25 can be a hydraulic cylinder or a pneumatic cylinder. The interiors of each tube 24 are connected to form a fruit passage 21. The exteriors of two adjacent tubes 24 are connected by a telescopic drive cylinder 25, so that the telescopic drive cylinder 25 can drive the corresponding tube 24 to extend forward or retract backward.
[0047] In some embodiments of the present invention, in order to allow the fruit to slide down the fruit passage 21 more effectively, the tube 24 is a polygonal tube. As one specific embodiment of the present invention, the tube 24 is a hexagonal tube; of course, the above is only one specific embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and other polygonal structures of different shapes can be used according to actual needs in specific implementations.
[0048] In one specific embodiment of the present invention, the telescopic robotic arm 2 includes three tubes 24 sequentially nested together from the inside out, and two telescopic drive cylinders 25 connected between the exteriors of two adjacent tubes 24. In a specific implementation, for the telescopic drive cylinder 25 between the outermost tube 24 and the middle tube 24, the cylinder body of the telescopic drive cylinder 25 can be connected to the exterior of the outermost tube 24, and the movable end of the telescopic drive cylinder 25 can be connected to the extended end of the middle tube 24; for the telescopic drive cylinder 25 between the middle tube 24 and the innermost tube 24, the cylinder body of the telescopic drive cylinder 25 can be connected to the extended end of the middle tube 24, and the movable end of the telescopic drive cylinder 25 can be connected to the movable end of the innermost tube 24.
[0049] In some embodiments of the present invention, the telescopic fruit-picking robotic arm 100 further includes a first swing drive cylinder 4 connected between the support frame 1 and the outermost tube 24. The first swing drive cylinder 4 can specifically be a hydraulic cylinder or a pneumatic cylinder. The bottom of one end of the telescopic robotic arm 2 is rotatably connected to the support frame 1. In practical operation, the first swing drive cylinder 4 can be used to drive the telescopic robotic arm 2 upwards to the desired position, allowing the telescopic robotic arm 2 to better drive the picking attachment 3 to pick the fruit; or the first swing drive cylinder 4 can be used to drive the telescopic robotic arm 2 downwards to the desired position for easy storage. In specific implementations, to ensure that the telescopic robotic arm 2 can swing up and down more smoothly, a first swing drive cylinder 4 can be provided on both sides of the tube 24.
[0050] In some embodiments of the present invention, in order to enable the fruit to enter the fruit passage 21 from the feed inlet 23 more effectively, the feed inlet 23 is designed with an oblique opening.
[0051] In some embodiments of the present invention, the fruit-receiving basket 34 is an openable fruit-receiving basket. Please refer to the following for a specific implementation of the present invention. Figure 8 As shown, the fruit basket 34 includes an annular body 341, a fixed fruit basket section 342, a movable fruit basket section 343, and an opening / closing drive cylinder 344. The opening / closing drive cylinder 344 can be a hydraulic cylinder or a pneumatic cylinder. The upper end of the fixed fruit basket section 342 is fixedly connected to the annular body 341, and the upper end of the movable fruit basket section 343 is rotatably connected to the annular body 341. The opening / closing drive cylinder 344 is connected between the fixed fruit basket section 342 and the movable fruit basket section 343. A receiving opening 3411 is formed on the inner side of the annular body 341. The fixed fruit basket section... 342 is connected to the cutting mechanism 32; in the specific use of the fruit receiving basket 34, the opening and closing drive cylinder 344 can first cause the movable part 343 of the fruit basket to close, so that the fruit receiving basket 34 can receive the fruit cut by the cutting mechanism 32 and fall down; after the picked fruit falls into the fruit receiving basket 34, the cutting mechanism 32 is driven by the drive mechanism to move the fruit receiving basket 34 to the top of the feed inlet 23, and the opening and closing drive cylinder 344 is used to drive the movable part 343 of the fruit basket to open, so that the fruit in the fruit receiving basket 34 can fall down into the fruit conveying channel 21.
[0052] In some embodiments of the present invention, please refer to the following: Figure 6As shown, the telescopic fruit-picking robotic arm 100 also includes a second swing drive cylinder 51, a first connecting rod 52, and a second connecting rod 53. The second swing drive cylinder 51 can specifically be a hydraulic cylinder or a pneumatic cylinder. A first connecting part 311 is provided in the middle of the outer side of the arc-shaped support body 31, and a second connecting part 26 is provided at the bottom of the other end of the telescopic robotic arm 2. The upper end of the first connecting part 311 is rotatably connected to the upper end of the second connecting part 26, so that the first connecting part 311 can rotate up and down relative to the second connecting part 26, thereby enabling the entire... The picking attachment 3 is adjusted by swinging up and down; a second connecting rod 53 is provided on both sides of the middle part of the second connecting part 26; the fixed end of the second swing drive cylinder 51 is rotatably connected to the lower end of the second connecting part 26; one end of the second connecting rod 53 is rotatably connected to the middle part of the second connecting part 26; and the other end of the second connecting rod 53 is rotatably connected to the movable end of the second swing drive cylinder 51; one end of the first connecting rod 52 is rotatably connected to the lower end of the first connecting part 311; and the other end of the first connecting rod 52 is rotatably connected to the movable end of the second swing drive cylinder 51. By adopting the above structural design, the first connecting part 311, the second connecting part 26, the first connecting rod 52 and the second connecting rod 53 can form a parallelogram-like connecting rod structure, thereby ensuring that the second swing drive cylinder 51 can more reliably drive the picking attachment 3 to swing up and down. At the same time, when there is no need to pick the fruit, the second swing drive cylinder 51 can be used to drive the entire picking attachment 3 to swing upward and store it near the feed inlet 23, so as to reduce the space occupied by the entire telescopic fruit picking robot arm 100.
[0053] In some embodiments of the present invention, the top of the first connecting part 311 is formed with a guide surface 3111 for guiding the fruit into the feed inlet 23. That is, when the fruit receiving basket 34 moves above the guide surface 3111 and releases the fruit downward, the guide surface 3111 can guide the fruit into the feed inlet 23.
[0054] The top of the arc-shaped support body 31 is provided with a limiting stop 33 at the middle position of the corresponding guide surface 3111. The cutting mechanism 32 is provided with a limiting baffle 321 on the side away from the limiting stop 33, which cooperates with the limiting stop 33 to achieve limiting. When the driving mechanism drives the cutting mechanism 32 to move until the limiting baffle 321 contacts the limiting stop 33, the fruit receiving basket 34 is above the feed inlet 23. By adopting the above structural design, it can be ensured that the fruit receiving basket 34 can stop more reliably above the feed inlet 23, so that the fruit released from the fruit receiving basket 34 can fall accurately into the fruit conveying channel 21. At the same time, in a specific implementation of the present invention, an inductive switch (not shown) can also be provided on the limiting stop 33, and the limiting baffle 321 on the cutting mechanism 32 can also contact the inductive switch when it contacts the limiting stop 33. In this way, the inductive switch can be used to directly trigger the fruit receiving basket 34 to automatically release the fruit after it moves to the correct position.
[0055] Example 2
[0056] Please see the appendix Figures 1 to 8 As shown, this invention provides a harvesting method using a telescopic fruit-harvesting robotic arm 100. The specific structure, working principle, and technical effects of the telescopic fruit-harvesting robotic arm 100 are completely identical to those in Embodiment 1. Please refer to the detailed description of Embodiment 1 for further details, which will not be repeated here. The harvesting method includes the following steps:
[0057] After the telescopic robotic arm 2 extends and drives the picking attachment 3 to clamp the fruit tree trunk, the cutting mechanism 32 and the fruit receiving basket 34 are driven together to the position of the fruit by the drive mechanism. The cutting mechanism 32 is controlled to pick and cut the fruit, and the picked fruit falls into the fruit receiving basket 34. Of course, in specific implementation of the present invention, before controlling the extension of the telescopic robotic arm 2, the first swing drive cylinder 4 can be used to drive the telescopic robotic arm 2 to swing upward and lift it to the required position; at the same time, before driving the picking attachment 3 to clamp the fruit tree trunk, the second swing drive cylinder 51 can be used to drive the picking attachment 3 to swing up and down to adjust, so as to ensure that the picking attachment 3 can better clamp the fruit tree trunk.
[0058] After the fruit falls into the receiving basket 34, the cutting mechanism 32 and the receiving basket 34 are driven together by the drive mechanism to move the receiving basket 34 above the feed inlet 23, release the fruit in the receiving basket 34 and let the fruit enter the fruit conveying channel 21 through the feed inlet 23, and the fruit conveying channel 21 transports the fruit down from the height, and the fruit will finally be output from the discharge port 22 at the lower end of the fruit conveying channel 21.
[0059] Although embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
Claims
1. A telescopic fruit-picking robotic arm, characterized in that, Includes support frame, telescopic robotic arm and harvesting attachments; The telescopic robotic arm has a fruit-passing channel formed inside along its length. One end of the telescopic robotic arm forms a discharge port, and the other end forms a feed port. One end of the telescopic robotic arm is connected to the support frame. The harvesting attachment includes an arc-shaped support body, at least one cutting mechanism movably mounted on the arc-shaped support body, a drive mechanism that drives the cutting mechanism to move, and a fruit receiving basket connected to the cutting mechanism; the bottom of the other end of the telescopic robotic arm is connected to the arc-shaped support body. After the fruit receiving basket catches the fruit harvested by the cutting mechanism, the drive mechanism drives the cutting mechanism to move the fruit receiving basket above the feed inlet.
2. The telescopic fruit-picking robotic arm according to claim 1, characterized in that, The telescopic robotic arm includes at least two tubes that are nested together from the inside out and at least one telescopic drive cylinder; the interiors of each tube are connected to form a fruit passage, and the exteriors of two adjacent tubes are connected by a telescopic drive cylinder.
3. The telescopic fruit-picking robotic arm according to claim 2, characterized in that, The tube is a polygonal tube.
4. The telescopic fruit-picking robotic arm according to claim 2, characterized in that, It also includes a first swing drive cylinder connected between the support frame and the outermost tube, with the bottom of one end of the telescopic robotic arm rotatably connected to the support frame.
5. The telescopic fruit-picking robotic arm according to claim 2, characterized in that, The telescopic robotic arm includes three tubes that are nested together from the inside out, and two telescopic drive cylinders connected between the exteriors of two adjacent tubes.
6. The telescopic fruit-picking robotic arm according to claim 1, characterized in that, The feed inlet adopts an oblique opening structure.
7. The telescopic fruit-picking robotic arm according to claim 1, characterized in that, The fruit receiving basket is an openable type.
8. A telescopic fruit-picking robotic arm according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that, It also includes a second swing drive cylinder, a first connecting rod, and a second connecting rod; a first connecting part is provided in the middle of the outer side of the arc-shaped support body, and a second connecting part is provided at the bottom of the other end of the telescopic robotic arm; the upper end of the first connecting part is rotatably connected to the upper end of the second connecting part; a second connecting rod is provided on both sides of the middle part of the second connecting part; the fixed end of the second swing drive cylinder is rotatably connected to the lower end of the second connecting part; one end of the second connecting rod is rotatably connected to the middle part of the second connecting part; and the other end of the second connecting rod is rotatably connected to the movable end of the second swing drive cylinder; one end of the first connecting rod is rotatably connected to the lower end of the first connecting part; and the other end of the first connecting rod is rotatably connected to the movable end of the second swing drive cylinder.
9. The telescopic fruit-picking robotic arm according to claim 8, characterized in that, The top of the first connecting part has a guide surface for guiding the fruit into the feed inlet; the top of the arc-shaped support body has a limiting stop at the middle position of the corresponding guide surface; the cutting mechanism has a limiting baffle on the side away from the limiting stop to cooperate with the limiting stop to achieve limiting; when the driving mechanism drives the cutting mechanism to move until the limiting baffle contacts the limiting stop, the fruit receiving basket is above the feed inlet.
10. A harvesting method based on the telescopic fruit-picking robotic arm according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, The harvesting method includes the following steps: When the telescopic robotic arm extends and drives the picking attachment to clamp the trunk of the fruit tree, the drive mechanism drives the cutting mechanism and the fruit basket to move together to the position of the fruit, controls the cutting mechanism to pick and cut the fruit, and makes the picked fruit fall into the fruit basket. After the fruit falls into the receiving basket, the cutting mechanism and the receiving basket are driven together by the drive mechanism until the receiving basket is above the feed inlet. The fruit in the receiving basket is released and enters the fruit conveying channel through the feed inlet. The fruit conveying channel then transports the fruit down from the height.