A gripper mechanism for sunflower picking

Abstract

The utility model discloses a kind of for sunflower picking's clamping jaw mechanism, it is related to agricultural machinery equipment technical field, including left clamping hand claw, right clamping hand claw, scissors subassembly and transverse drive mechanism, left clamping hand claw, right clamping hand claw are slidably connected with transverse drive mechanism, transverse drive mechanism is fixedly connected with external connecting base body by connecting plate, scissors subassembly is installed at the bottom end of connecting plate, the top of connecting plate is provided with industrial camera, industrial camera is transmitted to external industrial computer by serial port with identification parameter, realize the closed-loop control of left clamping hand claw and right clamping hand claw action. The clamping hand claw in the utility model adopts left-right symmetrical two-degree-of-freedom structure design, realizes the automatic identification and stable clamping of sunflower flower disc, adopts the mode that industrial camera is combined with double-degree-of-freedom clamp, can be automatically adjusted according to the size and thickness of target flower disc, significantly improve clamping success rate and operation stability.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of agricultural machinery and equipment technology, and in particular to a gripper mechanism for sunflower harvesting. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, various types of specialized or modified harvesting machinery are widely used in the market to meet the harvesting needs of sunflowers, a special crop. These sunflower harvesting machines are mainly divided into several categories: tractor-mounted, self-propelled, and combine harvester models, etc., possessing integrated operation functions, high overall operating efficiency, and suitable for large-scale dense planting. In China's main sunflower producing areas, these machines have become the main field operation equipment. Early sunflower harvesting solutions were mostly modified from wheat harvesters or corn combine harvesters. By changing the header, adjusting drum parameters, and adding conveyor components, they initially achieved adaptation for sunflower harvesting. Although these modified machines were low-cost, they had certain shortcomings in harvesting efficiency, seed breakage rate, and collection loss. In recent years, with the upgrading of industry demands, customized machinery specifically for sunflower harvesting has emerged, such as self-propelled sunflower harvesters. These machines use a high-strength cutting system and a special threshing device to complete flower head separation and seed cleaning in one pass, possessing advantages such as high reliability, high efficiency, and low loss, and are gradually becoming the main equipment for standardized harvesting operations. Meanwhile, to meet the demands of high-value-added applications such as seed breeding and food processing, some equipment manufacturers have begun to explore a "flower head harvesting + tray drying" process. Tray drying typically involves separating the flower heads and directionally inserting them onto the stems for drying. Additionally, some manufacturers are attempting to embed basic image recognition modules into mechanical platforms for navigation or obstacle recognition. However, these vision systems are mostly independent structures and have not yet achieved deep integration with clamping control, harvesting decisions, and tray insertion actions. Overall, current harvesting equipment still relies primarily on structured, fixed-parameter control, lacking intelligent recognition and dynamic adaptation capabilities for flower head size, posture, maturity, and other information. While such systems have found some application in scenarios requiring high appearance integrity and drying quality, such as ornamental sunflowers, seed sunflowers, and edible sunflowers, they still cannot guarantee the standardization of harvesting and the quality of the produce to a certain extent.

[0003] Existing equipment primarily serves large-scale, densely planted, and regularly shaped field agricultural environments. This equipment is typically large, complex in structure, and has a large turning radius, making it difficult to adapt to small plots, hilly areas, mountainous terrain, or complex terrain involving intercropping or relay cropping. In small- to medium-scale agricultural models such as scattered distribution, family farming, or crop rotation, this type of equipment often fails to reach its full potential due to deployment difficulties and limited operational paths. Furthermore, existing equipment is highly dependent on crop planting patterns, requiring uniform plant and row spacing and consistent maturity cycles; otherwise, it may lead to incorrect harvesting, missed harvesting, or reduced harvesting efficiency. Regarding structural adaptability, current mainstream flower disc harvesting machinery mostly adopts rigid industrial structures, such as fixed grippers and standardized guide rail systems. While this type of structure is suitable for crops of standard size and neat plant shape, under natural growth conditions, especially when flower disc size varies greatly, the plant is tilted, or the flower disc edges are unevenly developed, its gripping accuracy and stability are significantly insufficient, easily leading to gripping failure, flower disc drop, or mechanical damage. Meanwhile, most tray insertion systems are based on fixed slot designs, making it difficult to dynamically adapt to different sizes of trays or irregular arrangements, thus limiting flexible operation capabilities. In terms of perception and control, although some devices have integrated basic image acquisition modules, their functions are mostly limited to navigation or obstacle detection, lacking the ability to identify and judge dimensions such as the size, location, and maturity of the target crop.

[0004] In summary, existing equipment is geared towards traditional large-scale field agriculture, with a design philosophy focused on high power, large span, and high efficiency, failing to consider the application needs of small and medium-sized fields, non-standard terrain, and non-standard crop forms. The equipment structure is primarily rigid, lacking flexible design concepts and adaptive mechanisms, resulting in insufficient adaptability to diverse and personalized harvesting demands. Although current mechanical systems for "flower disc harvesting + tray processing" have achieved considerable maturity in large-scale field planting and standardized production, significant technical deficiencies remain in key dimensions such as flexibility, miniaturization, intelligence, and scalability. Especially in application scenarios such as small and medium-sized fields, irregular planting patterns, areas with multiple varieties interspersed, and AI-controlled assisted operations, existing equipment struggles to meet the demands for high-precision, high-quality, and low-loss flexible operations. Therefore, a novel harvesting gripper mechanism with flower disc adaptive recognition, intelligent gripping control, and directional tray drying as its core functions has clear practical significance and technical value. Utility Model Content

[0005] The purpose of this invention is to provide a gripper mechanism for sunflower harvesting. This gripper mechanism adopts a symmetrical two-degree-of-freedom structure, including: a lateral gripping degree of freedom: the left and right grippers, driven by a motor, engage with gears and racks to achieve sliding and opening / closing of the grippers, adapting to flower heads of different diameters; and a longitudinal adjustment degree of freedom: each gripper has independent longitudinal opening and closing capabilities, allowing adjustment of the gripping depth to accommodate different flower head thicknesses, achieving a "wrap-around" gripping method and improving gripping stability and adaptability. Its gripper control logic adopts a "perception-decision-execution" closed-loop structure. After parameter extraction via an industrial camera, the results are transmitted to an industrial control computer. The controller calculates the target opening / closing angle and longitudinal gripping distance based on the received flower head diameter and thickness, and adjusts the servo motor drive parameters in real time to achieve closed-loop control of the gripper's actions.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, this utility model provides a gripper mechanism for sunflower harvesting, including a left gripper, a right gripper, a scissor assembly, and a lateral drive mechanism. The left gripper, the right gripper, and the lateral drive mechanism are slidably connected. The lateral drive mechanism is fixedly connected to an external connecting base via a connecting plate. The scissor assembly is installed at the bottom of the connecting plate. An industrial camera is installed at the top of the connecting plate. The industrial camera transmits identification parameters to an external industrial control computer via a serial port, thereby realizing closed-loop control of the movements of the left gripper and the right gripper.

[0007] Preferably, the transverse drive mechanism includes a first drive motor, a drive gear, a first rack, a second rack, and a fixed rod. The first drive motor is fixedly connected to the connecting plate, and the output shaft of the first drive motor is rotatably connected to the drive gear. The drive gear meshes with the first rack and the second rack. The fixed rod is fixedly installed on one side of the connecting plate, and two sliding plates are slidably arranged at both ends of the fixed rod. The two sliding plates are sequentially connected to the first rack and the second rack, so as to realize the sliding of the sliding plates on the fixed rod.

[0008] Preferably, the fixed rod is provided with a guide rail, and the inner side of the slide plate is provided with a slider, and the slide plate is slidably connected to the guide rail through the slider.

[0009] Preferably, the left gripper and the right gripper adopt a symmetrical structure. The left gripper and the right gripper have the same structure. The left gripper includes a fixed support claw, a gripper mounting frame, and a gripping plate. The fixed support claw and the gripper mounting frame are rotatably connected via a first rotating shaft. A second rotating shaft is provided on the gripper mounting frame. An electric cylinder is provided on the fixed support claw. The bottom of the electric cylinder is fixedly connected to the fixed support claw. The telescopic shaft of the electric cylinder is connected to the second rotating shaft.

[0010] Preferably, the clamping plate is installed on the inner side of the gripper mounting frame, and the two clamping plates are respectively connected to the gripper mounting frame through cylinders. The clamping plate is provided with a connecting block, and the connecting block is fixedly connected to the cylinder rod of the cylinder, so that the cylinder pushes the clamping plate to clamp and move up and down.

[0011] Preferably, the clamping plate is provided with a plurality of flexible clamping blocks. The clamping plate moves up and down according to the size and thickness of different flower discs to ensure that the clamping ends of the flexible clamping blocks clamp the flower discs. The flexible clamping blocks are made of one of the flexible cushioning materials, namely silicone and TPU elastomer.

[0012] Preferably, the scissor assembly is connected to the connecting plate via a U-shaped fixed beam. The scissor assembly includes a first scissor blade, a second scissor blade, an arc-shaped toothed plate, and a pinion. The pinion is driven by a second drive motor and meshes with the arc-shaped toothed plate. The first scissor blade and the second scissor blade are movably connected by a pin shaft. The second scissor blade is provided with a lever plate, one end of which is connected to the second scissor blade, and the other end of which is connected to the arc-shaped toothed plate.

[0013] Therefore, the gripper mechanism for sunflower harvesting with the above-described structure of this utility model has the following advantages compared with the prior art: (1) This utility model has a compact structure and flexible control, and is particularly suitable for irregular agricultural scenarios such as small and medium-sized fields, hilly areas, and intercropping areas. Compared with traditional large-scale harvesting equipment that relies on the whole machine platform, it has stronger deployment flexibility and path adaptability, and is suitable for complex terrain and small and medium-scale agricultural operations, effectively filling the gap in mechanized operations in non-standard planting plots.

[0014] (2) The present invention adopts a dual-degree-of-freedom design of horizontal opening and closing and vertical adjustment, which can be automatically adjusted according to the size and thickness of the target flower plate. The left and right gripping claws can slide and open and close by driving the gear and meshing with the rack through the drive motor, adapting to flower plates of different diameters. Moreover, each gripping claw has an independent vertical opening and closing capability, and the gripping depth of the gripping claws can be adjusted to adapt to different flower plate thicknesses, realizing the "enveloping" gripping method, improving gripping stability and adaptability.

[0015] (3) The flexible buffer material on the inner side of the gripper in this utility model has the ability to cover the shape and resist slippage, which can effectively deal with the problems of flower plate size difference, posture deviation or incomplete edge generated during natural growth, and significantly improve the clamping success rate and operation stability.

[0016] (4) In this invention, an industrial camera is used to capture images of the target flower head, and edge detection and ellipse fitting algorithms are used to extract size and shape parameters. The actual physical scale data is obtained through calibration and back projection calculation, and used as a control variable to drive the fixture to perform actions, thus realizing a true closed-loop linkage of "size recognition - action planning - execution control". Compared with the traditional structured harvesting method, this invention has significant improvements in dynamic adaptability and control accuracy. Attached Figure Description

[0017] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of an embodiment of the gripper mechanism for sunflower harvesting according to the present invention; Figure 2 This is a top view of an embodiment of the gripper mechanism for sunflower harvesting according to the present invention; Figure 3 This is a front view of an embodiment of a gripper mechanism for sunflower harvesting according to the present invention; Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the left and right gripping hand structures of an embodiment of a gripper mechanism for sunflower harvesting according to the present invention; Figure 5 for Figure 1 A magnified view of point A in the image.

[0018] Figure label: 1. Left gripper; 11. Fixed support gripper; 12. First rotating shaft; 13. Electric cylinder; 14. Second rotating shaft; 15. Gripper mounting bracket; 16. Gripper plate; 17. Connecting block; 18. Cylinder; 19. Flexible gripper block; 2. Right gripper; 3. Lateral drive mechanism; 31. First drive motor; 32. Rack one; 33. Rack two; 34. Slide plate; 35. Drive gear; 4. Connecting plate; 5. Industrial camera; 51. Serial port; 6. Fixed rod; 7. Guide rail; 8. Slider; 9. Scissor assembly; 91. Scissor blade one; 92. Scissor blade two; 93. Pin shaft; 94. Dial plate; 95. Arc-shaped toothed plate; 96. Pinion; 97. Second drive motor; 98. U-shaped fixed beam. Detailed Implementation

[0019] The technical solution of this utility model will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0020] Unless otherwise defined, the technical or scientific terms used in this utility model shall have the ordinary meaning understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this utility model pertains. The terms "first," "second," and similar terms used in this utility model do not indicate any order, quantity, or importance, but are merely used to distinguish different components. Terms such as "comprising" or "including" mean that the element or object preceding the word encompasses the elements or objects listed following the word and their equivalents, without excluding other elements or objects. Terms such as "connected" or "linked" are not limited to physical or mechanical connections, but can include electrical connections, whether direct or indirect. Terms such as "upper," "lower," "left," and "right" are used only to indicate relative positional relationships; when the absolute position of the described object changes, the relative positional relationship may also change accordingly.

[0021] Example Please see Figures 1-5 This utility model provides a gripper mechanism for sunflower harvesting, including a left gripper 1, a right gripper 2, a scissor assembly 9, and a transverse drive mechanism 3. The left gripper 1 and the right gripper 2 are slidably connected to the transverse drive mechanism 3. The transverse drive mechanism 3 is fixedly connected to an external connecting base through a connecting plate 4. The scissor assembly 9 is installed at the bottom end of the connecting plate 4.

[0022] Lateral adjustment of clamping freedom: The lateral drive mechanism 3 includes a first drive motor 31, a drive gear 35, rack one 32, rack two 33, and a fixed rod 6. The first drive motor 31 is fixedly connected to the connecting plate 4, and the output shaft of the first drive motor 31 is rotatably connected to the drive gear 35. The drive gear 35 meshes with rack one 32 and rack two 33. The fixed rod 6 is fixedly installed on one side of the connecting plate 4, and two sliding plates 34 are slidably arranged at both ends of the fixed rod 6. A guide rail 7 is provided on the fixed rod 6, and a slider 8 is provided on the inner side of the sliding plate 34. The sliding plate 34 is slidably connected to the guide rail 7 through the slider 8. At the same time, the two sliding plates 34 are connected to rack one 32 and rack two 33 in sequence, realizing the sliding of the sliding plate 34 on the fixed rod 6. Its lateral drive mechanism 3 realizes the lateral opening and closing movement of the left clamping gripper 1 and the right clamping gripper 2 by the rotation of the drive gear 35 and its meshing with rack one 32 and rack two 33, adapting to flower discs of different diameters. Meanwhile, the left gripper 1 and the right gripper 2 adopt a symmetrical structure. The left gripper 1 and the right gripper 2 have the same structure. The left gripper 1 includes a fixed support claw 11, a gripper mounting frame 15, and a gripping plate 16. The fixed support claw 11 and the gripper mounting frame 15 are rotatably connected via a first rotating shaft 12. A second rotating shaft 14 is provided on the gripper mounting frame 15. An electric cylinder 13 is provided on the fixed support claw 11. The bottom of the electric cylinder 13 is fixedly connected to the fixed support claw 11, and the extension shaft of the electric cylinder 13 is connected to the second rotating shaft 14. The electric cylinder 13 drives the gripper mounting frame 15 on the left and right grippers 2 to rotate along the first rotating shaft 12, thereby adjusting their opening and closing diameter.

[0023] Longitudinal adjustment degree of freedom: In the structure of left gripper 1 and right gripper 2, gripping plates 16 are installed on the inner side of gripper mounting frame 15, and the two gripping plates 16 are respectively connected to gripper mounting frame 15 through cylinders 18. A connecting block 17 is provided on the gripping plate 16, and the connecting block 17 is fixedly connected to the cylinder rod of cylinder 18. Cylinder 18 is fixedly installed on the outer side of gripper mounting frame 15, so that cylinder 18 pushes the gripping plate 16 to move up and down for clamping. At the same time, several flexible clamping blocks 19 are provided on the gripping plate 16. The gripping plate 16 moves up and down according to the thickness of different flower discs to ensure that the clamping end of the flexible clamping block 19 clamps the flower disc. The material of the flexible clamping block 19 is one of the flexible cushioning materials in silicone and TPU elastomer, so that the flexible clamping block 19 structure can provide sufficient compressive elasticity during clamping, achieve effective buffer force distribution and anti-slip ability, and reduce the risk of biological target damage. With the flexible structure on the clamping plate 16, the system can be expanded with a force sensing unit for clamping force detection and feedback control, further improving the stability and safety of the clamping action. Each clamping plate 16 has independent longitudinal opening and closing capabilities, and the clamping depth can be adjusted to adapt to different disc thicknesses, realizing a "wrap-around" clamping method, improving gripping stability and adaptability.

[0024] Furthermore, the scissor assembly 9 is connected to the connecting plate 4 via a U-shaped fixed beam 98. The scissor assembly 9 includes a first scissor blade 91, a second scissor blade 92, an arc-shaped toothed plate 95, and a pinion 96. The pinion 96 is driven by a second drive motor 97 and meshes with the arc-shaped toothed plate 95. The first scissor blade 91 and the second scissor blade 92 are movably connected by a pin shaft 93. A lever 94 is provided on the second scissor blade 92. One end of the lever 94 is connected to the second scissor blade 92, and the other end is connected to the arc-shaped toothed plate 95. The second drive motor 97 at the bottom of the U-shaped fixed beam 98 drives the pinion 96 to rotate. Through the transmission of the arc-shaped toothed plate 95, the second scissor blade 92 rotates relative to the first scissor blade 91, thereby opening and closing the scissor blade 91 relative to the second scissor blade 92, which can then cut the stems clamped at the bottom of the flower plate.

[0025] Furthermore, an industrial camera 5 is installed on the top of the connecting plate 4. The industrial camera 5 transmits the identification parameters to an external industrial control computer via a serial port 51. Its control logic adopts a closed-loop structure of "perception-decision-execution". After the industrial camera 5 completes parameter extraction, it transmits the results to the industrial control computer. The controller calculates the target opening angle and longitudinal clamping distance based on the received diameter and thickness of the flower disc, and adjusts the servo motor drive parameters in real time to realize closed-loop control of the gripper mechanism.

[0026] Therefore, this utility model adopts a symmetrical two-degree-of-freedom structure design. The left and right grippers can slide and open / close by driving a gear and meshing with a rack through a drive motor, adapting to flower discs of different diameters. Each gripper has an independent longitudinal opening and closing capability, and the gripping depth of the grippers can be adjusted to adapt to different flower disc thicknesses, realizing a "wrap-around" gripping method, improving gripping stability and adaptability. At the same time, after the parameters are extracted by an industrial camera, the results are transmitted to an industrial control computer. The controller calculates the target opening / closing angle and longitudinal gripping distance based on the received flower disc diameter and thickness, and adjusts the servo motor drive parameters in real time to realize closed-loop control of the gripper action.

[0027] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solution of this utility model and not to limit it. Although the utility model has been described in detail with reference to preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications or equivalent substitutions can still be made to the technical solution of this utility model, and these modifications or equivalent substitutions cannot cause the modified technical solution to deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solution of this utility model.

Claims

1. A gripper mechanism for harvesting sunflowers, characterized in that: The device includes a left gripper, a right gripper, a scissor assembly, and a lateral drive mechanism. The left and right grippers are slidably connected to the lateral drive mechanism, which is fixedly connected to an external connecting base via a connecting plate. The scissor assembly is mounted on the bottom of the connecting plate, and an industrial camera is mounted on the top of the connecting plate. The industrial camera transmits identification parameters to an external industrial control computer via a serial port, thereby achieving closed-loop control of the movements of the left and right grippers.

2. The gripper mechanism for sunflower harvesting according to claim 1, characterized in that: The transverse drive mechanism includes a first drive motor, a drive gear, rack one, rack two, and a fixed rod. The first drive motor is fixedly connected to the connecting plate, and the output shaft of the first drive motor is rotatably connected to the drive gear. The drive gear meshes with rack one and rack two. The fixed rod is fixedly installed on one side of the connecting plate, and two sliding plates are slidably arranged at both ends of the fixed rod. The two sliding plates are sequentially connected to rack one and rack two, realizing the sliding of the sliding plates on the fixed rod.

3. The gripper mechanism for sunflower harvesting according to claim 2, characterized in that: The fixed rod is provided with a guide rail, and the inner side of the slide plate is provided with a slider. The slide plate is slidably connected to the guide rail through the slider.

4. The mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein: The left and right gripping claws adopt a symmetrical structure. The left gripping claw has the same structure as the right gripping claw. The left gripping claw includes a fixed support claw, a gripper mounting frame, and a gripping plate. The fixed support claw is rotatably connected to the gripper mounting frame via a first rotating shaft. A second rotating shaft is provided on the gripper mounting frame. An electric cylinder is provided on the fixed support claw. The bottom of the electric cylinder is fixedly connected to the fixed support claw. The telescopic shaft of the electric cylinder is connected to the second rotating shaft.

5. A gripper mechanism for sunflower harvesting according to claim 4, characterized in that: The clamping plate is installed on the inner side of the gripper mounting frame, and the two clamping plates are respectively connected to the gripper mounting frame through cylinders. A connecting block is provided on the clamping plate, and the connecting block is fixedly connected to the cylinder rod of the cylinder, so that the cylinder pushes the clamping plate to move up and down.

6. The mechanism as claimed in claim 4, wherein: The clamping plate is provided with a number of flexible clamping blocks. The clamping plate moves up and down according to the size and thickness of different flower discs to ensure that the clamping ends of the flexible clamping blocks clamp the flower discs. The flexible clamping blocks are made of one of the flexible cushioning materials, namely silicone and TPU elastomer.

7. The mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein: The scissor assembly is connected to the connecting plate via a U-shaped fixed beam. The scissor assembly includes a first scissor blade, a second scissor blade, an arc-shaped toothed plate, and a pinion. The pinion is driven by a second drive motor and meshes with the arc-shaped toothed plate. The first scissor blade and the second scissor blade are movably connected by a pin shaft. The second scissor blade is provided with a lever plate, one end of which is connected to the second scissor blade, and the other end of which is connected to the arc-shaped toothed plate.

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