Harvesting Equipment

Abstract

To provide a harvesting device which can more reliably harvest objects growing in bunches.SOLUTION: A harvesting device is provided, comprising: an upper harvesting ring having a ring portion allowing an object to be inserted; a lower harvesting ring having a ring portion allowing the object to be inserted and disposed below the upper harvesting ring; a first driving mechanism moving at least one of the upper harvesting ring and the lower harvesting ring; and a control unit. The control unit decides which of a first harvesting operation and a second harvesting operation is performed, and controls the first driving mechanism on the basis of the decided harvesting operation.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] SUMMARY The present disclosure relates to harvesting devices for harvesting objects such as fruit. [Background technology]

[0002] There is a demand for automation of harvesting of agricultural crops. Conventionally, as an automatic harvesting device, for example, a harvesting device described in Patent Document 1 is known. The harvesting device disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes an upper harvesting ring having a ring part through which an object passes, a lower harvesting ring having a ring part through which the object passes and disposed below the upper harvesting ring, and a drive mechanism that changes the relative position of the upper harvesting ring and the lower harvesting ring with a part of the object passed through, and the drive mechanism is configured to move the upper harvesting ring in a direction away from the ripened plant of the object or move the lower harvesting ring in a direction toward the plant, and the object can be harvested by plucking and separating it. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2017-051103 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, with the harvesting device disclosed in Patent Document 1, depending on the angle of the fruit stalk (hereinafter referred to as the peduncle), it is not possible to harvest the fruit by the harvesting method of picking and separating them, and it is not possible to harvest all of the fruit growing in the bunch.

[0005] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a harvesting device that can more reliably harvest objects growing in bunches. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, the harvesting device of the present disclosure includes an upper harvesting ring having a ring portion through which an object is inserted, a lower harvesting ring having a ring portion through which the object is inserted and disposed below the upper harvesting ring, A cutting blade; and a control unit, the control unit determining whether to perform a first harvesting operation or a second harvesting operation. The first harvesting operation includes a cutting operation by the cutting blade, and the second harvesting operation includes a plucking operation by the upper harvesting ring and the lower harvesting ring. . Effect of the Invention

[0007] The harvesting device of the present disclosure allows for the harvesting of all objects growing on bunches. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a harvesting device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the upper harvesting ring. [Diagram 3] A perspective view showing the appearance of the lower harvesting ring. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the operating part of the upper harvesting ring; [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the operating part of the lower harvesting ring; [Figure 6] FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a cutting operation unit; [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a ring up-down movement unit; [Figure 8] A diagram showing a bunch of fruit that is the subject of harvesting [Figure 9] A flow chart showing the operating procedure of a harvesting device for more reliably separating fruit at the abscission layer. [Figure 10] An explanatory diagram of the operation of the harvesting device until the fruit is inserted into the upper and lower harvesting rings. [Figure 11] An explanatory diagram of the operation of the harvesting device until the fruit is inserted into the upper and lower harvesting rings. [Figure 12] An explanatory diagram of the operation of the harvesting device until the fruit is inserted into the upper and lower harvesting rings. [Figure 13] An explanatory diagram of the operation of the harvesting device until the fruit is inserted into the upper and lower harvesting rings. [Figure 14] An explanatory diagram of the operation of the harvesting device until the fruit is inserted into the upper and lower harvesting rings. [Figure 15] An explanatory diagram of the operation of the harvesting device until the fruit is inserted into the upper and lower harvesting rings. [Figure 16] An explanatory diagram of the operation of the harvesting device when harvesting by plucking [Figure 17] An explanatory diagram of the operation of the harvesting device when harvesting by plucking [Figure 18] An explanatory diagram of the operation of the harvesting device when harvesting by cutting. [Figure 19] An explanatory diagram of the operation of the harvesting device when harvesting by cutting. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0010] In the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, depending on the angle of the pedicel, the fruit cannot be harvested by the harvesting method of picking and separating it. In particular, fruits with a large angle of the pedicel are often unable to be harvested because the pulling, twisting, bending, and other forces exerted by the harvesting device are not easily applied to the abscission layer. Here, we will explain a harvesting device that can solve these problems.

[0011] Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a harvesting device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In Fig. 1, the harvesting device 100 has a harvesting mechanism (upper harvesting ring 8, lower harvesting ring 9, etc.) for separating the fruit at the abscission layer rather than at the calyx, a mechanism for cutting the small stalks that have been moved to and restrained at a cutting position 63 (see Fig. 6), and a control unit (not shown). The control unit controls various operations of the harvesting device 100.

[0012] In the following description, the up-down direction is the direction parallel to gravity, the down direction is the direction in which the Earth's gravity pulls the fruit, and the up direction is the opposite direction to the down direction. Additionally, the front-rear direction is the direction in which the fruit approaches or moves away from the harvester 100, with the front direction being the direction in which the harvester 100 approaches the fruit and the rear direction being the direction in which the harvester 100 moves away from the fruit.

[0013] The harvesting target of the harvesting device 100 is fruit or the like that grows on a branch. More specifically, it is a fruit that has a stalk and an abscission layer. Examples of such fruits include tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc.

[0014] The upper harvesting ring 8 (see Fig. 2) and the lower harvesting ring 9 (see Fig. 3) arranged vertically below it are mechanisms for inserting objects through them to harvest the desired fruits. Both the upper harvesting ring 8 and the lower harvesting ring 9 are members having a U-shaped curve at the end, and similar parts may be used.

[0015] Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing an operating part of the upper harvesting ring 8 of the harvesting device 100 of Fig. 1. The rotating shaft of the motor 11 is connected to the upper harvesting ring 8 via spur gears 14, 15, a worm gear 16, and an arm 13. Here, when the motor 11 rotates, the arm 13 drives the upper harvesting ring 8 to move along the guide groove 12. In other words, the motor 11 moves the upper harvesting ring 8 back and forth. The operating part of the upper harvesting ring 8 is an example of a first drive mechanism of the present disclosure.

[0016] Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing an operating part of the lower harvesting ring 9 of the harvesting device 100 of Fig. 1. The rotating shaft of the motor 17 is connected to the lower harvesting ring 9 via spur gears 20, 21, a worm gear 22, and an arm 19. Here, when the motor 17 rotates, the arm 19 drives the lower harvesting ring 9 to move along the guide groove 18. In other words, the motor 17 moves the lower harvesting ring 9 back and forth. The operating part of the lower harvesting ring 9 is an example of a first drive mechanism of the present disclosure.

[0017] FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the cutting operation unit of the harvesting device 100 of FIG. 1. The rotating shaft of the motor 23 is connected to the cutting blade 31 via the spur gears 24, 25, the worm gear 26, the spur gears 27, 28, 29, and the parallel link 30. Here, when the motor 23 rotates, the parallel link 30 rotates around the rotating shaft of the spur gear 29, and the cutting blade 31 located between the cutting blade guides 32, 33 draws an arc and operates at the cutting position 63, which is a recess provided in the cutting blade guides 32, 33. The cutting blade guides 32, 33 are members shaped to have a recess (cutting position 63) along the movement direction of the forward and backward movement of the upper harvesting ring 8 and the lower harvesting ring 9. The cutting operation unit is an example of the second drive mechanism of the present disclosure.

[0018] 7 is a perspective view showing the ring up-down operation part of the harvesting device 100 in FIG. 1. The rotating shaft of the motor 34 is connected to the linear rack 40 via spur gears 35, 36, 37, a worm gear 38, and a spur gear 39. The linear rack 40 is connected to a slide base 41 and a rotating base 42, and when the motor 34 rotates, it slides back and forth along a linear guide 44. The rear side of the harvesting part base 43 is connected to the rotating base 42 via a rotating shaft 47, and cam followers 46 are arranged on both the left and right sides of the front side, and the cam followers 46 are located inside the cam grooves of the cam plate 45. When the slide base 41 moves forward, the rear side (rotation shaft side) of the harvesting unit base 43 moves parallel to the straight line guide 44, and the front side (cam follower side) of the harvesting unit base 43 has cam follower 46 operating along the cam groove of cam plate 45, causing the harvesting unit (upper harvesting ring operating part, lower harvesting ring operating part, cutting part) arranged on top of the harvesting unit base 43 (not shown) to move up and down, thereby realizing up and down movement of the tips of the upper harvesting ring 8 and the lower harvesting ring 9.

[0019] A bunch of fruit to be harvested is shown in Fig. 8. Tomatoes are used as an example of the fruit.

[0020] A bunch 500 branches off from a main stem 60, which is an example of a branch, and bears multiple fruits around a peduncle 53. The fruit 50 has a calyx 51, which is connected to the peduncle 53 via a peduncle 52. The peduncle 52 includes a first peduncle 61 and a second peduncle 62. The peduncle 52 is bent as it connects from the peduncle 53 to the first peduncle 61, and is connected to the calyx 51 from the second peduncle 62. The peduncle 52 is characterized by being easily separated at the bent connection point between the first peduncle 61 and the second peduncle 62. The upper part of the peduncle 53 is further connected to the main stem 60. The bunch 500 hangs down from the main stem 60 due to its own weight, etc.

[0021] The abscission layer 54 is a special cell layer formed between the branch and the fruit axis, located midway along the peduncle 52, and is a portion that can be separated relatively easily by pulling force, etc. In addition to the abscission layer 54, there is also the boundary between the calyx 51 and the fruit 50 between the fruit 50 and the peduncle 53, which is also an easy-to-separate portion. Therefore, when the fruit 50 is simply pulled, it may separate at the abscission layer 54 or at the calyx 51.

[0022] Next, the operation of the harvesting device 100 for more reliably separating the fruits 50 at the desquamation layer 54 will be described with reference to Figs. 9 to 19. Fig. 9 is a flow chart showing the operation procedure of the harvesting device for more reliably separating the fruits at the desquamation layer. Figs. 10 to 15 are explanatory diagrams of the operation of the harvesting device 100 when inserting fruits into the upper and lower harvesting rings 8, 9. Figs. 16 and 17 are explanatory diagrams of the operation of the harvesting device 100 when harvesting by plucking operation. Figs. 18 and 19 are explanatory diagrams of the operation of the harvesting device 100 when harvesting by cutting operation. The desired fruits are the fruits 50.

[0023] In step S1 of FIG. 9, the harvesting device 100 is moved closer to the fruit 50 to be harvested. Specifically, when the fruit 50 is located above the bunch 500, the harvesting device 100 is positioned so that the harvesting mechanism (i.e., the upper harvesting ring 8 and the lower harvesting ring 9) of the harvesting device 100 with its upper part above the harvesting section base 43 parallel to the horizontal plane or inclined forward is located near the center of the fruit 50 in the height direction from the lower end as shown in FIG. 10. Also, as shown in FIG. 11, the position of the harvesting device 100 is adjusted so that when the tip of the harvesting mechanism reaches the lowest point of the up-down movement, the tip is between the fruit 50 and the fruit 56 below it. Also, when the fruit 50 is located below the bunch 500, the harvesting device 100 is positioned so that the harvesting mechanism (i.e., the upper harvesting ring 8 and the lower harvesting ring 9) of the harvesting device 100 with its upper part above the harvesting section base 43 parallel to the horizontal plane or inclined forward is located near the center of the fruit 57 in the height direction from the lower end as shown in FIG. 12. 13, the position of the harvesting device 100 is adjusted so that when the tip of the harvesting mechanism reaches the lowest point of its up-down movement, the tip is located about 20 mm below the bottom end of the fruit 57. In this way, by changing the approach of the harvesting device 100 depending on the position of the fruit to be harvested, the fruit can be more reliably inserted inside the ring in step S2.

[0024] Next, in step S2, fruits are inserted inside the upper harvesting ring 8 and the lower harvesting ring 9.

[0025] Specifically, the harvesting device 100 rotates the motor 34 in the reverse direction from the state shown in Fig. 11, and tilts the part above the harvesting section base 43 backward as shown in Fig. 14, so that the harvesting mechanism reaches the peduncle 52 of the fruit 50. Even if the fruit is located below the bunch, the harvesting mechanism reaches the peduncle 58 of the fruit 57 by tilting the part above the harvesting section base 43 backward as shown in Fig. 15.

[0026] Next, in step S3, the control unit determines whether the angle of the peduncle is equal to or less than a threshold value. The angle of the peduncle is the angle between the first peduncle 61 and the second peduncle 62 in FIG. 8. If the angle of the peduncle is equal to or less than the threshold value, the control unit harvests the fruit by plucking, and if the angle is equal to or more than the threshold value, the control unit harvests the fruit by cutting. That is, the harvesting device 100 of the present disclosure can switch between two types of harvesting operations, a plucking operation and a cutting operation, in order to harvest. It is desirable that the threshold value for the angle of the peduncle is, for example, about 60° to 150°. The harvesting operation including the plucking operation is an example of the second harvesting operation of the present disclosure, and the harvesting operation including the cutting operation is an example of the first harvesting operation of the present disclosure.

[0027] It is preferable to detect the angle of the pedicel by image recognition, etc. Generally, the angle of the pedicel is larger in fruits located lower in the bunch. Therefore, regardless of the angle of the pedicel, it may be determined that the cutting operation is performed on the second or third fruits from the bottom, and the picking operation is performed on fruits above them.

[0028] The determination in step S3 may be performed prior to step S1. In other words, whether the fruit is harvested by plucking or cutting may be determined before the operation of the harvesting apparatus 100. Even in this case, the operations of the harvesting apparatus 100 performed in steps S1 and S2 are the same as those performed in both plucking and cutting.

[0029] If the result of the determination in step S3 is that harvesting by plucking operation is to be performed, the harvesting device 100 carries out the process in step S4.

[0030] In step S4, when the harvesting device 100 drives the motor 11 (see FIG. 4), the upper harvesting ring 8 is pulled along the guide groove 12 (see FIG. 4) by the arm 13 (see FIG. 4) as shown in FIG. 16. As a result, the upper harvesting ring 8 pulls the fruit 50 including the calyx 51 in a direction (backward) away from the peduncle 53. As the fruit 50 is pulled, the peduncle 53 is also pulled via the small peduncle 52, but the peduncle 53 comes into contact with the lower harvesting ring 9, and a force pushing the peduncle 53 is generated in the lower harvesting ring 9 as a reaction to the pulling force of the upper harvesting ring 8. At that time, since the upper harvesting ring 8 is in contact with the calyx 51 of the fruit 50, a pulling force acts between the calyx 51 and the peduncle 53 to pull them apart, and the small peduncle 52 is separated at the abscission layer 54 as shown in FIG. 16 and FIG. 17. At this time, since no pulling force acts between the fruit 50 and the calyx 51 to separate them, the calyx 51 does not separate from the fruit 50. In addition, since the harvesting device 100 can be prevented from directly touching the fruit 50 during the harvesting process, damage to the fruit 50 can be prevented.

[0031] In addition, by arranging the upper harvesting ring 8 and the lower harvesting ring 9 in an overlapping manner, the rotational moment acting on the fruit 50 relative to the stalk 53 in the separation process of step S4 can be reduced, and separation of the fruit 50 due to rotation from the lower harvesting ring 9 can be prevented. In addition, a pulling force can be efficiently applied to the abscission layer 54, and separation is almost never occurring in any place other than the abscission layer 54.

[0032] Furthermore, if the gap between the upper harvesting ring 8 and the lower harvesting ring 9 is small, there is a possibility that the petals of other fruits may become caught, so the gap is set to, for example, between about 0.3 mm and 5 mm.

[0033] Thereafter, the harvested fruits 50 with their calyx 51 fall and enter the collection box 10 of Fig. 1. When the harvesting device 100 is used as a harvesting system, it is desirable to arrange a container or the like for collecting the harvested fruits 50, such as the collection box 10.

[0034] In this embodiment, the lower harvesting ring 9 is fixed and the upper harvesting ring 8 is moved. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this. That is, the upper harvesting ring 8 and the lower harvesting ring 9 may be moved relative to each other. For example, the upper harvesting ring 8 may be fixed and the lower harvesting ring 9 may be moved, or both the upper harvesting ring 8 and the lower harvesting ring 9 may be moved. With this configuration, as shown in FIG. 16, even if another fruit 56 comes into contact with the collection box 10, the upper harvesting ring 8 and the lower harvesting ring 9 can be protruded to the right (toward the branch) of the paper in FIG. 16. As a result, the upper harvesting ring 8 and the lower harvesting ring 9 can be easily inserted into the fruit 50, and the collection box 10 can be passed through the fruit 50 by pulling the upper harvesting ring 8 relatively to the left (away from the branch) of the paper in FIG. 16 with respect to the lower harvesting ring 9.

[0035] Furthermore, due to this configuration of the upper harvesting ring 8 and the lower harvesting ring 9, a pulling force is more reliably applied to the abscission layer 54, making it less likely that the commercial value will be reduced due to factors such as the detachment of the calyx 51 or damage.

[0036] Furthermore, in the harvesting device 100 according to the present embodiment, the motor 34 and the like are provided to set the posture and position with respect to the fruit, but an appropriate manipulator arm may also realize these functions.

[0037] In the above embodiment, an example is shown in which the target object, which is fruit 50, is on a branch, but the target object may be fruit on a plant. In this case, the drive mechanism may move the lower harvesting ring 9 toward the target plant on which the fruit is growing, or the upper harvesting ring 8 away from the target plant on which the fruit is growing.

[0038] Furthermore, if the result of the determination in step S3 is that harvesting is to be performed by cutting operation, the harvesting device 100 carries out the processes of steps S5 and S6.

[0039] In step S5, when the harvesting device 100 drives the motor 11 (see FIG. 4) and the motor 17 (see FIG. 5), the upper harvesting ring 8 is drawn along the guide groove 12 (see FIG. 4) by the arm 13 (see FIG. 4), and the lower harvesting ring 9 is drawn along the guide groove 18 (see FIG. 5) by the arm 19 (see FIG. 5), as shown in FIG. 18 and FIG. 19. As a result, the small peduncle 58 is drawn toward the cutting blade 31 by the upper harvesting ring 8 and the lower harvesting ring 9, and moves to the cutting position 63.

[0040] In step S6, when the harvesting device 100 drives the motor 23 (see FIG. 6), the cutting blade 31 operates to cut the small peduncle 58 that has been pulled into the cutting position 63.

[0041] Thereafter, the harvested fruits 57 with their calyx 59 fall and enter the collection box 10 in Fig. 1. When the harvesting device 100 is used as a harvesting system, it is desirable to arrange a container or the like for collecting the harvested fruits 57, such as the collection box 10. [Industrial Applicability]

[0042] The harvesting device of the present disclosure can be applied to harvest various fruits and the like. [Explanation of symbols]

[0043] 8 Upper Harvesting Ring 9 Lower Harvesting Ring 10 Collection Box 11 Motor 12 Guide groove 13 Arm 14 Spur Gear 15 Spur Gear 16 Worm Gear 17 Motor 18 Guide groove 19 Arm 20 Spur Gear 21 Spur Gear 22 Worm Gear 23 Motor 24 Spur Gear 25 Spur Gear 26 worm gear 27 spur gear 28 spur gear 29 spur gear 30 parallel link 31 cutting blade 32 cutting blade guide 33 cutting blade guide 34 motor 35 spur gear 36 spur gear 37 spur gear 38 worm gear 39 spur gear 40 straight rack 41 slide base 42 rotating base 43 harvesting unit base 44 linear guide 45 cam plate 46 cam follower 47 rotating shaft 50 fruit 51 stalk 52 pedicel 53 fruit stalk 54 abscission layer 56 fruit 57 fruit 58 pedicel 59 stalk 60 main stem 61 first pedicel 62 second pedicel 63 cutting position

Claims

1. an upper harvesting ring having a ring portion through which an object is inserted; a lower harvesting ring having a ring portion through which the object is inserted and disposed below the upper harvesting ring; A cutting blade; A control unit, The control unit determines whether to perform a first harvesting operation or a second harvesting operation, The first harvesting operation includes a cutting operation by the cutting blade, and the second harvesting operation includes a plucking operation by the upper harvesting ring and the lower harvesting ring. Harvesting equipment.

2. A first drive mechanism for moving at least one of the upper harvesting ring and the lower harvesting ring, The control unit controls the first drive mechanism based on the determined harvesting operation.

2. Harvesting device according to claim 1.

3. When the control unit determines to perform the first harvesting operation, the control unit controls the first drive mechanism to move the upper harvesting ring and the lower harvesting ring in a direction away from the fruited plant of the target with a portion of the target being inserted therethrough.

3. Harvesting device according to claim 2.

4. Further comprising a second drive mechanism for driving the cutting blade, When the control unit determines to perform the first harvesting operation, the control unit controls the second driving mechanism to move the upper harvesting ring and the lower harvesting ring in a direction away from the target plant with fruit, and then drives the cutting blade. Harvesting device according to claim 3.

5. The cutting blade is disposed inside the upper harvesting ring and the lower harvesting ring when viewed from above the harvesting device. Harvesting device according to claim 4.

6. The cutting blade is arranged in a direction away from the target plant in the movement direction by the first drive mechanism. Harvesting device according to claim 5.

7. When the control unit determines to perform the second harvesting operation, the control unit controls the first drive mechanism to change a relative position between the upper harvesting ring and the lower harvesting ring while a portion of the object is inserted therethrough. Harvesting device according to any one of claims 2 to 6.

8. The control unit determines whether to perform the first harvesting operation or the second harvesting operation based on an angle or a position of the object. Harvesting device according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. The object is connected to a peduncle via a peduncle, The pedicel includes a first pedicel and a second pedicel, the first pedicel and the second pedicel form an angle; The control unit is configured to determine whether the angle is equal to or less than a threshold value; The control unit is configured to harvest the object by the second harvesting operation when the angle is equal to or less than the threshold, and to harvest the object by the first harvesting operation when the angle is not equal to or less than the threshold.

2. Harvesting device according to claim 1.

10. The threshold value is between 60° and 150°. Harvesting device according to claim 9.

Images