Harvesting device

Abstract

To provide a harvesting device that automates harvesting work.SOLUTION: A harvesting device harvests crops grown in a cultivation panel, and comprises: a cutting part for cutting the crops from a nursery bed in the cultivation panel; a holding / conveying part for holding and conveying the crops; a hand chuck part for performing opening / closing operation of the cutting part and the holding / conveying part; and a robot connected to the hand chuck part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a harvesting device.

Background Art

[0002] In hydroponic cultivation, in a seedbed where seeds are sown and germinated seedlings are planted, the seedlings are planted for each unit seedbed divided vertically and horizontally. As the seedlings grow and become larger, in order to ensure the seedling spacing, the seedlings are transplanted to a hydroponic panel by a transplanting device. Patent Document 1 discloses, as a seedling transplanting device, "a gripping means for gripping an individual seedbed and a moving mechanism for moving the gripping means from the seedbed to the hydroponic panel, wherein the gripping means has gripping claws for gripping the individual seedbed from both sides, and the gripping claws have a plurality of groove portions or convex portions extending in the vertical direction on the inner surface for gripping the individual seedbed".

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] At present, harvesting work such as harvesting vegetables in a plant factory is carried out manually. However, with the large-scale expansion of plant factories, the daily harvest volume is increasing. Patent Document 1 discloses a seedling transplanting device that can transplant seedlings well, but does not consider the automation of harvesting work such as harvesting vegetables.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a harvesting device that automates the harvesting work.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] As an example of the present invention, a harvesting device for harvesting a harvested product grown in a cultivation panel, From the seedbed in the cultivation panel, a cut part for cutting the harvested product, and a holding and conveying part for holding and conveying the harvested product, and a hand chuck part for opening and closing the cut part and the holding and conveying part, and a harvesting device having a robot connected to the hand chuck part.

Advantages of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, a harvesting device for automating the harvesting operation can be realized.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In each drawing for explaining the embodiments, the same components are denoted by the same names and reference numerals, and the repeated description thereof is omitted.

Examples

[0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of the harvesting device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The harvesting device of this embodiment includes a harvesting scissors 4 as a cutting part for cutting the harvested product, a holding and conveying arm 5 for holding and conveying the harvested product, a hand chuck 2 for performing the opening and closing operations of the harvesting scissors 4 and the holding and conveying arm 5, a scissors mounting bracket 3 as a support member disposed between the harvesting scissors 4 and the hand chuck 2 for supporting the harvesting scissors 4, and a multi-axis robot 1 connected to the tip of the hand chuck 2.

[0011] The opening and closing operation performed by the hand chuck 2 can utilize electric or air driving force.

[0012] The vegetables to be harvested are mainly leafy vegetables. However, since the specifications of the cultivation panel and the harvested vegetables vary depending on the variety, a harvesting device equipped with a multi-axis robot 1 that is easy to handle is used. Since it is necessary to move to the position of the harvested product, or avoid the harvested product, or perform a turning operation, an example of a 6-axis robot is shown in FIG. 1, but a multi-axis robot having two or more axes may be used.

[0013] The hand chuck 2 has two rectangular parallelepipeds, and each rectangular parallelepiped moves in the opening and closing direction to open and close the harvesting scissors 4 and the holding and conveying arm 5.

[0014] The harvesting scissors 4, the holding and conveying arm 5, and the scissors mounting bracket 3 have a structure that interlocks with the movement of the hand chuck 2 and open and close in accordance with the movement of the hand chuck 2. The harvesting scissors 4 are supported by the scissors mounting bracket 3. The harvesting scissors 4 are not completely fixed to the scissors mounting bracket 3, but the fixing to the scissors mounting bracket 3 is loosened so that there is a little play. By adopting such a structure, when the blade of the harvesting scissors 4 is inserted into the vegetable, the harvesting scissors 4 follow the vegetable. Therefore, it becomes easier to cut the vegetable.

[0015] Figure 2 is a plan view showing the state of the harvesting device harvesting vegetables grown on the cultivation panel as seen from above. In the harvesting device having the multi-axis robot 1 of the present embodiment, when the multi-axis robot 1 moves within a plane in the front-back, left-right directions and reaches the position for harvesting the vegetables on the cultivation panel 6, it is shown. Although illustration is omitted, the multi-axis robot 1 may be mounted on the conveying unit, and the conveying unit moves within a plane so that the harvesting device including the multi-axis robot 1 can move to the position for harvesting vegetables.

[0016] A television camera is mounted on the multi-axis robot 1 to image the cultivation panel 6, and the control unit of the multi-axis robot 1 can perform positioning control between the harvesting device and the cultivation panel 6. The television camera may be arranged on the cultivation panel 6 side other than the multi-axis robot 1.

[0017] The cultivation panel 6 is formed in a flat plate shape with a foamed resin such as a urethane sheet, and holes are provided in the central portions of the vertical and horizontal divisions respectively. A plurality of holes are arranged in the cultivation panel 6. Individual seedling beds 8 are inserted into the respective holes for hydroponic cultivation.

[0018] Figure 3 is a side view showing the state of the harvesting device harvesting vegetables grown on the cultivation panel as seen from the side of the harvesting device. The harvesting scissors 4 moved to the harvesting position by the multi-axis robot 1 are closed by the chuck operation of the hand chuck 2. Then, the vegetables are cut by the blades of the harvesting scissors 4, and the seedling bed and the vegetables are separated.

[0019] In FIGS. 2 and 3, the case where the multi-axis robot 1 moves the harvesting device to the vicinity of the cultivation panel 6 is shown. However, it is not limited thereto. For example, the cultivation panel 6 may be mounted on a conveying unit such as a conveyor (illustration omitted), and the conveying unit may be configured to move the cultivation panel 6 to the vicinity of the harvesting device.

[0020] Figure 4 is a perspective view of the tip of the harvesting device when harvesting vegetables 7 which are the harvested product. Seeds are sown on a seedbed 8 formed in a flat plate shape with a foamed resin such as a urethane sheet, and are transplanted to the cultivation panel 6 in order to secure a large seedling spacing in accordance with the growth of the seedlings. Figure 4 shows the state where the harvesting device of this embodiment harvests the vegetables on the seedbed 8 approaching the harvesting time. It has a structure in which the harvesting scissors 4 can be removed from the scissor mounting bracket 3. Therefore, the size of the harvesting scissors 4 can be exchanged according to the type of the harvested product, and the harvesting work can be made more efficient.

[0021] Figure 5 is a diagram for explaining the movement of the holding and conveying arm 5. In Figure 5, the harvesting scissors 4 arranged inside the holding and conveying arm 5 are omitted. The vegetables cut by the harvesting scissors 4 need to be transferred to a harvesting box or the like. Since the harvesting scissors 4 alone cannot hold the vegetables, a holding and conveying arm 5 for holding and conveying the harvested product is required.

[0022] By the chuck operation of the hand chuck 2, the holding and conveying arm 5 moves in the opening and closing direction 9. When the harvesting scissors 4 move in the closing direction, it closes in the same direction and holds the vegetables. When the harvesting scissors 4 move in the opening direction, the holding and conveying arm 5 opens in the same direction as the harvesting scissors 4, stops holding the vegetables, and releases them.

[0023] The movement of the holding and conveying arm 5 and the multi-axis robot 1 after cutting the vegetables is as follows in (1) to (4). The control unit of the harvesting device controls the movement of the holding and conveying arm 5 and the multi-axis robot 1 in the procedures of (1) to (4). (1) In order to collect the vegetables cut by the harvesting scissors 4, the holding and conveying arm 5 closes and holds the cut vegetables. (2) The vegetables held by the holding and conveying arm 5 are moved by the movement of the multi-axis robot 1 to a conveying device (not shown) such as a conveying conveyor. (3) After moving to the conveying device, the holding and conveying arm 5 is opened, and the vegetables are put into the conveying device. (4) After the input to the transfer device is completed, the multi-axis robot 1 moves to the cutting position of the next vegetable to be harvested on the cultivation panel.

[0024] Thereafter, the movements from (1) to (4) are repeated.

[0025] At the moment of cutting, the vegetable may escape and fall in the direction of the tip of the harvesting scissors 4. Therefore, the holding and transfer arm 5 serves to prevent the vegetable from escaping and falling. Also, the holding and transfer arm 5 serves to avoid the extra leaves at the cutting part.

[0026] The opening and closing timing of the holding and transfer arm 5 is almost the same as that of the harvesting scissors 4. Specifically, the holding and transfer arm 5 has two holding members at positions separated from each other in the opening and closing direction 9. The tip of each holding member has an inclined portion in the direction approaching the harvested product. Therefore, when holding the harvested product, the holding and transfer arm 5 holds the vegetable immediately before the harvesting scissors 4 cuts the vegetable. The length, opening and closing timing, and opening width of the holding and transfer arm 5 can be changed according to the vegetable variety to achieve stable operation.

[0027] The holding and transfer arm 5 is structured to be removable from the scissor mounting fitting 3, and can be exchanged to change the length (size) according to the variety to be harvested. By doing so, the work of holding or releasing the harvested product can be made more efficient.

[0028] The control unit controls the movement of the multi-axis robot 1. Further, the control unit controls the opening and closing operations of the harvesting scissors 4 and the holding and transfer arm 5 by controlling the chuck operation of the hand chuck 2.

[0029] The control unit may have a hardware configuration including a processing device such as a processor and a recording unit such as a memory. Also, the control unit may be configured such that the processing device reads the program stored in the recording unit and executes various controls as described above.

[0030] Here, the control unit is configured to be mounted inside the multi-axis robot 1 and control the movement of the multi-axis robot 1 and the like. However, a cloud computer outside the multi-axis robot 1 may serve as the control unit, and the control unit may be configured to communicate wirelessly with the multi-axis robot 1 and the like.

[0031] FIG. 6 is a front view of the tip of the harvesting device. The left figure in FIG. 6 shows the state when the harvesting scissors 4 and the holding / conveying arm 5 are closed in the direction approaching the vegetable. The right figure in FIG. 6 shows the state when the harvesting scissors 4 and the holding / conveying arm 5 are opened on the side away from the vegetable. The holding / conveying arm 5 is disposed above the harvesting scissors 4 and is disposed on the left and right outer sides of the harvesting scissors 4 with the vegetable as the center. It can be seen that the holding / conveying arm 5 operates to hold the vegetable from the left and right at the timing when the harvesting scissors 4 are closed.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0032] 1 Multi-axis robot, 2 Hand chuck, 3 Scissors mounting bracket, 4 Harvesting scissors, 5 Holding / conveying arm, 6 Cultivation panel, 7 Harvested product (vegetable), 8 Seedbed, 9 Opening / closing direction

Claims

1. A harvesting device for harvesting a crop grown in a cultivation panel, comprising: a cutting part for cutting the crop from a seedbed in the cultivation panel; a holding and conveying part for holding and conveying the crop; a hand chuck part for performing an opening and closing operation of the cutting part and the holding and conveying part; a robot connected to the hand chuck part; the hand chuck part has two rectangular parallelepipeds; a harvesting device in which each of the rectangular parallelepipeds moves in an opening and closing direction to open and close the cutting part and the holding and conveying part.

2. In the harvesting device according to Claim 1, the cutting part is scissors; the holding and conveying part is configured to hold the crop from the outside of the scissors.

3. In the harvesting device according to Claim 2, the holding and conveying part has two holding members; a harvesting device in which the tip ends of the holding members each have an inclined part in a direction approaching the crop.

4. In the harvesting device according to Claim 1, by moving the robot, harvest the crop in the cultivation panel, and move the harvested crop to a conveying part.

5. In the harvesting device according to Claim 1, a harvesting device having a support member for supporting the cutting part between the cutting part and the hand chuck part.

6. In the harvesting device according to Claim 1, the cultivation panel has a plurality of holes in which the crop is buried, and the holes are arranged at intervals in the vertical and horizontal planes of the cultivation panel.

7. In the harvesting device according to Claim 4, having a control part, wherein the control part controls the opening and closing operation and the movement of the robot.

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