Adaptive Fruit Sorting Table with Dynamic Screen Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fruit sorting tables face challenges in optimizing adjustments due to variations in fruit quality and quantity, leading to qualitative and quantitative losses as they fail to account for changes in grape berry size, debris type, and flow rate, often resulting in late detection of improper settings.
Innovation Solution
An adaptive fruit sorting table with a measuring device to assess fruit quantity and flow rate over a reference section, allowing for real-time adjustment of conveying speed, screen caliber, and intake rate without interrupting the sorting process, using sensors and servo-driven mechanisms for optimal parameter adjustment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the screen opening is narrowed to improve debris separation, then sorting precision improves, but fruit loss increases due to fruit being blocked and reaching the discharge end
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the screen opening adjustable during operation. The spacing between conveyor-sorter rollers can be modified in real-time based on the actual mix of fruit and debris, allowing the system to adapt to varying crop conditions rather than being fixed at a single opening size
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of screen opening size dynamically. By adjusting the spacing between rollers based on measured fruit flow rate and debris content, the system optimizes the balance between separation precision and fruit passage, preventing both debris contamination and fruit loss
2Productivity
If the conveying speed is increased to improve productivity, then output increases, but sorting precision deteriorates as fruit and debris have less time to separate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by using sensors to monitor the flow rate of fruit and the presence of debris, then using this information to automatically adjust conveying speed. When debris is detected or fruit flow is high, the system slows down to maintain separation precision; when conditions are favorable, it speeds up to maximize output
Solution Approach 2:
The conveying speed is made dynamic rather than fixed. The system continuously adjusts speed based on real-time conditions, allowing it to operate at higher speeds when sorting conditions are good and reduce speed when precision is needed, thereby achieving both high productivity and high sorting precision
3Productivity
If the intake rate is increased to improve productivity, then processing capacity increases, but sorting precision deteriorates due to overcrowding on the conveying surface
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses feedback from sensors monitoring fruit flow rate and density on the conveyor to adjust the intake rate. When overcrowding is detected, the intake rate is reduced to maintain proper spacing between items for accurate sorting; when flow is light, intake is increased to maximize processing capacity
Solution Approach 2:
The intake rate is made dynamic and adjustable during operation. Rather than running at constant high speed, the system modulates intake based on actual sorting conditions, allowing it to handle varying crop volumes while maintaining consistent sorting precision through proper item spacing
4Ease of operation
If fixed adjustment parameters are used to simplify operation, then ease of operation improves, but adaptability to varying fruit quality and debris types deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies self-service by using sensors to automatically detect fruit flow rate, debris presence, and sorting conditions, then automatically adjusting screen opening and conveying speed without operator intervention. This eliminates the need for manual adjustment while providing full adaptability to varying crop conditions
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback control where sensors continuously monitor sorting conditions and automatically adjust parameters based on detected fruit quality and debris types. This allows the system to adapt to varying crops while maintaining simple operation, as the automation handles the complexity of parameter adjustment
Data Source
AI summary
A fruit sorting table includes: a conveyor for conveying a fruit crop along a conveying plane, between an intake area and a discharge area, a screen extending in the conveying plane between the intake area and the discharge area, the screen having openings for sorted fruit to pass through from the conveying plane to an area for receiving sorted fruit situated under the conveying plane. The sorting table has at least one device for measuring one of a quantity of fruit and a flow rate of fruit passing through the screen over at least one reference section of the screen, the reference section being situated between the fruit intake area and the discharge area, and set apart from the fruit intake area, a device for adjusting the sorting table in response to the measurement device. Application, in particular, to sorting a grape crop.