Pivoting Fruit Carrier Rollers for Jam-Resistant Pear Sorting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fruit sorting equipment is complex, expensive, and prone to jams due to difficulties in aligning fruits like pears and handling their tough stalks, requiring lengthy setup by skilled personnel.
Innovation Solution
A conveyor system with interlinked carriages and pivotable fruit carriers supporting axially rotatable rollers, driven by variable speed and direction belts to orient and eject fruits efficiently, minimizing stalk entanglement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional cup-based conveyor systems are used, then fruit can be carried and rotated, but the equipment becomes complex and expensive with lengthy setup requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The conveyor system is divided into modular carriages that can be independently linked and configured. Each carriage unit is self-contained with integrated fruit carriers and rotation mechanisms, allowing for easier assembly and disassembly compared to traditional cup-based systems. This segmentation reduces setup time while maintaining functional complexity only where necessary.
Solution Approach 2:
The carriages are designed to perform multiple functions: carrying fruit, rotating fruit for inspection, positioning fruit for weighing, and facilitating ejection. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate specialized components for each operation, thereby reducing overall equipment complexity and setup requirements while maintaining operational effectiveness.
2Reliability
If traditional cup-based systems are used, then fruit can be conveyed, but stalks of fruits like pears can catch in the conveyor causing catastrophic jams
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using cups that cradle fruit from below (traditional approach), the invention uses carriers that support fruit from above with open structures. This inversion allows stalks to pass through the carrier structure without catching, as the stalks can move freely through the open space above the carrier rather than becoming entangled in cup rims or edges.
Solution Approach 2:
The fruit carriers are designed with three-dimensional open structures that allow stalks to pass through vertically. The carriers provide support to the fruit body while leaving the stalk region open, effectively using vertical space to prevent stalk entanglement. This dimensional approach allows the conveyor to handle fruits with prominent stalks without creating jamming points.
3Manufacturing precision
If fruits like pears are handled with traditional conveyors, then they can be moved, but they are difficult to align in the cups in a manner that they can be axially rotated past the camera
Solution Approach 1:
The fruit carriers are designed with dynamic rotation capabilities that can adapt to the orientation of the fruit. The carriers can rotate at variable speeds and directions to accommodate different fruit shapes and orientations, making it easier to achieve proper alignment for camera inspection. This dynamic adjustment simplifies the alignment process compared to fixed cup orientations.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotation speed and direction of the carriers can be adjusted as a parameter to optimize fruit alignment. By varying these parameters, the system can accommodate different fruit types and orientations, making alignment more achievable for difficult-to-handle fruits like pears. This parameter adjustment capability simplifies the overall alignment difficulty.
4Manufacturing precision
If automated packing stations require uniform fruit alignment for presentation, then customer appeal is improved, but the equipment becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment and rotation functions are merged into the carrier mechanism itself, eliminating the need for separate alignment devices. The carriers simultaneously perform fruit support, rotation for inspection, and orientation for presentation, combining multiple functions into a single integrated mechanism. This reduces overall equipment complexity while achieving uniform fruit alignment.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Simplifies setup, reduces mechanical jams, and enhances fruit alignment and sorting accuracy, particularly for pears, while maintaining high fruit density and reducing equipment complexity.
Implementation Method 1
The driving means may be a drive member having a friction surface that engages the underside of the roller to impart rotation to the roller as the conveyor moves across the surface
Data Source
AI summary
Fruit sorting equipment comprising interlinked carriages forming a conveyor driven in a conveying loop, each carriage having a fruit carrier attached to the carriage to pivot about a pivot axis, each carrier supporting two longitudinally spaced pairs of axially rotatable rollers that support the fruit above the carrier, and driving means to cause the rollers to axially rotate.