Tapered Olive Picking Racks with Conical Coupling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fruit picking devices, such as olive beaters, are cumbersome, heavy, and inefficient due to large diameter telescopic rods and complex actuation mechanisms, leading to reduced maneuverability and short battery life, making them unsuitable for extended harvesting tasks.
Innovation Solution
A compact fruit picking device with tapered racks and a minimized actuation mechanism housed within a handle, utilizing a lightweight telescopic rod system and efficient epicycloidal reduction gear, allowing for alternate motion of the racks with reduced weight and friction, powered by ordinary batteries with extended life.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional racks with radial prongs and linear supports are used, then the device can effectively detach fruit, but the device becomes very cumbersome and gets stuck in thick-crowned trees
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional rack design by making the support tapered (smaller at the top, larger at the bottom) instead of linear, and positioning the prongs at the smaller top end. This inversion allows the rack to navigate through thick-crowned trees more easily while maintaining fruit detachment effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the rack support from linear to tapered, with the diameter varying along the length. This parameter change enables the rack to adapt to different spatial constraints, improving maneuverability in dense tree canopies.
2Ease of operation
If a reduction gear box actuation mechanism is used, then the racks can be actuated with alternate motion, but the device complexity and weight increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the reduction gear box from the actuation mechanism, replacing it with a direct-drive system using an electric motor connected directly to the racks. This elimination of the reduction gear box significantly reduces device complexity and weight while maintaining the alternate motion capability of the racks.
3Strength
If large diameter telescopic rods with high thickness are used, then the actuation mechanism can be supported, but the device weight increases to more than 2.5 Kg
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the dimensional parameters of the telescopic rods, using smaller diameter rods (external rod diameter of about 35 mm with thickness higher than 1.5 mm is reduced) that are sufficient to support the simplified actuation mechanism, thereby reducing the overall device weight.
4Ease of operation
If high weight racks and high friction gear boxes are used, then the racks can be actuated, but power dissipation increases and battery life is limited to four hours
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the high-friction reduction gear box from the system, replacing it with a direct-drive electric motor configuration. This extraction of the gear box eliminates the source of high friction and power dissipation, reducing current consumption to about 3 amp/hour and extending battery life beyond four hours.
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
The device is lightweight, easy to handle, and efficient, enabling extended use without the need for expensive batteries, suitable for thick-crowned trees and reducing power consumption, resulting in improved maneuverability and prolonged battery life.
Implementation Method 1
efficient epicycloidal reduction gear, allowing for alternate motion of the racks with reduced weight and friction
Implementation Method 2
an insert provided with tapered body with increasing diameter from down up, adapted to be coupled inside said axial hole of the support with conical coupling. The lower part of the prongs is compressed between the external surface of the body of the insert and the internal surface of the support
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
Picking device for hanging fruit, in particular olives A picking device for hanging fruit, in particular olives, is disclosed, comprising a head (1), a pair of racks (8) with prongs (9), an actuation mechanism arranged inside the head and adapted to move the racks (8) with alternate motion. Each rack (8) comprises a support (80) provided with a tapered axial hole (86) with increasing diameter from down up and an insert (82) with tapered body (84) that is coupled inside the axial hole (86) of the support with conical coupling. The lower part of the prongs (9) is compressed between the external surface of the body (84) of the insert and the internal surface of the support (80), in such a way that the prongs (9) have a divergent configuration relative to the axis of the support (80) from down up.