Harvesting device for plucking or cutting fruit based on pedicel angle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12349627-B2
Application number	US-202217815269-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 27, 2022
Priority date	Aug 27, 2021
Publication date	Jul 8, 2025
Grant date	Jul 8, 2025

Abstract

A harvesting device includes: an upper harvest ring that an object grown on a plant is to be inserted into; a lower harvest ring that is disposed below the upper harvest ring and that the object is to be inserted into; a first drive mechanism that moves at least one of the upper harvest ring and the lower harvest ring; and a controller. The controller determines one of a first harvest operation and a second harvest operation, and controls the first drive mechanism, based on the one of the first harvest operation and the second harvest operation.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A harvesting device comprising:
an upper harvest ring that an object grown on a plant is to be inserted into;
a lower harvest ring that is disposed below the upper harvest ring and that the object is to be inserted into;
a cutting blade;
and
a controller,
wherein the controller determines one of a first harvest operation and a second harvest operation, the first harvest operation includes a cutting operation by the cutting blade, and the second harvest operation includes a plucking operation by the upper harvest ring and the lower harvest ring, and wherein the controller determines the one of the first harvest operation and the second harvest operation based on an angle of a peduncle of the object.

2. The harvesting device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a first drive mechanism that moves at least one of the upper harvest ring and the lower harvest ring,
wherein the controller controls the first drive mechanism based on the determined harvest operation.

3. The harvesting device according to claim 2 , wherein when the controller determines the first harvest operation, the controller controls the first drive mechanism to cause the upper harvest ring and the lower harvest ring to move in a direction away from the plant in a state where a part of the object is located in the upper harvest ring and the lower harvest ring.

4. The harvesting device according to claim 3 , further comprising:
a second drive mechanism that drives the cutting blade,
wherein the controller causes the second drive mechanism to drive the cutting blade after the upper harvest ring and the lower harvest ring move in the direction away from the plant.

5. The harvesting device according to claim 4 , wherein when viewed from above the harvesting device, the cutting blade is disposed in an interior of the upper harvest ring and the lower harvest ring.

6. The harvesting device according to claim 2 , wherein the cutting blade is disposed in a direction away from the plant on which the object has grown in the direction of movement caused by the first drive mechanism.

7. The harvesting device according to claim 3 , wherein when the controller determines the second harvest operation, the controller controls the first drive mechanism to cause the upper harvest ring and the lower harvest ring to change a relative position between the upper harvest ring and the lower harvest ring in a state where a part of the object is located in the upper harvest ring and the lower harvest ring.

8. The harvesting device according to claim 1 , wherein
the object is connected to a main stem of a plant via the peduncle,
the main stem includes a first peduncle and a second peduncle,
the first peduncle and the second peduncle form an angle,
the control device is configured to determine whether the angle is less than or equal to a threshold,
the control device is configured to harvest the object by the second harvesting operation when the angle is less than or equal to the threshold, and to harvest the object by the first harvesting operation when the angle is greater than or equal to the threshold.

9. The harvesting device according to claim 8 , wherein the threshold is 60° to 150°.

10. The harvesting device according to claim 1 , wherein the upper harvesting ring and the lower harvesting ring have a curve with a U-shaped structure at their ends.

11. The harvesting device according to claim 10 , wherein the upper harvesting ring and the lower harvesting ring are stacked, and the U-shaped structure of the upper harvesting ring and the U-shaped structure of the lower harvesting ring are arranged in the same direction.

Assignees

• Panasonic Ip Man Co Ltd

Inventors

• Shimomura Keiichiro

Classifications

• A01D46/30

  Robotic devices for individually picking crops · CPC title

• A01D46/24 Primary

  Devices for picking apples or like fruit (A01D46/28 {and A01D46/005} takes precedence) · CPC title