JPS60149314A - Robot hand for harvesting fruit - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to a robot hand for fruit harvesting.

In recent years, robots have been desired to safely and efficiently harvest fruits such as tangerines and apples.

In order to satisfy such a demand, the present applicant has provided a system in which the entire cylindrical booth for collecting fruits and the four arm ends are pivoted so that they can freely hang down so that the opening faces upward due to its own weight. We proposed a robot hand for fruit harvesting. In other words, in this robot hand, the fruit is supported by the fruit-taking member such as the finger member installed around the cylindrical booth in an upward facing position, and in this state, the handle is used to attach the fruit to the branch. The fruit is harvested by cutting the part, the so-called fruit stalk, with a cutter, or by bending or pulling the fruit stalk to sever the connection to the fruit.

Since the cylindrical booth hangs freely with respect to the arm, even if the peduncles are not completely facing upward relative to the fruit, when the fruit is housed in the case, the booth itself will naturally have the peduncles. The direction is the same, and the position of the fruit stem is decided naturally, which is an important function.
There were disadvantages as shown below, and there was room for improvement.

In other words, in the robot hand, when bringing the case close to the target fruit in order to harvest the target fruit,
Because this booth can freely hang down, it may get stuck in its orientation if it hits obstacles such as fruits or branches in the pond, or if the booth enters a fruit tree while facing upward, the projection of As the area becomes larger, it will often hit or get caught in obstacles, and the VC may not be able to approach the target fruit smoothly.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to make it possible to approach the fruit to be harvested with less contact with obstacles. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a robot hand for harvesting fresh fruit.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a reward robot hand that maintains the orientation of the booth while the entrance of the booth rotates in the longitudinal direction of the arm. The characteristic of the old man is to the point.

Due to the above characteristics, the following excellent effects have been achieved.

In other words, when approaching the fruit to be harvested, the booth opening is held in a state facing the longitudinal direction of the arm, so the area that penetrates into the fruit tree is small, and the fruit can be moved without swinging. It is now possible to approach the target fruit reliably. In addition, after the target fruit is placed in the booth, simply by releasing the orientation of the booth, it will naturally assume an upward posture, so that subsequent stem cutting can be performed in an appropriate posture.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on Figure thI.

As shown in Figure 1, a pair of left and right propulsion wheels + 1), IU
A rotating platform (6) that is driven and rotated by a magnetic motor (4) is housed in a vehicle body that is equipped with a pair of rear idle wheels (2) and an actuator (3) that can be raised and lowered. The lift device, which can be raised and lowered freely, is placed in the center of rotation and placed in the swivel table (5), and the robot hand IBI for the 4-carrier is attached to the upper end of the lift-equipped W prisoner. Therefore, the fruit harvesting machine is set up.

The above device includes a screw member (7) which is rotationally driven by an electric motor or the like and drives the base end of the arm (6) up and down.
and a lifting locus guide member (8+, f8+), and is configured to move the arm (6) up and down by forward and reverse rotation of the screw member (7).

The robot hand for fruit harvesting (to put it simply,
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the first arm (6a) is vertically swingable with respect to the lift device body.

A multi-joint arm comprising a second arm (6b) that can be vertically swung relative to the arm (6a), and an eighth arm (6C) that can be swung vertically relative to the arm (6b). (6) and a solid case (9) for fruit income? A bifurcated support frame that pivots around the horizontal axis (3) so that it can freely hang down + lO) k, a free eye at the tip of the third arm (6C) at the axis (Y) 1 and 9 along the longitudinal direction of the arm The finger member (11) which can be freely pivoted and which can be bent and stretched to pull and move the fruit to be harvested inside the cylindrical booth (9) is connected to the opening (9') of the U-shaped case (9). ) A 614 stem suppressor is installed on the periphery and can be freely switched between retracting toward the cylindrical booth (9) and protruding from the booth (9) so as to cover the fruits to be harvested. A circular cutter (131'k, both ends of which cuts the stem) is arranged in the circumferential direction of the booth (9), and a handle-like part that connects the fruit to be harvested and the branch, the so-called arc-shaped cutter (131'k) that cuts the stem. As a fulcrum, it is pivotally attached to the booth (9) together with the kerat pressing part side (121) so as to be movable in and out of the booth (9).

The bifurcated support frame (10) is connected to the electric clutch and its rotational status. The arm (6c) can be controlled by a motor (11G) equipped with a detection encoder, allowing it to not only rotate freely but also drive and stop at once.

Similarly, the booth (9) is equipped with an electric clutch and an encoder that drive and stop rotation around the shaft center, not only before free rotation, but also in the direction of the bifurcated support frame (+U). The equipped motor V161 and this motor VI5) VC
A wire decoy whose one end, which is wound up and sent out, is connected to the booth (9) is provided, thereby forming the locking mechanism (2) of the booth (9).

The tip of the finger member (19a) is formed into a contact point (C1), and when it comes into contact with the fruit, it is configured to be able to collect information for horizontally moving the finger member (9+ fzc) away from the fruit. It is.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5(a), each motor H of the VC
, VIo), the booth (9) is centered (force).

The opening (9') is held in a position that corresponds to the longitudinal direction of the arm tip (6C) by rotating the arm at a constant angle of tYl.

Then, by operating the multi-jointed arm (6) or operating the lift device a, the cylindrical booth (9) is moved from a lateral position of the target fruit to a position suitable for fruit harvesting, and the # -j, based on the detection information of the contact sensor tel, the fruit is placed in the IJ) 1 opening (9') of the cylindrical booth (9)
) Stop 1 so that it is located in the center, and press ia mark β1
≦(n)k Booth (7) Drive to bend inward to pull and move the target fruit. After that, wJ5 figure (b)
VC7r, like the morph (14), 115
) is activated (!-stop, or by disengaging the equipped electromagnetic clutch, the booth t9) (!-maintains it in an upward position by itself, and the 81≦po (121 and cutter haze for pressing the fruit) is The VC is configured so that after 8J of fruit to be harvested is raised by operating the protrusion, the canter (+3) is operated to cut the stalk by VJ and collect the harvested fruit. (1) refers to an elastic wire vf such as a wire (11--one end side (12a) of each suppressing member (12) bent in an arc shape as shown in FIGS. ), and the other end (
The river is pivotally supported through the booth (9), and the stem pressing circular portion 1. tt12) both ends (12a) and (12b
) It is constructed so that it can freely move in and out of the booth (9) by rotating it around its fulcrum as a support part.

In order to move the fruit stem pressing member (kuni) into and out of the booth (9), the F4IJ goose (9) is divided into two into a cylinder (9a) and an outer cylinder (9b)', and an inner cylinder ( 9a) and the outer cylinder (9b) are fitted and supported by the vertical shaft (Z1) in a relatively rotatable state, and the other end (12b) of the vermillion press state capital
) A slit cylinder along the vertical direction with which the tip engages is formed outside @ (9b) K, and an air cylinder (
19) It is installed in ' and is intercepted so as to swing in and out with respect to the sheath (9) with the forward/reverse operation of the outer cylinder (9a) 111.

To explain the cutter (10), as shown in FIG. 4, the cutter (10) has a concave blade portion KO) at the center in the longitudinal direction.

(20'), and a pair of arcuate band-shaped blades t21 which are moved in the longitudinal direction and act 9J Wi],
(21') is provided. And cutter (13)
lll1il along the radial direction of the booth (9)
I i'6 (Q1 rotation w1!1 IIl can be freely pivoted and attached to a link fixed to one end of Vcl) and the tip of this link 4 is fixed to the VC and said peduncle pressing member (1
In the same manner as in 2), a thread pin 23) for joining the four threads is provided on the sulin) (17), and! jfJ+i self-inner cylinder (9a
), the stem pressing part IA' t12+
At the same time, the round part (12c) and this cutter (+3) of the round part (12c) and this cutter (+3) are moved together to swing in and out of the booth (9), and the upper part of the booth (7) is After the fruit stem is positioned and held in the gap (S+) formed in the center, the fruit stem is cut by the QtJ marking blade section vu)+ (2o').

In order to support the pair of blade bodies 12 (21') such that they can be moved relative to each other, both ends of the outer blade sub-section are pivotally supported, and one end of the inner blade body (21') is supported. providing a link threshold that engages with the portion;
By driving this link example in the vertical direction VC by the air cylinder 4, the blade body (21') on the inner side can be moved in the longitudinal direction with respect to the blade body 21) on the external force side. Then, due to the operation of the air sillage, the blade part tF) is positioned in the concave part (2(1')), that is, the gap (S) formed in the center of the booth (9), so that the fruit stalk 1f is be.

The finger member 11) is located on the inner surface (ll) of the booth (9).
The lower end of the hollow cylindrical rod, which is formed into a bellows shape on the same side except for b) and is made of elastic material such as rubber, is erected at the periphery of the opening of the booth (9), and a compressed metal is placed inside the cylindrical body. It is fixed to the nozzle 71 that sends out air, and a contact sensor tel, which has a switch such as a limit switch that is turned on and off by contacting the fruit, is fixed to the tip side.

Then, due to the air pressure that is sent out and exhausted through a pipe (not shown), the middle chamber cylindrical body (26) is caused to move into the booth (9 ) so that it is bent only inward.

The length of the opening (11) returns to the upright position due to its elasticity itself by exhausting the air from the middle cylindrical body (white).

In addition, when using the above-mentioned fruit collecting machine, as shown in Fig. 1, for example, a television camera tliil for detecting fruit is installed, and a robot hand IB+ is installed based on its chivalrous character. (!l- It is often possible to remotely control the target fruit, and the distance measuring device'
It is more convenient to move the control device that automatically operates the robot hand based on the starting operation 1'F command while checking #ffj by pressing the button 4-).

Furthermore, in that case, as shown in FIG.
8) is rotated around the shaft center (Y1) of the arm (6c) by a motor equipped with an electromagnetic clutch and an encoder for detecting the rotational status, and a motor V15 equipped with an electromagnetic clutch and encoder as well ) K Therefore, the booth (9) is the axis center (3)
It is better to approach the target fruit by rotating the booth (9) in question #) and adjusting the direction of the booth (9) relative to the fruit.

Then, when the booth (9) reaches the target position, when each clutch of the motor f14)', 115) is disconnected, the booth (9) automatically moves upward by its own port, as described in -0. The position will be maintained.

Another embodiment will be described below.

a locking mechanism p) for fixing the orientation of the booth (9);
as motor tn), p5) and wire (I6)
), various properties can be changed, such as biasing and releasing with a spring, or direct rotation drive with a gear, etc.

Similarly, giJ-note part goods member, fruit pressure state capital goods O 匈,
The structure of the cutter (13) can also be modified in various lengths.

In addition, in the embodiment, the cylindrical booth (9) is formed into a cylindrical shape with a bottom.
f: It is intended to be ejected in the opposite direction, but the booth (9) is formed into a cylindrical shape that passes through the top and bottom and shoots/! i-
The fruit may be automatically released after cutting the stem.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is an overall side view of the fruit harvesting machine, Figure 2 is a 1000-sided view of the hand, and Figure 3 is an embodiment of the fruit harvesting robot according to the present invention. Side view of the 4th
The figure is an explanatory diagram of Ka 4 Shikiri I prayer, and Figure 5 (a),
(a) is an explanatory diagram of fruit yield a* #j. (6)...Arm, (9)...Direction booth for fruit revenue, (9')...Opening, 1. D
＋・・・・・・Booth orientation holding mechanism. Agent Patent Attorney Kitamura 1 spit

Claims (1)

[Claims] A fruit harvesting system in which a cylindrical fruit intake booth (9) is pivotally connected to the tip of the arm (6) so that it can freely hang down so that its opening (9') faces upward due to its own weight. A robot hand for use in the booth (9), which
) The robot hand for fruit harvesting is characterized in that a mechanism a)+ for holding the orientation of the booth (9) is placed in a state where the same one faces the longitudinal direction of the arm (6).