Harvesters – Vegetable gatherer
Patent
1994-08-19
1996-02-20
Buiz, Michael Powell
Harvesters
Vegetable gatherer
A01D 4600
Patent
active
054919657
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to a suction cup assembly adapted to hold an article to permit the lifting thereof when suction is applied to the assembly. In particular--but not exclusively--this invention relates to such a suction cup assembly for use with produce, and especially mushrooms.
This invention is in particular concerned with a suction cup assembly which comprises a suction cup having at one end thereof an open mouth for contacting an article, a support member and a coupling mounting the other end of the cup on to an end portion of the member.
It is well-known to use a suction cup assembly of the kind just referred to, for the holding and lifting of an article by contacting that article with the suction cup assembly and applying suction (that is, a reduced pressure) thereto. The suction cup design depends to a large extent upon the nature of the article to be lifted; for example, in the case of a carton having a smooth and substantially impermeable outer surface, the suction cup may be relatively rigid and of a shallow axial depth. On the other hand, when handling delicate articles or articles of an irregular shape, it is more advantageous to use a relatively flexible suction cup of a greater axial depth, whereby the cup may deform as appropriate on contacting the article in order to achieve a good seal between the mouth of the cup and the article.
It has been proposed to harvest mushrooms from their growing medium by contacting the top of the mushroom cap with a suction cup, applying suction thereto and then lifting the cap and its stalk clear of the growing medium, perhaps with a simultaneous twisting movement, as described in our British Patent Specification No. 2,237,491. Though such apparatus performs adequately when the stalks of the mushrooms are substantially erect and the caps are disposed generally horizontally, it is found that there is a tendency for the caps to be broken from their stalks on being contacted by the suction cup, in the event that upper surfaces of the caps are not disposed generally horizontally. Moreover, should the picking assembly not be properly centred over the cap as the cup is moved to contact the cap, one side of the suction cup will contact the cap before the other side of the cup. This unequal loading on the cup tends to tilt the cup sideways, resulting in an increased tendency for the cap to be broken from its stalk as the vacuum is applied during harvesting.
It is known for example from DE-A-3036116 to mount a suction cup on a double universal coupling, to allow the cup to move transversely whilst the mouth of the cup remains parallel to a plane perpendicular to the axis of the mount. Such an arrangement is not suitable for the handling of delicate produce such as mushrooms, where the surface to be contacted by the cup may lie at some angle to said plane. An alternative arrangement is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3183640, where a suction cup is mounted by way of a ball joint in a support rod. The mouth of the cup performs a significant lateral movement as the cup pivots about the ball joint, and if this arrangement is used in a mushroom harvester, there is a risk that a mushroom cap will be broken off its stalk should the part of the mushroom contacted by the cup lie in a plane not perpendicular to the axis of the support.
It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a suction cup assembly suitable for use, for example, in a produce-handling installation such as an automated mushroom harvesting plant, which assembly may be used either with irregularly-shaped articles or with articles having a surface for contact by the suction cup lying in a plane oblique to the mouth of the cup.
According to one aspect of the present invention, in a suction cup assembly of the kind described, the coupling is arranged to allow the cup to perform a generally pivotal movement with respect of the axis of the member, characterised in that the coupling includes means to control the effective centre of said generally pivotal movement to lie within the confines of the cup when
REFERENCES:
patent: 3183640 (1965-05-01), Gee
patent: 5185989 (1993-02-01), Russell et al.
Russell Tony A.
Wheeler Geoffrey C.
Buiz Michael Powell
Priorlucky Limited
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