Method and apparatus for recognizing fruit orientation

A method for recognizing the orientation of a fruit having a central axis of symmetry passing through fruit concave parts, which are a stalk cavity and a calycin of the fruit, and other parts of the fruit being convex, the fruit travelling on a fruit multiple lanes tape, formed by mesh elements and fruit holding flights having a number of recesses, each of the recesses comprising a central opening showing the fruit contained in the recess, the method comprising:

• a stopping step of a sample fruit in a position selected between a position above a measuring instrument and a position below the measuring instrument;
• an initial measurement step in which the measuring instrument measures a distance from the sample fruit when targeting a concave part of the sample fruit, and the measuring instrument measures a distance from the same sample fruit when targeting a convex part of the sample fruit;
• an individual measurement step of each fruit to be treated travelling on the fruit multiple lanes tape by the same measuring instrument positioned in the same manner as in the initial measurement step;
• a comparison step in which the distance measured in the individual measurement step of each fruit to be treated is compared with the distances measured in the initial measurement step of the sample fruit, to assess whether the distance measured in the individual measurement step is that one of a concave part of the fruit or that one of a convex part of the fruit;
• and
• a check step that determines that the fruit is correctly oriented with the central axis of symmetry being in vertical position, if the distance measured in the individual measurement step is that one of a concave part of the fruit, or that the fruit is not correctly oriented if the distance measured in the individual measurement step is that one of a convex part of the fruit.