De-leafing apparatus for removing leaves of harvestable crops
AssigneeAutomated Harvesting Solutions, LLC
InventorAnthony Wisdom
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A harvester selectively harvests edible crowns ready for harvesting. The harvester may include an imaging system for capturing image(s) of the edible crowns and a de-leafing component that removes leaves of the broccoli plant. For example, broccoli plants typically have an abundance of leaves that reside beneath, alongside of, and even above the edible crowns. The leaves may conceal the edible crowns and impact a quality of the image(s). The de-leafing component may be positioned in front of the imaging system, relative to a direction of travel of the harvester, to remove the leaves and isolate or expose the edible crown. Therein, the imaging system may image the edible crowns for use in determining whether the edible crowns are ready for harvesting.
Claims20
A harvester for harvesting broccoli, the harvester comprising:
- an imaging device configured to image broccoli plants in a row;
- and
- a de-leafing apparatus configured to remove leaves from the broccoli plants, the de-leafing apparatus being located in front of the imaging device, in a direction of travel of the harvester, the de-leafing apparatus comprising:
- a first shaft;
- a first blade coupled to the first shaft, the first blade being configured to rotate during actuation of the first shaft to remove leaves from a first side of the broccoli plants;
- a second shaft spaced apart from the first shaft;
- a second blade coupled to the second shaft, the second blade being configured to rotate during actuation of the second shaft to remove leaves from a second side of the broccoli plants;
- and
- one or more end effectors configured to harvest the broccoli plants, the one or more end effectors being located behind the de-leafing apparatus and the imaging device, in the direction of travel of the harvester.
A machine comprising:
- a frame including:
- a front;
- a back spaced apart from the front, relative to a direction of travel of the machine;
- a first side;
- and
- a second side;
- an imaging device disposed on the frame and configured to image plants being harvested via the machine;
- a first cutting mechanism extending from the frame, the first cutting mechanism being located closer to the front of the frame than the imaging device;
- a second cutting mechanism extending from the frame, the second cutting mechanism being located closer to the second side of the frame than the first side of the frame, and the second cutting mechanism being located closer to the front of the frame than the imaging device;
- and
- one or more end effectors configured to harvest the plants, the one or more end effectors being located closer to the back of the frame than the imaging device.
A method comprising:
- removing, via a cutting mechanism of a machine, leaves from plants located in a row at a first instance in time;
- and
- imaging, via an imaging device of the machine, the plants at a second instance in time that is at least partially after the first instance in time, the imaging device being located downstream of the cutting mechanism relative to a direction of travel of the machine.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.