Fruit sorting equipment

Fruit sorting equipment comprising interlinked carriages forming a conveyor driven in a conveying loop to move in a conveying direction, each carriage having a fruit carrier attached to the carriage to pivot about a pivot axis that is longitudinal to the conveyor, each carrier supporting a roller assembly comprising axially rotatable rollers that support the fruit above the carrier, each roller in the pair of rollers having a periphery that tapers downwardly towards a centre of the carrier wherein the fruit is configured to locate on the roller peripheries, and driving means in the form of a continuous belt or chain that spans along the carriages in the conveying direction and engages the underside of at least one of the rollers or at least one of the pairs of rollers to cause the rollers to axially rotate at different speeds and/or different rotational directions allowing for re-orientation of fruit.

A fruit carrier for a carriage, wherein interlinked carriages form a conveyor for fruit sorting that is driven in a conveying direction, the fruit carrier having a frame defining an upper depression adapted to locate a piece of fruit, the frame supporting four axially rotatable frustoconical rollers arranged in two longitudinally spaced pairs of rollers, wherein each roller in the pair of rollers has a periphery that tapers downwardly towards a centre of the carrier, each roller having its periphery extending above the depression to support the piece of fruit located in the depression, and the rollers being driven by a continuous belt or chain that spans along the carriage in the conveying direction and engages the underside of at least one of the rollers or at least one of the pairs of rollers to rotate the roller or rollers about an axis oriented perpendicular to the conveying direction.