Robotic sod stacker
AssigneeSteiner Turf Equipment, Inc.
InventorsEmanuel A. Hendriks, Mathias M. Hendriks, Johannes G. Hendriks, Wilhelmus J. Hendriks, David S. Johnsen, Gerald L. Douglas
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A numerically-controlled robotic manipulator arm mounted to a sod harvester comprises two segments pivotally coupled together. One segment is rotatably coupled to a fixed base on the harvester while the second segment carries a pick-up head which can turn with respect to the segment. The pick-up head is capable of picking up, holding, and releasing sod rolls. The arm is programmable so that a variety of configurations of stacked sod rolls can be achieved.
Claims15
An apparatus for cutting and stacking rolls of sod comprising:
- a wheeled chassis for traversing a sod field;
- a horizontal cutting mechanism for cutting a plurality of sod strips;
- an accumulator configured to hold the plurality of sod strips, wherein the accumulator comprises a retractable portion which allows an operator to return a rejected sod roll to the sod field;
- a sod roller configured to roll the sod strips prior to transferring the sod to the accumulator;
- a conveyor configured to transfer sod from the cutting mechanism to the accumulator;
- and
- a robotic arm configured to lift the plurality of sod strips from the accumulator to a sod storage location, wherein the robotic arm comprises a horizontal pick-un head having a plurality of gripper modules, each gripper module configured to engage a separate individual sod roll;
- and wherein each gripper module comprises a pair of engageable fingers, the engageable fingers being configured to be rotatably positioned to engage a roll of sod positioned in the accumulator.
A robotic arm for transporting a plurality of sod rolls comprising:
- a base;
- a first member rotatably coupled to the base at the first member proximal end;
- a second member rotatably coupled to the base at a second member proximal end;
- a first linkage member rotatably coupled to a first distal end of the first member and rotatably coupled to a second distal end of the second member;
- a third member rotatably coupled to the first linkage at a third member proximal end;
- a fourth member rotatably coupled to the first linkage at a fourth member proximal end;
- a second linkage rotatably coupled to the third member at the third member distal end, the linkage being rotatably coupled to the fourth member at the fourth member distal end;
- and
- a horizontal head member having a plurality of grippers, each gripper having at least one pair of retractable fingers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.