Process and apparatus for removing a tail end of a Brussels sprout

An apparatus for processing Brussels sprouts, comprising:

• a mechanism that separates a Brussels sprout from a stack of Brussels sprouts;
• a transport track for receiving a Brussels sprout separated from a stack of Brussels sprouts, the transport track operable to manipulate or otherwise cause the Brussels sprout to be oriented and held in place;
• an optical position and orientation detector located relative to a termination of the transport track, the detector operable to produce an output indicative of the position and orientation of each Brussels sprout on the transport track;
• and
• a gripper operable to individually remove each Brussels sprout from the transport track while secured by the gripper, the gripper including two gripping arms mutually coupled for articulation, each gripping arm being in contact with the Brussels sprout when the Brussels sprout is being removed from the transport track by the gripper;
• and
• a cutting device to remove a tail end of the Brussels sprout while the Brussels sprout is secured via the two gripping arms of the gripper.

An apparatus for processing Brussels sprouts, comprising:

• a mechanism that separates a Brussels sprout from a stack of Brussels sprouts;
• a transport track for receiving a Brussels sprout separated from a stack of Brussels sprouts, the transport track operable to manipulate or otherwise cause the Brussels sprout to be oriented and held in place;
• an optical position and orientation detector located relative to a termination of the transport track, the detector operable to produce an output indicative of the position and orientation of each Brussels sprout on the transport track;
• and
• a gripper operable to individually remove each Brussels sprout from the transport track, the gripper including two gripping arms mutually coupled for articulation, each gripping arm being in contact with the Brussels sprout when the Brussels sprout is being removed from the transport track by the gripper;
• and
• means for removing a tail end of the Brussels sprout while the Brussels sprout is secured via the two gripping arms of the gripper.

An apparatus for processing Brussels sprouts, comprising:

• a mechanism that separates a Brussels sprout from a stack of Brussels sprouts;
• a transport track for receiving a Brussels sprout separated from a stack of Brussels sprouts, the transport track operable to manipulate or otherwise cause the Brussels sprout to be oriented and held in place;
• an optical position and orientation detector located relative to a termination of the transport track, the detector operable to produce an output indicative of the position and orientation of each Brussels sprout on the transport track;
• and
• a removal device for removing each Brussels sprout from the transport track by individually gripping each Brussels sprout from the transport track in order to orient the Brussel sprout according to the output produced by the optical detector, wherein the removal device is a gripper comprising two gripping arms mutually coupled for articulation, and the gripper arms are mounted on a frame;
• and
• a cutting device to remove a tail end of the Brussels sprout in accordance with the orientation of the Brussel sprout after the Brussels sprout is removed from the transport track.