AU2010257276A1

AU2010257276A1 - Fruit harvesting apparatus

Info

Publication number: AU2010257276A1
Application number: AU2010257276A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Karl Hall
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2009-12-23
Filing date: 2010-12-17
Publication date: 2011-07-07

Abstract

An apparatus for picking fruit from a tree such as olives. The apparatus includes a frame adapted to support at least one vertical arm that rotates around a tree to be picked. The arm supports a plurality of prongs that are caused to oscillate in the horizontal direction. 5 The arms can move rotationally around the frame central axis and they can also move in and out from the centre. An operator typically sits on a platform at a certain height and controls the movement of the arms as well as the oscillation of the prongs.

Description

1 Fruit harvesting apparatus BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a fruit harvesting apparatus and in particular to an 5 olive harvesting apparatus. Whilst fruit that is large enough can be picked by hand, fruits that are relatively tiny in size, such as almonds, various other nuts and olives are picked by effectively causing a vibration in the foliage that results in the ripe fruit being shaken and falling down. Typically it falls onto a floor where it is then collected. 0 Some of the methods of causing the vibration include shaking the trunk of the tree when the fruit is ready to be harvested. Whilst this is effective it can cause damage to the tree and its root system. Other methods that are for example used in olive picking, involves using hand held apparatuses that include several long prongs that rotationally oscillate. As the prongs are 5 inserted into the foliage of the tree it causes the branches and twigs to vibrate and shakes the fruit causing the fruit to fall down and be collected. The difficulty with this method is that it is labour intensive and relies on the user being able to see and reach all of the fruit that needs to be harvested. Typically it involves several labourers that move from tree to tree to harvest olives. The apparatuses are also 0 typically electrically driven and thus the users need to carry battery packs that, to supply sufficient power, are quite heavy and cumbersome to say the least. Finally the operator of such hand held prongs typically often misses some of the olives not being able to get a clear view of the tree and there is an economic question of trying to get the last few olives that can take significant time. 25 OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The object of this invention is to provide a fruit harvesting machine that overcomes at least some of the above-mentioned problems or provides the public with a useful alternative. 30 It is a further object of the present invention to provide an olive harvesting machine that enables olive harvesting to be achieved by the use of only one person operating the olive harvesting machine.

2 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one form of the invention there is proposed an apparatus for picking fruit from a tree including a frame adapted to support at least one vertical arm adapted to rotate 5 around a tree to be picked, said arm also adapted to move horizontally, the arm including a plurality of vertically and spatially separated prongs that are adapted to oscillate whereby when located in foliage of the tree shaking it to cause the fruit to be dislodged. In preference there are two symmetrical and opposing vertical arms adapted to rotate around the central vertical axis of the frame. Of course there could be three or more 0 and it is not the intention to limit the invention to the number of arms. In preference the frame includes upper cross-bearing members adapted to support a longitudinal beam, the beam supporting the vertical arms. In preference the beam is horizontally extendible at either end to allow the arms to move towards and away from the central vertical axis of the frame. Typically this is 5 hydraulically activated. In preference each arm includes three columns, each column supporting vertically spaced prongs. There may alternatively be two arms or even four or more. The prongs may not only be vertically separated by could be horizontally separated in a zigzag arrangement. Also whilst the prongs extend towards the centre of the frame they may 0 equally well be off-set. In preference the columns are driven by a motor to cause the prongs to move back and forth in the horizontal plane. The prongs may equally well be driven in an up down arrangement or even in a sideways arrangement. There may equally well be two motors for driving the prongs in a desired orientation. 25 In preference the frame further includes side curtains to prevent harvested fruit from leaving the footprint of the frame. In preference the frame includes a floor to collect the harvested fruit. In preference the floor is so shaped and includes a conveyor belt to collect the harvested fruit and transport it outside of the frame.

3 In preference the frame provides a platform for the support of the operator wherein the height of the platform is such to be at least the same as the upper height of the tree. 5 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate several implementations of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the advantages and principles of the invention. In the drawings: 0 Figure 1 is an illustrative drawing showing the apparatus of the present invention being moved from olive tree to olive tree by the use of a tractor; Figure 2 illustrates the apparatus of the present invention when it has been towed to a position where it is ready to pick the olives; 5 Figure 3 illustrates the apparatus of Figure 1 and 2 when side curtains are being deployed to ensure that any harvested olives are captured by the apparatus; Figure 4 illustrates the present invention when an operator is in place to operate the harvesting machine; 20 Figure 5 is a perspective view illustrating the operating of the fruit harvesting machine; Figure 6 is the machine as in Figure 5 but being a top view; Figure 7 (a) to (d) illustrate the operation of the olive harvesting machine; Figure 8 illustrates in detail how the individual arms of the apparatus are 25 controlled; and Figure 9 (a) to (c) illustrate the operation of the arms of Figure 8. LIST OF COMPONENTS 10 olive harvesting apparatus 4 12 chassis 14 rectangular frame 16 upright posts 18 joists 5 20 beam 22 vertical harvesting arms 24 horizontal harvesting rods 26 tree 28 curtains 0 30 cross-members 32 tractor 34 wheels 36 rod 38 ladder 5 40 platform 42 controls 44 arrows 46 arrows 48 prongs 20 50 olives 52 floor of frame 54 conveyor belts 56 arrows 58 arrows 25 60 vertical rod/column 62 vertical rod/column 5 64 vertical rod/column 66 motor 70 pivot point 5 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The following detailed description of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings. Although the description includes exemplary embodiments, other embodiments are possible, and changes may be made to the embodiments described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Wherever possible, the same reference 0 numbers will be used throughout the drawings and the following description to refer to the same and like parts. Dimensions of certain of the parts shown in the drawings may have been modified and/or exaggerated for the purposes of clarity or illustration. Turning now to the drawings in details there is illustrated an olive harvesting apparatus 10 including a chassis 12 supporting a rectangular frame 14 that in this 5 embodiment is of a square configuration. The frame 14 extends upwardly to a height typically that is higher than the trees in a typical olive plantation. It is to be understood that the actual configuration of the frame is not important. What the frame needs to do is to extend over and above the fruit trees to be harvested to support the harvesting mechanism that will be described later. 4 0 Thus typically the frame includes upright posts 16 at each corner of the frame. Extending across the top of the upright posts is a plurality of joists 18 that extend between each of the posts and across each of the posts as well as diagonally across. Again it is to be understood that the actual configuration is not important provided that the end solution is achieved which in this case is sufficient strength to rotatably support beam 20. 25 The support beam 20 extends centrally outwardly within the footprint of the frame and supports vertical harvesting arms 22 that are adapted to move in the horizontal direction along the beam and support horizontal harvesting rods 24 that extend vertically along the arms 22 and are adapted to engage the foliage of the tree 26. Thus in the basic embodiment of the present invention there is proposed an 30 apparatus that has a plurality of harvesting rods extending vertically and mounted on arms 6 that can move into and out of the centre of the tree at the same time being able to rotate around the tree thus ensuring that most of the foliage of the tree is contacted by the harvesting rods causing the fruit to fall from the tree and be collected via methods well known in the art. 5 To ensure that none of the harvested fruit falls outside of the footprint of the frame, extending between each of the upright posts 16 are curtains 28. These curtains, typically made from a plastic mesh material can be either mechanically or operator driven. They can either be mounted on a roller or rolled out as shown in Figure 3. Alternatively, and not shown, they can be mounted on an arm that folds back much like a wing. Obviously 0 the curtains that extend between the posts perpendicular to the movement of the whole apparatus need to be folded in between any motion that moves the apparatus between tree to tree. Those that extend parallel can be at times kept in place since they do not impede the travel of the frame. As described above the frame, having the plurality of joists extending on top of the 5 upright posts can provide the necessary strength for the apparatus to be moved. However it is preferable for there to be a means to provide strength for the frame. In this embodiment this is provided by a two cross-members 30 adapted to extend at the bottom of the frame one at the front of the frame and one at the rear. As a vehicle such as tractor 32 pulls the frame from tree to tree, the front cross-member is retracted allowing for the 0 frame to pass through the tree whilst the back cross-member remains locked. When the particular tree has been harvested, as the tractor pulls the apparatus to the next tree, the rear cross-member is retracted allowing free access whilst the front member remains "locked". As the front member approaches the next tree it is retracted therefore allowing the frame to surround the tree. At the same time the rear cross-member remains engaged 25 there providing the structural support necessary. This can be either done manually or can be hydraulically operated. The frame as a whole is supported on wheels 34 Of course, the skilled addressee may very well construct other mechanisms where the frame can move between tree to tree. The important to remember is that the frame can move from tree to tree whilst keeping structural integrity. 30 To assist the driver of the pulling vehicle, such as tractor, a rod 36 extending forwardly and inwardly can be used to gauge the position of the apparatus. This ensures 7 that the driver maintains the correct position to harvest the trees. Of course, this assumes that the trees are planted in a longitudinal pattern in the first place. It is also to be understood that whilst the description refers to the use of a tractor or the like to pull the apparatus, there is no reason why it may not be self-propelled, much 5 like grape harvesters are. When the apparatus is in place and an olive tree is located generally centrally within the frame as illustrated in Figure 4, the operator, who may be the tractor driver or another person, climbs on top of the frame using ladder 38 to a platform 40 where there are located controls 42 to operated the apparatus. Of course the controls may be located 0 anywhere on the apparatus and it is not the intention to limit the invention to a platform basically on top of the frame. However, it has been found that such a platform provides the operator of a good view of the tree and the olives. Turning now to the general operation of the apparatus and as illustrated in Figures 5 and 6, the operator can control the arms by rotating the beam 20 around the tree 26 as 5 illustrated by arrows 44 and also moving the arms 22 horizontally as illustrated by arrows 46. The arms have a plurality of prongs 48 that are caused to oscillate as will be described later. This causes the foliage to shake and causes the olives 50 to fall down onto the floor 52 of the frame. The floor is tilted towards the centre of the apparatus where there are located conveyor belts 54 on either side of the tree that move the harvested olives 50 0 usually to a bin. The use of the conveyor is not new in fruit harvesting and hence it is assumed that the skilled addressee would be well aware of these and hence there is no further need to discuss that part of the operation. Thus the operator will operate the apparatus as illustrated in Figures 7(a) to (d). The arms 22 are rotated to a position chosen by the operator who can observe where there 25 are further olives to pick. The arms are then moved horizontally towards the centre of the tree. They are then caused to oscillate as shown by arrows 56. When the olives close to the arms have been harvested, the operator moves the arms to a new position where further oscillation such as that shown by arrows 58 causes further olives to be harvested. The process is repeated until the operator is satisfied as to the amount of olives that have been 30 obtained form that tree. Turning now to the arms themselves the reader is referred to Figure 8 and 9. The arms 22 typically may have three separate pivotably attached vertical rods or columns 60, 8 62 and 64 from which extend vertically a plurality of prongs 48. A motor 66, either electrical or hydraulic is coupled to the arms and by well known engineering principles as seen in the drawings causes the arms to oscillate back and forth in direction around pivot point 70. The frequency of the oscillation is also another parameter that may be controlled 5 by the operator. The reader should also appreciate that the multiple prongs are located vertically down the rods. The actual number and their separation is again something that the skilled address would be able to replicate using basic engineering principles. Further advantages and improvements may very well be made to the present 0 invention without deviating from its scope. Although the invention has been shown and described in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope and spirit of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices and apparatus. 5 Thus the summary of the operation of the apparatus is as follows: (a) the driver of the tractor pulls the frame to the new tree to be harvested at the same time releasing the back cross-member to allow the frame to pass the tree that has been harvested; (b) the cross-member at the front disengages so that the frame can pass around the 0 next tree whilst the back member then engages the frame; (c) when the frame surrounds the tree to be harvested it is stopped from moving; (d) an operator then controls the apparatus by both rotating the picking rods or prongs around and into the tree to be harvested; (e) the collected fruit then falling onto conveyor belts that feeds the harvested 25 fruits to a separate location such as collection bins. It is to be understood that the above description is not intend to be limiting but that rather many other embodiments may be possible. The reader should understand that the invention relates to a fruit harvesting machine where prongs are supported on arms that can rotate around the tree and move in and out of the tree. All of the other features are 30 inessential and simply serve to enable that operation.

9 Although not illustrated the arms may also be adapted to be tiltable with respect to their vertical orientation. This may be useful where a tree has a very wide canopy and the operator wants the prongs closer to the ground to ingress further into the tree then the prongs higher up. 5 In any claims that follow and in the summary of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word "comprising" is used in the sense of "including", i.e. the features specified may be associated with further features in various embodiments of the invention.

Claims

1. An apparatus for picking fruit from a tree including: a frame adapted to support at least one vertical arm adapted to rotate around a tree to be picked, said arm also adapted to move horizontally, the arm including a plurality 5 of vertically and spatially separated prongs that are adapted to oscillate whereby when located in foliage of the tree shaking it to cause the fruit to be dislodged.

2. An apparatus as in claim 1 wherein there are two symmetrical and opposing vertical arms adapted to rotate around the central vertical axis of the frame.

3. An apparatus as in claim 2 wherein the frame includes upper cross-bearing 0 members adapted to support a longitudinal beam, the beam supporting the vertical arms.

4. An apparatus as in claim 3 wherein the beam is horizontally extendible at either end to allow the arms to move towards and away from the central vertical axis of the frame.

5. An apparatus as in any one of the above claims wherein each arm includes three 5 columns, each column supporting vertically spaced prongs.

6. An apparatus as in claim 5 wherein the columns are driven by a motor to cause the prongs to move back and forth in the horizontal plane.

7 An apparatus as in any one of the above claims wherein the frame further includes side curtains to prevent harvested fruit from leaving the footprint of the frame. 20

8 An apparatus as in any one of the above claims wherein the frame includes a floor to collect the harvested fruit.

9. An apparatus as in claim 8 wherein the floor is so shaped and includes a conveyor belt to collect the harvested fruit and transport it outside of the frame.

10. An apparatus as in any one of the above claims wherein the frame provides a 25 platform for the support of the operator wherein the height of the platform is such to be at least the same as the upper height of the tree.