There is provided a harvesting system for harvesting crop items from plants grown in rows. The system is provided with a harvesting-cart for harvesting crops, the harvesting-cart having a detection unit that is arranged to identify crop items for harvesting; a crop picking tool arranged to pick crop items identified by the detection unit; a collection zone arranged to accept a crop-container. The harvesting-cart is arranged to be movable along inter-crop lanes defined between said rows of plants. Transport-carts are further provided, with each transport-cart arranged to be detachably coupled to the at least one harvesting-cart, each transport-cart comprising a holding region for storing a plurality of crop-containers. A service-cart is provided for loading and transferring said transport-carts, and preferably said harvesting-cart, to and from said inter-crop lanes.
The disclosure relates to methods and systems for planting biological items in a cultivation medium. The method comprises inserting a planting head loaded with provided biological items into the cultivation medium and through apertures of a wire mesh provided on the cultivation medium. During planting, the position of the planting head is controlled such that the planting head is positioned with respect to the wire mesh. This allows not only repeatedly inserting the planting head into the planting apertures at predetermined positions with respect to that planting aperture, but also inserting the biological item at a predetermined depth, since the wire mesh is positioned onto the cultivation medium. This results in more homogenous planting and subsequently in a more regular growth of the planted biological items.
A supply system (100) comprises a pickup-surface (102) for supporting the individual items to be picked up by the pick-up robot, an upstream buffer (106) configured to receive multiple items and to provide at least a portion of the multiple items to a transfer unit (108), and the transfer unit (108) coupled to the upstream buffer (106), wherein the transfer unit (108) is configured to receive the at least portion of the multiple items from the upstream buffer (106), and intermittently transfer and disperse the at least portion of the multiple items from the transfer unit (108) onto the pick-up surface (102).
B65G 27/34 - Jigging conveyors comprising a series of co-operating units
B65G 47/14 - Devices for feeding articles or materials to conveyors for feeding articles from disorderly-arranged article piles or from loose assemblages of articles arranging or orientating the articles by mechanical or pneumatic means during feeding
A01H 4/00 - Plant reproduction by tissue culture techniques
A01G 9/00 - Cultivation in receptacles, forcing-frames or greenhousesEdging for beds, lawn or the like
The present invention discloses a system (100,200,300,400) for grafting plant stems and a method for grafting plant stems. The system (100,200,300,400) allows a first and a second supply unit (101/102,201/202,) to supply plant-stems-to-be-grafted. The plant- stems-to-be-grafted are supplied to a stem processing unit (103,301) configured. Grafted plants are supplied to the output unit (104,401) for outputting grafted pairs of stems. The stem processing unit (103,301) will have processing locations. A tool supply system is arranged to supply tools to the stem processing unit and arranged to remove tools from the stem processing unit. One tool is provided after removing the other tool. The tool supply system includes at least the following tools: a cutting tool configured to cut the plant stems to form stems of scions and rootstocks, a grafting tool configured to graft pairs of stems of rootstocks and stems of scions with graft elements.
The present invention discloses blade tool for grafting, a system for preparing stems for grafting, a method for preparing for grafting and a grafting method. A blade tool for simultaneously cutting a pair of plant stems is provided. The blade tool comprises a blade tool frame and blade subframe coupled to the blade tool frame and a blades drive arranged to move the blade subframe with respect to the blade tool frame. The one or more blades mounted on the blade subframe with a proximal end, the one or more blades having a blade edge that extends to a distal end. Further, one or more second blades are mounted on the blade subframe with a second proximal end, the one or more second blades having a second blade edge that extends to a second distal end. The blade edges are facing each other. This allows cutting one stem between the facing blade edges. An anti-blade tool is provided having slits that receive the blade and blade edges while cutting. The system has grippers that hold the stem and the cutting action takes place between the two grippers.
The present invention discloses a holding tool (500) and method for holding and engaging a stem (511) of a plant. A gripper is arranged to form an enclosure space. The stem (511) is enclosed in the enclosure space. By not grasping or constraining the stem (511), the stem (511) can be move in and through the enclosure space. The enclosure space is dimensioned so that the node of the stem (511) cannot move through the enclosure space. The holding tool (500) and system can also have a second gripper with a second enclosure space, wherein the first and second enclosure spaces are generally aligned along a direction parallel to the stem (511). The two grippers can be driven so that the distance between the two grippers increases, thereby moving along the stem.
Machine tools; motors, other than for land vehicles; machine
coupling and transmission components (except for land
vehicles); agricultural machinery and implements, other than
hand-operated; horticultural machinery and horticultural
instruments; agricultural and horticultural machinery for
harvesting; reapers; parts of the aforementioned goods,
insofar as included in this class.
horticultural machines and implements for harvesting fruits and vegetables, namely, harvesters and reapers; agricultural and horticultural machinery, namely, harvesters; harvesting machines, namely combine harvesters; replacement parts for the aforesaid goods
(1) Machine tools; motors, other than for land vehicles; machine coupling and transmission components (except for land vehicles); agricultural machinery and implements, other than hand-operated; horticultural machinery and horticultural instruments; agricultural and horticultural machinery for harvesting; reapers; parts of the aforementioned goods, insofar as included in this class.
Machine tools; Motors, other than for land vehicles; Machine coupling and transmission components (except for land vehicles); Agricultural machines and Agricultural implements, other than hand-operated; Horticultural machines and Horticultural implements; Harvesting machines and Horticultural machines for harvesting; Reapers; Parts of the aforesaid goods included in this class.
The present invention discloses a harvesting tool for harvesting crops attached to a petiole of a plant. Such a tool may be fitted to a robot arm and comprises a gripping unit for gripping the petiole. It further comprises a cutting unit that is configured to cut the petiole that is gripped by the gripping unit. This gripping unit comprises a first drive, which is used to move the gripped petiole relative to the harvesting tool.
The present invention discloses a system (100) for processing plant material, such as sprouts and explants, and comprises a plant supply unit (140) which comprises a platform (204) that supports supplied plant material. The system further comprises a container supply unit (141) for supply containers preferably having a bottom with walls and an open top. The system further comprises a pick-and- place robot (150) for picking individual plant material, the pick and place robot comprising a grasping element for grasping the plant material, wherein the grasping element has elongated rods for grasping individual plant material between ends of the rods. In this system, the pick-and-place robot is arranged to pick supplied individual plant material from the platform and to place the individual plant material in the container. In this system, the pick-and-place robot is also arranged to place the individual plant material having a predetermined orientation, preferably root downwards, in the container.
System (1) for separating bulk-supplied plant-bulbs into a single-file stream of spaced plant-bulbs and a method for transporting and spacing objects. The system comprises a bulk-conveyor (2) for conveying a plurality of plant-bulbs as a bulk mass; a single-file vibration-trough (3) downstream of the bulk-conveyor, arranged to receive plant-bulbs from the bulk-conveyor and to further convey received plant-bulbs in single-file; a single-file conveyor (4) downstream of the single-file vibration-trough, arranged to receive plant-bulbs from the vibration-trough; wherein the bulk-conveyor has a discharge edge (21) and the single-file vibration-trough is longitudinally aligned substantially parallel to the discharge edge; wherein the vibration-trough is configured to progress the plant-bulbs at a first speed, wherein the single-file conveyor is configured to progress the plant-bulbs at a second speed, and wherein the second speed is higher than the first speed whereby during use plant-bulbs transferring from the vibration-trough to the single-file conveyor are spaced on the single-file conveyor.
B65G 47/31 - Devices influencing the relative position or the attitude of articles during transit by conveyors arranging the articles, e.g. varying spacing between individual articles during transit by a series of conveyors by varying the relative speeds of the conveyors forming the series
A01D 33/08 - Special sorting and cleaning mechanisms
B65G 43/08 - Control devices operated by article or material being fed, conveyed, or discharged
B65G 47/68 - Devices for transferring articles or materials between conveyors, i.e. discharging or feeding devices adapted to receive articles arriving in one layer from one conveyor and to transfer them in individual layers to more than one conveyor, or vice versa, e.g. combining the flows of articles conveyed by more than one conveyor
There is provided a harvesting system for harvesting crop items from plants grown in rows. The system is provided with a harvesting-cart for harvesting crops, the harvesting-cart having a detection unit that is arranged to identify crop items for harvesting; a crop picking tool arranged to pick crop items identified by the detection unit; a collection zone arranged to accept a crop-container. The harvesting-cart is arranged to be movable along inter-crop lanes defined between said rows of plants. Transport-carts are further provided, with each transport-cart arranged to be detachably coupled to the at least one harvesting-cart, each transport-cart comprising a holding region for storing a plurality of crop-containers. A service-cart is provided for loading and transferring said transport-carts, and preferably said harvesting-cart, to and from said inter-crop lanes.
There is provided a pick-and-plant head for planting plant cuttings in a cultivation medium. The pick-and-plant head is provided with a grasper comprising opposed grasping surfaces for grasping a portion of a cutting between them and with an abutment that abuts a cutting. The grasper and abutment are moveable relative to one another and are arranged so that during release of a cutting from the grasper the abutment passes between the opposed grasping surfaces and the cutting is abutted by the abutment.
The present invention relates to a graft element (1) for joining together plant stem sections. The graft element is made of a resilient material and takes the form of a tubular structure having a hollow center that extends in a longitudinal direction so as to form a cylinder (2). The graft element further comprises a side opening (3) along its length and two elongated members. The side opening is connected to the hollow center over the entire length of the graft element. The two elongated members are located at opposite sides of the side opening and oriented substantially parallel thereto. The elongated members are provided with cutouts for receiving a gripping unit. The invention further relates to systems and methods for joining plant stem sections using the graft element. Finally, the invention relates to a system and a method for preparing the graft element.
System (1) for separating bulk-supplied plant-bulbs into a single-file stream of spaced plant-bulbs and a method for transporting and spacing objects. The system comprises a bulk-conveyor (2) for conveying a plurality of plant-bulbs as a bulk mass; a single-file vibration-trough (3) downstream of the bulk-conveyor, arranged to receive plant-bulbs from the bulk-conveyor and to further convey received plant-bulbs in single-file; a single-file conveyor (4) downstream of the single-file vibration-trough, arranged to receive plant-bulbs from the vibration-trough; wherein the bulk-conveyor has a discharge edge (21) and the single-file vibration-trough is longitudinally aligned substantially parallel to the discharge edge; wherein the vibration-trough is configured to progress the plant-bulbs at a first speed, wherein the single-file conveyor is configured to progress the plant-bulbs at a second speed, and wherein the second speed is higher than the first speed whereby during use plant-bulbs transferring from the vibration-trough to the single-file conveyor are spaced on the single-file conveyor.
B65G 47/31 - Devices influencing the relative position or the attitude of articles during transit by conveyors arranging the articles, e.g. varying spacing between individual articles during transit by a series of conveyors by varying the relative speeds of the conveyors forming the series
B65G 47/68 - Devices for transferring articles or materials between conveyors, i.e. discharging or feeding devices adapted to receive articles arriving in one layer from one conveyor and to transfer them in individual layers to more than one conveyor, or vice versa, e.g. combining the flows of articles conveyed by more than one conveyor
An object supply system comprises: - an elongate transport-conveyor (10) comprising an object-carrying volume through which objects are to be compelled; - a plurality of spaced interference-flights (1020) adjacent to and intruding into said object-carrying volume; - a object-feeder (1002) arranged to supply objects laterally to the elongate transport-conveyor (10). The system and implementing method are able to provide a regulated, spaced supply of objects.
B65G 47/68 - Devices for transferring articles or materials between conveyors, i.e. discharging or feeding devices adapted to receive articles arriving in one layer from one conveyor and to transfer them in individual layers to more than one conveyor, or vice versa, e.g. combining the flows of articles conveyed by more than one conveyor
There is discussed a method of picking and placing bulbs, in which bulbs are supplied on a supply surface of a bulbs supply system; the bulbs being identified and picked from the supply surface with a pick-and-place head; wherein the bulbs are reoriented about a minor axis before being placed.
There is discussed a method of picking and placing bulbs, in which bulbs are supplied on a supply surface of a bulbs supply system; the bulbs being identified and picked from the supply surface with a pick-and-place head; wherein picked bulbs are transferred from the pick-and-place head, shoot-first and roots-last to a transfer-receptacle comprising at least one bulb-receptor, wherein the bulb-receptor temporarily clutches said bulb.
There is discussed a transplantation head for transplanting a seedling from a seedling container to a plot of growth medium. The transplantation head collects the seedlings and plants them into a flowerbed using convergent members that can penetrate the surface of the flowerbed.
A cutting holding unit for planting cuttings in a cultivation medium comprising a cutting clamp comprising two opposing members for clamping a portion of a cutting at a clamping position; and a holding device comprising two opposing members arranged to hold the cutting at a position closer to a cutting end that is to be put into the cultivation medium than the clamping position.
There is provided a pick-and-plant head for planting plant cuttings in a cultivation medium. The pick-and-plant head is provided with a grasper comprising opposed grasping surfaces for grasping a portion of a cutting between them and with an abutment that abuts a cutting. The grasper and abutment are moveable relative to one another and are arranged so that during release of a cutting from the grasper the abutment passes between the opposed grasping surfaces and the cutting is abutted by the abutment.
The invention relates to a method and apparatus for sorting plant material units (101), such as seedlings. The plant material units are arranged in a supply tray and distributed over a plurality of further trays, each further tray being dedicated to plant material units with a specific classification value assigned to it. In the method, first, the supply tray (105) is provided. An image of the plant material units in the supply tray is obtained, and on the basis of the obtained image, a classification value is assigned to each of the plant material units. Finally, the plant material units are sorted on the basis of the assigned classification value by transferring plant material units with the same assigned classification value by means of a robot directly from the supply tray to the corresponding further tray.
The present invention relates to an apparatus for separating objects. The apparatus comprises a conveyor arrangement (1) and an actuator (30). The conveyor arrangement comprises a conveyor belt (10) disposed as an endless loop over two rollers (21, 22). The conveyor belt has a substantially horizontally arranged surface (5) for receiving a plurality of objects. The actuator comprises a drive axis (31), an actuating structure (32) and a connection structure connecting the drive axis with the actuating structure. The drive axis is connectible to a motor to enable rotational movement of the drive axis. The connection unit is arranged for converting the rotational movement into movement of the actuating structure in a direction substantially perpendicular to the object receiving surface plane. The actuating structure is located underneath the conveyor belt for creating movement of the surface in this direction. The conveyor arrangement and the actuator are independently controllable.
B07C 5/00 - Sorting according to a characteristic or feature of the articles or material being sorted, e.g. by control effected by devices which detect or measure such characteristic or featureSorting by manually actuated devices, e.g. switches
B65G 47/28 - Devices influencing the relative position or the attitude of articles during transit by conveyors arranging the articles, e.g. varying spacing between individual articles during transit by a single conveyor
B65G 47/26 - Devices influencing the relative position or the attitude of articles during transit by conveyors arranging the articles, e.g. varying spacing between individual articles
B07C 5/342 - Sorting according to other particular properties according to optical properties, e.g. colour
26.
APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SORTING PLANT MATERIAL UNITS
The invention relates to a method and apparatus for sorting plant material units (101), such as seedlings. The plant material units are arranged in a supply tray and distributed over a plurality of further trays, each further tray being dedicated to plant material units with a specific classification value assigned to it. In the method, first, the supply tray (105) is provided. An image of the plant material units in the supply tray is obtained, and on the basis of the obtained image, a classification value is assigned to each of the plant material units. Finally, the plant material units are sorted on the basis of the assigned classification value by transferring plant material units with the same assigned classification value by means of a robot directly from the supply tray to the corresponding further tray.
The present invention relates to an apparatus for placing cuttings of plants in a cultivation medium. The apparatus has a cuttings supply system for supplying a plurality of cuttings, a camera system for identifying cuttings among the plurality of cuttings that are suitable for individual pick up using pattern recognition, a pick-up tool for picking up cuttings identified by the camera system, and a planting system for simultaneously planting multiple cuttings in the cultivation medium. The planting system and the pick-up tool are separate entities. Furthermore, the pick-up tool is arranged for suitably placing picked-up cuttings in the planting system.
The present invention relates to an apparatus for separating objects. The apparatus comprises a conveyor arrangement (1) and an actuator (30). The conveyor arrangement comprises a conveyor belt (10) disposed as an endless loop over two rollers (21, 22). The conveyor belt has a substantially horizontally arranged surface (5) for receiving a plurality of objects. The actuator comprises a drive axis (31), an actuating structure (32) and a connection structure connecting the drive axis with the actuating structure. The drive axis is connectible to a motor to enable rotational movement of the drive axis. The connection unit is arranged for converting the rotational movement into movement of the actuating structure in a direction substantially perpendicular to the object receiving surface plane. The actuating structure is located underneath the conveyor belt for creating movement of the surface in this direction. The conveyor arrangement and the actuator are independently controllable.
B65G 47/26 - Devices influencing the relative position or the attitude of articles during transit by conveyors arranging the articles, e.g. varying spacing between individual articles
29.
GRAFT ELEMENT, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR JOINING PLANT STEM SECTIONS USING SUCH GRAFT ELEMENT, AND SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PREPARING SUCH GRAFT ELEMENT
The present invention relates to a graft element (1) for joining together plant stem sections. The graft element is made of a resilient material and takes the form of a tubular structure having a hollow center that extends in a longitudinal direction so as to form a cylinder (2). The graft element further comprises a side opening (3) along its length and two elongated members. The side opening is connected to the hollow center over the entire length of the graft element. The two elongated members are located at opposite sides of the side opening and oriented substantially parallel thereto. The elongated members are provided with cutouts for receiving a gripping unit. The invention further relates to systems and methods for joining plant stem sections using the graft element. Finally, the invention relates to a system and a method for preparing the graft element.
The present invention relates to an apparatus for placing cuttings of plants in a cultivation medium. The apparatus comprises a cuttings supply system for supplying a plurality of cuttings, a camera system for identifying cuttings among the plurality of cuttings that are suitable for individual pick up using pattern recognition, a pick-up tool for picking up cuttings identified by the camera system, and a planting system for simultaneously planting multiple cuttings in the cultivation medium. The planting system and the pick-up tool are separate entities. Furthermore, the pick-up tool is arranged for suitably placing picked-up cuttings in the planting system.
