US 12,345,694 B2
Automatic watermelon inspection apparatus
Sihui Dai, Hunan (CN); Jingjing Huang, Hunan (CN); Ming Li, Hunan (CN); Ting Zou, Hunan (CN); Yongwei Xu, Guangdong (CN); Heming Hu, Hunan (CN); Hongduo Zhang, Hunan (CN); Zhiwei Wang, Hunan (CN); Liang Zhang, Hunan (CN); Jinqi Huang, Hunan (CN); Hao Xiong, Hunan (CN); Yunong Zhou, Hunan (CN); Wenting Zhou, Hunan (CN); Siping Yu, Hunan (CN); and XiongWei Gong, Hunan (CN)
Assigned to Sihui Dai, Changsha (CN)
Filed by Sihui Dai, Hunan (CN)
Filed on Feb. 13, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/168,353.
Claims priority of application No. 202210285855.8 (CN), filed on Mar. 22, 2022; and application No. 2022-144489 (JP), filed on Sep. 12, 2022.
Prior Publication US 2023/0304986 A1, Sep. 28, 2023
Int. Cl. A23N 1/02 (2006.01); G01N 33/02 (2006.01)
CPC G01N 33/025 (2013.01) [A23N 1/02 (2013.01)] 7 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An automatic watermelon inspection apparatus comprising:
a weighing and fixing unit;
a suction unit;
an adjustable cutting unit;
an imaging unit;
a sugar content measuring unit;
a lateral pushing unit;
a crushing and pressing unit;
a seed separating unit; and
a frame, wherein
the suction unit is provided on the frame, sucks a watermelon, and raises or releases the watermelon,
the weighing and fixing unit is provided below the suction unit, and includes a movable workbench switchable between a measuring position and a cutting position, a weighing sensor, and a V-shaped fixing groove for preventing rolling of the watermelon in a front-rear direction,
the adjustable cutting unit is provided on one side of the weighing and fixing unit, and cuts the watermelon located at the cutting position in a horizontal direction,
the sugar content measuring unit is provided above the weighing and fixing unit,
the imaging unit acquires information on an outline image and information on a cross-sectional image of the watermelon, and acquires, by a mounted computer, an outline shape, a cross-sectional shape, a size, a thickness of watermelon rind, and a shape distortion coefficient parameter of the watermelon,
the lateral pushing unit pushes the watermelon located in the V-shaped fixing groove to the crushing and pressing unit, a position of the lateral pushing unit corresponding to the V-shaped fixing groove when the movable workbench moves to the cutting position,
the crushing and pressing unit presses and crushes the watermelon in a manner of forming a gap, and
the seed separating unit separates a watermelon seed, watermelon juice, and watermelon rind from a residue of the watermelon after pressed and crushed by the crushing and pressing unit, and collects the watermelon seed.