US 12,369,526 B1
Flexible-rigid integrated gripper for harvesting fruits and vegetables in breaking-off manner and harvesting robot
Ya Xiong, Beijing (CN); Lichao Yang, Beijing (CN); Yuanyue Ge, Beijing (CN); Sen Lin, Beijing (CN); Haitao Li, Beijing (CN); and Liping Chen, Beijing (CN)
Assigned to INTELLIGENT EQUIPMENT RESEARCH CENTER, BEIJING ACADEMY OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY SCIENCES, Beijing (CN)
Filed by Intelligent Equipment Research Center, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing (CN)
Filed on Jan. 7, 2025, as Appl. No. 19/011,885.
Claims priority of application No. 202411098081 (CN), filed on Aug. 12, 2024.
Int. Cl. A01D 46/24 (2006.01); A01D 45/00 (2018.01); A01D 46/30 (2006.01)
CPC A01D 46/24 (2013.01) [A01D 45/006 (2013.01); A01D 46/30 (2013.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A flexible-rigid integrated gripper for harvesting fruits and vegetables in a breaking-off manner, comprising:
a base,
a driving member connected to the base, and
a flexible harvesting mechanism, the flexible harvesting mechanism comprises:
a rigid member; and
a flexible body arranged on the base and internally provided with a mounting space in fit with the rigid member, wherein the rigid member is arranged in the mounting space, and wherein in a direction away from the base, a thickness of a side wall of the flexible body gradually decreases, the mounting space gradually increases, and a flexible harvesting opening in fit with a fruit/vegetable is formed by an inner side surface of the flexible body;
when the flexible body is exhausted, a size of the flexible harvesting opening gradually reduces in the direction away from the base; and when the flexible body is inflated, the size of the flexible harvesting opening gradually increases in the direction away from the base; and
the driving member is configured to drive the base to move, thus harvesting a fruit/vegetable inside the flexible harvesting opening;
wherein the flexible body comprises a plurality of independent flexible cavity bodies which are circumferentially arranged around a central point, each of the flexible cavity bodies is an independent sealing unit and has an independent inflation and exhausting interface; the rigid member comprises a plurality of rigid rods, each of the rigid rods corresponds to a corresponding one of the flexible cavity bodies in the flexible body, each of the flexible cavity bodies is provided with a flexible chamber which is internally arranged with a corresponding one of the rigid rods, one end of the corresponding one of the rigid rods is fixed to a bottom wall of the flexible chamber and an other end of the corresponding one of the rigid rods is freely suspended or connected to a supporting frame; and
wherein in the direction away from the base, a thickness of a side wall of each of the flexible cavity bodies gradually decreases, the flexible chamber gradually increases, a diameter of each of the rigid rods gradually increases; and a gap is reserved between a periphery of the corresponding one of the rigid rods and an inner wall of the flexible chamber.