	US 12,496,620 B2
	Fruit sorting equipment
Bruce Thomas Morley, Buninyong (AU)
Assigned to Ottimo Design Pty Ltd, (AU)
Appl. No. 18/566,739
Filed by Ottimo Design Pty Ltd, Buninyong (AU)
PCT Filed Jun. 16, 2022, PCT No. PCT/AU2022/050597 § 371(c)(1), (2) Date Dec. 4, 2023, PCT Pub. No. WO2022/261710, PCT Pub. Date Dec. 22, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. 2021901839 (AU), filed on Jun. 18, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2024/0261825 A1, Aug. 8, 2024
Int. Cl. B07C 5/36 (2006.01); B07C 5/342 (2006.01); B65G 17/16 (2006.01); B65G 17/24 (2006.01); B65G 17/36 (2006.01); B65G 47/244 (2006.01)

CPC B07C 5/36 (2013.01) [B07C 5/342 (2013.01); B65G 17/16 (2013.01); B65G 17/24 (2013.01); B65G 17/36 (2013.01); B65G 47/244 (2013.01); B07C 2501/009 (2013.01); B65G 2201/0211 (2013.01)]

20 Claims

1. Fruit sorting equipment comprising interlinked carriages forming a conveyor driven in a conveying loop to move in a conveying direction, each carriage having a fruit carrier attached to the carriage to pivot about a pivot axis, each carrier supporting two longitudinally spaced pairs of axially rotatable rollers that support the fruit above the carrier, each roller in the pair of rollers having a periphery that tapers downwardly towards a centre of the carrier wherein the fruit is configured to locate on the roller peripheries, and driving means in the form of a continuous belt or chain that spans along the carriages in the conveying direction and engages the underside of at least one of the rollers or at least one of the pairs of rollers to cause the rollers to axially rotate.