CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] The present application claims priority from US Provisional Application No. 61/036,176, filed on August 11, 2008, which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to novel device and method for sorting flowers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] Most cut flowers are harvested selectively. In the course of the harvest season the ripe flowers are harvested on a daily basis or at short time intervals. "Green ornamental branches" (green branches and leaves used as fillers in flower bouquets) can usually be harvested at longer intervals, since they participate in the plant assimilation process, age more slowly and, therefore, retain their desired appearance for longer periods. Thus, the field itself becomes an operational buffer, managed according to the market demand, and this enables efficient use of the limited labor available to the farmer. [0004] The leucadendron belongs to the Proteaceae family and is grown as a 'flowering orchards' field crop. A flowering plant could yield up to 50 branches of various heights, and it requires low temperatures to develop the special color of its inflorescence preferred by the markets. The branches are usually harvested manually and selectively, according to their quality and market demand. However, if necessary, they can remain in the field for a very long period without losing quality.

[0005] The differences among the leucadendron development and maturity stages can lead to harvesting of different products. In the early stages of development, before the inflorescences develop, the color of the branch and the inflorescence sheath is deep red. At a later stage, after the differentiation for flowering, the sheaths spread open, change their color to attractive autumn hues, and acquire the shape of flowers. At a later stage a small cone-shape fruit develops at the center of the head. [0006] Mechanization of the harvest of flowers in general and the leucadendron in particular emphasizes the need for efficient means of sorting and grading of the harvested flowers at the packing house. Since the flowers are harvested non-selectively by the harvester, the work needs to be done for sorting the flowers increases. However, regardless of a mechanical harvester even when harvested selectively by hand, flowers need to be sorted and graded at the packing house.

[0007] Different flowers are sorted according to different criteria. In many cases one of those criteria is the size of the inflorescence (hereinafter the flower's "head"). In the case of leuadendron, besides quality criteria such as color, wholeness of leaves, stem straightness etc., the size of the head (particularly the height) dictates the length to which the stem must be cut and subsequently the grade of the flower. Most growers employ workers who manually grade the flowers by visually judging and estimating the flower's head size. Workers would pick among the harvested flowers those which look similar in head size and then would place them on stems cutting machine. Once the largest flowers have been sorted out, the workers would handle flowers with smaller heads, and so on until they reach the end of a batch. Then the workers would take another batch and treat it similarly. Using another concept, workers visually estimate a flower's size and place it together with flowers of similar head sizes and then groups of similar sizes are placed on the stems cutting machine. These operations are very intensive in manual work and therefore expensive and rather slow.

[0008] At a certain stage of the season, when the leucadendron orchard bears a high percentage of fully mature branches and the market demand is high, efficient harvesting and high throughput are required. The common practice is to carry out multiple manual selective harvests during approximately 6 months. In light of the constantly diminishing availability of farm workers, a mechanical harvester for flowers such as leucadendron branches had been developed and commercially used since 2006.

[0009] Levinstein has described an apparatus for sorting flowers according to length in US Patent 3,743,092. The apparatus comprises an elongated framework, a conveyor chain and flower receiving trays constituted by a plurality of spaced flat fingers bent angularly and fixed with their one end to the bar. The problem with this apparatus is that the fingers holding the flowers are not flexible and the apparatus is therefore limited in holding flowers of different sizes. Furthermore, the apparatus described in US Patent 3,743,092 occupies large space and is therefore not suitable for small packing houses. [0010] Thus, there is a need in the art for a flowers sorting device that will be more efficient with respect to gripping the flowers and that will occupy minimal space in the packing house.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Applicants have developed a novel device for sorting and grading flowers consisting of a conveyor, grippers, cameras and optical sensors, controller, cutting mechanisms, pneumatic system and flower bins.

[0012] According to one aspect of the present invention, multiple grippers are mounted on a conveyor at adequate distances. Flowers are hanged or placed on the grippers and conveyed through an inspection chamber comprising illumination and cameras (or other optical sensors). A computer software identifies each flower which passes through the inspection chamber, acquires digital images provided by the cameras and analyses the images for inspection of the flower's head and stem according to dimensions, shape and color criteria.

[0013] The device further includes a controller, which receives information about the flower's grade, follows its position as it is being conveyed out of the inspection chamber and activates a pneumatic system which ejects it from the gripper into its destination grade-bin.

[0014] According to another aspect of the invention, the gripper consists of two arms that are mounted on, or are a part of a flexible structure, which enables the gap between them to vary (or change) according to the width of an element, which is inserted between them, said arms are able to move in parallel or angularly with respect to each other.

[0015] According to another aspect of the invention, the stem of a flower is inserted in between the two arms, close to the point where the flower head begins and with the flower head placed 'above' the arms. The stem pushes the arms open according to its thickness while it is pushed into the gripper. When it is pushed all the way and contacts a stopper, which stops its inward movement, the stem is lightly pulled downwards, until the flower's 'base' (henceforth the "neck" of the flower) comes into contact with the arms and the stem cannot be pulled further.

[0016] According to another aspect, the present invention provides a new method of positioning the flower for simplifying the inspection by optical means, said method is based on a gripper into which a single flower is simply inserted. The structure of the gripper enables positioning the flower at a know position so that the "base line" for inspection, the connection between the stem and the flower head, is in a fixed and constant location regardless of the flower size.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0017] Figure 1 depicts the flower gripper design 1. [0018] Figure 2 depicts the flower gripper design 2. [0019] Figure 3 depicts the side view of the flower gripper design 2. [0020] Figure 4 depicts the general view of the sorting device equipped with a series of grippers.

[0021] Figure 5 depicts close up picture of the gripper mounted on a conveyor. [0022] Figure 6 depicts a close up picture of the grippers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0023] Applicants have developed a novel device for sorting and grading flowers consisting of a conveyor, grippers, controller, cameras and optical sensors, computer software, cutting mechanisms, pneumatic system and flower bins.

[0024] According to one aspect of the present invention, the device enables for positioning flowers in a specific position so as to permit simplified inspection of the flowers for dimensions, shape and color as described and illustrated herein.

[0025] According to another aspect of the present invention, the device enables for connecting point between the inflorescence and the stem, which is positioned at a fixed reference position. [0026] The said gripper is suitable for holding flowers such as Leucadendron, Rose, Gerbera, Dianthus, Allium and the like.

[0027] According to another aspect of the present invention multiple grippers are mounted on a conveyor at adequate distances. Flowers are hanged or placed on the grippers and conveyed through an inspection chamber comprising illumination and cameras (or other optical sensors). A computer software identifies each flower which passes through the inspection chamber, acquires digital images provided by the cameras and analyses the images for inspection of the flower's head and stem according to dimensions, shape and color criteria.

[0028] According to another aspect of the invention, the gripper consists of two arms that are mounted on or are a part of a flexible structure, which enables the gap between them to change according to the width of an element, which is inserted between them, said arms are able to move in parallel or angularly with respect to each other.

[0029] According to another aspect of the invention, the stem of a flower is inserted in between the two arms, close to the point where the flower's head begins and with the flower head placed 'above' the arms.

[0030] According to another aspect of the invention, the stem pushes the arms open according to its thickness while it is pushed into the gripper. Then the stem is gently pulled downwards, until the flower's 'base' (henceforth the "neck" of the flower) comes into contact with the gripper's arms and the stem cannot be pulled further.

[0031] The unique design of the said gripper facilitates simple positioning of the flower at a fixed reference position, regardless of the flower head size or the stem thickness.

[0032] Thus, the present invention enables novel flower arrangement, wherein flowers are placed at a fixed reference point (baseline), so that when they are conveyed through the inspection chamber and in front of the cameras and sensors, the inspection is greatly simplified by using the reference point as a baseline. The head's dimensions, shape and color are easily assessed above the reference baseline and the stem's dimensions, shape and color are easily assessed below the reference baseline. [0033] The device further includes a controller, which receives information about the flower's grade as decided by the images analysis software and guideline defined by the user, follows its position as it is being conveyed out of the inspection chamber and activates a pneumatic system which ejects it from the gripper into its destination grade- bin.

[0034] According to another aspect, the optical sensor enables for head dimensions, shape and color inspections, which are simplified to a search above a reference baseline.

[0035] According to another aspect of the invention, the gripper enables efficient conveyance of flowers towards the inspection chamber, simple and precise stem length cutting and offloading of flowers into its destination bin (the grade compartment or the bundling station).

[0036] According to another aspect, the present invention provides a new method of positioning the flower for simplifying the inspection by optical means, said method is based on a gripper into which a single flower is simply inserted. The structure of the gripper enables positioning the flower at a know position so that the "base line" for inspection, the connection between the stem and the flower head, is in a fixed and constant location regardless of the flower size.

[0037] According to another aspect of the invention, the gripper enables efficient conveyance of flowers towards the inspection chamber. Since the flowers are hanged on the grippers in a vertical position and since the system is designed for ejection of the flowers from the grippers into their destination bins, it does not require a flipping or turning motion of the gripper. Thus, the distance between successive flowers can be minimal and more flowers per meter length can be hanged on the conveyor and the sorting machine becomes smaller.

[0038] All references, including publications, patent applications, and patents, cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein.

[0039] The use of the terms "a" and "an" and "the" and similar referents in the context of describing the invention (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The terms "comprising," "having," "including," and "containing" are to be construed as open-ended terms (Le., meaning "including, but not limited to,") unless otherwise noted. Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., "such as") provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention.

[0040] Various aspects of this invention are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention. Variations of those aspects may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. The inventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate, and the inventors intend for the invention to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein. Accordingly, this invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.