ORIENTATION UNIT FOR A FRUIT SORTING AND GRADING MACHINE

摘要

Orientation unit for fruit sorting and grading machine, for rolling apples around its major axis at a fixed rpm depending upon the imaging and processing speed so as to make it possible for the camera to scan the entire periphery of the apple. The orientation unit consists of a pair of rollers (12, 14&15, 16), wherein each of the rollers has a conical profile on one side and a flat laminar surface on the other side to get an apple of any shape oriented with major axis aligned along the axis of rotation. The set of rollers is spring loaded to make it possible for the rollers to move to and for to accommodate apples of size ranging from 60 mm to 100 mm. A rotating belt is provided underneath the said rollers to rotate the fruits at a desired rpm so that a camera with an image processing system can scan the entire periphery of the fruit, the size and shape of, surface bruise and grade them into multiple category in terms of quality.