Articles
Development and experimental study of a three arm track-type flower/fruit thinner for longan
Article number
1447_21
Pages
177 – 184
Language
English
Abstract
Longan is an important tropical fruit cash crop.
Thinning can effectively improve fruit quality and economic benefits.
Compared with traditional manual and chemical methods, mechanical thinning has obvious advantages.
However, the angle of longan tree shape is variable and the working distance is difficult to adjust, making existing equipment unsuitable.
In order to improve operational efficiency and reduce costs, an adaptive brush mechanism with profiling and displacement functions was developed, considering different tree shape characteristics.
This mechanism enables quickly adjustment of angle, distance and speed, and improves the efficiency of flower or fruit thinning.
The experiment of thinning flowers and fruits with this mechanical thinner was conducted in standard spacing longan orchards.
The profiling mechanism could effectively profile the canopy at different angles, and the displacement mechanism proved sensitive to the distance during approaching or leaving the canopy.
In addition, the rotational speed of the brush rod was shown to have a significant impact on the thinning rate, and mechanical thinning improved fruit set.
The results show that the optimal parameters for fruit thinning include a brush rod speed of 350 rpm, a rubber strip spacing of 40 mm, and a travel speed of 0.3 m s‑1. Quality analysis of mature fruit proved that mechanical thinning also improved longan fruit quality.
Thinning can effectively improve fruit quality and economic benefits.
Compared with traditional manual and chemical methods, mechanical thinning has obvious advantages.
However, the angle of longan tree shape is variable and the working distance is difficult to adjust, making existing equipment unsuitable.
In order to improve operational efficiency and reduce costs, an adaptive brush mechanism with profiling and displacement functions was developed, considering different tree shape characteristics.
This mechanism enables quickly adjustment of angle, distance and speed, and improves the efficiency of flower or fruit thinning.
The experiment of thinning flowers and fruits with this mechanical thinner was conducted in standard spacing longan orchards.
The profiling mechanism could effectively profile the canopy at different angles, and the displacement mechanism proved sensitive to the distance during approaching or leaving the canopy.
In addition, the rotational speed of the brush rod was shown to have a significant impact on the thinning rate, and mechanical thinning improved fruit set.
The results show that the optimal parameters for fruit thinning include a brush rod speed of 350 rpm, a rubber strip spacing of 40 mm, and a travel speed of 0.3 m s‑1. Quality analysis of mature fruit proved that mechanical thinning also improved longan fruit quality.
Authors
G. Ling, Z. Li, T. Wang, Y. Cao
Keywords
longan, multi-arm, flower thinning machine, test
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