DESC:Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to the field of mechanical engineering.

Particularly, this invention relates to the field of agricultural equipment.

Specifically, this invention relates a tendu leaf plucking and collecting tool.

Background of the Invention:
Collecting Tendu leaves is one of the important sources of income in tribal regions. This a tedious, arduous, and cumbersome process. However, this method cannot be automated completely since the cost of the machine cannot outweigh the cost of leaves.

Tendu leaves are obtained from Tendu tree (Diospyros melanoxylon Roxb.) belonging to Family Ebenaceae, which is endemic to Indian sub-continent. According to Troup (1921) Diospyros melanoxylon (inclusive of D. tomentosa and D. tupru) is one of the most characteristic trees of the dry deciduous forests throughout India, covering the entire Indian peninsula the area of distribution extends upto Nepal in sub-Himalayan tracts including the Indian plain, Gangetic plain, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, western coast up to Malabar and Eastern coast upto Coromandel. The plant is also met with on the Nilgiris and Serawalli hills in the south.

Bidi rolling is the primary job which is very simple and can be done at any place at any time. It is a source of subsidiary occupation and supplementary income to lakhs of poor rural folk Bidi industry provides employment to the rural population during off season for collection of bidi leaves. Obviously, bidi industry has a vital role in rural welfare and in promoting rural economy.

The procedure for collection and processing of tendu leaves has almost been standardised and almost the same procedure is used everywhere. The tendu plants are pruned in the months of February and March and the mature leaves are collected after about 45 days. The leaves are collected in bundles of 50 to 100 leaves, which are dried in sunlight for about a week. The dried leaves are sprinkled with water to soften them and then filled tightly in jute bags and exposed to direct sunlight for 2 days. The bags, thus packed and cured can be stored till their use in Bidi manufacture. Great care is needed while plucking, curing and storage of tendu leaves. It is a sensitive product and with the slightest mistakes or oversight during any of these processes their quality deteriorates rendering them unfit for making Bidis.

Diospyros melanoxylon leaf is considered the most suitable wrapper on account of the ease with which it can be rolled and its wide availability.

Therefore, there is a need for a semi-automated tool which overcomes the drudgery of manual plucking and collecting.

Objects of the Invention:
An object of the invention is to enable manual collectors of leaves to collect more number of leaves in the same time span.

Another object of the invention is to enable manual collectors of leaves, specifically tendu leaves, to collect more number of leaves in the same time span.

Yet another object of the invention is to reduce drudgery in plucking and collection of leaves.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a tool which caters to stems of multiple sizes for leaf plucking.

Summary of the Invention:
According to this invention, there is provided a tendu collecting and leaf plucking tool comprising:
- an elongate body with a Y-shaped fork at its operative distal end;
- a pair of cutting blades inserted from grooves provided at said operative distal end, said blades projecting operatively outwards from said elongate body; and
- said blades comprise plates to hold leaves after they are cut, each of said plates comprising grooves throughout their inner surface to collect leaves.

Typically, said tool comprises a thumb grip at the lateral sides of said elongate body, to provide for ergonomic handling of said tool.

Typically, said operative proximal part of said elongate shaft is a handle.

Typically, said blades project operatively outwards out of the plane of said Y-shaped fork.

Preferably, said blades blades are metallic blades and enabled to pluck the leaves off a stem.

Typically, a plurality of grooves are located adjacent to each other to form a series of grooves on said plates.

Brief Description of the Accompanying Drawings:
The invention will now be described in relation to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates an isometric view of the tool;

Figure 2 illustrates a front view of the tool;

Figure 3 illustrates a side view of the tool; and

Figure 4 illustrates a top view of the tool.

Detailed Description of the Accompanying Drawings:
According to this invention, there is provided a tendu collecting and leaf plucking tool.

Figure 1 illustrates an isometric view of the tool of this invention.

Figure 2 illustrates a front view of the tool of this invention.

Figure 3 illustrates a side view of the tool of this invention.

Figure 4 illustrates a top view of the tool of this invention.

In accordance with an embodiment of this invention, there is provided an elongate body with a Y-shaped fork (6) at its operative distal end. This is the end which is used for plucking. A thumb grip (5) is provided, at the lateral sides of this elongate body, to provide for ergonomic handling of this tool. The operative proximal part of this elongate shaft provides for a handle (3). This handle is the operative proximal end used by the user of the tool for holding the tool.

In accordance with another embodiment of this invention, there is provided a pair of cutting blades inserted from grooves (4) provided at the operative distal end. The blades project operatively outwards from the elongate body, typically out of the plane of the Y-shaped fork (6). Typically, these blades are metallic blades and enabled to pluck the leaves off the stem. The blades extend from the handle. Essentially, this configuration forms a substantially Y-shaped tool with the forks of the Y resembling the pair of blades.

In accordance with yet another embodiment of this invention, these blades comprise plates (2) to hold leaves after they are cut. Further, each of these plates comprises grooves (1) throughout their inner surface to collect leaves. A plurality of grooves may be located adjacent to each other to form a series of grooves.

A user fits the tool over the base of a stem according to the size of the stem and pulls the tool upwards. As a resultant the blade detaches the leaves from the stem and holds them in the pit. When enough leaves are collected they can be removed from the pits.

The INVENTIVE STEP of this invention lies in providing a tool for plucking and collecting leaves, which tool caters to stems of various girth sizes. Furthermore,, this invention enables users (manual collectors) to collect more number of leaves within the same time manually, thus reducing drudgery

While this detailed description has disclosed certain specific embodiments of the present invention for illustrative purposes, various modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims, and it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation.
,CLAIMS:I Claim,

1. A tendu collecting and leaf plucking tool comprising:
- an elongate body with a Y-shaped fork at its operative distal end;
- a pair of cutting blades inserted from grooves provided at said operative distal end, said blades projecting operatively outwards from said elongate body; and
- said blades comprise plates to hold leaves after they are cut, each of said plates comprising grooves throughout their inner surface to collect leaves.

2. A tendu collecting and leaf plucking tool as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tool comprising a thumb grip at the lateral sides of said elongate body, to provide for ergonomic handling of said tool.

3. A tendu collecting and leaf plucking tool as claimed in claim 1, wherein said operative proximal part of said elongate shaft being a handle.

4. A tendu collecting and leaf plucking tool as claimed in claim 1, wherein said blades projecting operatively outwards out of the plane of said Y-shaped fork.

5. A tendu collecting and leaf plucking tool as claimed in claim 1, wherein said blades blades are metallic blades and enabled to pluck the leaves off a stem.

6. A tendu collecting and leaf plucking tool as claimed in claim 1, wherein a plurality of grooves are located adjacent to each other to form a series of grooves on said plates.
Dated this 12th day of November 2016

(Dr. Shilpa H. Gharve)
Agent for the Applicant