Description:FIELD OF INVENTION
[001] The present invention pertains to a sensing system designed specifically for monitoring the top surface level and tea bush gab, with a focus on a real-time mimic system tailored for assisting in the harvest process by accurately sensing the top surface level with the help of multiple independent swing plates.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[002] Tea is a popular beverage consumed worldwide, and the demand for high-quality tea has been increasing in recent years. Tea production involves several processes, including harvesting, with the quality of the harvested tea leaves being a critical factor in determining the final product's quality.

[003] Plucking tea is similar to harvesting other crops. The tender apical portions of the shoots consisting of two to three tender leaves and the terminal buds are nipped off in plucking. This plucking process is the most expensive part of tea cultivation. Because, the quality of tea is largely determined by the quality of the green leaves plucked. To maintain the quality of green leaves, pluckers pick the leaves in tea gardens under strict supervision.

[004] For convenience of plucking, the tea bushes are tipped at a predetermined height and flat plucking tables are formed for convenience before plucking starts.

[005] The challenge is to keep the harvesting chamber corresponding to the formed plucking tables, especially when automatic plucking machines are used involved in the plucking process constantly.

[006] Tea shoot plucking quality may also suffer if uneven-sized tea shoots were plucked. One such solution is automatic and continues level monitoring during the harvesting process that saves times and ensure the quality of tea plucking.

[007] The prior art CN102487667B discloses about the tea-leaf pick-up robot, and belongs to the technical field of agricultural and forestry machinery. The robot comprises a vision system, a processing control circuit, an execution mechanism and a collection device, wherein the lower part of a substrate of the execution mechanism is hinged with an upper arm; the upper end of the upper arm is in transmission connection with a servo motor which is arranged on the substrate, and the lower end of the upper arm is hinged with the upper end of a front arm; the lower end of the front arm is hinged with a movable platform; an optical axis and a screw rod which is in thread engagement with left and right side cutting edges are supported against the lower side of the movable platform; and the screw rod is in transmission connection with a direct-current motor. After the tea-leaf pick-up robot in the invention is adopted, a spatial mechanical arm mechanism can be in position accurately, the left and the right side cutting edges can be used to ensure the completeness of blades, and the whole pick-up process is fully automated, so that the tea-leaf pick-up robot is suitable for pick-up of brand-name and high-quality tea. According to prior art, it is not feasible to harvest large quantities of tender tea shoots in a limited amount of time

[008] The Indian prior art _ (Main Patent) application no: 202341046172 discloses about a harvest assisting real-time mimic system for sensing a top surface level of tea bush and advance prediction method thereof, this is applicant’s co-pending application, it discloses about a real-time mimic system is described for detecting the top surface of tea bush so that tender tea shoots can be harvested at the right height in real time. By means of at least three independently moveable arms, the horizontal mimic plate is positioned at the bottom side of the harvester frame. Each arm is equipped with an encoder that senses the rate at which it extends from a pre-set position. Mainly the harvesting chamber is configured to proportionally mimic the motion of the horizontal mimic plate thereby performing the harvesting with respect to sensed pre-set surface level. The system also includes one more vertical swing plate which is positioned in front of the prime mover. During the operation, the top surface level sensing will be stopped by using the vertical swing plate upon detecting the absence of the tea bush and enabled as soon as a tea bush is detected. It has the ability to solve the present needs. But, there is a further improvement required in terms of further simplifying the sensing plate’s configuration and sensing method.

[009] There is felt a need for a simple automatic level fixing mechanism to tea bush table for continuous operation.

[010] The prior art is having three independently moveable arms of the horizontal mimic plate is positioned at the bottom side of the harvester frame. Each arm is equipped with an encoder that senses the rate at which it extends from a pre-set position. Further the vertical swing plate is positioned in front of the prime mover.

[011] The above previous configurations have been substituted with four separate swing plates. Roll, pitch, and height movements are deduced from input data, enabling real-time adjustment of the harvesting chamber accordingly.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
[012] An object of this invention is to address the shortcomings present in the prior art by offering an automatic mimic system comprising simple detecting mechanism designed for detecting the top surface level of tea bushes. This system ensures precise sensing of the top surface and facilitates the harvesting of tender tea shoots at the predetermined height, thereby fulfilling the requirement for automatic top surface sensing of tea bush fields.

[013] Another object of the present invention is to provide a simple solution for complex top sensing process.

[014] Yet another object of the invention is to achieve the top surface sensing through a simple four swing plates configuration.

[015] Yet another object of the intention is to provide an encoder with each of the independently moveable swing plates configured to sense the rate of level of extension from a pre-set position.

[016] Yet another object of the invention is to configure the harvesting chamber proportionally mimic the combined motion of the said four independently movable swing plates.

[017] Yet another object of the invention provide an encoder for a vertical swing plate that can be used to detect the absence of tea bush during harvesting by monitoring deflection rates.

[018] Yet another object of the invention, the top surface level sensing will be stopped by using the vertical swing plate upon detecting the absence of the tea bush and enabled as soon as a tea bush is detected.

[019] Yet another object of the invention is to provide an autonomous moving vehicle as a prime mover to performing harvesting operation.

[020] Other object of the present application will be highly appreciated and be easily understood upon reading the detailed description taking into consideration the appended drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[021] To achieve the above mentioned objects of the present invention, there is provided a harvest assisting real-time mimic system, which is designed to sense the top surface level and facilitate harvesting efficiently. It comprises a harvester frame attached to a prime mover, allowing transverse movement of the harvester frame. The harvester chamber is actuated through independently actuatable arms, with vertical swing plates adjacently situated at each corner of the harvesting chamber. These swing plates, positioned in a frontal plane, achieve swing movement along the lateral axis of the harvester chamber upon interaction with a tea bush. Equipped with encoders, the swing plates sense the rate of rotation upon engagement with the tea bush. A control system manages the movement of the harvester chamber, controlling pitch, roll, and vertical movement based on inputs from the swing plates and their corresponding encoder inputs. Additionally, the control system identifies the absence of a tea bush and stabilizes the harvester chamber accordingly, operating the harvester only when interacting with the tea bush.

[022] Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[023] For a fuller understanding of the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:
[024] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of the proposed invention.
[025] FIG. 2 illustrates the sectional perspective view of a real-time mimic system.
[026] FIG. 3 illustrates the sectional side view of the real-time mimic system and
[027] FIG. 4 illustrates a bottom view of the real-time mimic system.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
S.NO Components Reference numeral
1. A Real-Time Mimic System 101
2. Vertical swing plates 102 (102 a,b,c &d)
3. Encoder(s) 103 (103 a,b,c &d)
4. Harvesting chamber 104
5. Arms of Harvesting chamber 105
6. Harvester frame 106
7. Control system 107
8. Wheel 108
9. Actuators of harvesting chamber 109
10. Horizontal member 110
11. Gear box 111
12. Control system 112
13. Prime mover 113
14. Motor 114
15. Sliding member 115

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[028] As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein, however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized, and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

[029] All referenced methods are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Furthermore, where a definition or use of a term in a reference, which is incorporated by reference herein, is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.

[030] While certain aspects of conventional technologies have been discussed to facilitate disclosure of the invention, Applicants in no way disclaim these technical aspects, and it is contemplated that the claimed invention may encompass one or more of the conventional technical aspects discussed herein.

[031] The present invention may address one or more of the problems and deficiencies of the prior art discussed above. However, it is contemplated that the invention may prove useful in addressing other problems and deficiencies in a number of technical areas. Therefore, the claimed invention should not necessarily be construed as limited to addressing any of the particular problems or deficiencies discussed herein.

[032] In this specification, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date, publicly available, known to the public, part of common general knowledge, or otherwise constitutes prior art under the applicable statutory provisions; or is known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which this specification is concerned.

[033] As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. As used in this specification and the appended claims, the term “or” is generally employed in its sense including “and/or” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[034] FIG.1 illustrates a rear view of harvest assisting real time mimic system especially.

[035] FIG.2 illustrates a side view of the harvest assisting real time mimic system.

[036] The advantages set forth above, and those made apparent from the foregoing description, are efficiently attained. Since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matters contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
[037] It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention that, as a matter of language, might be said to fall there between.
, Claims:WE CLAIM:
1. A harvest assisting real time mimic system (1) for sensing a top surface level consisting of;
a. a harvester frame (106) attached to a prime mover (113);
b. the harvester frame (103) being moved transversely by the prime mover (113),
c. the harvester chamber (104) being actuated through at least three independently actuatable arms (105),
characterized in that
d. a vertical plate, hinged at its upper region to a horizontal member (110), establishes a vertical swing plate (102),
e. at least four vertical swing plates (102a, 102b, 102c and 102d) situated adjacent to each corner of the harvester chamber (104),
f. wherein, each vertical swing plates (102a, 102b, 102c and 102d) positioned in a frontal plane, configured to achieve swing movement along the lateral axis of the harvester chamber (104) by interacting with a tea bush situated in the transverse plane, the vertical swing plates (102a, 102b, 102c and 102d) returns to its original position alternatively aided by gravity after interaction,
g. wherein, each swing plate (102a, 102b, 102c and 102d) includes an encoder (103a, 103b, 103c and 103d) configured to sense the rate of level of rotation from a pre-set position upon engaging with the tea bush,
h. a control system (112) configured to control the movement of the harvester chamber (104) specifically pitch, roll and vertical movement in response to the vertical swing plates (102a, 102b, 102c and 102d) and its corresponding encoder inputs (103a,103b,103c and 103d) interacting with the top surface of the tea bush thereby forming the harvest assisting real time mimic system to perform harvesting,
i. wherein the control system is further configured to controls the functioning of the harvester chamber (104) based on inputs from the vertical swing plates (102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d) and identifies the initial absence of a tea bush through swing plates (102a and 102b), and stabilizes the harvester chamber (104) upon sensing the absence of the tea bush using the swing plates (102c and 102d) positioned in the rear end of the harvester chamber (104) thereby operating the harvester only at the time of interacting with the tea bush.

2. The harvest assisting real time mimic system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the prime mover (113) is an autonomous moving vehicle.

3. The harvest assisting real time mimic system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said harvester frame (106) includes motor (114), arm frame, sliding member (115) and gear box (111).

4. A method for operating a harvest assisting real-time mimic system for sensing a top surface level, comprising the steps of:
a. attaching a harvester frame (16) to a prime mover (113),
b. transversely moving the harvester frame (103) using the prime mover (113),
c. actuating the harvester chamber (104) through at least three independently actuatable arms (105),
d. establishing a vertical swing plate (102) by hinging a vertical plate at its upper region to a horizontal member,

characterized in that
e. situating at least four vertical swing plates (102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d) adjacent to each corner of the harvester chamber (104);
f. positioning each vertical swing plate (102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d) in a frontal plane, configuring them to achieve swing movement along the lateral axis of the harvester chamber (104) by interacting with a tea bush situated in the transverse plane, and alternatively returning them to their original position aided by gravity after interaction;
g. equipping each swing plate (102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d) with an encoder (103a, 103b, 103c and 104d) configured to sense the rate or level of rotation from a pre-set position upon engaging with the tea bush,
h. implementing a control system (112) to control the movement of the harvester chamber (104), specifically pitch, roll, and vertical movement, in response to the vertical swing plates (102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d) and their corresponding encoder inputs (103a, 103b, 103c and 104d) interacting with the top surface of the tea bush, thereby forming the harvest assisting real-time mimic system to perform harvesting,
i. further configuring the control system to control the functioning of the harvester chamber (104) based on inputs from the vertical swing plates (102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d), detecting the initial absence of a tea bush through swing plates (102a and 102b), and stabilizing the harvester chamber (104) upon sensing the absence of the tea bush using the swing plates (102c and 102d), thereby operating the harvester only at the time of interacting with the tea bush.