Tea Leaf Harvesting Machine

Field of Invention:

The instant invention broadly relates to the field of Mechanical Engineering. In general the instant invention relates to the field of agricultural technology. Particularly this invention relates to agricultural machinery. More particularly this invention relates to machinery for Tea Industry. Precisely, this invention relates to a Tea Leaf Harvesting Machine (TLHM).

Background of the Invention:

The following description narrates the state of art, the problems associated with said prior arts and the solutions thereof as offered by the instant invention.

Traditionally and conventionally, tea leaf is harvested by hand plucking or shearing, which is both lab our and time intensive and has low productivity. Hand plucking is the most selective method of harvesting as it enables complete removal of dormant shoots and harvest of ready shoots ensuring leaf quality and causing minimal damage to tender leaves. In recent times, availability of efficient and trained laborers is insufficient and the cost of lab our has increased considerably due to socio-economic transformation. Under these circumstances mechanization of field operations became a feasible alternative.

Mechanization of tea leaf harvesting results in improvement in spread and density of tea bushes to such an extent that making passage through it becomes difficult, giving the tea field an almost unbroken sheet. It also reduces wind damage, weed growth and also results in better soil cover, crop protection and reduction in weeding costs. However, the mechanical harvesting has its own disadvantages. Due to mechanized plucking the stems are damaged, resulting in reduction of photosynthetic activity by about 30%. The differentiation of mature and ready leaves from immature and overgrown leaves is often difficult. Further, the harvested tea leaves are more often damaged.

Indian patent 9360 discloses a tea-leaf cutting machine for cutting of the essential leaves from the tea bushes. The 9360 machine has a tray and series of cutting blades at its front. One person carries the machine and pushes the machine over the bushes while another man operates a handle causing the blades to move and cut the leaves. The machine is excessively large and requires more than one person for operation. The machine is difficult to operate where the bushes are close together.

Another Indian patent 14338 discloses machines and methods for plucking tea leaf It claims a hand operable plucking machine comprising a tray to hold the cut leaf, a plurality of prongs on edge of the said tray to engage the leaf and a round disc with cutting teeth. The leaves are cut while pushing the machine against the leaf and are collected in the tray. Here also the machine is heavy for a worker to operate for a long duration. The efficiency to cut ready shoots is low as it requires the machine to be positioned exactly.

The Indian patent 173918 claims shears for use in tea plantations comprising a pair of cutting knife blades attached to handles characterized by a receptacle fitted to one blade and a pusher fitted to another blade and an adjuster to adjust the distance between receptacle and blades. The main disadvantage in this machine is the need of physical strength by the operator of the machine which is therefore strenuous and hence less productive. Yet another Indian patent 198084 discloses a hand held tea leaf harvester comprising an electronic drive and air compressor driven by a diesel engine.

WO9302544 teaches a tea harvesting equipment which is supported on the tea bush canopy without any ground contact, comprising a framework carrying either belts or wheels/rollers which are located at least partially below the framework and a cutter assembly besides other accessories. WO2010070671 discloses a harvesting machine to separate and collect shoots from plants, comprising; a frame, roller shafts, cutter shafts, spacers and drive source mounted at top of the frame by means of an intermediate transmission shaft. Many other non-Indian patent docimients viz., JP2004357510, JP2005110603 and JP2007028925 disclose tea leaf harvesters which are travelling type or riding type, their main disadvantages being their huge dimension, cost and dependency on a motorized mobile imit.

So, in nutshell the main disadvantages of the various prior arts are
i) inconveniently heavy and bulky in design
ii) harms the tea bush as the shoots are not clinically thick to avoid damage to the surface foliage
iii) cumbersome to handle as the existing machines often require more than one person, at the same time, to operate it and
iv) operating cost is high as they depend on fossil fuels and are thus not environmental friendly.

Objectives of the invention:

The main objectives of the instant TLHM is
i) to ensure high harvesting efficiency thereby increasing productivity without
compromising on crop safety ii) to reduce plucking cost iii) to reduce cutting time iv) to maintain uniform plucking table v) to provide alternative solution to man power shortage and vi) to add value to cost efficient mechanization of garden and field operations in tea industry.

The primary objective of the invention is to provide an alternative novel single operator operable electro-mechanical Tea Leaf Harvesting Machine (TLHM).

Another objective of the invention is to provide a novel TLHM which will harvest ready shoots and maximize yield.

It is another objective of the invention to provide a novel TLHM which will reduce physical lab our.

It is another objective of the invention to provide a novel TLHM which will effectively utilize land productivity.

Further objectives of the invention will be clear from the following description.

The present TLHM is electro-mechanically operated thus making harvesting easier, more effective and productive. The operator's exhaustion is considerably reduced.

Now the invention will be expressed in the following description. The description will be with reference to accompanying drawings in the specification. The nature of the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed is clearly brought out in the complete specification as narrated below.

Brief description of the invention

The instant invention is about a Tea Leaf Harvesting Machine (TLHM) comprising a cutter assembly with spring loaded rotary cutters, a bottom plate or base assembly on which a plurality of gear arrangement and drive attachments comprising drive, drive circuit further engrossed on drive mounting plate are mounted, the said cutter assembly being riveted to a blower unit which is further connected to a receptacle through a conduit chute, the said receptacle being further attached to a leaf collection bag or leaf dump through a conduit hose, a handle left and a handle right being respectively riveted at top and bottom of frontal cover which is further attached with the leaf receptacle, a drive casing attached at the side of the frontal cover.

Brief description about the accompanying drawings

The instant invention is described in relation to the accompanying drawings as mentioned below by referring to one of the various possible embodiments thereof

Figure 1 - Elevational view of the complete TLHM assembly

Figure 2 - Cross sectional (C-C) view of the TLHM assembly

Figure 3 - An exploded view of the TLHM assembly illustrating individual components thereof

Figure 4 - Top (4a) and side (4b) views of the leaf receptacle (ELTH-10), conduit hose (ELTH 18) and leaf dump (ELTH 19) assembly

Figure 5 - Front (5a) and side (5b) views of cutter assembly (ELTH-01)

Figure 6 - Elevational (6a), side (6b) and cross sectional (6c) [A-A] of blower unit (ELTH-15)

Figure 7 - Side (7a), front (7b) and top (7a) views of gear arrangement (ELTH-03) with cutter assembly (ELTH-01) and cutter motor (ELTH-03 :D)

Figure 8 - Block diagram illustrating the functional connectivity between battery charging circuit (ELTH-09), battery (ELTH-20), drive circuit (ELTH-05), cutter assembly motor (ELTH-03 :D) and blower motor (ELTH-22).

Detail description of the invention

The instant invention is about a light weight, single operator operable, hand held Electro-mechanical Tea Leaf Harvesting Machine (TLHM) which comprises a cutter assembly (ELTH-01) with plurality of rotary cutters (ELTH-01:C) fixed on a shaft (ELTH-01 :E), the said cutters further loaded with springs (ELTH-01:A) and fixed at one end on bottom plate (ELTH-11) or base assembly and another end on drive mounting plate (ELTH-07) by means of bearings (ELTH-02) on which a plurality of gear arrangement (ELTH-03) and drive attachments comprising drive (ELTH-06), drive circuit (ELTH-05) further engrossed on a drive mounting plate (ELTH-07) are mounted, the said cutter assembly (ELTH-01) being riveted to a blower unit (ELTH-15) which is further connected to a leaf receptacle (ELTH-10) through a conduit chute (ELTH-13), the said cutter assembly (ELTH-01) and blower unit (ELTH-15) being powered by plurality of drive sources, the said receptacle being further attached to a leaf collection bag or leaf dump (ELTH-19) through a conduit hose (ELTH-18), a handle left (ELTH-12) and a handle right (ELTH-08) being riveted at top and bottom of a frontal cover (ELTH-14) which is further attached with the leaf receptacle (ELTH-10), a drive casing (ELTH-04) attached at the side of the frontal cover, the said drive casing houses the drive circuit (ELTH-05) and the drive (ELTH-06).

In the preferred embodiment the TLHM runs basically on plurality of drive sources which are 12 V DC motors being powered by a 12 V battery input power source (ELTH-20) linked with customized DC drive integrated circuit control system (ELTH-05) and battery charging circuit (ELTH-09). While one 12 V motor (ELTH-21, ELTH-03:D) drives the cutting assembly (ELTH-01), another 12 V motor (ELTH-22) drives the blower unit (ELTH-15) simultaneously or concurrently through gear arrangement (ELTH-03) and drive (ELTH-06). Once the TLHM is powered on, the cutting assembly (ELTH-01) starts cutting of tea leaves and simultaneously the blower unit (ELTH-15) begins to pump or blow air towards the conduit hose (ELTH-18) through the conduit chute (ELTH-13) which forces the freshly cut green leaves through the leaf receptacle (ELTH-10) to be collected in the leaf dump or collection bag (ELTH-19) positioned at the back of the operator.

In another preferred embodiment the distance between spring loaded rotary cutters is ranged from 50-75 mm and the gear arrangement (ELTH-03) comprises a driving gear (ELTH-03: A), a idler gear (ELTH-03:B) and plurality of cutter assembly gear (ELTH-03:D) in fictionally operable manner.

So, basically the TLHM cuts the tea leaves and simultaneously transporting the cut tea leaves from the cutter assembly (ELTH-01) to a tea leaf receptacle (ELTH-10) disposed behind the said assembly, from which the leaves are further blown up and sent by the help of pressurized air without scattering the tea leaves outside the tea leaf receptacle (ELTH-10) to a leaf dump (ELTH-19).

The entire TLHM is assembled over a fixed ferrous alloy bottom plate or base assembly (ELTH-11). The blower unit (ELTH-15) is capable of efficiently producing an air pressure up to 55-65 mm H2O whereas the cutter unit (ELTH-01) has an efficiency of torque up to 7-15 Kg/cm . The impeller unit (ELTH-15 :B) of the blower is of standard closed blade type which is configured to obtain the optimum pressure and air volume.

The TLHM is capable of harvesting 30,000-45,000 leaves per hour depending on the operator's training and experience. The leaf dump (ELTH-19) is capable of holding 7-10 kg of freshly harvested tea leaves.

The various enclosures of machine viz., drive casing (ELTH-04), leaf receptacle (ELTH-10), conduit chute (ELTH-13), frontal cover (ELTH-14), blower unit casing (ELTH-15:A) and conduit hose (ELTH-18) etc. may be made up of FRP (fiber reinforced plastic) make or nylon molded to reduce the overall weight of TLHM. The leaf dump (ELTH-19) is of square or circular shape and may be fabricated with plastic or wood particularly bamboo to further lower the weight, as per user preference.

During harvesting operation the operator can grip the THLM by hands at the handle left (ELTH-12) and handle right (ELTH-08). An adjustable stay strap (ELTH-17) to be tied at shoulder around the neck of the operator, being attached at frontal cover (ELTH-14) and leaf receptacle (ELTH-10) of TLHM holds the machine at the required height so as to make it convenient for the operator to move over the tea bush while harvesting. It also alleviates the operator from being burdened by weight of the machine while in action for long time continuously.

In another embodiment the blower emit (ELTH-15) is run by a 24 V DC motor being driven by a 12 V battery through a different customized DC drive SMPS integrated circuit control system.

In another embodiment the cutting assembly (ELTH-01) and blower (ELTH-15) works non-concurrently.

In another embodiment the battery charging circuit (ELTH-09) is kept outside the TLHM assembly as a separate unit as per requirement of end user for further reduction in weight of TLHM.

In a further embodiment the power input source for cutting assembly (ELTH-01) and blower unit (ELTH-15) individually or collectively is solar power (ELTH-16).

In yet another embodiment a digitally embedded technology monitors or tracks the individual TLHM for its output and operational viability, when the TLHM is in operation in plurality in a specified area at a specific time.

The instant invention with reference to various possible embodiments of the TLHM thereof, wherein the efficiency can be proportionately increased to multistage operations depending on the productivity requirements. Specifically, the instant invention with reference to various possible embodiments of the TLHM thereof, wherein the efficiency can be increased by adapting and customizing the design of the TLHM to proportionately increase the plucking capacity of the TLHM by making it capable of being handled simultaneously by more than one operator over a larger area of coverage so as to increase plucking ratio while reducing the number of machines engaged in plucking operation. It should be appreciated from the foregoing narration that various other embodiments of the device as proposed herein are possible for tea leaves and even for leafs other than tea without departing from the scope and ambit of the instant invention.

Advantages/usefulness of the present TLHM

The various advantages of the instant TLHM are

a. indigenous design and developed for the first time
b. can be handled and operated by a single operator making plucking less cumbersome and more efficient
c. during operation the machine is solely supported on the tea bush canopy without any ground contact, hence negligible dust pollution
d. once harvested, the same area can be re-harvested as per norms on the 12th to 14th day
e. net weight of the machine is less than 4 kg, making it user friendly, can be operated by men as well as women
f. battery/solar power operated and extremely environment friendly - a truly green machine in a green environment
g. leaf picking involves selective choice plucking procedure
h. though designed for universal application, the machine is developed for an Pan-India platform
i. employs innovative, cutting edge technology with blades made of ferrous metal, and
j. designed to minimize maintenance and maximize machine life cycle and performance, by a judicious mix of technology and component durability and to perform effectively without much maintenance on all types of landscapes.

Claims:

I claim

1) A Tea Leaf Harvesting Machine (TLHM) comprising a cutter assembly (ELTH-01) having plurality of cutters, positioned parallel to each other with a predetermined distance from each other and fixed between a bottom plate (ELTH-11) and a drive mounting plate (ELTH-07) on which a plurality of gear arrangement (ELTH-03) and drive attachments comprising drive (ELTH-06), drive circuit (ELTH-05) are further engrossed, the said cutter assembly (ELTH-01) being riveted to a blower unit (ELTH-15) attached with conduit chute (ELTH-13) at the front and further connected to a leaf receptacle (ELTH-10) at the rear, the said cutter assembly (ELTH-01) and blower unit (ELTH-15) being connected by plurality of drive sources (ELTH-21, ELTH-22), the said receptacle being further attached to a square or circular leaf dump (ELTH-19) through a conduit hose (ELTH-18), a handle left (ELTH-12) and a handle right (ELTH-08) being riveted, respectively at top and bottom of a frontal cover (ELTH-14) which is further attached with the leaf receptacle (ELTH-10), a drive casing (ELTH-04) positioned above the drive mounting plate (ELTH-07) housing the drive circuit (ELTH-05) and the drive (ELTH-06), plurality of drive source (ELTH-21, ELTH-22) being associated with plurality of power input sources (ELTH-20, ELTH-16) and functionally linked with cutter assembly (ELTH-01), gear arrangement (ELTH-03) and blower unit (ELTH-15) through an integrated circuit system (ELTH-05) and a battery charging circuit (ELTH-09).

2) A TLHM as claimed in claims 1, wherein the cutter assembly comprise plurality of cutters (ELTH-01 :C) and a plurality of shafts (ELTH-01 :E) loaded with plurality of springs (ELTH-01: A), plurality of stoppers (ELTH-01.B) and plurality of groove pins (ELTH-01 :D) and blower unit (ELTH-15) comprises casing (ELTH-15:A) enclosing therein a closed blade impeller (ELTH-15:B), end cover (ELTH-15:C) and moimting flange (ELTH-15:D) for attachment to conduit chute (ELTH-13).

3) A TLHM as claimed in claim land 2, wherein the cutters (ELTH-01 :C) of the cutter assembly (ELTH-01) are rotary cutters.

4) A TLHM as claimed in claims 1-3, wherein the spring loaded rotary cutters (ELTH-01:C)
are fixed at one end on bottom plate (ELTH-11) and fixed at another end below drive mounting plate (ELTH-07) by means of bearings (ELTH-02).

5) A TLHM as claimed in claims 1-4, wherein the distance between the spring loaded rotary cutters (ELTH-01 :C) is ranged from 50 mm to 75 mm.

6) A TLHM as claimed in claims 1-5, wherein the gear arrangement (ELTH-03) comprises a drive gear (ELTH-03:A), an idler gear (ELTH-03:B) and plurality of cutter assembly gear (ELTH-03 :C) in functionally engaged with each other.

7) A TLHM as claimed in claims 1-6, wherein the drive sources are electric motors.

8) A TLHM as claimed in claims 1-7, wherein the electric motors are 12 V DC motors.

9) A TLHM as claimed in claims 1-8, wherein one 12 V DC motor (ELTH-03:D, ELTH-21) is for driving the spring loaded cutters (ELTH-01 :C) through gear arrangement (ELTH-03) and another 12 V DC motor (ELTH-22) is for driving the blower unit (ELTH-15)

10) A TLHM as claimed in claims 1-9, wherein the power input sources are 12 V batteries (ELTH-20).

11) A TLHM as claimed in claims 1-10, wherein the integrated circuit system is DC drive integrated circuit control system (ELTH-05).

12) A TLHM as claimed in claims 1-7, wherein one motor is 24 V DC motor for driving the blower unit (ELTH-15) and another motor is 12 V DC motor for driving the spring loaded rotary cutters (ELTH-01 :C).

13) A TLHM as claimed in claim 12, wherein the integrated circuit system is DC drive SMPS integrated circuit control system.

14) A TLHM as claimed in claim 1-9, wherein the power input source is solar powered system, preferably a solar panel (ELTH-16).

15) A TLHM as claimed in claim 1-9, wherein the power input sources are both 12 V battery (ELTH-20) and solar panel (ELTH-16).

16) A TLHM as claimed in claim 15, wherein the 12 V battery (ELTH-20) is linked with 12 V DC motor (ELTH-03:D, ELTH-21) for driving the spring loaded cutters (ELTH-01:C) and solar panel (ELTH-16) is linked with another 12 V DC motor (ELTH-22) for driving the blower unit (ELTH-15) or vice-versa.

17) A TLHM as claimed in claim 1-13,15,16 wherein the battery charging circuit (ELTH-09) is provided as an accessory.

18) A TLHM as claimed in claim 1-17, wherein the drive casing (ELTH-04) is positioned on the drive mounting plate (ELTH-07) and houses the drive circuit (ELTH-05), battery charging circuit (ELTH-09.), drive (ELTH-06) and gear arrangement (ELTH-03).

19) A method of operation of TLHM as claimed in the preceding claims, wherein upon input of power by power input source (ELTH-20) through the drive circuit (ELTH-05) the plurality of drive sources (ELTH-03 :D; ELTH-21, ELTH-22) drive the plurality of spring loaded rotary cutters (ELTH-01:C) of cutting assembly (ELTH-01) through action of plurality of gear arrangement (ELTH-03) and drive (ELTH-06) resulting in cutting of tea leaves and drive the blower unit (ELTH-15) through action of impeller blade (ELTH-15 :B) to blow air simultaneously resulting in forcing the said cut leaves towards the conduit hose (ELTH-18) through the conduit chute (ELTH-13) which forces the freshly cut green tea leaves to be collected in the leaf dump (ELTH-19) positioned at the back of the operator through the leaf receptacle (ELTH-10).

20) A method of operation of TLHM as claimed in claim 19, wherein the spring loaded rotary cutters (ELTH-01:C) of cutting assembly (ELTH-01) are configured for torque up to 7-15 kg/cm^.

21) A method of operation of TLHM as claimed in claim 19 and 20 wherein the impeller blade (ELTH-15:B) of the blower unit (ELTH-15) is configured to blow air with an efficiency of air pressure up to 55-65 mm H2O.

22) A method of operation of TLHM as claimed in claim 19-21, wherein the spring loaded rotary cutter assembly (ELTH-01) and blower unit (ELTH-15) works non-concvirrently.

23) A method of operation of TLHM as claimed in claim 19-22, wherein 30,000-40,000 tea leaves are harvested per hour.

24) A method of operation of TLHM as claimed in claim 19-23, wherein the holding capacity of leaf dump (ELTH-19) is 7-10 kg of freshly harvested tea leaves.

25) A TLHM and method of operation thereof, substantially as herein described with reference to afore mentioned description and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.