Patent ID: 11883974
Assignee: JOHN BEAN TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
Field: Machine tools (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  A | IPC A  B

Claim 12:
13. A harvester for harvesting work items being carried on a conveyor, the harvester removing the work items from the conveyor and delivering the work items at desired locations, the harvester comprising:
(a) a pickup system for picking up the work items from the conveyor, comprising:
a nozzle for picking up the work items from the conveyor;
a ballistic launcher in flow communication with the nozzle to launch the work items in a desired trajectory so that the work items travel through the air exterior of any conduit to deliver the work items to the desired locations; and
a vacuum source for creating a vacuum at the nozzle sufficient to cause the work items to enter the nozzle and be launched from the ballistic launcher;

(b) an actuator to position the nozzle in a desired position relative to the work items to facilitate picking up the work items with the nozzle, the actuator automatically rotating the nozzle about an upright axis to aim the ballistic launcher at a desired angular orientation about the upright axis; and
(c) a control system controlling the actuator to position the nozzle with respect to the work items to facilitate the nozzle picking up the work items from the conveyor and positioning the ballistic launcher to deliver the work items at the desired locations away from the conveyor, the control system configured to receive data and to control the actuator to rotate the nozzle based on the data.