Patent ID: 8438820

Claim:
A flower handling system comprising: at least one cutting station including: at least one controller; a frame; a first bucket conveyor; a positioning arm in communication with the at least one controller and having a carrier portion including at least one side wall defining an opening for receiving flower bundles, and a base portion mounting the carrier portion to the frame such that the positioning arm is structured to move with respect to the frame to transport flower bundles between a first location and a second location during a processing cycle, wherein the base portion includes a pivoting connector enabling the carrier portion to rotate from a first position wherein an axis extending through the opening extends in a first direction, to a second position wherein the axis extends at an angle with respect to the first direction; and a cutting apparatus located between the first and second locations including a cutting blade positioned below the positioning arm to cut flower stems of flower bundles held by the positioning arm as the positioning arm moves from the first location to the second location.