Fruittek
A common shortcoming of electronic defect sorting systems for cherries is that the cameras scanning the fruit for defects don’t always see the defect.
On most systems the cameras point down at the rollers carrying the cherries, but when the cherries don’t fully rotate under the camera, like when a stem gets caught on the roller, some surfaces with defects don’t get scanned.
Different techniques to maximize surface exposure to cameras have been tried by different equipment manufacturers, like special rollers or carriers that will allow the cherry to roll 360 degrees, or by increasing the number of cameras (and cost) in the system.
Multiscan Technologies saw an opportunity to address this problem with a different approach. They introduced a ‘two-pass’ defect sorting strategy, thus greatly increasing the possibility of defects being scanned at least once by the cameras and removed.
The space efficient Multiscan S50C pre-sorter is a robust vision system providing cherry packers with an effective pre-sorting step that removes up to 60 per cent of all common cherry defects and also has sizing capabilities for under- or over-sized fruit. The Multiscan i5 Series sorter/sizer (also equipped with defect capabilities) then serves as the final sizing and defect removal step on the line.
This two-sorter strategy has a measurable impact on production capacity and labor savings, especially during seasons with poorer fruit quality. Instead of having to scramble to find more sorting workers to deal with an increased cull load, or be forced to significantly lower production capacity, packers can maintain their desired production levels with their existing sorting staff. And when fruit quality is good, production can be maximized with as few as half the sorting personnel.
Another advantage of a two-sorter defect removal strategy is that the defect removal settings on both sorters do not have to be set at levels that may compromise the sorting results. When cherry packers rely on a single sorter to remove defects, the defect removal settings may be set too high and thus cause the removal of too many acceptable cherries. With the Multiscan two-pass approach, the settings can be optimized to pick out clearly defined defects only, thus minimizing the percentage of acceptable fruit in the reject stream.
At a combined cost that is significantly less than a single sorter from other grading solution providers, the S50C pre-sorter and i5 Series sorter/sizer is priced to help smaller packers graduate from mechanical to electronic cherry sorting. And for the established packer that is not satisfied with the defect sorting results of their current sorter/sizer, the tidy fitting and productive 4 ton/hr S50C pre-sorter can pay immediate dividends with reduced labor costs and increased productivity.
To learn more about this exciting and affordable solution visit:
www.fruittek.com, or call: (604)855-8062 or email: info@fruittek.com
