2005 is shaping up to be another big year for GP Graders on the innovation front.  The Melbourne based manufacturer of post harvest fruit handling machinery has recently completed the development of an electronic high speed grader for cherry and mini roma tomatoes.  The high speed grader uses state-of-the-art electronics and Windows XP based software to analyse mini tomatoes on the basis of optical size and colour.  The conveyor is extremely fast with each lane running at up to 25 units per lane per second.  The grader can be configured to any number of paired lanes and grading outlets.  Based on an average weight of each mini tomato being 15 grams and assuming a 70% cup fill, a four lane machine would be capable of packing 3.8 tonne, or 15,120 punnets of 250g per hour.

Passing under the cameras, mini tomatoes are sent to the programmed outlet by air activated solenoids.  An air solenoid is very gentle on the tomato because air pressure is distributed evenly across the skin of the fruit producing a curtain of air rather than a bullet-like blast. 

The operating platform is the world’s best from fruit grading software specialist, Ellips in Holland.  Even at high grading speeds the size of each tomato is recognised to within +/- 0.4mm and colour is measured on overall surface area as each tomato is rotated under the high resolution cameras.

Mini tomatoes are delivered onto the machine by either hand tipping directly into a stainless water tank or by bin tipping positioned to the side of the tank.  Tomatoes are elevated out of the tank to a singulator which water flumes tomatoes onto the grading rollers.  After grading cherries are sent to packing stations by either water fluming or dry cross belts. 

Coupled with automated punnet filling machinery the entire labour content in the grading and packing process has been virtually eliminated.  This certainly has not escaped the attention of the big European automated packing companies who have already approached GP Graders to distribute the new technology throughout Europe.

GP Graders are Australia’s largest and most innovative manufacturer of fruit grading machinery with hundreds of machines located all over the world.