Diseño de una Clasificadora y Pesadora de Tomate Riñón

Kidney tomato production in the province of Azuay – Ecuador, is carried out mainly in greenhouses. Generally, the tomato variety that is most popular is planted, such as Fortuna, Sheila, Charles-ton, Titan, Pietro, Fortress, Cherry and Chontoy. From planting, approximately three months of great care are required for the fruit to be of quality. Once the harvest phase begins, generally the traditional method consists of manually picking the tomato and moving it in drawers to the collection point. where the tomato is classified according to its size; Once classified, they are weighed using analog scales to take them to the market. The difficulties presented by the tomato classification and weighing process fundamentally translate into labor, the time required and the ergonomic risks to which workers are exposed by lifting heavy weights in inappropriate postures. In this context, a machine has been designed to classify tomatoes by size and weight. To do this, the total system has been divided into four subsystems: support structure, feeding, classification and control. Each of them has been designed considering the qualitative and quantitative variables obtained directly from several producers in the Guachapala area, Azuay, Ecuador. The technical and economic feasibility of the construction and implementation of the machine in the town was verified, considering that this type of equipment is not available nationally, its import represents high values and, above all, it does not meet the specific needs of the users. producers.