In the citrus processing industry, the diversity of varieties (such as navel oranges, mandarin oranges, honey mandarins, and babao oranges) leads to varying shapes (round, oval, and oblate), skin sensitivity (mandarin oranges have a more fragile skin, while navel oranges have a tougher skin), and the market's demand for uniform size, controlled defects, and consistent quality. This has led to traditional sorting equipment suffering from significant sorting errors, high rates of skin damage, and poor adaptability. The JCSORT citrus free-tray sorting machine, with its innovative free-tray design, combines multi-dimensional inspection technology with fully customized modules to achieve precise sorting of different citrus varieties. It provides citrus processing companies at home and abroad with efficient solutions from raw material sorting to finished product grading, becoming a core piece of equipment driving standardized processing in the citrus industry.

I. Core Innovation: Free-Support Design, Solving Key Challenges in Citrus Sorting

Traditional citrus sorting often relies on direct conveyor belt transport or fixed slot sorting. These processes are prone to jamming and friction damage due to irregular fruit shapes, and the fixed slot dimensions make them incompatible with a wide variety of varieties. The JCSORT free-support sorting machine's key breakthrough lies in its adaptive free-support unit. Each support utilizes a flexible silicone material and a rotatable base. The support automatically adjusts its support angle based on the size (50mm-120mm diameter) and shape of the fruit, ensuring that the fruit remains independently and stably supported throughout the sorting process. This prevents collisions and friction between fruit and the equipment, keeping skin damage below 0.3%. Furthermore, the spacing between support units can be flexibly adjusted based on sorting efficiency requirements (3,000-15,000 fruit per hour), adapting to varying production capacity requirements from small and medium-sized processing plants to large industrial parks. This completely solves the problems of poor adaptability and high damage rates associated with traditional equipment.

II. Four Customizable Functional Modules: Achieving Multi-Dimensional Precision Sorting of Citrus

(I) Loading and Conveying Module: Adapts to Citrus Shape, Ensuring Smooth Feeding

Citrus raw materials often contain a mix of sizes and contain leaves and branches. Traditional loading systems are prone to jamming and accumulation. The JCSORT loading and conveying module features customizable design for efficient feeding:

Customizable Sorting Pre-Processing: A customizable "Leaf and Branch Filter Unit" (with integrated rotating combs and filters) automatically separates branches and impurities from the citrus raw materials, preventing them from entering the subsequent sorting stages. Furthermore, for tangerine varieties prone to sticking, an "Airflow Separator" can be added to separate clinging fruits using low-pressure airflow, ensuring individual fruit loading.

Customizable Conveyor Speed and Tray Matching: The loading conveyor belt speed is adjustable between 0.2m/s and 1.0m/s, precisely synchronizing with the speed of the free trays to ensure each tray receives a single fruit, preventing empty trays or multiple fruit from stacking. For large-scale processing plants, a customizable "Multi-channel Loading Structure" allows for simultaneous delivery of multiple batches of raw materials, improving loading efficiency.

Customizable Cushioning: A soft silicone cushion is installed at the bottom of the loading port, and the cushioning height can be adjusted according to the weight of the citrus (80g-300g). This cushioning reduces the impact of falling fruit and further reduces the risk of skin damage.

(II) Multi-Dimensional Inspection Module: Accurately Identify Quality Differences and Customize Sorting Standards

Citrus sorting requires consideration of multiple metrics, including size, weight, sugar content, and defects. The JCSORT multi-dimensional inspection module meets the grading needs of different businesses through a combination of customized inspection units:

Basic Dimension Inspection Customization: The standard module features dual detection units, infrared diameter measurement and weight sensing, with a size detection accuracy of ±0.2mm and a weight detection accuracy of ±2g. Businesses can customize grading levels (3-8) based on finished product standards (e.g., "premium navel oranges: diameter 80-90mm, weight 200-250g"), enabling simultaneous and precise sorting based on size and weight.

Sugar Content Inspection Customization: To meet the sugar content requirements of high-end citrus varieties (such as Wogan and Babagan), a customizable "Near-Infrared Sugar Content Inspection Module" can be added. This module rapidly detects sugar content (accuracy ±0.3 Brix) without damaging the fruit, supporting sorting by sugar content range (e.g., 12-14 Brix, 14-16 Brix) grading, helping companies create high-value-added "customized sugar content products."

Customized defect detection: Equipped with an AI visual recognition system, the system can customize a "multispectral camera + algorithm model" to accurately identify citrus peel defects such as spots, scratches, insect bites, and sunburn (with an accuracy rate exceeding 99.2%). Grading rules can also be customized based on defect type (e.g., "minor spots are acceptable, but insect-infested fruit will be rejected"), meeting the quality requirements of different scenarios, from fresh sales to further processing.

(3) Free Tray Sorting Module: Dynamic Adjustment Ensures Sorting Stability

As the core execution unit of the equipment, the free tray sorting module achieves efficient and accurate sorting through customized design:

Customized Tray Adaptability: The tray's silicone hardness (Shore A 40-60 degrees) and groove radius are customized based on the shape characteristics of the citrus variety. For oblate mandarins, a "shallow curved groove" prevents the fruit from tipping over; for oval navel oranges, a "deep curved groove" improves support stability, ensuring consistent sorting for different citrus shapes.

Customized Sorting Execution: The sorting outlet utilizes a "pneumatic push rod + guide plate" combination structure. The outlet position and angle can be customized based on the number of grading levels (3-8 levels). The push rod's response time is less than 0.1 second, preventing fruit mix-ups caused by sorting delays. Customizable sorting is also possible. The "Unqualified Fruit Rejection Channel" automatically diverts defective and oversized fruit to a separate collection area, reducing manual sorting.

Speed-Linked Customization: The fruit tray's movement speed is linked in real time with the detection module and sorting execution unit. When abnormal fruit quality (such as low sugar content or severe defects) is detected, the tray's movement speed is automatically adjusted to ensure precise alignment of the sorting process and avoid sorting errors caused by speed mismatch.

(IV) Unloading and Conveying Module: Adapting to Subsequent Processes to Ensure Finished Product Integrity

After sorting, citrus fruits need to be connected to packaging and warehousing. The JCSORT unloading and conveying module achieves seamless integration through customized design:

Customized Conveying Method: To protect the skin of fresh-market citrus fruits, a "soft belt conveyor" with a food-grade PU surface (low friction coefficient, reducing skin friction) can be customized. For further processed raw materials (such as citrus fruits for juicing), a "roller conveyor" can be customized to facilitate rapid transport of the fruit to the crusher, improving processing efficiency.

Customized Unloading Buffer: The unloading port can be customized with a "multi-layer buffer net" or "spiral buffer channel." The number of buffer layers (2-4) can be adjusted based on the weight of the citrus fruits to prevent skin damage caused by height differences when the fruit falls from the fruit tray, ensuring the integrity of the finished product.

Customized Interconnected Packaging: Supports integration with subsequent automated packaging equipment (such as bagging machines and case packers), automatically adjusting the unloading speed based on the number of fruits at different grading levels, achieving a "sorting-packaging" process. Integrated operation reduces manual transfer costs and improves production continuity.

III. Scenario Adaptability: Meeting the Full Range of Citrus Processing Needs

The JCSORT citrus free-tray sorter, with its highly customizable features, is adaptable to diverse citrus processing scenarios:

Fresh Market Adaptation: Addressing the stringent requirements for skin integrity and appearance consistency for fresh citrus, the system optimizes tray design and defect detection rules, keeping skin damage rates below 0.3% and achieving over 99.5% grading accuracy. This helps companies create high-quality fresh-market products and enhance their market competitiveness.

Deep Processing Adaptation: Targeting deep processing needs such as citrus juice and canned citrus, the system offers a customizable "high-capacity sorting mode" (processing 10,000-15,000 citrus fruits per hour) and streamlines defect detection criteria (removing only severely blemished fruit). This prioritizes size and weight uniformity, ensuring stability during subsequent juicing and slicing processes.

Multi-Variety Processing Adaptation: Citrus processing is characterized by seasonality and variety, and the system supports one-click parameter switching. The function can pre-store the sorting parameters (such as size gear, fruit tray hardness, detection threshold) of different varieties such as navel oranges, mandarin oranges, and tangerines. There is no need to re-debug when switching varieties. Equipment adjustment can be completed within 10 minutes to meet the company's needs for alternating processing of multiple varieties.

IV. Customized Services and Technical Support

JCSORT provides "full-cycle customized services" to citrus processing companies. Initially, a technical team is dispatched to the company's factory to research citrus variety characteristics, production capacity (5 to 50 tons per day), workshop layout, and finished product standards. This provides a customized equipment plan and 3D simulation diagrams. In the mid-term, customized modules are produced based on the customer's confirmed plan. Core components (such as free fruit trays and detection sensors) undergo 1,000 hours of durability testing to ensure equipment stability. Finally, engineers are dispatched to perform on-site installation and commissioning, and one year of free maintenance (including parts replacement and technical training) is provided. Lifelong technical upgrades are also supported. If sugar content detection is required later, the module can be installed directly without replacing the main equipment.

To date, JCSORT has provided customized sorting equipment to over 60 companies in major citrus producing regions such as Jiangxi, Hunan, and Guangxi, helping them increase sorting efficiency by 50%, reduce labor costs by 70%, and increase the qualified product rate to over 99%. In the future, JCSORT will continue to deepen the integration of free-storage technology and AI detection algorithms, and launch an "intelligent predictive maintenance system" to analyze component wear in real time through equipment operation data, provide early warning of maintenance needs, further improve equipment operation stability, and provide better solutions for the upgrading of the global citrus processing industry.