Abstract: In order to reduce seed damage in fresh Camellia oleifera shelling, the planer machining is used and the specific pneumatic pushing hand is innovated. The multi-channel pneumatic planer for Camellia oleifera shelling is constructed based on a matrix of pushing hands mounted on the rotating cylinder. Each rotating pushing hand pushes a fruit forward by certain down force on the blade bar, and the two wings of the spherical shell is cut off by the blades. The kinematic character of the pneumatic pushing hand is analyzed, and the motion trajectory of the fruit on the blade bar is described. By monitoring the cutting force,it is confirmed that the pushing hands give proper action forces for planer operation. Using the self-developed prototype planer and general color sortor,fresh Camellia oleifera fruit shelling and sorting test was carried out and the satisfactory result was obtained, the shelling rate>99%, seed damage rate<2%,shell content in seed<2%.

Key words: Camellia oleifera, shelling and sorting, shelling by planer machining, pneumatic pushing hand