Fruit picker for apples with a cutting knife. Devices for picking apples: we make a fruit picker with our own hands. With a can

If the harvest of your apples is “on top” in every sense, this cannot but rejoice! But getting ripe juicy fruits from this height is not an easy task. An ordinary garden ladder can also help in this matter, but modern gardeners are used to saving time and effort. Therefore, today we will learn together how to make a device for removing apples from a tree, which will help you quickly and without loss collect the entire crop from any apple tree.

If you have only one or two trees with apples on your site, then there is no point in making a “capital” fruit picker, it is enough to make a simple device from a plastic bottle. Well, if your country house has a whole apple plantation, then it is best for you to buy a ready-made fruit picker

In the markets for garden tools, we have seen ready-made devices for picking fruit more than once. According to their principle, we will create a fruit picker with our own hands. Our future fruit picker must meet the following requirements: to reach high and firmly hold the fruits, to be convenient to use. Let's look at the options that experienced and resourceful gardeners offer us.

As a rule, fruit pickers are made of plastic, but there are options made of metal. For example, the fruit picker, which is shown in the photo, costs around 700 rubles in stores, it is quite expensive, but the purchase will justify itself and will serve you for more than one year

But such a device for removing apples from a tree will cost, on average, 1200 rubles. Its advantage is that it is made of plastic and does not require special care, just store it in some shed and it will serve you for decades.

Option number 1: tenacious hand of the farmer

The device will consist of a grab and a holder. You will need:

• old plastic bottle;
• long fishing line (2.5-3 meters), awl, scissors;
• handle from an old plastic mop (can be replaced with a PVC pipe).

The manufacturing process of this fruit picker in the program "Crazy Hands":

So, let's start our easy work.

Step 1. We make enough (two-liter plastic bottle). We cut off the bottom of the bottle in a crown-like manner to form “petals”. We make 2 holes in each of the petals. To do this, you can use a small hole punch or a regular awl.

Now let's give the bowl tenacity. Take the fishing line and pull it through the neck into the bottle so that the latter is just below the middle of the fishing line. We thread the upper end of the fishing line in turn into each hole in a circle and bring it back through the neck of the bottle. Thus, we got a plastic bottle without a bottom with two long ends of the fishing line coming out through the neck.

Step 2 We fix the holder. As a holder, we take a hollow PVC pipe or a handle from an old plastic mop. A double fishing line from a plastic bottle is threaded through the hole in the holder and exits from its reverse side. If your mop handle has a detachable handle, you're in luck! It is to this part of the holder that the ends of the fishing line should be fixed. Make 2 holes in the handle, through which thread the fishing line, securing the ends tightly with each other. Put the handle back on the mop handle.

We have a plastic bottle fastened with a fishing line with a holder with a removable handle. Now try to remove the cap again, pulling the line slightly towards you. The cut edges of the bottle are compressed, while making grasping movements. Now not a single apple will leave you!

The scheme of another device for collecting fruits from trees: it will take a lot of time to create it, so we do not recommend that you take on its creation. Just showed what other homemade devices can be made

If the mop does not have a removable part, you can simply cut off its end by 15-10 cm. Make 2 holes on its sides, where the ends of the fishing line will be drawn. Then fasten them by tying them together.

Once again, if you have a lot of fruitful trees, then it is better to spend some money and buy a ready-made fruit picker that will last you more than one season.

For PVC pipes, you can use several caps from plastic bottles as a handle. For example, take 10 covers and make a hole in the center of each with an awl. Thread the free ends of the fishing line into the caps in turn and fasten to the last one. For stability, glue the caps together or make a knot from the fishing line on the inside of the first cap. It turns out a convenient removable handle from the caps. Use it the same way you use a mop handle.

Video option for making a fruit picker with your own hands

And another option for creating a capital fruit picker

Option number 2: the simplest apple picker

1. Fruit picker with bowl

Step 1. And again, we can not do without such a necessary thing in the household as a plastic bottle. Cut it in half, separating the bottom part from the neck. We don't need the bottom anymore. On the cut edge, we cut out deep teeth, and drill 2 opposite holes in the neck.

Step 2. We are preparing a wooden pole, one end of which we adapt to the opening of the bottle. A handle from an old garden tool will do. Now we put the bottle with the neck on the pole and fix it with two self-tapping screws.

Collect apples with this device as follows: we bring the device to a branch with an apple; place the apple inside the bottle and rotate the apple tree picker clockwise. The teeth cut off the fruit, and it is inside the bottle. You can pick 2-3 apples at a time.

2. Closed fruit box

You can not cut off the bottom of the bottle, but simply cut a round hole on the side. From the bottom side in the hole, make a few cloves. After that, put the bottle on the pole in the already known way and start picking apples. The fruits are placed inside the bottle and plucked in one motion. A closed fruit picker picks apples more easily, but can pick up no more than two fruits at a time.

With the help of such a device, it will not be possible to collect many apples at a time, but the advantage of this device is the speed of its manufacture: if you have all the materials at hand, you will need a maximum of five minutes, or even less

The scheme of the device is simple: we cut a hole in the shape of a heart on the side of a plastic bottle, fasten the bottle to the holder with a screw or tape, and we can start picking apples or other fruits

Now you do not need to master the science of climbing trees and endless maneuvers with garden ladders, and the question of how to pick apples from a tall tree can no longer be asked. The most juicy apples will be harvested without difficulty thanks to your skillful hands and desire. A bowl of these homemade fruit pickers will last you a couple of years. After wear, it can be easily replaced using a new plastic bottle. Well, it remains for you to wish that the fruits of your skill will definitely help you get all the fruits from your apple trees!

During the ripening season of apples, a large number of them fall to the ground, where the fruit begins to rot very quickly. In addition, apples that hit the ground deteriorate much faster than freshly picked ones. Therefore, it is best to collect them before they fall. To do this, you don’t even need to climb a tree, but you just need to use a special device for picking fruit. It's very easy to make and costs almost nothing.

Our video tells in detail how to make a homemade collection of fruits from trees.

To build this device, we need:
- plastic bottle 1.5-2 liters;
- a knife;
- scissors;
- long stick;
- drill with a drill;
- screwdriver.

Let's start making a fruit picker.
We take a plastic bottle, pierce it approximately in the middle with a knife, and then cut it off with scissors. If the part of the bottle with the neck is wrinkled, straighten it.

To make it convenient to use the device, we make sawtooth teeth at the place of the cut.

To keep the bottle on a long stick, we need to drill two holes in its neck with a drill. We take a drill diameter of 3 mm. The holes are located opposite each other.

We take our long stick and we clean it from its side so that it can be inserted into the neck of a plastic bottle.

We insert into the neck and take two self-tapping screws. We fasten the stick with them through the drilled holes.

Our device for removing fruit from a tree is ready.

Now, in order to remove the apple from the tree, you only need to go up to it, lift the fruit picker up so that the apple gets into it. Scroll the device to the side so that the stalk catches on the teeth and the apple comes off the branch. At the same time, it turned out to be in our fruit collector.

Autumn harvest is a responsible process. To sell or process the fruits, it is important to pick them without damage, so you can’t just shake the tree, and if you pick each apple by hand, it will take too long to collect. To simplify the task, it is recommended to choose a suitable fruit picker for apples. This device helps to collect fruits without damaging either the peel or the pulp, and significantly saves time compared to the manual method.

Purchased apple pickers

Fruit pickers for picking apples can be made independently, using improvised materials for this. But it is much easier to buy a ready-made version in the store. In this case, the gardener can choose from the following options:

Important! Not always the device is equipped with a telescopic handle. In stores, you can find a fruit picker with a gripper for apples, but at the same time with a fixed length of the handle. Therefore, this point must be clarified before buying.

There are other options for fruit pickers. For example, there are models with an additional fishing line that allows you to grab the handle. Collet pullers can be equipped with a special knife that cuts off the cuttings.

Do-it-yourself apple picker

The easiest way is to order a fruit picker on the Internet or buy a ready-made one in the nearest shopping center. Moreover, there is a choice of models, and a very good one. However, many gardeners prefer to make a fruit picker on their own, since even improvised materials are suitable for this.

Do-it-yourself apple picker

Do-it-yourself tulip fruit picker from a plastic bottle

There are very simple designs, for example, the "tulip" described above with a plastic bowl. In order to repeat the finished model, you only need a plastic bottle (1.5-2 liters), as well as a fairly long fishing line (3 m). As a handle for this design, you can use a pole or a tube.

Wash the plastic bottle, cut off the bottom of it to make a bowl. This can be done with scissors. The volume of the bowl is determined arbitrarily so that it is convenient to use it. With the help of a knife, cuts are made in the upper part, resembling opening tulip petals. Then they take an awl and make holes in each of these petals so that a fishing line can be pulled through them. Its ends are then passed through the neck of the bottle.

Important! A through hole should be made in the pole where the bowl will be fixed. If there is no way to make a hole, then you will have to use glue.

The fishing line is threaded so that its short end can be securely fastened. And the long end should be such that it is convenient, if necessary, to compress the edges of the structure.

The fruit picker is ready, and you can check at the nearest apple tree how well it works.

Similarly, a collection is made from a “bowl” bottle. It's almost a primitive design. In the same way as in the previous case, they take a one and a half liter plastic bottle and cut off its bottom. Just do not need to make petals, but you can simply cut the edge with sharp teeth, making shallow cuts around the perimeter. For the handle, they take a pole, pipe or pole, on which the bowl is fixed with a carnation or other fastening material.

Alternative models of fruit pickers

Apple collections can be done differently. For example, the following options are possible:

Many summer residents also use other home-made designs, including those made from fishing nets. Some improve the options described above, adding to them, for example, linen bags to pick several apples at once. The only drawback of such products is the lack of telescopic handles. But, in general, they are quite comfortable and perfect for a small farm.

A rich harvest is happiness for a summer resident: everyone knows that by magic nothing will grow, you need to put your hands on everything. The more time and effort spent, the more gratifying to see the fruits of their labors: a strawberry plantation blushing with fragrant berries, tree branches wearily bent under the weight of apples and pears.

According to tradition, the harvest consists of three stages: first you need to go around the garden, vegetable garden, berry field in order to enjoy the view of abundance and a well-deserved sense of pride. When the gardener's ego is satisfied, it's time to move on to the second part - the collection itself. And the final stage is sorting and storage. Let's skip the first stage - you don't need to teach anyone here, it happens automatically. But I propose to talk about the second in more detail, because it is no secret that the period of their preservation directly depends on how carefully the fruits (berries) are collected. I hope no one will argue that a carefully picked apple and something that burst to the ground from a height of several meters and bruised the barrel will be stored for the same long time ...

Let's agree right away: we will not talk about the timing of cleaning - this is a separate, very serious and important topic. Harvesting equipment - that's what our conversation will be about. Of course, if you have a small bed of strawberries or two or three young trees, you can do without them: after all, fragrant raspberries, fragrant plums, and ruddy apples are so nice to put in a wicker basket (bought especially for this purpose, by the way)) Well and if the berry-grower occupies more than a dozen meters and there are the same number of trees in the garden? Here, with all the desire, it will not work slowly and beautifully: in order to manage on time, you will have to hurry. And I emphasize again: the quality of the collection should not suffer in any way!

I will give an example of a disservice just related to quality: this year the apricots were born noble - the trees seemed to be doused with fruits. Their ripening is friendly and not everyone can take off several buckets at a time. Here is a pensioner neighbor's son, who, by the way, came from the city, hurried to help. At first, he conscientiously tried to remove them from the tree with his hands ... But patience did not last long: the “prickly” nature of the apricot completely discouraged the desire for close communication. Finding places free from thorns on the branches, he shook the tree so powerfully that ripe apricots fell to the ground like an avalanche. After such a collection, there was no point in even raising some - they simply flattened out from the blow, and the rest also got it: there was not a single whole apricot!

In order not to repeat the mistakes of others, remember firmly: harvesting is a delicate matter, the more carefully you handle ripe fruits, the better they will be stored. Of course, this is not the only condition for long-term preservation, but one of the most important. So, it's time to go directly to the topic of our conversation - harvesting devices.

The Right Harvest Bag

Those who picked apples or pears with their own hands know how important it is to choose the right container in which to put them. Metal and plastic buckets are good for picking only low-hanging fruits. If you have to climb a tree or a stepladder, they will be a serious hindrance: bulky, one hand will be constantly busy (besides, you should take into account the weight of a filled bucket - not everyone can hold it!). Fortunately, there is a worthy alternative to ordinary buckets -. From the point of view of practice, I can say that the accessory is many times more convenient and practical than buckets! I will not be unfounded, I will list the advantages point by point:

• capacious - volume 20 l;
• manufacturing material. Just in this case, the use of synthetics is welcome: the polyester from which it is sewn is very durable, easy to wash, and dries almost instantly;
• practical non-creasing top. Those who used homemade bags on strings know how important this quality is: when your hands are busy with apples or plums, it is almost impossible to open the bag to put them inside;
• I would like to say special thanks to the designer for the well-thought-out system of handles: the length of the shoulder strap is adjustable, so the container can be placed where it is more convenient for you - right in front of you, front-side or back-side and at a comfortable height, and this is also very important. An additional handle is useful when carrying a filled bag when it is desirable to distribute the weight. The belts are wide (4 cm), so they don’t cut into the shoulders (remember, summer residents made the first containers for picking berries from 5-liter plastic bottles, they were just kept on cords-laces. And even though the weight of a full container was not so big, but bruises from the ropes on the shoulders remained!);
• maybe for some this quality does not matter, but for me it is important - compactness during storage.

But even from a ladder or ladder it is impossible to reach all the fruits, and the most ripe ones (and any summer resident will confirm this!) Show off on the top of the tree, on thin twigs ... Of course, you can try to reach them at the risk of life, but is it worth it? It is unlikely that a few apples or apricots will seem like such a tempting prey if, trying to get them, you find yourself in a hospital bed with a cast on your arm or leg. But leaving unattainable (and therefore especially desirable) fruits on a tree is also beyond your strength? Just in this case, the help of the fruit picker is just what the doctor ordered!

Convenient fruit picker

How many nerves he saved me - you can’t count: I always need the harvest from the tree to be clean - I can’t stand picking up rotting carrion, and it’s undesirable to leave a potential breeding ground for diseases and pests on a tree. Previously, trying to get hard-to-reach cherries or apples, I performed unimaginable gymnastic somersaults, after which my muscles hurt for more than one day. I was also lucky that the exercises at a decent height never ended with a high-speed (not on the stairs) landing. Since I categorically refused to leave fruit on the tree, and my husband did not want to risk my or his health, he bought it. The product, to be honest, at first glance did not inspire confidence in me. But how good the fruit picker turned out to be in business! I will list the advantages that impressed me personally:

• the cutting is easy to insert or remove: I have several of them, the longest one will not be needed very often, it is inconvenient to work on lower trees;
• cotton fabric basket: soft, which is especially important when picking fruits with delicate skins, for example, apricots;
• frequent cloves - convenient: just bring the bag under the apple (for example) and take the fruit picker in any direction - the stalk will definitely be between the teeth. I picked cherries and sweet cherries - wonderful! How I managed without such an assistant is now hard to remember, because you get used to good things quickly.

Spacious garden cart

But while in the plans for the acquisition, but the most immediate! My friend has been using such a cart for more than a season, so she was able to appreciate the positive qualities in practice:

• unlike metal wheelbarrows, such a cart is very light - it weighs only 2.7 kg, but the plastic is of high quality: it endured both direct sunlight and frost without damage;
• very comfortable design! I loaded it, took it by the handle and rolled along - no load on my arms and shoulders! I tried to transport soil with such a cart and understood the meaning of the expression work effortlessly, although its carrying capacity is decent - up to 30 kg (volume 50 l);
• due to its compact dimensions (width 36 cm), the trolley has good maneuverability (it will easily pass through narrow aisles without damaging the crops planted in the beds).

Bicycle combine for comfortable work

But what kind of bike combine summer residents came up with to facilitate the collection of garden strawberries. There are many variations on the theme, but the idea is clear, right?

You can make fun of homemade as much as you like, but it made life easier for those who have significant land allotted for berry plantations. Will you earn a lot by squatting? Or bent over in three deaths? Do not forget about the sun and the need to rearrange the box, which becomes more and more heavy with each handful of berries. It’s hard for young people, let alone people of the age ... Whether it’s a matter of picking berries, sitting under an umbrella, on a comfortable seat! Here you can attach a bottle of water and put a radio receiver - in general, equip your workplace with comfort) I don’t know who the author of the idea is, but he did a great job!

Nice apron for summer fashionistas

You can’t definitely classify the idea as innovative, but it still deserves our attention. Mainly because the apron is easy to sew in half an hour: no special skill or fine fabrics are needed - everything can be chosen to your liking. How good is an apron? The fact that the shoulders and back are spared the weight of the collected fruits or vegetables. The photo shows a nice sample, but you can collect either a few fruits in it, or voluminous, but light ones (bell peppers, salads, greens).

If the product is intended for a heavier burden, the upper edge of the pocket can be strengthened and fixed in the center on the belt (yes, even with a button) so that the collected stuff does not spill out to the ground at the most inopportune moment.

A simple device for collecting gooseberries

Although it has small thorns, it can hurt to the point of blood, especially when it is necessary to pick a hard-to-reach berry. The simplest device can be made by any summer resident (even a weak woman, even a teenager), and the gooseberries will have to give up the berries without a fight)) I think it’s not worth explaining the principle of work - everything is clear without words.

And again I mentally thank the inventor: you can pick berries slowly, carefully (and not even in one day) from one or two gooseberry bushes. And if there are dozens, or even hundreds? There is no time to cool off here: the berry will fall off, and picking from the ground is not the same anymore.

Roll for a record-breaking collection of nuts

Oh, what a pity I didn't have such a roll when we hit the walnut plantation a few years ago. The main harvest of hazelnuts has already passed, and the owners have removed the guards. But the nuts were still visible, invisible! Looking at the wealth lying under my feet, I regretted only one thing - that I only had two hands. Having fallen on all fours, scaring away the hazelnut voles (then they were not cute hungry animals for me, but voracious competitors!) I probably set a record for the speed of collecting nuts, realizing that time is limited. In general, they pushed me into the car almost by force, and even then only when it began to get dark - before, I didn’t even want to hear about the departure! We manually collected about a bag of nuts, and if only I had such a roll!

By the way, depending on the distance between the spokes, they can collect both walnuts and apples.

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If this year you have not only a rich, but also a high-lying apple crop, then harvesting it in the traditional way, shaking the branches, erecting a stepladder, will not be so easy. Many gardeners and summer residents in such a situation have opted for a device for picking apples. Such a device can be easily purchased at a specialized store, or you can make it yourself from improvised materials. We will present you both options at once.

Buying an apple picker

Modern fruit collectors are easy to use, light and compact. Their assortment will also be rich: tools differ in the functions of the apple picker.

Plastic "tulip". The plastic nozzle-glass is made in the shape of a tulip. Picking fruit with it is easy - place an apple in the "tulip", placing the handle between the petals, scroll the handle around its axis, thereby safely plucking the fruit and bringing it to the basket in a fruit-collecting glass. But if the bullseye is firmly attached to the branch, the device will be useless.

Collet devices. The type of such fruit collectors with a telescopic handle, which can be extended in length if desired, is popular. They are supplemented with a convenient tight bag: in one go you can collect several fruits at once. The action of the device is simple: the tin petals grab the apple, and you cut it off with the help of circular movements of the device around the axis. These parts are found both in plastic and equipped with a metal knife for cutting a solid handle.

Wire fruit pickers. They are a fetus invader made of thick wire strings. You put the device on the apple, the wire tightly wraps around it, and with the familiar rotation of the device around the axis, you cut off the fruit. It remains trapped in the wire frame while you carry it to the basket.

Fruit picker with grab. There are also models with an extension handle - a telescopic tube. The operating device resembles a plastic beak or a three-fingered hand. What is convenient, it can capture both an apple-ranet and a rather large fruit. The fetus is cut off by the same torsion of the device around itself. But there are also more advanced mechanisms: you need to pull the fishing line or lever, after which the “beak” will grab the fruit, and you pull the fruit picker towards you, picking the apple from the handle.

After such a review, you yourself saw that the design of the device is simple and it will be quite easy to assemble a home-made fruit picker. We will borrow the principle of the gripping device from those already presented.

Option number 1: a fruit picker from a bottle

We will make a device for collecting apples from a plastic bottle. The device will need:

• Plastic bottle.
• A piece of fishing line - 2.5-3 m.
• Awl.
• Scissors.
• A wooden pole, a long mop handle, a piece of PVC pipe - everything that can become a holder of a fruit collector in length and thickness.

Once you have everything you need at hand, we get to work:

1. Cut off the bottom of the bottle so that the edges of the part with the neck resemble a tulip.
2. On each of the petals, make holes with an awl.
3. Pass the fishing line through the neck of the bottle. Its lower part (the one that remains at the bottom of the bottle) should be approximately equal to the top.
4. Now we pass the fishing line into each of the holes made. Then we bring it out again through the neck back.
5. To build a device for picking apples, we only need to fix the grip on the holder. To do this, stepping back a little from one of its ends, we make a through hole.
6. If it is difficult to drill such a hole (for example, on a wooden pole), then you can do the following: take a regular plastic soda cap, drill two holes opposite each other through its sides. Through them, fix the fishing line with the invader. Further, if necessary, sharpening the edge of the holder to the diameter of the cork, glue them together with strong glue.
7. We pass the double fishing line several times through the hole made in the cork or holder and securely fix the grip structure.
8. At the same time, do not forget to leave the long end of the fishing line to such a length that, while on the ground, it would be convenient for you to squeeze and unclench the “petals” with it for a more successful capture of apples.

Option number 2: plastic bottle-bowl

And another DIY craft from plastic bottles. A fruit picker is made in literally two steps:

1. Cut off the bottom of a plastic bottle - you can immediately put it far to the side. On the rest, cut out sharp teeth. Drill two holes directly opposite each other in the neck of the bottle with an awl.
2. Now the preparation of the holder - a pole, PVC pipes, mop handles. Adapt the thickness of one of its ends to the diameter of the bottle neck. Putting the gripping element on the pole, fix it through the holes made with two self-tapping screws on the holder. That's all!

Using this apple picker is simple: thread an apple into this bowl so that its stalk is between the cloves. A few turns of the device around you - and your fruit!

Option number 3: closed bottle fruit collector

And again crafts from plastic bottles. Making it with your own hands is just as easy:

1. Make a round hole in the side of the bottle.
2. From the bottom, provide it with sharp teeth.
3. Some gardeners advise making a heart-shaped hole.
4. In one of the ways convenient for you, put the neck of the device on a pole, a stick.

The apple here is placed inside the bottle through the hole made, after which you scroll the device, and the fruit is inside the fruit box. However, with such a tool it will not be possible to remove more than two fruits at a time.

Option #4: Sturdy Tin Can Construction

Not always the stalk of an apple lends itself easily to a fruit collector from a plastic bottle. For strong twigs, a device from a large tin can is perfect (taking into account that an apple can fit in it). This do-it-yourself apple picker is done like this:

1. On one side of the jar, cut a shallow line from the top with a utility knife.
2. Using pliers, spread the sides of the slot so that it becomes wedge-shaped, with a sharp angle at the bottom.
3. Opposite this "trap" for the handle, make two holes.
4. Using a strong wire, securely fix the fruit collector on the pole through the holes made.

Option number 5: plastic pipe fruit collector

Another device for hard-to-pick fruits. You need to try to find a thin plastic pipe of such a size that even a large apple can easily pass through it. And converting it into a fruit picker is simple:

1. Make a J-shaped hole in the wall of the top of the pipe.
2. On the lower tail of the "letter", which should look up, fasten the blade. If the stalk is stubborn, you pass it into this trap and cut off the twig, sharply lifting your device up.
3. Cut the lower edge of the pipe in the form of sharp triangular teeth.
4. Heat the pipe, after which the teeth can be easily bent, forming the bottom of the fruit box.
5. Drill holes in the thickness of the pipe through which you attach it to the pole with wire.

Option number 6: from a fishing net

If you have an aquarium or fishing net, then you already have a ready-made fruit collector for apples. Perhaps, in order to deal with recalcitrant cuttings, you will need to attach a device to the hoop that would tear off and cut off the twig. By the way, for convenience, the net in relation to the handle can be carefully bent at an angle.

Having understood the principle of the fruit picker, you can make it from other materials at hand. Let's see what summer residents have already come up with:

• A hoop made of thick wire and a linen bag stretched over it.
• Basket and galvanized hoop as a knife.
• The design of two metal rings: a bag is stretched over the static one, and a small movable one can be tightened above it with a fishing line around the handle.
• Construction of scissors, spring and pole.

Thus, making a fruit picker from improvised materials is absolutely not a difficult matter. And by giving free rein to your ingenuity, you can even come up with your own unique model of this device.