The work aims to design a unit of automatic peeling equipment for citrus, which can improve the one-time peeling rate and reduce the pulp damage rate. An innovation design model based on multi-method integration was proposed and applied to the innovative design of citrus automatic peeling equipment. Firstly, according to Kano model, the user requirement attributes of citrus automatic peeling equipment were obtained. Secondly, the design matrix was obtained by mapping between domains based on axiomatic design theory. Thirdly, the type of design matrix was judged by independent axiom, and the design matrix obtained was quasi-coupled design. The decoupling design was carried out by TRIZ theory, and the innovative design scheme of citrus automatic peeling machine was obtained. Finally, the design scheme was evaluated in combination with the analytic hierarchy process and the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method. The innovative design scheme of citrus automatic peeling machine based on the proposed innovative design model was superior to the existing citrus automatic peeling equipment in three aspects: function attribute, safety attribute and economic attribute. The designed citrus automatic peeling equipment meets the design requirements and verifies the feasibility and rationality of the proposed innovative design model.