EP3751045A1 - Method and device for feeding laundry items into a mangle or similar - Google Patents

Abstract

Washed items of laundry are spread out after being separated and fed to a mangle or the like. Efforts are being made to fully automate the separation and feeding of the laundry items. For this purpose, the invention provides for the respective automatically separated item of laundry to be pulled onto a belt conveyor with a front transverse edge region transverse to the feed direction (23). By means of a guide means (29) in front of the belt conveyor (25), a front transverse edge of the item of laundry is largely aligned at right angles to the feed direction (23) when it is pulled up. After being pulled up, the belt conveyor (25) centers the item of laundry to the center of the track of the following transfer conveyor (40). The item of laundry is then deposited by the belt conveyor (29) on a subsequent transfer conveyor (40) and the front transverse edge of the item of laundry is aligned exactly at right angles to the feed direction (23).

Description

The invention relates to a method for feeding items of laundry to a mangle or the like according to the preamble of claim 1. Furthermore, the invention relates to a device for feeding items of laundry to a mangle or the like according to the preamble of claim 8.

Washed laundry, especially flat laundry, is ironed or smoothed in some other way after washing and the subsequent dewatering and / or drying, if necessary. Washing and drying of the laundry is done in batches. On the other hand, the laundry items are smoothed out, in particular ironed, individually, specifically in the spread-out state. Therefore, the feeding of laundry items to the mangle or the like requires several successive work steps.

It is known to automatically separate items of laundry that are dried in batches. The subsequent feeding of isolated items of laundry to the mangle or the like, however, has so far only been partially automated.

The invention is now based on the object of an automatic, in particular fully automatic, method for feeding items of laundry to a mangle or the like and to create a corresponding device which ensures a high throughput and high reliability.

A method for solving this problem has the measures of claim 1. In this method, provision is made for the automatically separated item of laundry to be reliably and automatically assigned to a clip that holds a longitudinal edge section of the item of laundry starting from a corner of a front transverse edge. The clamp transfers at least one beginning of a transverse edge region of the item of laundry starting from the transverse edge to a belt conveyor running transversely to the feed direction. The transverse edge area of the item of laundry is pulled from the clamp onto the belt conveyor transversely to the feed direction.

The belt conveyor transports at least the transverse edge region of the item of laundry lying on it, preferably the entire item of laundry, in front of a transfer conveyor. In this case or afterwards, the belt conveyor centers the item of laundry, specifically at least one transverse edge area lying on the belt conveyor, in the middle of the transfer conveyor.

The item of laundry is then deposited, preferably by the belt conveyor, with the transverse edge area and the leading transverse edge on the transfer conveyor, which aligns at least the transverse edge of the item at right angles to the input direction before the transfer conveyor either transports the item of laundry directly to the ironer or transfers it to a subsequent feed conveyor who finally transports the item of laundry to the mangle or the like and enters it into the same.

Through all or alternatively only a part, preferably selected, above-mentioned method steps, in particular the sequence thereof, a fully automatic or at least partially automatic supply and / or input of a respective automatically separated item of laundry into a mangle or another laundry machine can take place. The targeted successive process steps ensure a high level of reliability of the feed and input process with a simultaneously high feed rate (number of input laundry items per unit of time).

In an advantageous embodiment of the method, the clip holds the longitudinal edge section starting from a corner of the transverse edge stretched. This forms when the item of laundry is held by the clamp, in particular under the Clip, the transverse edge area of the item of laundry. Preferably, starting from the clamp, the transverse edge region is formed in a spread-out manner as a result of the longitudinal edge section held in the clamp in a stretched manner.

The clamp is preferably designed as a double clamp with two spaced apart jaws for holding the longitudinal edge section in an elongated manner. The area of the longitudinal edge section lying between the jaws of the clamps is thereby stretched, in particular approximately in a straight line, held between the jaws of the clamps.

The method can advantageously be developed in that a guide means is assigned to the belt conveyor. The guide means is preferably arranged upstream of the belt conveyor in relation to a conveying direction of the belt conveyor transversely and / or at right angles to the input direction, in that the guide means is located laterally in front of the belt conveyor with respect to the feed direction. The guiding means guides the transverse edge area of the respective item of laundry extending under the longitudinal edge section held by the clamp when the transverse edge area is pulled onto the belt conveyor transversely, in particular at right angles or at least approximately at right angles to the feed direction. This leads to at least an approximate alignment or preliminary alignment of the front transverse edge of the item of laundry perpendicular to the feed direction.

The guide means is preferably designed as at least one alignment drive.

According to an advantageous further development of the method, provision is made for the transverse edge region of the item of laundry to be fixed on the belt conveyor, preferably its upper run. This fixing is preferably done pneumatically by negative pressure or suction air. In this way, the transverse edge area of the item of laundry is held on the upper run at the latest after being pulled onto the upper run of the belt conveyor, preferably already while being pulled onto the upper run of the belt conveyor, so that a drive of the belt conveyor, in particular its upper run, transversely to the feed direction of the The transverse edge area of the item of laundry is taken along by the upper run of the belt conveyor and thereby pulled onto the belt conveyor. By fixing the transverse edge area on the upper run of the belt conveyor, the belt conveyor can also center the transverse edge area and thus the item of laundry in the middle in front of the transfer conveyor, so that the middle of the item of laundry arrives in front of the respective track center of the transfer conveyor.

Another advantageous development of the method provides for the width of the item of laundry, namely the dimensions of the item of laundry to be determined transversely to the feed direction, in the area of the belt conveyor, in particular on the belt conveyor. This width of the item of laundry transversely to the feed direction preferably corresponds to the length of its transverse edge. In this context, “transverse edge” means that the relevant front edge of the item of laundry extends transversely to the feed direction. In the case of right-angled items of laundry, this can be either or alternatively the long side (long side) or the short side (transverse side). The invention is therefore not limited to the long or short side as the transverse edge. Depending on the determined length of the front transverse edge of the item of laundry, the upper run of the belt conveyor moves in a targeted manner while taking the item of laundry with it as a result of the front transverse edge area of the item of laundry fixed on the upper run of the belt conveyor. This targeted movement of the belt conveyor, in particular its upper run with the respective item of laundry, takes place in such a way that the item of laundry is centered in the middle in front of the transfer conveyor and / or the item of laundry is centered on the transfer conveyor with respect to its feed or deposit track in relation to the respective deposit path of the item of laundry becomes.

Another advantageous embodiment of the method provides for the course of the front transverse edge of the item of laundry on the transfer conveyor to be determined by sensors. This can be done by a row of successive sensors running transversely to the feed direction, preferably a sensor strip, above or below the upper run of the transfer conveyor, but also by at least one camera, a light barrier or the like. By means of a subsequently targeted independent drive of several adjacent belts of the transfer conveyor, the front transverse edge of the item of laundry is then displaced in such a way that it runs at right angles to the feed direction. The independent drive of all or groups of several adjacent belts of the transfer conveyor is controlled by the result of the previous sensory determination and / or scanning of the course of the front transverse edge of the item of laundry after the belt conveyor has placed the front transverse edge of the item of laundry on the start of the transfer conveyor. In this way, a supply and transfer of the respective item of laundry to a mangle or the like is ensured with the transverse edge of the item of laundry running exactly at right angles to the feed direction and / or in a straight line or at least approximately in a straight line.

A device for solving the aforementioned object has the features of claim 8. It is provided that the at least one clamp in front of the conveyor is designed to hold a longitudinal edge section of the item of laundry starting from a corner of the transverse edge, the conveyor as a belt conveyor running transversely to the input direction for receiving the front transverse edge area of the item of laundry and for displacing it transversely to the feed direction is trained. Alternatively or in addition, a transfer conveyor following the belt conveyor in the feed direction is provided for aligning the front transverse edge of the respective item of laundry at right angles to the feed direction. This device makes it possible, after the automatic separation of the laundry items, to automatically feed a separated laundry item to the transfer conveyor in a centered manner and / or to align it at right angles to the feed direction by the transfer conveyor. This enables a reliable and quick automatic feeding of laundry items to a mangle or another laundry machine.

The device is preferably developed in such a way that the clamp for holding a longitudinal edge section of the respective item of laundry starting from a corner of the transverse edge is designed as a double clamp with preferably two spaced apart clamp jaws. Such a double clamp can hold the longitudinal edge section of the item of laundry held by it stretched between its two spaced apart clamp jaws. As a result, the double clamp can automatically transfer the front transverse edge region of the respective item of laundry to the belt conveyor in a targeted and / or stretched manner, in particular pull it onto the belt conveyor.

According to an advantageous further development of the device, its belt conveyor extends transversely to the feed direction in front of and / or over the transfer conveyor. As a result, the item of laundry can be reliably and automatically deposited with a transverse edge region from the belt conveyor in a targeted manner at the start of the feed conveyor, specifically preferably in the center of the transfer conveyor.

Another possible embodiment of the device provides for an upper run of the belt conveyor to be designed for receiving and / or for fixing the front transverse edge region of the respective item of laundry. By fixing the front transverse edge area of the respective item of laundry on the upper run of the belt conveyor, the item of laundry can be centered in front of the transfer conveyor with its transverse edge area fixed on the upper run of the belt conveyor. In addition, the fixing of the front transverse edge area of the item of laundry on the upper run of the belt conveyor supports the Transfer of the transverse edge area from the clamp, in particular the double clamp, to the upper run of the belt conveyor.

Provision is also preferably made for a measuring device to be assigned to the belt conveyor for determining the length of the front transverse edge of the item of laundry. Viewed in the feed direction, this length of the front transverse edge corresponds to the width or length of the item of laundry, depending on whether the item of laundry is to be fed in longitudinally or transversely, the ironer or the like.

Alternatively or in addition, it is provided that a drive of the belt conveyor can be controlled as a function of the determined length or width of the front transverse edge of the item of laundry in such a way that the item of laundry is centered by moving the upper run of the belt conveyor in one or the other direction across the feed direction is centerable to the transfer conveyor. This central centering can be carried out exactly and on the basis of the length or width of the front transverse edge of the item of laundry previously determined by the measuring device.

A preferred development of the device provides for at least one guide means, preferably at least one alignment drive, to be assigned to the belt conveyor. This at least one guide means is assigned to the belt conveyor, in particular arranged upstream, in such a way that the clamp or double clamp pulls the transverse edge area of the respective item of laundry during transport to the belt conveyor, especially when being pulled onto the same, across and / or through the at least one guide means, whereby this aligns the front transverse edge at least approximately transversely to the feed direction. As a result, a preliminary alignment of the front transverse edge of the item of laundry is already carried out by the belt conveyor.

Furthermore, the device is designed such that the transfer conveyor has several conveyor belts lying next to one another transversely to the feed direction for transporting the respective item of laundry in the feed direction and / or to the feed conveyor following the transfer conveyor. The conveyor belts lying next to one another or groups of several conveyor belts lying next to one another can preferably be driven independently of one another. As a result, an automatic right-angled alignment of the front transverse edge of the respective item of laundry to the feed direction and thus also to the transfer conveyor and / or to the feed conveyor, preferably a sandwich feed conveyor, can be brought about.

According to an advantageous development of the device, the transfer conveyor is assigned a detection device for detecting the course and / or position of the front transverse edge of the respective item of laundry relative to the feed direction. With this detection device, possible deviations of the front transverse edge from the perpendicular course to the feed direction and / or any slack in the front transverse edge of the item of laundry can be determined. If it is determined during this determination that the front transverse edge is not at right angles to the feed direction on the transfer conveyor and / or the front transverse edge still has an impermissibly large slack, the slack and / or a slack is caused by a targeted drive of the adjacent conveyor belts or groups of several adjacent conveyor belts non-perpendicular course of the front transverse edge of the respective item of laundry to the feed direction can be eliminated automatically.

Fig. 1

eine vereinfachte perspektivische Prinzipdarstellung der Vorrichtung,

Fig. 2

eine perspektivische Ansicht des hinteren Teils der Vorrichtung mit einem Gurtförderer, einem Übergabeförderer und einem Zuführförderer,

Fig. 3

eine Einzelheit III aus der Fig. 2 im Bereich eines Ausrichttriebs zum Vorausrichten eines Querrands des Wäschestücks,

Fig. 4

eine perspektivische Ansicht der in der Fig. 2 dargestellten Vorrichtung aus einer anderen Blickrichtung (schräg unten von vorn),

Fig. 5

der Teil der Vorrichtung der Fig. 2 bis 4 mit einem anfänglich auf den Gurtförderer aufgezogenen Wäschestück,

Fig. 6

eine Darstellung analog zur Fig. 5 mit dem vom Gurtförderer zentrierten Wäschestück,

Fig. 7

eine Darstellung analog zu den Fig. 5 und 6 mit dem vom Gurtförderer auf den Übergabeförderer abgelegten Wäschestück,

Fig. 8

eine perspektivische Darstellung des auf den Übergabeförderer abgelegten und noch nicht ausgerichteten oder nur vorausgerichteten Wäschestücks, und

Fig. 9

eine Ansicht analog zur Fig. 8 mit auf den Zuführförderer aufgelegten und ausgerichteten Wäschestück.

Preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing. In this show:

Fig. 1

a simplified perspective representation of the principle of the device,

Fig. 2

a perspective view of the rear part of the device with a belt conveyor, a transfer conveyor and a feed conveyor,

Fig. 3

a detail III from the Fig. 2 in the area of an alignment drive for pre-aligning a transverse edge of the item of laundry,

Fig. 4

a perspective view of the in FIG Fig. 2 shown device from a different viewing direction (diagonally below from the front),

Fig. 5

the part of the device of the Figs. 2 to 4 with an item of laundry initially pulled onto the belt conveyor,

Fig. 6

a representation analogous to Fig. 5 with the item of laundry centered by the belt conveyor,

Fig. 7

a representation analogous to the Fig. 5 and 6th with the item of laundry placed on the transfer conveyor by the belt conveyor,

Fig. 8

a perspective view of the item of laundry placed on the transfer conveyor and not yet aligned or only pre-aligned, and

Fig. 9

a view analogous to Fig. 8 with items of laundry placed and aligned on the feed conveyor.

The device shown in the figures is used for the fully automatic feeding of laundry items to a mangle or some other laundry treatment device, for example a folding machine. This device is particularly suitable for carrying out the method according to the invention for feeding items of laundry to a mangle or the like.

In the Figures 5 to 9 an item of laundry 10 is shown as an example. This item of laundry 10 is an item of flat laundry, for example a tablecloth, a bed sheet, a duvet cover, a pillow case or possibly also a napkin. However, the invention is not restricted to this.

After washing and optionally drying and / or loosening, the laundry items 10 are fed to the device as a pile of laundry.

The device has a gripper 12 that can be moved up and down along an ascending transport path 11, which is formed for example by a shuttle cylinder. The gripper 12 is designed to grip any point, preferably an individual item of laundry 10 from the pile of laundry. Occasionally, several items of laundry 10 are picked up from the pile of laundry by the gripper 12 at the same time. A separator 13 is therefore arranged downstream of the gripper 12. By moving the gripper 12 along the transport path 11, a first item of laundry 10 or several items of laundry 10 reach the separator 13, which finally separates several items of laundry 10 that may have been gripped by the gripper 12 at the same time. For details of the gripper 12, the transport path 11 and the separator 13, refer to the DE 10 2016 012 274 A1 Referenced.

A separated item of laundry 10 is fed or made available by the separator 13 to a subsequent transport system 14. A first movable clamp of this transport system 14 grips the individual laundry item 10 provided by the separator 13 from any point on an edge, preferably a corner or a corner area. By handing over one or more on different transport lanes movable clamps of the transport system 14, a reorientation of the item 10 takes place. This is done in such a way that a last clamp 15 of the transport system 14 can grip a longitudinal edge section 18 of a longitudinal edge 19 of the item 10 starting from a corner 16 of a front transverse edge 17 of the item 10. This longitudinal edge section 18 laterally delimits a transverse edge region 20 of the item of laundry 10 starting from the front transverse edge. The clip 15 is designed as a double clip with two spaced apart clip jaws. As a result, the clamp 15 is able to keep adjacent ends of the longitudinal edge section 18 stretched with its spaced apart clamp jaws. The part of the longitudinal edge section 18 located between the two clamp jaws of the clamp 15 is thereby stretched, held by the clamp 15, preferably running approximately in a straight line. The clamp 15 can be moved longitudinally on a transport path 21, which is formed, for example, by a shuttle cylinder, to a subsequent clamp 22, which is preferably also designed as a double clamp with two spaced apart clamp jaws for holding the longitudinal edge section 18 of the laundry item 10 in an elongated manner. This clamp 22 can be moved transversely, in particular at right angles, to the feed direction 23 of the item of laundry 10 to the mangle (not shown in the figures) or to another laundry machine. The clamp 22 can preferably be moved along a further transport path 24, which can also be formed by a shuttle cylinder. This transport path 24 also runs transversely, preferably at right angles, to the feed direction 23, namely horizontally.

The transport track 24 and the clamp 22 which can be moved along the same are arranged above a conveyor preferably designed as a belt conveyor 25. This belt conveyor 25, like the transport path 24 running parallel above it, extends transversely, in particular at right angles to the feed direction 23, and specifically also running horizontally. The length of the belt conveyor 25 (transversely to the feed direction 23) corresponds to the length of the front transverse edge 17 of the largest item of laundry 10 to be fed to the mangle or the like. The width of the belt conveyor 25 is selected so that it can accommodate the front transverse edge area 20 of a respective item of laundry 10. As a result, the width of the belt conveyor 25 corresponds at least to the length of the longitudinal edge section 18 of a respective item of laundry 10. The belt conveyor 25 has a circumferentially drivable conveyor belt that is narrow relative to its length and the upper run 26 of which is designed to accommodate the transverse edge area 20 of the respective item of laundry 10. By means of a corresponding drive, which is preferably controlled by sensors, the upper run 26 is targeted in the longitudinal direction of the belt conveyor 25 transversely to the Feed direction 23, in particular running at right angles to feed direction 23, can be moved.

A measuring device for determining the length of the front transverse edge 17 of the item of laundry 10 drawn on the upper run 26 of the belt conveyor 25 is assigned to the belt conveyor 25. On the basis of the length of the front transverse edge 17 of the item of laundry 10 determined by this measuring device, the drive of the belt conveyor 25 for automatic centering and / or centering of the item of laundry 10 relative to a subsequent transfer conveyor 40 or the like is controlled.

Below a front side edge of the belt conveyor 25 as seen in the feed direction 23 is a suction surface 27 that extends over the entire length of the belt conveyor 25 for fixing a transverse edge strip of the same that adjoins the transverse edge region 20 of the laundry item 10. The suction surface 27 lies in a vertical plane below the front side edge of the belt conveyor 25 and, in the exemplary embodiment shown, has a uniform grid of suction bores 28 that can be acted upon by negative pressure.

A guide means is assigned to the beginning of the belt conveyor 25, from where the transverse edge region 20 of the respective item of laundry 10 can be fed ( Figs. 2 to 4 ). In the exemplary embodiment shown, the guide means is located in front of the start of the belt conveyor 25. The guide means shown in the figures is designed as an alignment drive 29. For this purpose, it has an alignment conveyor 30, a retainer 31 and a sensor curtain 32.

The alignment conveyor 30 runs in the feed direction 23. Its conveyor belt 33 is provided with at least one continuous row of suction bores 34. The suction bores 34 can be supplied with suction air in order to fix the laundry item 10 on an upper run 35 of the conveyor belt 33. The upper run 35 of the conveyor belt 33 lies approximately in a common horizontal plane with the upper run 26 of the belt conveyor 25.

The retainer 31 is arranged above the upper run 35 of the conveyor belt 33 of the guide means. The retainer 31 has at least one pull-up brush 36, which is preferably formed by at least one brush strip made of, for example, rubber or plastic and is thus elastically deformable. The width of the pull-up brush 36 corresponds approximately to the width of the upper run 26 of the belt conveyor 25. The pull-up brush 36 is attached to a swivel arm 37, which by a suitable swivel drive from the upper run 35 of the conveyor belt 33 starting from the in for example the Fig. 3 The active position shown swiveled down can be swiveled up, as a result of which a start of the transverse edge region 20 of the item of laundry 10 at the beginning of the pulling of the same onto the belt conveyor 25 between the upper run 35 of the conveyor belt 33 and the lower side of the pulling brush 36 can be positioned.

Seen in the direction of pulling the item of laundry 10 onto the belt conveyor 25, the sensor curtain 32 is arranged behind the retainer 31, in particular behind its pull-up brush 36. The sensor curtain 32 is generated by a plurality of sensors, preferably of the same type, arranged next to one another or one behind the other, in particular closely one behind the other, in the feed direction 23, wherein the sensors can belong to a sensor strip 38. Sensor beams 39 emanating from each of the successive sensors, preferably the sensor strip 38, are shown in FIG Fig. 3 Visibly represented by parallel lines. The sensor curtain 32 formed in this way is located in a vertical plane which runs along the feed direction 23. The sensor beams 39 are directed onto the upper run 35 of the conveyor belt 33 or an intermediate space or a detection plate between the upper run 35 of the conveyor belt 33 and the upper run 26 of the belt conveyor 25. As a result, they detect the position of the front transverse edge 17 of the laundry item 10 relative to the rear side edge of the upper run 26 of the belt conveyor 25 when the laundry item 10 is pulled onto the belt conveyor 25. With the sensor bar 38, the course of the transverse edge area 20 is detected and when it is pulled onto the belt conveyor 25 this course is actively influenced by the alignment drive 29 and corrected if necessary.

Viewed in the feed direction 23, the transfer conveyor 40 is arranged behind and below the belt conveyor 25. The transport direction of the transfer conveyor 40 runs in the feed direction 23. The transfer conveyor 40 is formed from several narrow conveyor belts 41, preferably at a small distance transversely to the feed direction 23, next to one another Transverse edge area 20 of the respective item of laundry 10 can be transferred, in particular pulled open, to an upper run 42 of the transfer conveyor 40 lying in a horizontal plane, and with a leading front transverse edge 17 on the upper run 42 of the transfer conveyor 40, preferably the upper runs of the adjacent, narrow conveyor belts 41 of the transfer conveyor 40 , can be stored ( Figures 7 to 9 ).

The Fig. 8 shows the case that after at least part of the front transverse edge region 20 of the item of laundry 10 has been transferred or pulled onto the transfer conveyor 40, the front transverse edge 17 of the item of laundry 10 in question does not yet run at right angles to the feed direction 23. In this case, the front transverse edge 17 of the laundry item 10 is reoriented by the transfer conveyor 40 such that the front transverse edge 17 runs at right angles to the feed direction 23 of the transfer conveyor 40 ( Fig. 9 ). For the purpose of this alignment, each conveyor belt 41 of the transfer conveyor 40 or alternatively groups of several conveyor belts 41 of the transfer conveyor 40 can be individually driven independently of one another.

The right-angled alignment of the front transverse edge 17 of the respective item of laundry 10 to the feed direction 23 is controlled by sensors not shown in the figures, for example light barriers, which are for example arranged above the transfer conveyor 40 in a row running at right angles to the feed direction 23. The specific and needs-based independent drive of the conveyor belts 41 or groups of several conveyor belts 41 takes place until the front transverse edge 17 of the item 10 of laundry is detected by all sensors of the row of several adjacent sensors running transversely to the feed direction 23.

After the front transverse edge 17 of the item of laundry 10 has been aligned at right angles to the feed direction 23 in this way, the item of laundry 10 is transported on by the transfer conveyor 40 in the feed direction 23, either directly to the ironer or the like or - according to the embodiment shown - to one on the Transfer conveyor 40 following feed conveyor 43, which then transports the laundry item 10 to the ironer or some other laundry treatment machine and inputs it, in particular feeds it. The feed conveyor 43 can be designed as a sandwich conveyor with sub-conveyors lying one above the other.

The method according to the invention is explained below with reference to the device described above:
A single item of laundry 10 is preferably gripped from the pile of laundry by the gripper 12 and fed to the separator 13. The separator 13 carries out a complete separation, if necessary of several items of laundry 10 gripped simultaneously by the gripper 12. The separator 13 holds an individual item of laundry 10 at any point at the beginning of the transport system 14, in particular a first clamp 15 of the same. In the course of the transport system 14 the item of laundry 10 is transported to the beginning of the belt conveyor 25 and held there by the clamp 15, which is preferably designed as a double clamp, so that it can be taken over by a clamp 22 which can be moved along the transport path 21 running transversely to the feed direction 23. The two spaced-apart clamp jaws of the clamp 22 designed as a double clamp grip adjacent ends of the transverse edge region 20 of the item of laundry 10 in such a way that the section of the transverse edge region 20 held between the clamp jaws is stretched between the clamp jaws. At least one of the two clamp jaws of the double clamp 22 is moved relative to the other clamp jaw in such a way that the distance between the two clamp jaws increases and the transverse edge region 20 of the item of laundry 10 held between the extended jaws is pretensioned. The clamp 22 then holds the transverse edge region 20 stretched between its two clamp jaws.

After the clamp 22 has taken over the item of laundry 10 and holds a longitudinal edge section 18 of the item 10 stretched, the item of laundry with the longitudinal edge section 18 is located in front of the start of the belt conveyor 25 and also in front of the alignment drive 29 assigned to it. Before the clamp holding the longitudinal edge section 18 22 is moved along the transport path 21 running transversely to the feed direction 23, the swivel arm 37 holding the pull-up brush 36 of the alignment drive 29 is pivoted upward. As a result, during the initial movement of the clamp 22 transversely to the feed direction 23, the longitudinal edge section 18 of the item of laundry 10 with the subsequent beginning of the transverse edge area 20 pass the swivel arm 37 onto the upper run 35 of the alignment conveyor 30 of the alignment drive 29. Then, by pivoting down the pivot arm 37 of the retainer 31, the pull-up brush 36 thereof is moved against the top of the transverse edge area 20, up to the elastic contact of the flexible lower edge of the pull-up brush 36 on the transverse edge area. In this way, the transverse edge region 20 is directed transversely, that is, in a direction running parallel to the longitudinal edge section 18, delimited below by the upper run 35 of the alignment conveyor 30 and above by the lower edge of the pull-up brush 36 of the retainer 31 of the alignment drive 29. As a result, during the further movement of the clamp 22 transversely to the feed direction 23, the transverse edge region 20 of the item of laundry 10 is pulled, directed transversely to the feed direction 23, onto the upper run 26 of the belt conveyor 25.

The sensor curtain 32 is assigned to the alignment drive 29. This is preferably arranged downstream of the retainer 31 as seen in the pulling direction of the transverse edge region 20 onto the belt conveyor 25. The sensor curtain 32 scans when the item of laundry is pulled up 10 on the upper run 26 of the belt conveyor 25 from the front transverse edge 17 of the item 10 without contact, namely the distance between the front transverse edge 17 in the area of the sensor curtain 32 and the rear transverse edge of the belt conveyor 25 as seen in the feed direction 23. The sensor curtain 32 now determines that When the transverse edge region 20 is pulled up further on the belt conveyors 25, the distance between the front transverse edge 17 and the rear transverse edge of the belt conveyor 25 changes, the distance between the transverse edge 17 of the laundry item is corrected by moving the alignment conveyor 30 of the alignment drive 29 in or against the feed direction 23 10 to the rear transverse edge of the belt conveyor 25 instead. This ensures that the clamp 22 pulls the transverse edge region 20 of the item of laundry 10 onto the upper run 26 of the belt conveyor 25 at a right angle to the feed direction 23.

So that when the laundry item 10 is aligned by moving the alignment conveyor 30, the laundry item 10 is also carried along by the upper run 35 of the alignment conveyor 30, the strip of the transverse edge region 20 of the laundry item 10 located on the upper run 35 of the alignment conveyor 30 is fixed on the upper run 35 by The suction bore 34 in the conveyor belt 33 is subjected to negative pressure. Because of this fixation, the item 10 of laundry can also be pulled along under the lower edge of the pull-up brush 36 of the retainer 31 when the transverse edge region 20 is aligned.

After the movement of the clamp 22 transversely to the feed direction 23 along the transport path 24 over or by the alignment drive 29 and over the belt conveyor 25 has taken place so far that the longitudinal edge section 18 of the item of laundry 10 following the leading longitudinal edge section 18 is also on the upper run 26 of the Belt conveyor 25 is located, the two jaws of the clamp 22 are opened, whereby the transverse edge region 20 of the item 10 is now in its entire length (based on the direction of the transverse edge 17) on the upper run 26.

By means of a preferably air-permeable design of the conveyor belt of the belt conveyor 25 or a perforation of the same, the transverse edge region 20 of the item of laundry 10 can be fixed on the upper run 26 of the belt conveyor 25 by negative pressure and / or suction.

After the transverse edge region 20 has been placed and fixed on the upper run 26 of the belt conveyor 25, the item of laundry 10 is centered by the latter with respect to a longitudinal center line of the transfer conveyor 40 running in the feed direction 23. This is done by moving the upper run 26 of the belt conveyor 25 transversely to the feed direction 23 sensors assigned to the belt conveyor 25 detect opposite longitudinal edge sections 18 of the transverse edge area 20 of the item of laundry 10 and the upper run 26 is moved in such a way that the distances between the opposite longitudinal sections 18 of the transverse edge area 20 are equidistant from the longitudinal center axis of the transfer conveyor 40 running in the feed direction 23. In this way, the item of laundry 10 is automatically centered in relation to the longitudinal center line of the transfer conveyor 40 running in the feed direction 23. As a result, the item of laundry is automatically centered by the belt conveyor 25 to the longitudinal center line and thus the center of the track of the transfer conveyor 40. Alternatively, the automatic centering can also take place on the basis of the result of a previous length or width measurement of the front transverse edge 17 of the length of the transverse edge region 20 of the item 10 of laundry. Alternatively, it can also be provided, namely if the laundry items 10 have patterns, for example, to position the laundry items 10 from the belt conveyor 25 in a targeted eccentric position in front of the transfer conveyor 40.

After the item of laundry 10 has been centered by the belt conveyor 25 with respect to the center of the track of the transfer conveyor 40, the transverse edge area 20 of the item 10 of laundry 10 is transferred from the upper strand 26 of the belt conveyor 25 with the transverse edge area 20 of the item of laundry 10 fixed on the upper run 26 in the feed direction 23 Belt conveyor 25 to the beginning of the transfer conveyor 40, namely to the upper run 42 of the transfer conveyor 40, which is formed jointly by the upper strands of the adjacent narrow conveyor belts 41. For the purpose of this transfer, the belt conveyor 25 is moved in the feed direction 23 over the starting area of the transfer conveyor 40. As soon as the belt conveyor 25 is located above the beginning of the transfer conveyor 40, the suction surface 27 located in a vertical plane running transversely to the feed direction 23 is activated under the front end of the transfer conveyor 40. This is done by applying negative pressure to the suction bores 28 in the suction surface 27. As a result, a section of the item of laundry 10 adjoining the transverse edge area 20 is momentarily fixed below and in front of the transfer conveyor 40, and as a result the item of laundry 10 is held back during the transfer from the belt conveyor 25 to the beginning of the transfer conveyor 40 . By moving the belt conveyor 25 further in the feed direction 23, the transverse edge area 20 can then be pulled down from the upper run 26 of the belt conveyor 25 and reach the upper run 40 at the beginning of the transfer conveyor 40, in particular it can be deposited here without creases. During this transfer or depositing process of the transverse edge region 20 onto the transfer conveyor 40, the upper run 26 of the belt conveyor 25 is preferably no longer subjected to negative pressure.

After the front transverse edge region 20 of the laundry item 10 has been placed on the beginning of the transfer conveyor 40, the negative pressure application of the suction bores 28 of the suction surface 27 is preferably also canceled. The item of laundry 10 can now be transported on by the transfer conveyor 40 in the feed direction 23.

A sensor device or camera (not shown in the figures) in the start area of the transfer conveyor 40 can determine the course of the front transverse edge 17 of the item of laundry 10 after the transverse edge area 20 has been placed on the start of the transfer conveyor 40. If the front transverse edge 17 does not run at right angles to the feed direction 23, this front transverse edge 17 is automatically aligned by a specific drive of the adjacent conveyor belts 41 of the transfer conveyor 40 so that the front transverse edge 17 of the item of laundry 10 runs at right angles to the feed direction 23 ( Fig. 9 ). If necessary, any sagging of the front transverse edge of the laundry item 17 can also be eliminated in an analogous manner. Thereafter, the respective item of laundry 10 is centered on the track center or longitudinal center line of the transfer conveyor 40 and with the front transverse edge 17 running at right angles to the feed direction 23, precisely aligned and positioned in the feed direction 23.

In the device shown, in which the transfer conveyor 40 is followed by the feed conveyor 43, the respective laundry item 10 is transported from the transfer conveyor 40 to the feed conveyor 43 and transferred to it. The item 10 of laundry is then transported by the feed conveyor 43 to the ironer or another laundry treatment device and is fed into it.

All method steps mentioned in connection with the above description of the method run automatically, in particular fully automatically, and are controlled by appropriate sensor devices or image acquisition devices.

The method according to the invention is not only applicable to the device according to FIGS Figs. 1 to 9 limited, it can also be carried out with other devices which are designed such that they allow implementation of all or possibly only the essential of the method steps described. <b> List of reference symbols: </b> 10 Laundry item 40 Transfer conveyor 11 Transport track 41 Conveyor belt 12 Gripper 42 Upper strand (of 40) 13th Separator 43 Feed conveyor 14th Transport system 15th Bracket 16 corner 17th front transverse edge 18th Longitudinal edge section 19th Longitudinal edge 20th Transverse edge area 21st Transport track 22nd Bracket 23 Feed direction 24 Transport track 25th Belt conveyor 26th Upper run 27 Suction surface 28 Suction hole 29 Alignment drive 30th Alignment conveyor 31 Retainer 32 Sensor curtain 33 Conveyor belt 34 Suction hole 35 Upper run 36 Wind-up brush 37 Swivel arm 38 Sensor bar 39 Sensor beam

Claims (15)

A method for feeding laundry items (10) to a mangle or the like, the laundry items (10) being automatically separated, the respective separated laundry item (10) being spread out and with a transverse edge (17) running transversely to the feeding direction (23) by at least one feed conveyor ( 43) is transported to the ironer or the like, characterized in that the isolated item of laundry (10) held by a clamp (22) at a longitudinal edge section (18) extending from a corner (16) of the transverse edge (17) is held by the clamp (22) is transferred with at least one transverse edge region (20) starting from the beginning of the transverse edge (17) to a belt conveyor (25) running transversely to the feed direction (23), the belt conveyor (25) transports the item of laundry (10) in front of a transfer conveyor (40) and to the centered in the feed direction (23) extending center of the transfer conveyor (40) and / or the item of laundry (10) is deposited with the transverse edge region (20) on the transfer conveyor (40) aligns the transverse edge (17) of the item of laundry (10) at right angles to the feed direction (23). Method according to claim 1, characterized in that a guide means (29) is assigned to the belt conveyor (25), preferably arranged upstream, of which the transverse edge region (20) of the respective item of laundry (10) when pulled onto the belt conveyor (25) transversely and / or is guided and / or aligned at right angles to the feed direction (23). Method according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the transverse edge region (20) of the respective item of laundry (10) can be fixed, in particular pneumatically, on the belt conveyor (25), preferably its upper run (26). Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the transverse edge region (20) of the item of laundry is deposited by a clamp (22) on the upper run (26) of the belt conveyor (25) by pulling on at least one initial part transversely to the feed direction (23) of the transverse edge area (20) on the upper run (26) of the belt conveyor (25). Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that by driving the belt conveyor (25) with the upper run (26) of the belt conveyor (25) running transversely, preferably at right angles to the feed direction (23), the belt conveyor (25) with at least part of the front transverse edge region (20) laundry (10) lying on the upper run (26), preferably held and / or fixed, is transported centrally in front of the transfer conveyor (40) and is centered in the process. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the area of the belt conveyor (25), in particular on the belt conveyor (25), the width of the item of laundry (10) and / or the length of its front transverse edge (17) is determined and as a function of the determined width or length by a targeted movement of the upper run (26) of the belt conveyor (25) the respective item of laundry (10) is centered in front of the transfer conveyor (40). Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the course of the front transverse edge (17) of the respective item of laundry (10) on the transfer conveyor (40) is preferably determined by sensors and by subsequent targeted independent drive of adjacent conveyor belts (41) of the transfer conveyor (40) ) the front transverse edge (17) of the respective item of laundry (10) is displaced in such a way that it runs at right angles to the feed direction (23). Device for feeding items of laundry (10) to a mangle or the like, with a separator (13) for automatically separating the items of laundry (10), at least one clamp (22) for grasping the respective separated item of laundry (10) and transferring it to one Conveyor, and with a transfer conveyor (40) and / or feed conveyor (43), which the item of laundry in the feed direction (23), characterized in that the at least one clamp (22) in front of the conveyor for holding a longitudinal edge section (18) of the item of laundry (10) extending from a corner (16) of a transverse edge (17) running transversely to the feed direction (23) is designed, the conveyor is designed as a belt conveyor (25) running transversely to the feed direction (23) for receiving a transverse edge region (20) of the item of laundry (10) extending from the front transverse edge (17) and for displacing it transversely to the feed direction (23), and / or, viewed in the feed direction (23), the transversely directed belt conveyor (25) is followed by a transfer conveyor (40) which is designed to align the front transverse edge (17) of the respective item of laundry (10) at right angles to the feed direction (23). Device according to claim 8, characterized in that the clip (22) is designed as a double clip, preferably with two spaced apart clip jaws, for holding the longitudinal edge section (18) of the item of laundry (18) extending from a corner (16) of the front transverse edge (17) in an elongated manner. 10). Device according to Claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the belt conveyor (25) extends transversely, in particular at right angles, to the feed direction (23) in front of and / or over the transfer conveyor (40). Device according to one of Claims 8 to 10, characterized in that an upper run (26) of the belt conveyor (25) is designed to receive and / or fix the front transverse edge region (20) of the respective item of laundry (10). Device according to one of Claims 8 to 11, characterized in that the belt conveyor (25) is assigned a measuring device for determining the length of the front transverse edge (17) of the respective item of laundry (10) and / or a drive for the belt conveyor (25) as a function can be controlled from the determined length of the front transverse edge (17) of the item of laundry (10) in such a way that the item of laundry is centered to and / or at right angles to the feed direction (23) by a corresponding movement of the upper run (26) of the belt conveyor (25) or can be centered in front of the transfer conveyor (40). Device according to one of claims 8 to 12, characterized in that the belt conveyor (25) is assigned a guide means, preferably an alignment drive (29), such that the clamp (22), preferably double clamp, the transverse edge area (20) of the respective item of laundry (10) during transport to the belt conveyor (25), preferably for pulling on the same, transversely to the feed direction (23) over and / or through the guide means or the alignment drive (29) and this pulls the front transverse edge (17) of the respective item of laundry (10) at least approximately transversely, in particular perpendicularly, to Aligns feed direction (23). Device according to one of Claims 8 to 13, characterized in that the transfer conveyor (40) has several conveyor belts (41) lying next to one another transversely to the feed direction (23) for transporting the respective item of laundry (10) in the feed direction (23) and the conveyor belts (41) or groups of several conveyor belts (41) lying next to one another can be driven independently of one another in order to align the front transverse edge (17) of the respective item of laundry (10) at right angles to the feed direction (23). Device according to one of claims 8 to 14, characterized in that the transfer conveyor (40) is assigned at least one detection device for detecting the course and / or the position of the front transverse edge (17) of the respective item of laundry (10) relative to the feed direction (23) .

Images