DE19817658A1 - Method of transporting and distributing laundry items in nursing home - Google Patents

Abstract

The method involves transporting goods from e.g. a nursing home to a laundry and transferring the goods using transportable containers from the laundry back to the original site. The laundry is sorted out immediately according to the individual users and placed into compartments in the container. The container used in the process has a quadrangular base (1) with four wheels (2). The base is adjoined by three erect side walls (3,4,5), two of which (opposite walls) are joined by a rod (6) for suspending objects. The compartments for sorting can be e.g. wire baskets.

Description

The invention relates to a method for Transport and distribution of personal goods, especially for the processing of personal goods in nursing homes and care institutions, whereby contaminated goods from a place of use, such as one Nursing home or a care institution, to a laundry and the washed goods with mobile containers from the Laundry is transferred to the location of use, which washed goods is sorted and at the location of use to the Consumer is distributed, as well as a mobile container for use in this procedure.

At different locations of use, as in Nursing homes and care institutions, department stores and the like, where clothes are used by staff or is treated, it is common for clothes to be external laundry is washed. For example, in Nursing homes and utilities do the dirty laundry of residents in laundry bags collected with a Standard containers are transferred to the laundry. After this the person-related goods have been washed, the goods become folded in the laundry and sorted by department and then stored on shelves in the standard container that back to the nursing home or the care institution is transferred. In this home, the clothes will be pro Sorted residents and distributed to residents. This The method has the disadvantage that there are two subsequent sorting operations take time and what space must be available for.

The invention aims to create a simplified process of the type mentioned.

For this purpose the procedure according to Invention the characteristic that the washed goods immediately in  the laundry is sorted by consumer and sorted in Compartments of the container is inserted, after which Transfer of the container to the site of use personal goods is distributed to consumers.

This will sort on one Limited action, which reduces costs and for sorting at the location of use, as in the Nursing home or in the care institution, no more room needs to be made available.

The invention also relates to a variant this method, which is particularly used for transport and Distribute suitable company clothing is. According to the invention, the washed goods in the Laundry sorted according to design and size and so sorted placed in the compartments of a container or in Containers inserted, which containers in a container are used, with dirty work clothes in a laundry bag is transported in the same Container is hung.

The invention further aims to create a for the application of the method according to the invention suitable container.

According to the invention, a mobile container created with a rectangular bottom with wheels and two opposite side walls, one Back wall and an open input page is provided, and with at least one support plate on which the Input side opposite rear edge by means of a guiding element and a guiding license on each Side of the support plate can be swiveled around a horizontal axis between a horizontal operating position and a Rest position is mounted in the container, the Guide element slidable in the guide rail itself located, characterized in that each guide rail a shift of the back edge of the corresponding Support plate allowed to the input side, at least a carry bar near the input side of the container  is attached to the corresponding support plate in the Support operating position.

According to a variant of the invention, the The container may be designed without a support plate (s) be, with containers removable into the container are pushed.

The invention is described in more detail below the drawing explains in which an embodiment of the mobile containers for use in the process the invention is shown schematically.

Fig. 1 shows in perspective a first embodiment of the mobile container according to the invention, into which several containers designed as wire baskets have been used.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the container of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side view corresponding to FIG. 2 of a second embodiment of the mobile container according to the invention.

Fig. 4 shows in perspective a third embodiment of the mobile container according to the invention.

Fig. 5 is a cross section of the container of Fig. 4 along the plane V.

In the drawing, a mobile container for transporting and distributing personal goods is shown, which is provided with a rectangular base 1 with four wheels 2 , two of which, for example, on the short side are designed as swivel wheels. At the bottom 1 there are three upstanding side walls 3 , 4 and 5 , the two opposite side walls 3 , 5 being connected to one another by a rod 6 for hanging goods. The side walls 3 , 4 further determine an open input side 7 . As can be seen from the drawing, the bottom 1 and the side walls 3-5 are all constructed in the usual manner from hollow tubes and wire rods.

The container shown is further provided with a central wall 8 , which is also constructed from tubes and wire rods and which preferably divides the interior of the container into two equal halves. The mutually facing sides of the side walls 3 and 5 and both sides of the middle wall 8 are provided with guides 9 which, in this embodiment, define insertion compartments 10 for containers 11 , which are preferably designed as wire baskets. A single large basket 11 or two small baskets 12 can be inserted one behind the other in each insertion compartment 10 .

Furthermore, the container shown is provided with an intermediate floor 13 , which in this case consists of two parts and which is mounted at such a height that a stack of nested containers 14 of the stacked shelves 10 exactly in the space between the floor 1 and the Intermediate floor 143 fits into it.

The container described can be used advantageously in different ways in an economical method for transporting and distributing personal goods. In the usual way, contaminated goods of the residents of a nursing home or a care facility or the like are collected in laundry bags and transported to a laundry where the dirty goods are washed in the usual way. After washing, the personal goods are prepared or folded and immediately sorted per resident and placed in the baskets 11 or 12 assigned to the resident. The baskets 11 , 12 can, for example, be provided with a suitable tag with a name and / or code. Of course, the personal goods are also provided with well or uncoded labels in the usual way. The baskets 11 , 12 are then placed in the shelves 10 of a container in the order of the residents of a department, whereupon this container is transferred to the nursing home or the care institution and is delivered to the department concerned. In the department, the staff can hand over the baskets 11 , 12 to the residents.

It will be clear that in this way particularly economical transportation and distribution personal goods is possible, in particular that time-consuming sorting on a single operation has been restricted.

When the personal goods are handed over to the residents, only the contents of the baskets 11 , 12 can be transferred to the residents or the basket 11 , 12 together with the contents, the residents then returning, for example, an empty basket. The empty baskets 11 , 12 can be inserted nested into the space between the floor 1 and the intermediate floor 13 , while the sacks of contaminated laundry can be placed in the space above the intermediate floor 13 , whereupon the container is returned to the laundry for one following cycle.

It is also possible to use one or both halves above the intermediate floor 13 for the transport of hanging goods. In the case of long garments, the intermediate floor 13 can be removed. It is also possible, depending on the needs of the residents, to distribute one or more baskets 11 , 12 into two compartments in a manner not shown in detail, one compartment being used for the personal goods and the other compartment supplementing articles for the relevant compartment Residents are laid. These supplementary articles can be, for example, supply articles and the like, which are inserted into the baskets 11 , 12 in the laundry or in the nursing home or in the care institution.

It is noted that the open input side 7 can be closed off, for example, by bars or bands running diagonally between the side walls 3 , 5 and the central wall 8 in order to prevent the baskets 11 , 12 from falling out unintentionally. When using rods, the rods can be rotatably connected to a corner point of the floor 1 , for example.

A variant of the method described is particularly suitable for the transport and distribution of personal clothing, for example for the branches of a supermarket chain. A branch of a supermarket chain often includes a bakery, butcher and a cheese department, the employees of which wear appropriate company clothing for the respective department. Suitable clothing is also required for the logistic employees of the branch. The individual types of company clothing for such a branch include, for example, five different items of clothing. The dirty clothes are washed in the laundry and sorted according to design and size into the containers 15 , which are stacked in a container shown in FIG. 3, which container is designed in essentially the same way as that in FIG. 1 and 2 containers shown. The containers 15 can for example be designed as standard storage boxes or as the described baskets 11 , 12 . The containers 15 are stacked in the view of Fig. 3 left in the container, wherein the right half of the container is occupied by a laundry bag 16 whose dimensions are such that the right half of the container is completely taken approximately in claim. The laundry bag 16 is almost completely closed, also on the upper side and is suspended from the upper side of the tubes of the container in a manner not shown.

When the container is transported from the laundry to the store, a clean, empty laundry bag 16 has been hung in the container. The container is divided, for example, at the branch staff canteen, where the employee can remove the clothing belonging to his function from the containers 15 . Employees can put the dirty work clothes into the laundry bag 16 via an insertion opening 17 formed on the upper side thereof, which can be closed, for example, with a flap, not shown. The fastener can be made with a Velcro fastener or the like, for example.

The driver who cleans the container Company clothes can bring the container the previous time was delivered with the dirty work clothes take it back to the laundry so that it can be washed there becomes.

It will be clear that the described Process a minimal number of actions during the delivery and the removal of company clothing. Stock work clothes can be kept to a minimum. The supply and removal of company clothing are all in one compact container possible.

Although the container shown in FIG. 7 is designed without guides 9 , guides are probably used when baskets 11 , 12 are used. When using storage boxes, the middle wall can be omitted if desired.

In Figs. 4 and 5 in perspective and in side view a third embodiment is shown a container which can be advantageously used in the above illustrated method. This container is carried out essentially in the same way as the container shown in FIG. 1 with a rectangular base 1 , two opposing upstanding side walls 3 and 5 and a rear wall 4 , the side walls 3 and 5 of a rod 6 for hanging goods together are connected. The middle wall 8 divides the interior of the container into two equal halves. In the container according to FIGS. 4 and 5, the baskets or containers, however, are replaced by support plates 18 which are mounted in the embodiment illustrated in only one container half, so that the other container half is completely free for the transportation of Hängegut. However, it will be clear that, if desired, a combination of support plates 18 and baskets 11 , 12 or containers 15 is possible, with, for example, support plates 18 in one container half and baskets or containers in the other container half or support plates and baskets or containers in a container half are combined. It is also possible to carry out both container halves with support plates 18 . As will be shown below, when using the support plates 18, these can be folded away in such a way that a container half can be cleared for hanging goods.

Each support plate 18 is made of wire rods and is provided with a guide element 20 on both sides of the rear edge 19 opposite the input side 17 . This guide element 20 is slidably and rotatably mounted in a guide rail 21 with a guide slot 22 in which the guide element 20 is received. The guide rails 21 are fastened to the side wall 5 and the middle wall 8 . Each guide rail extends from the rear wall 4 over part of the side wall 5 and the middle wall 8 , wire rods 23 being attached between the guide rails 21 and the input side 7 of the container, said rods being provided with support parts 24 on both sides of the support plate 18 for supporting the support plate cooperate in the working position of the support plates 18 shown in FIG. 4. If desired, a carrier that is only near the input side is sufficient to support the support plate on the front.

When the input side 7 is open, the side wall 5 and the middle wall 8 are provided with stops 25 which prevent the support plates 18 from being inadvertently pushed out when the support plates 18 are completely pushed in. By lifting a support plate 18 on the front side, the support plate 18 can be partially pushed out until the rear support parts 24 meet the stops 25 . A maximum pushed-out position for the support plates 18 is thereby determined. In the pushed-out position, the sorted personal goods can be easily removed.

The support plates 8 are also rotatable with the guide elements 20 in the guide rails 21 , so that the support plates 18 can also be placed from the horizontal working position in an approximately vertical rest position on the rear wall 4 of the container. For this purpose, the support plate 18 can be completely pulled up with the support parts to the outside of the support rods 23 and pivoted downwards, the position of the support parts 24 relative to the pivot point at the rear edge 19 being such that the support parts 24 of a support plate are located one above the other Guide rails 21 are received from underlying support plates.

Since there is insufficient space for the two lower support plates 18 to pivot these support plates downward, 4 vertical guide rails 26 are attached to the rear wall, which connect to the guide rails 21 of these lower support plates 18 . In the normal working position of the lower support plates 18 , the guide elements 20 are received in the guide rails 21 . When the support plates 18 are no longer needed, the guide elements 20 are pushed to the vertical rails 26 , so that the support plate 18 falls down with its rear end onto the floor 1 of the container and the support plate 18 can be placed on the floor 1 in a rest position .

By moving all the support plates 18 from a container half from the working position to a rest position in the manner described, almost the entire space of the container half is cleared for, for example, hanging goods or for transporting dirty goods to the laundry.

As noted above, the three described embodiments of the container according to the Invention combined in any desired manner become.

The invention is not limited to the above described embodiments, which are within the  Framework of the invention varies in different ways can be.

Claims (20)

1.Procedures for the transport and distribution of personal goods, in particular for the processing of personal goods and nursing homes and care institutions, whereby used goods from a place of use, such as a nursing home or a care facility, to a laundry and the washed goods with mobile containers from the laundry to the Use location is transferred, the washed goods are sorted and distributed to consumers at the use location, characterized in that the washed goods are immediately sorted in the laundry by consumers and sorted into compartments of the container, being after transfer of the container to Location of use the personal goods is distributed to consumers. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the washed Well in the laundry in the containers assigned to users which containers are placed in compartments of a container be used. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the container handed over to users with the personal goods will be exchanged for an empty one if necessary Container. 4. The method of claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the Person-related goods or the containers sorted per department of a usage location in the departments assigned container is used or become. 5. The method of claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein at least part of the container has a compartment for complementary Article has, being in the laundry or on Use additional items per user in the site Containers are inserted. 6. The method according to any one of claims 2-5, wherein the container with one or more stacks nested container and dirty good of that  Nursing home or the care institution to the laundry is promoted. 7. The method according to the preamble of claim 1, the washed goods in the laundry after execution and size sorted and so sorted into the subjects of one Containers inserted or in containers which containers are used in a container, taking dirty work clothes in a laundry bag is transported, which is hung in the same container is. 8. Mobile container for use with the Method according to one of the preceding claims with a rectangular bottom with wheels and two each other opposite side walls, a rear wall and one open input page is provided, and with at least one Support plate, the one on the opposite side of the input side rear edge by means of a guide element and a Guide cards can be swiveled on each side of the support plate about a horizontal axis between a horizontal Operating position and a rest position in the container is mounted, the guide element being slidable in the Guide rail is located, characterized in that each guide rail a shift of the back Edge of the corresponding support plate towards the input side allowed, at least near the input side of the Containers a support rod is attached to the appropriate support plate in the operating position support. 9. Container according to claim 8, wherein between the a middle wall is attached to both side walls and in a row of support plates for at least one container half is mounted one above the other, on a side wall and on the middle wall the guide rails and the carrying bars for the support plates are attached. 10. Container according to claim 8 or 9, each Support plate on a front part on both sides has outstanding support parts with a  appropriate support rod to support the support plate work together in the operational position. 11. The container of claim 10, wherein each Side wall and the middle wall for each support plate at the Input side a stop to lock a support plate in one pushed in and one pushed out as far as possible Has position. 12. Container according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the Position of the support parts in relation to the rear edge of one Support plate is such that the support parts in the Rest position between lower guide rails are included. 13. Container according to one of claims 8-12, wherein at least the guide rails of the bottom two Carrier plates on each adjacent to the rear wall Connect vertical guide rails that are a guide for the guide elements to the floor. 14. Container according to one of claims 8-13, the optionally without a support plate (s), where Removable container pushed into the container are. 15. Container according to claim 9 and 14, wherein at least one side wall and the middle wall on at least are provided on one side with guides that Determine slots for the containers, each in Compartment a container or two containers in a row can or can be used. 16. A container according to claim 14 or 15, wherein at least some of the containers are divided into two compartments is. 17. Container according to claim 14, 15 or 16, wherein the containers can be placed one inside the other An intermediate shelf is attached and the height of the container Space between the floor and the mezzanine with the height the nested container from all on top of each other located compartments of the container. 18. Container according to one of claims 8-17, wherein Means are attached to complete the input page.   19. Container according to one of claims 8-18, wherein in the container a laundry bag for dirty goods, like Work clothing is attached. 20. Container according to claim 19, wherein the Laundry bag at the top in a front surface one Has opening for dirty goods that is lockable if necessary.