DE3912977C2 - Method and device for feeding laundry to a mangle - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a method for feeding Laundry items to a defect or the like according to the Preamble of claim 1. The invention further relates a device of this type according to the preamble of the claim 11.

The post-published DE 38 39 045 A1 deals with the Feeding laundry items to a by a parts conveyor transfer device designed as a spreading device. there the laundry on the parts conveyor is transported brackets held at one corner. At the end of the part the laundry is manually conveyed by the trans port clips of the same removed and to the spreader to hand over. The known handling of the Items of laundry are relatively complex and therefore time consuming. It also leads to the corners of the laundry attacking spreading device to a mechanical load the items of laundry that can adversely affect them.  

Finally, it is in the known device or of these underlying procedures required that the Items of laundry with a defined corner to the transport Clamp the parts conveyor attached or to the spread device to be passed so that the desired input type the laundry into the mangle (lengthways or crosswise) is guaranteed.

From FR-OS 2 307 907 is a parts conveyor with elongated Transport clips known. Each transport clamp adheres Piece of laundry in a horizontal corner area, so that an approximately straight, can form the vertical edge of the item of laundry. The trans port clips are rigid on a chain of the parts conveyor attached. This must also be the case with this known parts conveyor each item of laundry with a defined corner to the The relevant transport bracket can be attached to the laundry Add the defect according to the desired input type can.

EP 0 272 368 A1 relates to a method and a device for feeding laundry to a mangle. The laundry pieces are automatically removed from a transport clamp Parts conveyor recorded and in the further course of the part conveyor with two adjacent upper corners in two separate Brackets of the parts conveyor hooked in. That happens automatic, but requires a considerable apperative up wall.

GB-PS 1 556 077 describes a method and a device for sorting washed laundry items before the next one Treatment known. The first with a corner in a trans laundry items hanging from a parts conveyor in the course of the parts conveyor with an adjacent corner in hooked in a second transport bracket and then after Design and size of each item of laundry in the ent talking storage line transferred, the laundry from each holding two adjacent corners of the same  Hang down the transport clips. They are also disadvantageous here two clips for holding each item of laundry.

A method and a device are known from EP 0 372 320 A2 known for spreading laundry items, including neighboring ones Corners of the item of laundry in two transport clips one Parts conveyor can be entered. Here are two again Clamps required to hold the laundry.

Proceeding from this, the object of the invention is a simple, efficient supply of laundry items a defect or the like in particular reduced to create manual activities.

A method serving to solve this task has the Features of claim 1. Accordingly, the respective Piece of laundry from the transport clamp to form one approximately straight, upright edge (reference edge) held. The upright reference edge and the am farthest hanging free corner of the laundry scanned without contact. From the measurement result obtained in this way can be determined mathematically whether the Reference edge around a long or short edge of the respective Items of laundry. This result, the qualitative one Side length determination of the respective item of laundry can do this can be used in the case of a certain input type in the Deficiency or the like, namely a longitudinal or a Transverse lack of reorienting the laundry item, if this is not with the correct reference edge on the part conveyor should hang. It will be the manual attachment of the Laundry items to the parts conveyor simplified by the respective operator not only the intended one Can ignore (target) lateral position; rather the Items of laundry with the short or long edge in the the respective transport clamp of the parts conveyor can.

By creating the straight aligned reference edge it is possible, for example, to mechanically remove the laundry items  Part conveyor to hand over to the feed conveyor. This expediently happens by a between the parts conveyor and the transfer conveyor arranged transfer device device that holds the items of laundry to be transferred upright aligned, straight reference edges captured by the parts conveyor decreases and moved to a transfer position to the feed conveyor. It is the known method or Devices no longer required operators required.

The manual input effort is further developed by process according to the invention is further reduced if - again with the help of those just aligned Reference edge - the items of laundry in the course of the parts conveyor a defined (target) lateral position is assigned. To do this the items of laundry, provided they are not already hanging have their intended (target) lateral position on the parts conveyor, brought into their (target) lateral position by twisting, whereby for a perfect further treatment of the laundry items enabling reference edges always in the same direction point. This measure can be used to manually mount the Items into the transport clamps of the parts conveyor in done in almost any way, d. H. which the suspension before operator does not need manual preories to do more.

The reorientation of the laundry if necessary pieces, such that the long or short edge each forms a straight upright reference edge by grasping the reference edge to be reoriented by means of an orientation bracket and a quarter circle ver swivel the respective item of laundry in an upright position Level. This creates an edge with another (desired) length as new straight and vertical ver running reference edge, which serves as the basis for a transverse or Longitudinal entry of the laundry item with the help of the handover facility and the feeder can serve the defect.  

In addition to the quarter-circle swiveling of the orientation brackets in a vertical plane can still be a semicircular Rotation of the orientation bracket around an upright axis of rotation may be required to reorient the item of laundry with respect to the new reference edge in the (target) lateral position convict. This is the case if the orientation brackets the reference edge to be reoriented in the area of the upper corner seize. In contrast, the quarter circle Swiveling the orientation bracket following semicircular Twisting the same is omitted when the orientation bracket the reference edge to be reoriented in the area of the lower corner of the laundry item.

A device for solving the basis of the invention Task has the features of claim 11. By in Transport clamps which can be pivoted in the longitudinal direction can be based on the direction of pivoting the same conclusions to the side position of the on the respective transport bracket hanging laundry. Accordingly, a ver rotation of the transport clips with the laundry item, if the item with the wrong side position on the ent speaking transport bracket hangs.

Furthermore, the transport clips are of a certain length to achieve a clamping length that is sufficient to the Items of laundry in the corner area of a horizontal edge stabilizing attacking transport clamps so far that the reference edge aligns itself approximately, approximately running vertically. Surprisingly, it has been shown that such a straight alignment of the reference edge sets with a clamp length of the transport clamps of approx 200-500 mm. To achieve this, the transport bracket run continuously over the entire clamping length, but also from two or more at an appropriate distance from each other arranged individual brackets can be formed.

The transfer of the laundry from the parts conveyor to the defect or the feed conveyor connected upstream of this takes place after a development of the device according to the invention by the  as an elongated swivel organ with a large number closely behind handover formed by opposing handler brackets Facility. The overlapping in a line clamps enable easy grasping of the straight aligned reference edge of the laundry to be transferred piece, and without manual assistance would be necessary. Because of the multitude of one after the other lying transfer clamps can be laundry items any Edge length regardless of the type of input (longitudinal or transverse input) recorded by the same transfer device and to the Feed conveyors to be handed over to the shortage. This is a consequence the formation of the transfer device as a swivel organ the item of laundry gripped upright so ver swiveling that the reference edge is directed horizontally in front of the Feed conveyor arrives and as a result of gripping the entire now horizontally directed reference edge through the Large number of transfer clips the item of laundry exactly spreads on the transfer device hangs for clean transfer to the feed conveyor or the shortage. As a result of the great Number of relatively closely spaced transfer clamps the transfer device can on an additional spreader direction are waived, which on the one hand creates an association multiplication of the device occurs and on the other hand the Handing laundry items not that of the usual Spreading device outgoing mechanical loads are set.

According to a preferred development of the transfer conveyor the transfer clamps on the swivel member can be moved overall to hand over the laundry in a certain position the feed conveyor leading to the shortage. In particular is thus the respective item of laundry in the case of single-lane ironers Can be positioned centrally in front of the feed conveyor.

Furthermore, the transfer device can have an edge straightening clip be assigned, which is the lower corner of the reference edge at the the horizontal (lower) edge attached to it Smooth out or slightly stretch the reference edge and one  thus easier and more reliable detection of the reference edge through the transfer brackets of the transfer device.

The transport clamps are preferably one by one movable suspension of the same running track, in particular a track section, pivotable, for which the Track or the track section (with the respective Transport bracket) by one above the running rail or the Horizontal tilt axis freely arranged is pivotable. Depending on the lateral position of the with an upper corner into the respective transport bracket hanging laundry is done in this training the Vorrich a pivoting of the transport bracket with the respective Track or the track section through the exception center of gravity of the laundry. The direction of the resulting longitudinal pivoting of the transport bracket is assigned by one or more of the latter Detectable signal generator.

The axis of rotation is expediently above the running rail or the track section after the determination of Lateral position of the item of laundry (again) can be locked, namely the art that the elongated transport bracket is horizontal again is directed, whereby the reference edge is its intended straight and upright course.

According to a development of the device, the parts conveyor in the area of the expected reference edge of the laundry items Assigned measuring device that electronically or optically electronically captures those areas of the laundry that characteristic parameters for computational (qualitative) Enable determination of the length of the respective reference edge, So to bring about a statement about whether it is the reference edge around a long or short edge of the jewei  act laundry items, serve. This is the measurement device preferably as an upright elongated Measuring bar formed which a plurality of on one common line with even spacing on top of each other lying photocells, at least the lower one Corner of the reference edge and the lowest point of the ge hanging on the respective transport clamp Items of laundry, i.e. the lowest free-hanging corner of the same, touch-free. Alternatively, on the place of several photocells also one along the elongated measuring bar movable photocell use Find. A scanner can also be used instead of the photocell a corresponding image evaluation device for Form the measuring device.

Finally, a particularly advantageous further relates Formation of the device a the parts conveyor ordered orientation bracket for reorienting those laundry items that are not provided with their intended Hang the reference edge on the respective transport bracket. The orientation bracket is at one free end of a in an upright plane, preferably 90 ° pivotable swivel arm arranged. This swivel arm is dimensioned in length and is stationary in the area arranged the track of the parts conveyor that one on the one hand the orientation bracket the upright reference edge in the area of the upper corner of the laundry item and on the other hand, the swiveled-up orientation bracket about on a common line with transportation clamps of the parts conveyor is located. Thereby ge the redirected by the orientation bracket Piece of laundry in a position in front of the transfer device into the items of laundry that cannot be reoriented directly through the transport clamp of the parts conveyor rers can be brought. So that the parts conveyor does not disturbing, is this, namely a track section of the same, in the area of the orientation bracket and the the corresponding swivel arm can be moved.  

So that in the upper corner area of the orientation the new reference edge is gripped by the item of laundry the reorientation back into the feed conveyor the orien tation bracket on the swivel arm also in one horizontal plane rotatable, preferably around 180 °. The orientation bracket therefore lists two sequential movements by starting first by swinging it up in a vertical plane Reference edge reoriented (long reference edge becomes short Reference edge or vice versa) and then with it inevitably associated reversal of the lateral position of the um oriented reference edge by turning the semicircle Items of laundry picks up again, creating the new cover edge also receives the (target) lateral position.

Two preferred embodiments of the fiction moderate device and associated procedures are explained in more detail using the drawing. In this demonstrate:

Fig. 1 is a schematic, partial perspective Dar position of a first embodiment of the apparatus,

Fig. 2 shows an enlarged detail shown from the parts feeder with a transport clamp and a hanging thereon piece of laundry,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged representation of the transport clamp according to a view of the Fig. 2

Fig. 4 shows a cross section along the line IV-IV in Fig. 3 by the transport bracket

Fig. 5 shows an enlarged end portion of the illustrated parts of the conveyor with a subsequent transfer device and a feed conveyor,

Fig. 6 shows a second embodiment of the Vorrich processing in a view according to Fig. 1,

Fig. 7 is a Grundrißdarstellung the device accelerator as the Fig. 4,

Fig. 8 shows a cross section through the parts feeder with a transport clamp prepared at ver interlocked pivot axis,

Fig. 9 is a view of the Fig. 6 but at ent interlocked pivot axis and Transverse transport clamp,

Fig. 10 is a partial view of the parts conveyor according to FIG. 2 with an associated measuring device, and

Fig. 11 is a side view of the parts feeder having a parts orienting means.

The supply of laundry items 10 to a defect, not shown in the figures, or to another laundry treatment machine takes place predominantly mechanically. The items of laundry 10 are simply hung by an operator 11 individually in a respective transport bracket 12 of a parts conveyor 13 . From the parts conveyor 13 , the items of laundry 10 arrive at a transfer device 14 , from which the individual items of laundry 10 are transferred to a feed conveyor 15 of an input machine 16 of a known type. From the input machine 16 , the laundry 10 finally get into the mangle or the like ( Fig. 1, 5 and 6).

The device shown here has a modular structure, particularly in the area of the parts conveyor 13 . Depending on the type of equipment on the device, the items of laundry 10 can be more or less aligned by the operator 11 in the respective transport clips 12 . The embodiments of the invention described in more detail below accordingly show differently upgraded devices, namely a minimal and a maximally erected device.

The minimally upgraded device ( FIGS. 1 to 5) has a parts conveyor 13 with only one store 17 and one transfer station 18th This transfer station 18 of the parts conveyor 13 is followed by the transfer device 14 arranged upstream of the feed conveyor 15 .

The parts conveyor 13 has a circumferential GE guided rail 19 , on which a plurality of transport brackets 12 arranged longitudinally by known transport members is arranged. From a the region of a loading station dienungsperson 20 that are available Be 11, the laundry items 10 are removed individually in melbehälter before lying embodiment of a rollable Sam 21, hung on the respective transport clamp 12 and along a Förderab section 22 of the running rail 19 in the direction of arrow 23 to the Transfer device 14 promoted. After taking the laundry items 10 through the transfer device 14 in the area of the transfer station 18 of the parts conveyor 13 , the empty transport clips 12 are returned on a return section 24 of the running rail 19 in the direction of arrow 25 to the loading station 20 .

In a special way, the transport clamps 12 of the parts conveyor 13 are formed in the device shown. These have an elongated shape to achieve an increased clamping length compared to conventional transport clips. The design of the transport clamps 12 with an effective clamping length of approximately 200 to 500 mm has proven to be particularly advantageous in practice. Surprisingly, a relatively straight, upright reference edge 26 then forms on the laundry item 10 hanging under a respective transport clip 12 . This is located on that side of the laundry item 10 , the upper corner 27 at a horizontally extending edge section from the elongated transport bracket 12 is detected. At the same time, a likewise rectilinear edge section 28 forms on the lower horizontal edge of the item of laundry in the region of a lower corner 29 on the item of laundry 10 opposite the upper corner 27 . The length of the edge section 28 is somewhat shorter than the effective clamping length of the transport clamp 12 ( FIG. 2). As a result, the laundry pieces 10 in the transport brackets 12 of the parts conveyor 13 with a lateral parallelogram area are kept almost smooth, forming the freely hanging straight reference edge 26th

The mutually identical transport brackets 12 have in the device shown to achieve the required clamping length two on opposite sides of an elongated, horizontal support 30 arranged individual brackets 31 ( Fig. 3 and 4). Between the equally formed individual clamps 31 , a piece of laundry 10 is held with a section 32 that adjoins the vertical reference edge 26 and runs horizontally.

Each individual clamp 31 has a clamp part 77 which is fixedly arranged on the carrier 30 and which has two parallel legs 78 on the right, between the free ends 79 of which the fixed clamp part 77 is open at the bottom. A further, movable clamp part, namely a swivel claw 80 , is mounted within the fixed clamp part 77 so as to be pivotable about a clamp axis 81 running in the longitudinal direction of the carrier 30 . On the clamp axis 81 there is a torsion spring 82 which is supported on the one hand on the swivel claw 80 and on the other hand on a leg 78 of the fixed clamp part 77 and thereby presses the swivel claw 80 in the closing sense of the individual clamp 31 against the other leg 78 of the fixed clamp part 77 , with an inclined swivel claw 80 ( FIG. 4). As a result, the item of laundry 10 can be pushed into the individual clamps 31 from below, whereupon the individual clamps 31 are automatically clamped by the spring-loaded swivel claws 80 . To take out the laundry items 10 from the individual clips 31 , these can be released manually or mechanically by a lever 83 assigned to each individual clip 31, which protrudes through a corresponding clearance 84 in a leg 78 of the fixed clip part 77 on the outside of each individual clip 31 and thereby easily accessible the swivel claws 80 arranged in the fixed bracket part 77 can be pivoted into an opening position against the spring force.

Alternatively, the individual brackets 31 can also be designed in the manner shown, for example, in DE-PS 32 12 397. Instead of the two outer individual clips 31 , the carrier 30 can also be assigned additional additional individual clips. Finally, it is also conceivable to provide the transport clamp 12 with a single clamp that extends over the entire clamp length.

A carriage 33 is arranged approximately in the middle above the carrier 30 . This has two pairs of rollers, that is a total of four rollers 34 , which are mounted on two horizontal axes of rotation 35 on the carriage 33 ( Fig. 2, 3 and 4). In this way, the transport brackets 12 can be moved almost without pendulum in the track 19 of the parts conveyor 13 .

Between the carriage 33 and the carrier 30 of each transport clamp 12 there is a rotary bearing 85 , about which the carrier 30 with the two individual clamps 31 can be rotated about an upright axis of rotation 36 relative to the carriage 33 in a horizontal plane. The pivot bearing 85 is composed of an upright pivot pin 86 which is fixedly connected to the carrier 30 and a bearing housing 87 which is fixedly connected to the carriage 33 , which in the exemplary embodiment shown has two roller bearings 88 for receiving the pivot pin 86 ( FIG. 3) .

The transport bracket 12 shown here also has a special development of the pivot bearing 85 . This has namely locking elements by means of which the individual clamps 31 can be locked with the carrier 30 in certain (rotational) positions with respect to the carriage 33 . In the present exemplary embodiment, the locking members are designed as resilient pressure pieces 89 accommodated in the bearing housing 87 of the rotary bearing 85 , the locking bolts 90 of which, in the locked state, engage in corresponding recesses 91 in an index plate 92 which is arranged firmly above the carrier 30 . The depressions 91 and the resilient pressure pieces 89 are expediently assigned to the bearing housing 87 on the one hand and the index plate 92 on the other hand such that the elongated transport clips 12 can be locked at least in the longitudinal direction of the running rail 19 , but preferably also in the transverse direction to the running rail 19 .

Due to the above-described design of the elongated transport clamps 12 , it is possible to accommodate them in the storage 17 of the parts conveyor 13 in a transverse direction to the longitudinal extent of the running rail 19 and thereby to buffer a plurality of transport clamps 12 provided with laundry items 10 in a relatively small space.

After leaving the memory 17 , the carrier 30 with the individual clamps 31 attached to it can be brought into a longitudinal position by a quarter-circle rotation to the direction of shock of the running rail 19 , whereby the reference edges 26 receive a forward position in the conveying direction 23 for the transfer device 14 , which can thus easily grasp the items of laundry 10 on the reference edges 26 without manual intervention.

The transfer device 14 is formed in a special manner in the direction shown. This has a ver in an upright plane by 90 ° swivel arm 37 , which is designed here as a circulating conveyor 38 with an endless between two parallel deflection drums 39 , 40 tension member 41 . The traction element 41 is completely occupied with a plurality of approximately equal distances from each other over feed clamps 42 of conventional design. The arrangement of the transfer clamps 42 on the tension member 41 is such that at least the clamping areas of the transfer clamps 42 located on a strand 43 pointing to the respective item of laundry 10 lie on a common connecting line with which the reference edge 26 of the respective one is conveyed by the parts conveyor 13 Items of laundry 10 can be brought into cover ( FIG. 5).

A deflection drum of the circulation conveyor 38 (in FIG. 5, the upper deflection drum 39 ) is formed on the one hand as a drive drum for the tension member 41 and on the other hand as a rotary axis 44 for pivoting the entire circulation conveyor 38 . For this purpose, the circulating conveyor 38 with the deflecting drum 39 is mounted laterally above the feed conveyor 15 on a combined pivoting / rotary drive 45 (shown schematically in FIG. 5). Due to this pivotable design of the circulation conveyor 38 , the respective item of laundry 10 after gripping the reference edge 26 from a plurality of transfer elements located in the area of the corresponding run 43 is pivotable 42 by 90 ° in the direction of arrow 46 , so that the item of laundry 10 is at then horizontal circulation conveyor 38 spread out in front of the feed conveyor 15 is for the known transfer to the same (indicated by dash-dotted lines in FIG. 5).

Due to the described design of the transfer device 14 as a circulating conveyor 38 , the item of laundry 10 can also be moved back and forth in the free-hanging state in front of the feed conveyor 15 if necessary in the direction of the double arrow 47 . This makes it possible in a simple manner to pass laundry items 10 of different sizes approximately centrally to the feed conveyor 15 by, depending on their size, the laundry items 10 by a correspondingly controlled method of the pulling element 10 of the circulating conveyor 38 in a central position in front of the input machine 16 can be brought. Similarly, it is possible with a two-lane supply of laundry items 10 to a common input machine 16 to bring laundry items 10 of any size in the middle of the corresponding web half in front of the feed conveyor 15 .

In the exemplary embodiment of the device shown here, an edge aligning element 48 is provided for easier grasping of the reference edge 26 of the laundry item 10 by the transfer device 14 . This only Hint as edge directing element 48 shown (FIG. 5) consists in the simplest case of an edge straightening bracket 49 to which the transport clamp engages 12 the opposite edge of the laundry article 10, namely at (hori zontal) edge portion 28 in the region of the lower corner 29. By this edge directional bracket 49, the cover is edge 26 of the garment 10 of the transfer device 14 lisiert stable for reliable attachment of the transfer bracket 42 and optionally slightly, without Vermin Liche mechanical influences on the piece of laundry 10, stretches ge. For this purpose, the edge straightening element 48 is designed such that the edge straightening clip 49 can at least be moved up and down. Preferably, the edge straightening clip 49 can also be moved back and forth laterally, in the plane of the laundry item 10 . As a result, the item of laundry 10 can be inserted into the transfer clips 42 of the transfer device 14 , for example, by a uniform movement of the edge alignment clip 49 and the transport clip 12 .

The device described above ensures a fully automatic transfer of the laundry items 10 from the parts conveyor 13 to the transfer device 14 and further to the feed conveyor 15 . However, the operator 11 must hang the laundry 10 in the loading station 20 with a certain corner in the respective transport bracket 12 so that the intended edge of the laundry 10 as a reference edge 26 is aligned and can be detected by the transfer device 14 . This hanging of the laundry 10 in the transport brackets 12 of the parts conveyor 13 is considerably simplified in the second embodiment of the device described below by the operator 11, the laundry piece 10 with any corner in the transport bracket 12 can hang. The piece of laundry 10 is then - if necessary - automatically brought along the parts conveyor 13 into such a position that the correct edge as the reference edge in an intended (target) side position reaches the transfer device 14 . As a result, due to the modular construction of the device in the area of the parts conveyor 13, a side position detection device 50 , an edge length identification device 51 and a parts orientation device 52 are arranged one behind the other in the conveying direction 23 . Apart from these additional devices, this device corresponds in terms of its basic structure and the other components of the device explained above. This also applies in particular to the transfer device 14 and the edge aligning element 48 (not shown in FIGS. 6 ff.).

The lateral position detection device 50 connects directly to the memory 17 . In the area of the side position detection device 50, the baptismal rail 19 has a rail section 53 which is separated from the areas adjacent to the running rail 19 from a static point of view. The rail section 53 can be tilted about a tilting axis 54 extending over the same and in the longitudinal direction of the rail section 53 together with the transport clamp 12 which is not pivotably guided in the rail section 53 on the carriage 33 . The rail section 53 can be locked with regard to the pivotability about its tilt axis 54 . For this purpose, a locking lever 55 projecting upward above the tilt axis 54 is arranged on the rail section 53 , the two pressure medium cylinders 56 being assigned to one another on a common section 53 transverse to the longitudinal direction of the rail section. By evenly extending the pressure medium cylinder 56 , their piston rods 57 receive approximately plant on the opposite sides of the locking lever 55 ( Fig. 8). As a result, the rail section 53, like the regions of the running rails 19 adjoining it, is fixedly mounted, and is aligned in alignment with the adjoining regions of the running rail 19 . The elongated carrier 30 of the transport bracket 12 is in an approximately horizontal transverse to the running rail 19 or the rail section 53 directed position ( Fig. 8).

To detect the lateral position of the item of laundry 10 , the tilt axis 54 of the rail section 53 is released by evenly retracting the piston rod 57 of both pressure medium cylinders 56 . Due to the lateral appendage of the garment 10 on the feed clamp 12, namely in the region of the top corner 27 is carried by the adjacent to the center of the transport clamp 12 of gravity of the piece of laundry 10, a pivoting of the rail portion 53 to the transport clamp 12 about the tilt axis 54 (Fig. 9). Depending on the pivoting direction of the transport clamp 12 , conclusions can be drawn about the lateral position of the item 10 of laundry. In order to be able to determine the tilting direction of the transport clamp 12 for this purpose, in the present exemplary embodiment a feeler 59 is assigned to each of the opposite upper corners 58 of the carrier 30 . The two sensing elements 59 are fixedly arranged on opposite free leg ends of a U-shaped traverse 60 , which is directed transversely to the longitudinal direction of the running rail 19 and also carries the pressure medium cylinders 56 . Depending on the pivoting direction of the transport bracket 12 , which, for this purpose, is oriented transversely to the longitudinal extent of the running rail 19 , as in the store 17 , one of the two sensing elements 59 is actuated (the right sensing element 59 in FIG. 9). Thereupon, after renewed locking of the tilt axis 54 and the associated straight positions of the transport clamp 12, the laundry item 10 hanging thereon is rotated about the upright axis of rotation 36 relative to the carriage 33 by 90 ° clockwise or counterclockwise, in such a way that the Reference edge 26 ( FIG. 8), with the transport clamp 12 now aligned in the longitudinal direction of the running rail 19 , lies in the front in the conveying direction 23 , that is, it has length identification device 51 that follows the lateral position detection device 50 (FIGS . 6 and 7). Thus passes the laundry article 10 regardless of how the operator 11 that has attached to the Transportklam mer 12, during transport automatically tenlage on the parts feeder 13 in the correct (desired) Sci.

The edge length identification device 51 has an elongated measuring device 61 consisting of a right-hand measuring bar 62 and a plurality of photocells 63 arranged at a uniform distance one above the other on one side of the measuring bar 62 ( FIG. 10). The directional arrangement of the measuring bar 62 is such that the photocells 63 on the reference edge 26 of the item of laundry located in the intended (desired) side position, and preferably only a lower area thereof, and adjoining the reference edge 26 downwards , unsmoothly hanging down remaining tip 64 of the laundry 10 extend. In this way, two measuring points on the item of laundry are determined via the photocells 63 of the measuring device 61 , namely as the first measuring point 65 the lower corner 29 of the reference edge 26 and as the second measuring point 66 the lowest, longest corner of the remaining corner 64 , which is the diagonal of the remaining part of the Items of laundry 10 corresponds. From these two measuring points 65 and 66 can be calculated mathematically together with the constant clamping length of the transport clip 12 , whether it is a long or a short edge of the rectangular laundry piece 10 at the reference edge 26 . Depending on the desired input of the item of laundry 10 into the mangle (transverse or longitudinal input), with the aid of the edges determined in the edge length identification device 51, a reorientation of the item of laundry 10 is necessary if the reference edge 26 is not the correct one (long or short) edge. The part orientation device 52 following the edge length identification device 51 serves this purpose.

In the device shown, the parts orientation device 52 is located in the end area of the parts conveyor 13 , that is to say in the transfer station 18 directly in front of the transfer device 14 ( FIG. 7).

The part orientation device 52 has a swivel arm 67 which can be pivoted through 90 ° in an upright plane. On the one hand, this is rotatably mounted with an (upper) end on a fixed axis of rotation 68 , while on the other hand the opposite end of the swivel arm 67 has an orientation bracket 69 . Similar to the transport clamps 12 , the latter has an elongated carrier 70 with two individual clamps 71 arranged thereon. The distance between the individual clamps 71 is selected such that the orientation clamp 69 has approximately the same clamp length as the transport clamps 12 . The parts orienting means 52 is so associated with the parts feeder 13, that the orientation of clip 69 26 of the garment 10 in the region of the upper corner thereof engages the upright 27 reference edge, that is at 90 ° angle adjacent to the transport clamp 12th

After clamping the orientation bracket 69 at the upper region of the reference edge 26 of the laundry item 10, it follows a loosening of the transport bracket 12 and a subsequent pivoting of the laundry item 10 with the orientation bracket 69 by the pivot arm 67 by 90 ° counterclockwise, that is in the direction of the arrow 72 . After this pivoting, a new (correct) reference edge is formed on the item of laundry 10 , which, however, is in the wrong lateral position after the orientation clip 69 has been pivoted up. It is therefore still necessary to rotate the item of laundry 10 by 180 °. For this purpose, the orientation bracket 69 on the swivel arm 67 is rotatably supported about a vertical axis of rotation 74 in the swiveled state. After this additional 180 ° rotation about the axis of rotation 74 in the direction of arrow 75 , the new (correct) reference edge 73 of the laundry 10 is in the (target) side position (dashed lines in FIG. 11) and thus in the correct position Via delivery device 14 .

In order to bring the orientation bracket 69 in the area of the parts orientation device 52 via the swivel arm 67 into a position that would be taken by a corresponding transport bracket 12 of the parts conveyor 13 if the laundry item 10 was not necessary, space must be created. This happens through a further separate rail section 76 of the running rail 19 in the area of the part orientation device 52 . This rail section 76 is in the prior embodiment opposite the adjacent sections of the rails 19 laterally movable for free movement of the swivel arm 67 and the orientation bracket 69 in the event of reorientation of the laundry ( Fig. 7).

Due to the interaction of the edge length identification device 51 and the part orientation device 52 , the operator 11 when attaching the laundry pieces 10 to the parts conveyor 13 also does not have to pay attention to whether the long or short edge of the laundry piece 10 hangs in the respective transport bracket 12 , because by the two above-mentioned devices depending on the selected input type of the laundry item 10 into the mangle (longitudinal or transverse input), the laundry item 10 can always be fed automatically with the corresponding reference edge 73 of the transfer device 14 , wherein if necessary a reorientation by the parts orientation device beforehand 52 takes place.

Reference list

10th

Laundry

11

Operator

12th

Transport clamp

13

Parts conveyor

14

Transfer device

15

Feed conveyor

16

Input machine

17th

Storage

18th

Transfer station

19th

Track

20th

Loading station

21

rollable collection container

22

Funding section

23

Arrow (conveying direction)

24th

Return section

25th

arrow

26

Reference edge

27

(upper corner

28

Edge section

29

(bottom corner

30th

carrier

31

Single bracket

32

Edge section

33

Carriage

34

Casters

35

Axis of rotation

36

Axis of rotation

37

Swivel arm

38

Circulation conveyor

39

Deflection drum

40

Deflection drum

41

Tension member

42

Delivery clamp

43

Run

44

Axis of rotation

45

Swivel / rotary drive

46

arrow

47

Double arrow

48

Edge straightener

49

Edge straightening clip

50

Lateral position detection device

51

Edge length identification device

52

Part orientation device

53

Rail section

54

Tilt axis

55

Locking lever

56

Pressure cylinder

57

Piston rod

58

corner

59

Probe

60

traverse

61

Measuring device

62

Measuring bar

63

Photocell

64

Remnants

65

first measuring point

66

second measuring point

67

Swivel arm

68

Axis of rotation

69

Orientation bracket

70

carrier

71

Single bracket

72

arrow

73

Reference edge

74

Axis of rotation

75

arrow

76

Rail section

77

fixed bracket part

78

leg

79

free end

80

Swivel claw

81

Bracket axis

82

Torsion spring

83

lever

84

Franking

85

Pivot bearing

86

Pivot pin

87

Bearing housing

88

roller bearing

89

resilient pressure piece

90

Locking bolt

91

deepening

92

Index plate

Claims (31)

1. A method for feeding rectangular items of laundry to a mangle or the like, in which the items of laundry are conveyed to a transfer device by a part having a plurality of transport clamps for grasping a corner region of the respective item of laundry and are moved by this in front of a feed conveyor which promotes the mangle, wherein the items of laundry are held in the transport clamps in such a way that they hang with at least one edge (reference edge) in an upright, approximately rectilinear position for transfer or re- gripping purposes, characterized in that it is determined whether rectangular items of laundry ( 10 ) with unevenly long edges, the straight upright edge (reference edge 26 or 73 ) is a long or short edge, in that the upright edge (reference edge 26 or 73 ) and the most hanging free corner ( 29 ) of the item of laundry ( 10 ) contactless a be touched. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the laundry ( 10 ) in the region of an (upper) corner ( 27 ) on a horizontal edge over a defined clamping length on the transport brackets ( 12 ) are held. 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2 , characterized in that the items of laundry ( 10 ) by gripping their upright reference edge ( 26 ; 73 ) from the parts conveyor ( 13 ) and removed from the transfer device ( 14 ) hanging freely in front of the feed conveyor ( 15 ) are moved. 4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that the upright reference edges ( 26 or 73 ) of the laundry ( 10 ) from the transfer device ( 14 ) by about 90 ° in a horizon tal transfer position to the feed conveyor ( 15 ) are pivoted. 5. The method according to claim 1 and one or more of the further claims, characterized in that the side layers of the upright reference edges ( 26 ; 73 ) of the laundry ( 10 ) hanging on the parts conveyor ( 13 ) automatically checked and depending on the result of this Check the items of laundry ( 10 ) are turned into the intended (target) side position. 6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that the laundry items ( 10 ) are brought into such a (target) side position, in which the upright reference edges ( 26 ; 73 ) in the conveying direction of the parts conveyor ( 13 ) to the front or to Point delivery device ( 14 ). 7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that for determining the long or short edge of the item of laundry ( 10 ), the reference edge ( 26 ) of the same and the most drooping free corner ( 29 ) of a residual corner ( 64 ) of the item of laundry ( 10 ) optically be recorded. 8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that after determining whether the reference edge ( 26 ) corresponds to a long or a short edge of the item of laundry ( 10 ), the item of laundry ( 10 ) is reoriented if it has the wrong reference edge ( 26 ) depends on the parts conveyor ( 13 ), in such a way that the correct edge is presented as a reference edge ( 73 ) of the transfer device ( 14 ), which is also aligned in a straight upright manner. 9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that for reorientation the item of laundry ( 10 ) in a corner region of the reference edge to be reoriented ( 26 ) is automatically detected and pivoted in an upright plane by approximately 90 °. 10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that the item of laundry ( 10 ) is detected at an upper corner region of the reference edge ( 26 ), pivoted by 90 ° in the upright plane and then rotated about a vertical axis (spatially) by 180 ° He aimed a lateral position of the (new) reference edge ( 73 ), which speaks to the transfer device ( 14 ) pointing (target) lateral position ent. 11. Device for feeding laundry to a mangle or the like, with a parts conveyor and an adjoining transfer device for the mangle or one of these upstream feed conveyors, with a plurality of transport clamps assigned to the parts conveyor, which are dimensioned in length in such a way that they grasp the items of laundry at an upper horizontal edge in the area of a corner with a clamping length which sufficiently stabilizes the items of laundry to form an upright (approximately straight) oriented edge (reference edge), characterized in that the transport clips ( 12 ) can be swung out of their horizontal direction of longitudinal extension are formed such that when pivoted out of the horizontal longitudinal direction th transport brackets ( 12 ) from the inclination direction of the same can be determined on which side of the respective transport bracket ( 12 ) the aligned edge of the laundry ( 10 ) is located and the transport clamps ( 12 ) can be rotated about an upright axis of rotation ( 36 ) relative to the parts conveyor ( 13 ) for transferring the aligned edge into an intended (target) lateral position to a measuring device ( 61 ) for detecting dimensions of the item of laundry ( 10 ). 12. The apparatus according to claim 11, characterized in that the transport brackets ( 12 ) have a clamping length of about 200 to 500 mm, which is preferably formed by two ent speaking spacing to each other individual clips ( 31 ). 13. The apparatus according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that the transfer device ( 14 ) has an elongated pivot arm ( 37 ) with a plurality of at least partially closely spaced transfer brackets ( 42 ) for independently gripping the respective reference edge ( 26 ; 73 ) of a piece of laundry ( 10 ). 14. The apparatus according to claim 13, characterized in that the swivel arm ( 37 ) of the transfer device ( 14 ) is pivotable in an upright plane by about 90 ° for the freely hanging positioning of the item of laundry ( 10 ) in front of the ironer or the feed conveyor arranged upstream thereof ( 15 ). 15. The apparatus of claim 13 or 14, characterized in that for an approximately central alignment of the laundry pieces ( 10 ) in front of the feed conveyor leading to the defect ( 15 ) of the swivel arm ( 37 ) of the transfer conveyor ( 14 ) for the common movement of the transfer clamps ( 42 ) is formed along its extension direction, in particular as a circulation conveyor ( 38 ) with an endless between two deflection drums ( 39 , 40 ) traction element ( 41 ) for receiving the transfer clamp ( 42 ). 16. The device according to one or more of claims 13 to 15, characterized by at least one on a horizontal edge portion in the region of a to the reference edge ( 26 ; 73 ) facing corner ( 29 ) of the laundry item ( 10 ) engaging edges straightening member ( 48 ) with in particular at least an edge straightening bracket ( 49 ) for stretching the reference edge ( 26 ; 73 ) to make it easier to attach the transfer clamps ( 42 ) of the transfer device ( 14 ) to the reference edge ( 26 ; 73 ) of the laundry piece ( 10 ). 17. The apparatus according to claim 11 and one or more of the further claims, characterized in that the transport brackets ( 12 ) about a transverse to their longitudinal direction ver horizontal tilt axis ( 54 ) are pivotable. 18. The apparatus according to claim 17, characterized in that the tilting axis ( 54 ) above a movable receptacle for the transport clamps ( 12 ) serving rail ( 19 ) of the parts conveyor ( 13 ) is arranged for pivoting the rail ( 19 ) or a section the same together with a transport bracket ( 12 ). 19. The apparatus according to claim 18, characterized in that the running rail ( 19 ) is divided to form a rail section ( 53 ), wherein only the rail section ( 53 ) about the tilt axis ( 54 ) is pivotable. 20. The apparatus of claim 18 or 19, characterized in that the rail section ( 53 ) of the running rail ( 19 ) against the tilt axis ( 54 ) can be locked, preferably such that when the rail section ( 53 ) is locked, the transport clamp located in the area thereof ( 12 ) lies in a horizontal plane. 21. The device according to one or more of claims 17 to 20, characterized in that the transport clamp ( 22 ) located in each pivotable rail section ( 53 ) is assigned at least one signal transmitter (sensing element 59 ) for determining the direction of inclination when the tilt axis is unlocked ( 54 ) transport bracket ( 22 ) pivoted out of the horizontal and resulting derivation of the lateral position of the item of laundry ( 10 ) held in the respective transport bracket ( 12 ). 22. The apparatus according to claim 11, characterized in that the rotatable transport brackets ( 12 ) against the running rail ( 19 ) can be locked in at least one defined (rotational) position, preferably in a longitudinal and / or a transverse position relative to the running rail ( 19 ). 23. The device according to claim 11 and one or more of the further claims, characterized by at least one measuring device ( 61 ) for detecting the size relevant for determining the (long or short) edge of the laundry items ( 10 ), in particular a lower corner point (first measuring point 65 ) of the reference edge ( 26 ) and a deepest corner (second measuring point 66 ) of a freely hanging residual tip ( 64 ) of the item of laundry ( 10 ). 24. The device according to claim 23, characterized in that the measuring device ( 61 ) is designed as an upright measuring bar ( 62 ) with a plurality of photocells ( 63 ) arranged at a uniform distance from one another on a common (imaginary) connecting line. 25. The apparatus according to claim 11 and one or more of the further claims, characterized in that the parts conveyor ( 13 ) is assigned an orientation bracket ( 69 ) for reorienting such items of laundry ( 10 ), which are not with their for the corresponding input in the Hang the lack (transverse or longitudinal input) of the provided reference edge ( 26 ) in the respective transport bracket ( 12 ). 26. The apparatus according to claim 25, characterized in that the orientation bracket ( 69 ) on a in an upright plane preferably 90 ° swivel arm ( 67 ) is arranged. 27. The apparatus according to claim 26, characterized in that the pivot arm ( 69 ) is dimensioned in its length such that the orientation bracket ( 69 ) grips the upright reference edge ( 26 ) of the item of laundry ( 10 ) in the region of the upper corner ( 27 ) thereof . 28. Device according to claim 26 or 27, characterized in that the pivot arm (67) is so mounted with a free end above the running rail (19) of the parts of the conveyor (13) that, when pivoted upwards, approximately horizontally directed pivot arm (67) the Attached orientation bracket ( 69 ) on an (imaginary) connecting line with the transport bracket ( 12 ) on the parts conveyor ( 13 ). 29. The device according to one or more of claims 26 to 28, characterized in that the effective clamping length of the orientation bracket ( 69 ) corresponds to that of the transport bracket ( 12 ). 30. The device according to one or more of claims 23 to 29, characterized in that the orientation bracket ( 69 ) on one of the axis of rotation ( 68 ) of the swivel arm ( 87 ) opposite free end of the same is preferably rotatable by 180 ° for transferring the reoriented Reference edge ( 73 ) of the item of laundry in a side position which corresponds to the (target) side position pointing towards the transfer device ( 14 ). 31. The device according to one or more of claims 26 to 30, characterized in that in the region of the orientation bracket ( 69 ), in particular the pivot arm ( 67 ) thereof, a rail section ( 76 ) of the running rail ( 19 ) from the track of the running rail ( 19 ) can be moved out, in particular to the side.