FR2473757A1 - METHOD AND DEVICE FOR AFFECTING AN ADDRESS TO OBJECTS SUCH AS, IN PARTICULAR, CLOTHES - Google Patents

Abstract

Method for assigning a predetermined address to a number of objects, such as, in particular, clothing, according to which said objects, which are subjected to rigorous thermal and / or mechanical and / or chemical treatments, are appropriately assigned to said address, before or after this treatment, this method being characterized in that the perforations reproducing a code, fixed on or in the objects, are individually aligned with the specific object concerned and recorded electrically or electronically, and in that the Object assignment is made on the basis of the decoded address derived from the record. (CF DRAWING IN BOPI)

Description

The present invention relates to a method for assigning an address

  predetermined to a number of objects, such as, for example, clothing, according to which objects which are subjected to thermal and / or mechanical and / or chemical rigorous treatments, are appropriately assigned before or after said treatments . In addition, this invention

  The invention relates to equipment for carrying out such a method.

  The present invention relates more particularly to the assignment to a predetermined address of clothing, for example, of work clothes which are rented by linen rental companies, to customers

  who use them for their employees, these clothes to be re-used.

  by the rental company, so that they can be cleaned and / or washed, and / or repaired, and eventually replaced with clothing

  new when they are too damaged to be repaired.

  The present invention will therefore be described on the basis of the following problems to be solved: In the field of applying the assignment of a certain number of clothes, it is necessary that the clothes, returned to the company

  renting linen by one of his clients, be reassigned to that client

  particular, or to his employees, the garment in question

  with an "address". At present, to achieve this result,

  state, complicated procedures have been

  the used clothing returned to the rental business is

  counted manually, preferably before performing a preclassification.

  Thus, the number and type of garment returned by the customer in question or by his employees is determined, this number representing nominal data for a subsequent delivery. After treatment, and preferably after repeated classification, the clothing count must be re-counted to ensure that the correct amount can be returned to the client. It is only then that the garments that have been washed or dry cleaned can be packaged and delivered to the customer. This double counting allows, in addition, an internal control, by the linen rental company, being

  given that the comparison of the two quantities resulting from this count

  draws appropriate conclusions. However, this process does not allow

  to obtain only a limited degree of accuracy when counting clothing.

  Moreover, the double counting implemented during this pro-

  The known method has the disadvantage of being relatively expensive and time consuming. In

  Moreover, the fact that the accuracy of the counting of the elements is

  to the desired one entails losses, as well as complaints from the clientele, which is detrimental to the smooth running of business.

rental company.

  The present invention has therefore set itself the objective of improving the

  accuracy of the counting of clothing, and also to make

  the elimination of one of the counting operations to be performed

  by the rental company before or after the treatment.

  This result is obtained by the process according to the invention, which is

  characterized in that code-reproducing perforations are made on or in the objects, said perforations being individually aligned with the specific object concerned, and recorded electrically or electronically, and in that the assignment to a predetermined address of the objects performs on

  the base of the decoded address derived from the record.

  By the method according to the invention, each garment is assigned a.

  coded designation, for example a number consisting of several numerical digits, which is reproduced by the perforations made in the object and

  preferably assigned to the user of the garment. The electronic registration

  This tag is used to identify this designation, which is "read" in a computation and storage register. The data assigned to the designation in question, which can always be recalled, and, for example, reproduced by a

  printer or displayed on a screen, are stored in the storage register.

  kage and calculation. This reproduction in clear can contain various data,

  which has the practical advantage of rendering the printing of an

  individual bag to be attached to each garment. First, the name and address of the customer are reproduced; in addition, provision can be made for

  description of the garment in question, the name of its user, and any other

  necessary information. Since accurate counting is done by means of electrical recording, and because of the nature of the coding, this counting accurately reflects the total of the clothes, it is possible to

  completely dispense with the implementation of internal control, which constitutes

  the second count in the previous processes, which does not

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  no problem. The method according to the invention makes it possible, for the first time, to identify with certainty the garment and the one who wears it, which

  until now, was only possible by implementing

  very expensive. This gives the advantage of providing detailed information to the customer, and also allowing the location of losses.

may occur.

  The perforation coding used in the implementation of the method

  according to the invention makes it possible to fix a code on a support made of a resistant material

  both, for example, stainless steel or a plastic material having suitable properties, which not only makes it possible to fix said code in a durable manner in the garment in question, but also to obtain a fastener which is resistant to mechanical, thermal and chemicals, which are necessarily used during washing or dry cleaning

  clothes in question. Coding can not be lost or become useless

readable, during these treatments.

  When limiting the recording to a defined location, the method according to the invention is implemented in such a way that the objects are placed in a predetermined measuring position, individually and in sequence. This mode of implementation of the method according to the invention can be carried out, for example, using a conveyor belt on which are

  delivered clothes having, for example, coding upwards.

  However, you can also register clothes, or more exactly

  coding them, in sequence, using a trans-

  mobile phone to be used by the employee to whom it is entrusted.

  The coding translates, in principle, the existence or non-existence of a perforation, in a predetermined position, preferably on a plate

  acting as code carrier, this plate being attached to the garment.

  Preferably, said perforations are arranged on the plate in axial symmetry or rotation. This has the advantage of allowing a simplification of the recording device. The registration of the punch code simply requires that the plate is always aligned in the same way with the recording device, in order to avoid any

registration error.

  When the method of the invention is carried out so that the perforations, or rather their support, are kept motionless during recording, a measuring probe which operates with an electric oscillating circuit which affects a recording signal at each perforation. When the method according to the present invention is implemented in such a way that the perforation support moves during recording, in particular by rotating in a complete circle or a portion of a circle, a number can be used. weaker measurement probes-, but then one must use at least one of the information as a means

  initial addressing to signal the start of the recording.

  The equipment allowing the implementation of the method according to the pre-

  This invention has a large number of plates capable of receiving all possible variations and combinations of perforations, in order to reproduce

  coded designation, which is safely assigned to a particular garment

  dere thanks to the fixing of a plate to the garment. With jackets,

  put, etc., the plate can be attached to the garment, for example by sewing,

  on the label giving the washing instructions, and thus, its duration is

  particularly important, and in addition, the plate is easy to maintain

  pledged for the registration operation. With pants, the plate can be fixed on the belt, ideally inside, oh it does not cause inconvenience, since the dimensions of such a plate does not

  must not exceed those of a metal button.

  The plates may further comprise perforations having variable dimensions. If a circular plate is used, the process according to the present invention should preferably be carried out

  by rotating either the plate or the recording device.

  Plates having angular contours, and more particularly triangular plates, are provided for the variant of the method according to

  which perforations are kept motionless during the recording.

  The device for implementing the method according to the invention

  also includes the recording device provided with measuring probes

  sure and the oscillating circuits assigned to these probes. This recording device

  can be operated either by the capacitive process or by the inductive method, the recording being obtained by applying the plate against the head

  reading the device or by applying the read head against the plate.

  The resonant frequencies of the oscillating circuits connected to the measuring probes are influenced by the perforations, in such a way that

  This results in a signal to be transmitted to the computation and storage register.

  When the capacitive process is used, the metal of which the plate is made causes a capacitance change in the probe. The importance of changing the capacity varies depending on whether there is a small code hole, a large hole, or no perforation at all at the measurement point. The information is electronically processed either in a YES-NO mode

  (there is a hole where there is none), or it is modified and

  when there is a small perforation, or a larger perforation, or there is no perforation at all. We can store more

  information per measuring point, thanks to the varied dimensions of

forcing the code.

  When the inductive process is used, the metal of which

  the plate produces parasitic current losses, which causes

  alignment alignment of the oscillating circuit, when there are no perforations.

  If code perforations with variable dimensions are used,

  there are misalignments of variable amplitudes of the oscillating circuit

  lant. With regard to the oscillating circuit, this circuit comprises, on the one hand,

  a parallel connection of a coil having an inductance L with a con-

  denser having a capacitance C, or, on the other hand, a series connection of an inductance coil L with a capacitor of capacitance C. With the

  Capacitive process, the capacity of the capacitor is modified by the metal plate.

  whereas, with the inductive process, the inductance of the coil is modified.

  Both recording methods are implemented, advantageously

  using a measuring probe whose position, for the measurement, is always on a non-perforated area of the metal plate. A common comparison is obtained using the reference measurement probe, even if the metal plate is highly polluted, or if it is not in its normal form. The measurement probe signal is a function of this comparison standard, and thus provides reliable perforation information, although the absolute measurement value of the probe

  may vary depending on the state of the plate, including its pollution.

  The equipment used to implement the method according to the present invention, as described above, has the advantage that the influences that may result from the garment treatment processes, and in particular, the thermal influences, do not alter coding, and that

  certain pollution has no influence on the accuracy of the code reading.

  The plates that are used to support the punch code may also be used for other purposes, for example, they may be printed, enamelled or colored, by any other method. Given

  that the equipment according to the present invention comprises the recording system

  small variations in the alignment of the plates with respect to the

  read head do not present any inconvenience.

  Other features and advantages of the present invention reside

  will come out of the description given below, with reference to the accompanying drawings,

  which illustrate various embodiments as non-limiting examples.

  In the drawings: - Figure 1 shows, in side elevation and schematically, an embodiment of a recording device according to the invention, with a metal plate for supporting the punch code;

  - Figure 2 illustrates, schematically, the sequence of function-

  the method according to the present invention, according to an exemplary implementation; - Figure 3 shows, in plan, a first embodiment of a perforation code carrier according to the present invention; - Figure 4 illustrates another embodiment of a code carrier according to Figure 3; and - Figure 5 illustrates a variant of a perforation code carrier

according to Figures 3 and 4.

  Reference is first made to FIG. 2, which has been made in such a way as to show the sequence of operation of the method according to the present invention, according to an embodiment implementing a

  belt or conveyor belt 1, shown in plan in this Figure.

  The direction of movement of the upper run of this conveyor belt has been designated by the arrow 2. On the conveyor belt 1 are located,

  one behind the other, folded trousers 3 and a shirt 4. The shirt

  carries the usual label 6, sewn on the inner and lower edge of its neck 5, and which indicates the washing instructions, these instructions being

  not, however, visible in Figure 2.

  As can be seen in the enlarged portion of FIG. 2, which represents the label 6, a metal plate 8 is affixed to this label by means of a rivet 7 or the like. This rivet is located in the center of the metal plate, which has the shape of a square with rounded corners. The plate 8 is made of stainless steel, and can therefore withstand the mechanical, thermal, and chemical treatments that are

  implemented, especially during the process of washing clothes.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the plate

  8 is provided with a variable number of perforations 12, which are

  placed along lines 9-11, in a symmetry of rotation with respect to the center of the plate 8, or more particularly with respect to the rivet 7. Each

  line reproduces a binary code reflecting the fact that there is or is not a

  drilling 12 at a predetermined point. The punch code contains a total of

a defined number.

  This number is read in a storage and calculation register 15 (Fig. 2) using a mobile recording device 14, shown in detail in Fig. 1. The calculation and storage register 15 decoding by means of the recording signals which are delivered to it, so that the coded number concerned can be reproduced, for example, on a screen 16. The calculation and storage register also retains the information relating to the concerned, in particular information concerning the customer, the person to whom the clothing in question is

  type of clothing. This information is printed, in the example of

  shown in Figure 2, using a printer 17, which

  for example, a readable strip of paper. This strip of paper can be attached to the garment, which is then packaged and delivered to the customer and

to the appropriate user.

  In this case, the recording is done after the washing of the vote-

  after it has been dry cleaned, and conveyor belt 1 delivers the

  garment in the department where the packaging takes place.

7375 73

  According to another variant of implementation of the method according to the invention

  registration is carried out before the washing or dry cleaning of

  clothing. Then, we must assemble the clothes for each customer.

  In the trousers 3 shown on the conveyor belt 1, at the

  2, the plate 8 is located on the inner side 9 of the belt 19,

  a metal button 18 which, in general, is placed there.

  Referring now to Figure 1, it will be seen that the recording device, generally designated 14, has a handle 20 similar to the handle of an iron so that the device can be easily entered by its user. Clothing,

  21, is provided with a codeplate variant, de-

  signed 22. In this embodiment, the plate consists of a metal strip 2.3, permanently attached to the material constituting the garment 21, by means of two rivets 24 and 45. The metal strip 23 comprises the perforations designated by the references

, 26, 27 and 28.

  The recording device comprises a reading head Z9 which is provided with a number of internal measuring probes 30 to 36. These

  measuring probes are connected to the oscillating circuits described above.

  above, but not shown in the drawings. As can be seen by examining Figure 1, the measurement probes 30, 32, 35 and 36 are

  excited, since perforations 25, 26, -27 and 28 are located between

  below them, respectively. The probe designated by reference 37 is

  the reference measuring probe, the role of which has been explained in the description

above.

  The coding shown in FIG. 1 gives a number coded according to a

binary mode: 1010011.

  In order to allow an accurate determination of this number, the lower side 38 of the read head 29 has a recess 39 whose inner edge 40 corresponds to the outer edge 23 of the plate 22, and whose outer edge 41 is substantially larger, in order to allow easy centering of the plate 22, during the application of the recording device, that is to say when placing the latter in a position determined by

  compared to measuring probes. The inner surface 42 of the recess 39 comprises

  door, for its part, recesses 43 and 44 which are made so as to re-

  see the heads of the rivets 24 and 45, which, thus, can not obstruct

  the positioning of the plate 22, on the inner surface 42 of the head of

29.

  Referring now to Figures 3 to 5, which illustrate various embodiments given as non-limiting examples of metal plates. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, a plate 50 having a rectangular contour is used. At the geometric center of the plate

  is located a longitudinal line 54, which is parallel to the long sides 52 and 53.

  Other parallel lines 58 extend parallel to the short sides 56, 57, of this plate 50, these lines intersecting at right angles to the line 54.

  intersection lines 54 and 58, may or may not exist perforations 59.

  If we read the punch code from left to right, the coding gives

  then the binary number 10110111, that is to say that there are altogether six

  holes on up to eight possible perforations, two perforations

being absent.

  The plate 60 shown in FIG. 4 is also a plate

  having a rectangular contour, and has two long parallel sides 61 and 62, and two small parallel sides 63 and 74. However, in this embodiment, the short side 63 is connected to the long side 62 by a bevel 64. bevel helps to ensure centering when the plate 60 is placed under the read head of the recording device, and at the same time serves as a starting point for identification, thus making possible a

  correct reading of the punch code.

  The perforation code is disposed at the points of intersection of the three longitudinal lines 65 to 67, with the seven transverse lines 68 to 73. The numbers identified by means of the longitudinal lines 65 to 67 are as follows: longitudinal line 65 binary number 0111011; longitudinal line 66 binary number 1011101;

  - longitudinal line 67 binary number 1101001.

  In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 5, a code carrier having a symmetry of rotation and made in the form

  a circular metal plate, designated as a whole by the reference

  80. The perforation code may be reproduced by performing perfor-

  rations, or omitting this realization on circles 81 to 83 and on

  intersections of a coordinate system 84, 85. The inner circle is used

  for centering. The starting address which constitutes the beginning of the reading

  is defined by the perforation 88. This perforation is located on the circle 83.

  The other circles contain the following binary encodings - circle 81 1110

- circle 82 0011.

  The direction of reading is that of the hands of a watch. During decoding, that is to say during reading, the plate 80 o the read head can be rotated. While in the example embodiment

  described above, with reference to FIG. 1, the measurement probes

  electronically, the perforations can also be read

  caniquement. For this purpose, it is possible to provide movable contact elements,

  made for example in the form of balls or pins, which are now

  naked in the read head 29, and which are prestressed in the position of

  start, in order to penetrate the perforations of a predetermined value.

  The movement thus described can be translated into a YES signal or a NO signal. This transformation of a mechanical movement into an electrical signal can be obtained, for example, by means of a microswitch actuated by the pin or the ball, in order to interrupt a light barrier,

  or the ball or spindle may themselves

  Inductive or capacitive recording system.

  It remains understood that this invention is not limited to the various embodiments described and shown. Nor is it limited to its application to the identification of rented clothing. Indeed, the method according to the present invention can be applied to the identification of returnable bottles or any other similar object, whenever it is possible to

  set appropriate code holders.

he

Claims (9)

  1 - Method for assigning a predetermined address to a certain   number of objects, such as, in particular, clothing, according to which   said articles, which are subjected to heat and / or mechanical and / or chemical, rigorous treatments, are appropriately assigned to said address, before or after this treatment, this method being characterized in that   perforations reproducing a code, fixed on or in objects, are indivi-   dually aligned with the specific object concerned, and recorded   electronically, and that the assignment of objects is   kills based on the decoded address derived from the record.   2 - Process according to claim 1, characterized in that the objects are placed, individually and in sequence, daLs a predetermined measurement position.   3 - Method according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that   that the perforations are kept motionless during the recording.   4 - Process according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that   that the objects are moved, with the perforations, during the recording,   in particular by rotating in a complete circle or circular sector.   - Device for implementing a method according to any one   conque of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a   number of plates (8), each of these plates being individually fixed   in each object and being provided with a number of perforations (12), and a recording device having a mechanism for centering a plate and a number of measuring probes (30-36), which operate with electrical circuits, as well as with a computation and memory register, allowing to receive the measurements of the probes and to display the addresses.   6 - Device according to claim 5, characterized in that the persons   Forages are arranged in rotation symmetry around a perforation.   plate or protrusion, or they are arranged according to an axial symmetry.   7 - Device according to one of claims 5 or 6, characterized in   the plates have a rectangular, triangular or circular contour.   8 - Device according to any one of claims 5 to 7, characterized   characterized in that the plates have perforations of various sizes.   9 - Device according to any one of claims 3 to 8, characterized   in that one of said perforations serves as the initial address for the start of the recording.   Device according to any one of claims 3 to 9, characterized   characterized in that the recording device comprises a read head   equipped with the centering mechanism and measuring probes, the number of which   responds to the possible number of perforations, or is less than this.   II - Device according to any one of claims 3 to 10, characterized   characterized in that electrical oscillating circuits are assigned to the probes   in order to influence the capacitance or inductance of the latter.   12 - Device according to any one of claims 3 to 11, charac-   in that the plate is fixed on a label, which is itself fixed   1 5 on the object to be addressed, for example a garment.