GB2098633A

GB2098633A - Apparatus for feeding laundry articles to an ironing machine

Info

Publication number: GB2098633A
Application number: GB8214267A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1981-05-16
Filing date: 1982-05-17
Publication date: 1982-11-24
Also published as: DK216882A; DK149004B; DD201922A5; DE3119661C2; FR2505893B1; DK149004C; GB2098633B; FR2505893A1; DE3119661A1; JPS57195499A

Abstract

Apparatus for feeding laundry articles to an ironing machine 41, in which large laundry articles 10 are fed manually to a conveying device 27 located in front of a feed conveyor 15 at a staggered height, for the purpose of mechanical, central and suspended feeding of the latter to the feed conveyor 15 and small laundry articles are placed manually directly on the feed conveyor 15, is characterized in that the input end of the feed conveyor 15 is mounted to move vertically so that the operator's end of the latter can be moved from the position for the mechanical feed of large laundry articles 10 to the latter into such a position for the manual placing of small laundry articles on the latter (arrow 23) and back again. At the same time as this or in a sequence-controlled manner, the conveying device 27 can also be moved from the position for the mechanical feeding of large laundry articles 10 to the feed conveyor 15 into the position for the manual placing of small laundry articles 11 on the latter (arrow 39) or vice versa. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Apparatus for feeding laundry articles to an ironing machine The invention relates to an apparatus for feeding laundry articles to an ironing machine or the like, with a feed conveyor conveying in the direction of the ironing machine, a conveying device located in front of the feed conveyor at a staggered height and comprising movable members for gripping at least one part of the leading edge of large laundry articles and for the suspended central feeding of the latter to the feed conveyor.

In practice, at least in part of the known apparatus of the aforementioned construction it is necessary to feed even small laundry articles to the ironing machine by means of the latter, in which case the small laundry articles are placed manually on the feed conveyor conveying them towards the ironing machine, without switchingon the conveying device. However, this is only possible if the operator's end of the feed conveyor for these apparatus is located at a height suitable for the operator.However, the vertical position of the feed conveyor chosen with regard to the manual application of small laundry articles is a drawback in the case of mechanical feeding of large laundry articles to the latter by means of the said conveying device, in particular when this conveying device is located at such a height that large laundry articles, for example sheets, are suspended from the clamps of this conveying device hanging downwards completely freely and therefore have to be placed on the feed conveyor from a substantially higher position than small laundry articles. Numerous devices are necessary for bridging this difference in height, which devices have to be moved in a controlled manner each time a laundry article is fed.

Furthermore, the known apparatus have some specific designs in view of the manual placing of small laundry articles on the feed conveyor. The specific designs are necessary because due to the arrangement and design of the conveying device as well as the arrangement of further devices in front of the feed conveyor, the operators of the apparatus cannot stand directly in front of the operating end of the feed conveyor of the latter, for example owing to inadequate head space. It is known from German AS 2 539 957, column 6, lines 54 to 60 to arrange the conveying device so that the latter can be moved above the feed conveyor by means of a driving device in the direction of the ironing machine. It is also known to swing the conveying device by means of a driving device in a circular manner about a pivot point staggered in the manner of a lever arm.The conveying device is thus moved from a front working position when feeding large laundry articles to the feed conveyor into an upper and rear inoperative position facilitating the manual feed of small laundry articles to the feed conveyor.

The aforementioned types of movement (parallel to the feed conveyor or in a circular manner about a pivot point staggered in the manner of a lever arm) are at the very least not advantageous. The parallel movement presupposes that no further devices are located above the feed conveyor, which is not generally the case. The circular movement requires a considerable height for the space where the apparatus is installed, which is frequently not possible or not available.

It is the object of the invention to provide an apparatus of the aforementioned construction so that both the mechanical feeding of large laundry articles to the feed conveyor as well as the manual placing of small laundry articles on the latter is possible in a simpler manner than in known apparatus.

According to the present invention there is provided apparatus for feeding laundry articles to an ironing machine or the like, with a feed conveyor conveying in the direction of the ironing machine, a conveying device located in front of the feed conveyor at a staggered height and comprising movable members for gripping at least one part of the leading edge of large laundry articles and for the suspended central feed of the latter to the feed conveyor, wherein the feed conveyor is mounted to move vertically so that the operator's end of the latter can be moved from the position for the mechanical feed of large laundry articles to the latter into such a position for the manual placing of small laundry articles on the latter and back again.

Due to the construction of the apparatus according to the invention or the vertically movable mounting of the feed conveyor, both when feeding large laundry articles to the latter mechanically as well as when placing or feeding small laundry articles manually, the feed conveyor is in a favourable feeding position. For example, large laundry articles for example can be fed without additional devices to the feed conveyor with an arrangement of the clamps-conveying device at such a height that these large laundry articles are conveyed hanging downwards completely freely. Thus, seen overall, the laundry articles are fed to the feed conveyor in a much simpler manner than in the case of known apparatus.

Advantageous designs and developments of the invention are contained in claims 2 to 7. The developments according to claims 2 to 4 facilitate the vertically movable mounting of the feed conveyor in a form which is particularly suitable in practice, because the rear end of the latter or the end adjacent the ironing machine remains at one point when shifting the end adjacent the operator and thus the approach position of the laundry articles to the belt conveyor of the ironing machine is not changed. The further development of the invention according to claim 5 facilitates a time-saving optimum adaptation of conditions adjacent the operator to the respective desired type of feed of laundry articles to the feed conveyor.The development according to claim 6 of the feature according to claim 5 facilitates setting the conveying device aside, which is space-saving as regards height and requires no space in the conveying direction of the feed conveyor, when small laundry articles are fed manually to the feed conveyor.

One embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention is illustrated diagrammatically in the drawings: Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through the apparatus, with the feed conveyor and conveying device located in the large article position, as well as the front part of an ironing machine; Figure 2 is a longitudinal section as in figure 1, but with the feed conveyor and conveying device located in the small article position; Figure 3 is a section through figure 1 on section line A-A, to an enlarged scale, but in which some parts are shown in elevation; Figure 4 is a section through figure 2 on section line B-B, to an enlarged scale.

The apparatus illustrated in the drawings consists firstly of the frame 12. The feed conveyor 15 and the conveying device 27 are located between the side walls 13, 14 of the frame, which side walls are arranged at a distance apart. The feed conveyor 15 consists essentially of the guide rollers 1 6-18 and the belts 19 guided around the latter. The guide roller 18 is mounted on the side walls 13, of the frame 12. The guide rollers 16, 17 are mounted on two side walls 21,22, held at a distance apart by means of cross-bars 24, 25, of a rocking arm 20 arranged on the two journal pins of the rear guide roller 18. The feed conveyor 15 is driven in the direction of arrow 38 by means of a driving device which is not shown.

The feed conveyor 15 can be moved in the direction of arrow 23 (figure 1) and back again by means of the working cylinder 26. For this purpose, the working cylinder 26 is mounted at one end on the frame 12 and at the other end on the cross-bar 24 of the rocking arm 20. A pressure roller 40 which rotates freely is mounted above the belts 19 of the feed conveyor 1 5 on the side walls 21,22 of the feed conveyor rocking arm 20.

The conveying device 27 consists essentially of a drive and guide device 30 for the clamps 45 gripping the laundry article 10 and of a cross-bar 44 with side walls 28, 29 at both ends, serving as a housing for the drive and guide device 30. The cross-bar 44 forms a rocking arm with the side walls 28, 29. This rocking arm or the conveying device 27 is mounted by means of the journal pins 31,32 arranged on its side walls 28,29, in the guide slots 33, 34 in the side walls 13, 14 of the frame 12. The conveying device 27 is able to move in the direction of arrow 39 and back again on account of this mounting and in particular by means of pneumatic working cylinders 35, one of which is respectively located on the right and lefthand sides of the apparatus.The working cylinders 35 are attached at their rear ends by means of journal pins 37 to the side walls 13, 14 of the frame 1 2 and by their front ends or piston rods to the journal pins 36 arranged on the side walls 28, 29 of the conveying device 27.

The apparatus moreover comprises all other devices known per se, which are necessary for operating the latter, such as for example a pneumatic/electrical control device (not shown) for the simultaneous or sequence-controlled movement of the feed conveyor 1 5 and conveying device 27 from the large article position into the small article position (arrows 23 and 39) and vice versa. These control operations are initiated by the operator of the apparatus by actuating electrical switches which are likewise not shown.

Figures 1 and 2 also show an ironing machine 41 together with its operating directions (arrows 42, 43), for the purpose of a better understanding of the mounting according to the invention of the rocking arm 20 of the feed conveyor 1 5 in the region adjacent the ironing machine. As can be seen from the figures, due to afore-described mounting of the rocking arm 20 on the journal pins of the guide roller 1 8 of the feed conveyor 1 5, when moving the end of the latter adjacent the operator vertically by means of the working cylinder 26, the position of the guide roller 1 8 and thus the approach position of the laundry articles to the belt conveyor of the ironing machine 41 is not changed.

The method of operation of the apparatus is known per se. The method of operation of the devices provided according to the invention is contained in the preceding description of the latter. Figures 1 and 2 show clearly the advantages of the invention at the time of a mechanical feed of large laundry articles 10 to the feed conveyor 15 (figure 1) and the manual feed of small laundry articles 11 to the latter (figure 2).

The front end of the feed conveyor 15 is in a favourable position for feeding laundry articles in both cases. The rear end of the feed conveyor 1 5 always remains in the likewise favourable approach position with respect to the ironing machine. The conveying device 27 is moved into the upper rear position in a relatively flat movement curve (arrow 39). As a result of the head space provided, this position of the conveying device 27 (figure 2) makes it possible for the operator (not shown) of the apparatus to stand directly in front of the operating end of the feed conveyor 15 and he is thus able to place small laundry articles 11 conveniently on the latter.

Claims

1. Apparatus for feeding laundry articles to an ironing machine or the like, with a feed conveyor conveying in the direction of the ironing machine, a conveying device located in front of the feed conveyor at a staggered height and comprising movable members for gripping at least one part of the leading edge of large laundry articles and for the suspended central feed of the latter to the feed conveyor, wherein the feed conveyor is mounted to move vertically so that the operator's end of the latter can be moved from the position for the mechanical feed of large laundry articles to the latter into such a position for the manual placing of small laundry articles on the latter and back again.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in the region of its guide roller adjacent the ironing machine, the feed conveyor is mounted in a stationary but rotary manner and can be rotated partly about this mounting by means of a working cylinder arranged adjacent the operator.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the feed conveyor is located in a rocking arm and the latter can be rotated about a pivot arranged in the region of its guide roller adjacent the ironing machine, by means of a working cylinder located adjacent the operator.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein serving as the pivot are the journal pins of the rear guide roller of the feed conveyor.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vertical mobility of the feed conveyor is linked with a known ability of the conveying device to move into an upper rear position for the unimpeded manual placing of small laundry articles on the end of the feed conveyor adjacent the operator so that both members can be moved simultaneously or in a sequence-controlled manner from the position for mechanical feeding of large laundry articles to the feed conveyor into the position for the manual placing of small laundry articles on the latter and vice versa.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the conveying device is moved into its rear position in two guides arranged at a distance apart, staggered with respect to each other as regards height and providing a medium to flat movement curve and back again.

7. Apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the conveying device can be moved by means of pneumatic working cylinders.

8. Apparatus for feeding laundry articles to an ironing machine or the like, substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.