GB2221226A

GB2221226A - Feeding pieces of laundry to a mangle

Info

Publication number: GB2221226A
Application number: GB8914110A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Wilfried Wieneke; Harald Bierbaum
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1988-07-28
Filing date: 1989-06-20
Publication date: 1990-01-31
Anticipated expiration: 2009-06-20
Also published as: DE3825646A1; GB8914110D0; IT8948168A0; IT1231633B; DE3825646C2; FR2634797B1; GB2221226B; FR2634797A1

Description

1 Title: Procedure and device for feeding pieces of laundry to a mangle or

similar The invention relates to a procedure for feeding pieces of laundry to a mangle or similar according to the pre-

characterizing clause of Claim 1. The invention also relates to a corresponding device according to the precharacterizing clause of Claim 8.

In the laundry field it is conventional to feed powerful mangles via a system of belt conveyors which are arranged essentially horizontally. These conveyors serve among other things to stretch the pieces of laundry, which have already been stretched in a transverse direction, in a longitudinal direction also, during the feed to the mangle. Shortcomings in this stretching process lead directly to an impairment of the mangled quality (smoothness) of the pieces of laundry. A particular problem which has arisen is that frequently a leading edge area of the piece of laundry is folded back when it is fed (placed) onto the driven feed conveyor and is mangled like this. Consequently, undesirable doubling, among other things, which is particularly undesirable with tablecloths, occurs at the leading edge of the piece of laundry.

In order to improve the longitudinal stretching of the pieces of laundry, but above all to stop the abovementioned folding back of the leading edge of the pieces of laundry again, it is known from DE-AS 1 785 590 to arrange a stretching conveyor comprising two part conveyors, arranged one above the other, between the mangle and the feed conveyor.

1 According to a further proposal of DE-AS 1 785 590, the stretching conveyor has a higher conveying speed than the feed conveyor, as a result of which the conveying speed grows faster towards the mangle in order to stretch the pieces of laundry longitudinally. It has# however, been observed that with larger pieces of laundry, in particular tablecloths, which are naturally subject to a higher smoothness requirement, the leading edge is not always sufficiently smoothed out by a stretching conveyor, which runs faster in relation to the feed conveyor, alone. Although it would be possible with the known device to effect the smoothing out of the leading edge of the piece of laundry more reliably by increasing the difference in speed between on the one hand the feed conveyor and on the other the stretching conveyor, this would, however, lead to considerable stretching stress in a longitudinal direction on the pieces of laundry which would increase the risk of damage.

Starting out from this, it is the aim of the invention to improve a device of the generic type so that the longitudinal stretching, in particular a smoothing out of the leading edge of the pieces of laundry, is effected reliably and carefully.

Claims

To achieve this aim, the procedure according to the invention has the features of Claim 1. As a result of the feed conveyor being braked temporarily, there is momentarily a slip between the piece of laundry. which has been slowed down by the braking of the feed conveyor, and the stretching conveyor, which continues running. This slip is sufficient to reliably smooth out any folded back edge areas of the leading edge of the piece of laundry. Subsequently, and with a relatively small difference in speed between the feed conveyor and the stretching conveyor, the piece of laundry can be conveyed further, by means of which protective handling, yet reliable longitudinal 1 stretching, of the piece of laundry is ensured. 1 It is further proposed, that the feed conveyor be temporarily braked once immediately after the arrival of the leading edge of the piece of laundry in the arrival area of the stretching conveyor. This measure also ensures optimum protection of the piece of laundry because when the feed conveyor is braked only the leading edge, which is to-be smoothed out, of the piece of laundry is subjected to a slip with regard to the stretching conveyor. This measure also guarantees that sufficient of the piece of laundry is placed upon the feed conveyor to allow there to be sufficient friction to be created to hold back the piece of laundry upon the (temporary) standstill of the feed conveyor, which is necessary in order for the above-mentioned slip to take place. According to an advantageous development of the procedure, it is envisaged to change'a wedge-shaped arrival area at the (front) end, which faces towards the feed conveyor, of the stretching conveyor, as is known from DE-PS 30 20 839 for example, before or during the braking of the feed conveyor. By means of this measure, a particularly efficient and reliable smoothing out of folded-over edges at the leading edge of the piece of laundry is achieved. It has proved to be quite particularly advantageous to move the conveyor sections of the stretching conveyor together simultaneously with the stopping of the feed conveyor. Finally, it is proposed that the feed conveyor be braked to a standstill. By means of the thus complete braking of the feed conveyor, it, together with the piece of laundry, the greater part of which is lying on the feed conveyor, comes to a standstill for fractions of a second, by means of which only the short front end area of the piece of laundry, which is in the arrival area of the stretching conveyor, is forcefully stretched temporarily. This procedure guarantees a very efficient smoothing out of the leading edge of the piece of laundry, yet also the greatest possible protection of the piece of laundry. A device to achieve the aim according to the invention has the features of Claim 8. The braking device on the feed conveyor ensures a reliable, temporary braking of the same and a purposeful control of the braking process. As, furthermore, the control of the braking is carried out from the stretching conveyor, the braking can be initiated exactly in a predetermined position of the piece of laundry in relation to the stretching conveyor, at the precise time in fact, that a front area of the piece of laundry, at least, however, the leading edge of the same, projects into an end area (arrival area) of the stretching conveyor, which area faces towards the feed conveyor. The control of the braking device is expediently effected by at least one light barrier which is assigned to the arrival area of the stretching conveyor. This always starts the braking process by actuating the braking device, whenever the leading edge of a respective piece of laundry projects a certain distance into the arrival area of the stretching conveyor. The triggering of the braking device can be carried out by a time switch element which is started together with the actuation of the braking device by the light barrier and which, after a fraction of a second (0.25 to 0.35 seconds), releases the braking device again so that the feed conveyor continues running. Such a control is simple and above all reliable. Other subordinate claims relate to the constructional design of a deflecting element for changing the shape of the arrival area on the stretching conveyor. A preferred exemplary embodiment of the device according to the invention is described more closely below with refetence to the drawing. In the drawing is Fig. 1 shows a vertical longitudinal section through the device, Fig. 2 shows an enlarged detail from Fig. 1 in the area of a feed conveyor and a stretching conveyor before a piece of laundry is drawn into the stretching conveyor. Fig. 3 shows a view according to Fig. 2 with the leading edge of the piece of laundry drawn into the stretching conveyor, Fig. 4 shows a view according to Fig. 2 and 3 with approximately half of the piece of laundry drawn into the stretching conveyor and with its leading edge smoothed out, Fig. 5 shows a representation according to Fig. 2 with an alternative belt guide arrangement on the stretching conveyor, Fig. 6 shows the belt guide arrangement of the stretching conveyor, having started with the representation in Fig. 5, with the leading edge of the piece of laundry drawn in, Fig. 7 shows the belt guide arrangement with approximately half of the piece of laundry drawn into the stretching conveyor and with its leading edge smoothed out, and Fig. 8 shows a schematic representation of the control of the feed conveyor and the stretching conveyor. The device shown here serves to feed pieces of laundry 10, which have been spread out transversely, to a mangle, which is not shown in the Figures. The device has essentially, in relation to the direction of feed represented by an arrow 11, a feed conveyor 12 at the front and, adjoining this, a stretching conveyor 13, behind which the mangle (not shown) is directly arranged or connected via a further conveyor. The device shown here also has at least two clamps, which are next to one another and transversely displaceable and of which one clamp is indicated in Fig. 1. These serve both to spread out the piece of laundry 10 in a transverse direction and to transfer it to the feed conveyor 12. To this end, the clamps 14, after spreading out the piece of laundry 10 in a transverse direction, move out over the feed conveyor 12 into a transfer position which is indicated in broken lines in Fig. 1. Finally. a beating device known per se is shown in Fig. 1. In this case, this is a suction shaft 15, which is arranged under the feed conveyor 12 and which has arranged at its end a fluff filter 16 and under this a fan 17 to create a flow of air in the suction shaft 15. In Fig. 1, between the feed conveyor 12 and the suction shaft 15, there is also arranged a stretching sheet 18, which can be moved backwards and forwards in a horizontal plane and which is arranged to spread out in a transverse-direction the piece of laundry 10, which is to be transported to the stretching conveyor 13 via the feed conveyor 12. For the efficient transverse spreading out of the piece of laundry 10, the device shown in Fig. 1 may be assigned further devices (not shown), for example lateral smoothing belts. The feed conveyor 12 comprises a conveyor belt 19, which consists of several (narrow) belt strips, which lie next to one another at a distance, and which runs between two guide pulleys 20 and 21, which are parallel to and at a distance from one another. An upper 1 7 - conveyor section 22 of the conveyor belt 19, which is guided between the guide pulleys 20 and 21, is here guided in the direction of feed 11 in an increasingly arched manner by a guide element, which in the present exemplary embodiment is designed as a guide plate 23. The guide pulley 21 which faces the stretching conveyor 13 is, in relation to the guide pulley 20 at the feed end of the feed conveyor 12, which pulley is at the front in relation to the direction of feed 11, smaller in diameter in order that only a small transfer gap 24 is created between the feed conveyor 12 and the stretching conveyor 13. The stretching conveyor 13 comprises two part conveyors, which are arranged one above the other. namely a lower transport conveyor 25 and, above this. a pressure conveyor 26. Both the lower transport conveyor 25 and the pressure conveyor 26 above it are designed as belt conveyors. each having in fact a conveyor belt 27 or 28 comprising several (narrow) belt strips, which lie next to one another at a distance. The conveyor belt 27 of the lower transport conveyor 25 runs around two parallel guide pulleys 29 and 30. of which the (rear) guide pulley 30, which faces away from the feed conveyor 12, is smaller in diameter than the (front) guide pulley 29. An upper conveyor section 31. which faces towards the pressure conveyor 26, of the lower transport conveyor 25 is guided in an arched manner between two deflecting elements 32 and 33. The conveyor belt 28 of the pressure conveyor 26 runs around two guide pulleys 34 which are of the same design. A lower conveyor section 35 of the pressure conveyor 26 is guided approximately straight between the guide pulleys 34. a deflecting element 32 being arranged in front of the (rear) guide pulley 34 in the present exemplary embodiment to adapt the inclination of the lower conveyor section 35 of the pressure conveyor 26 to the inclination of the upper conveyor section 31 on the lower transport conveyor 25. The pressure conveyor 26 is arranged above the lower transport conveyor 25 in such a manner that the piece of laundry 10 can be conveyed with friction through the stretching conveyor 13 between their conveyor sections which face one another, that is to say the upper conveyor section 31 of the lower transport conveyor 25 on the one hand and the lower conveyor section 35 of the pressure conveyor 26 on the other. The guide pulleys 29 or 34 of the stretching conveyor 13 which face towards the feed conveyor 12 are, in the exemplary embodiment of the device shown, arranged one behind the other in the direction of feed 11, the guide pulley 34 of the pressure conveyor 26 being positioned offset towards the mangle in relation to the guide pulley 29 of the lower transport conveyor 25. Between the guide pulley 29 and the guide pulley 34 assigned to it, the upper conveyor section 31 of the lower transport conveyor 25 is consequently free. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the deflecting element 32, which is assigned to the upper conveyor section 31 of the lower transport conveyor 25, lies approximately below the guide pulley 34, which faces towards the feed conveyor 12, of the pressure conveyor 26, and can also be moved up and down. In addition, the deflecting element 32 has a deflecting shaft 37 (Figs 4 to 7), which runs transversely across the entire width of the conveyor belt 27 and which makes contact under the upper conveyor section 31 of the lower transport conveyor 25. The deflecting shaft 37 can most simply be designed as a fixed rod, but also as a freely rotating roller. The deflecting shaft 37 is connected to a rotating frame 39, which can rotate about an axis of rotation 38 - 9 is running parallel to the deflecting shaft 37 and which can be rotated via a projecting swivel arm 40 by a pressure medium cylinder 41. By moving a piston rod 42 of the pressure medium cylinder 41 in or out, the deflecting shaft 37, as shown in Figs 5 and 6, can be moved backwards and forwards under the upper conveyor section by the rotating frame 39 in such a manner that the vertical distance of the deflecting shaft 37 to the axis of rotation 38 of the rotating frame 39 changes to raise or lower the upper conveyor section 31 of the lower transport conveyor 25 in relation to the lower conveyor section 35 of the pressure conveyor 26. In this manner, it is possible to change an arrival area 43 of the stretching conveyor 13, which area is formed between the guide pulley 34, which faces towards the feed conveyor 12, of the pressure conveyor 26 and the area, which lies opposite these. of the upper conveyor section 31 of the lower transport conveyor 25. Accordingly, with the deflecting shaft 37 moved down as shown in Fig. 5, between the upper conveyor section 31 and the lower conveyor section 35 there is an approximately V-shaped arrival area 43, which narrows constantly towards the mangle. With the deflecting shaft 37 moved up as shown in Figs 2 to 4 and 6 and 7, there is an arrival area 43 with an approximately constant gap width, that is to say running approximately parallel to the lower conveyor section 35. The drive of the feed conveyor 12 on the one hand and of the stretching conveyor 13 on the other is effected in a particular way according to the invention. Accordingly, the stretching conveyor 13 is driven with a higher speed than the feed conveyor 12, the feed conveyor 12 being temporarily brakeable. while the stretching conveyor 13 continues to run, to smooth out any folding back of the leading edge 44 on the front end 45 of the piece of laundry 10 in relation to the direction of feed 11. The drive of the feed conveyor 12 and the temporary braking of the feed conveyor 12 are to be explained with reference to the schematic representation in Fig. 8. In this Figure at the top, a cross-section through the device as in Figs 4 and 7 is represented while, in 'the same Figure at the bottom, a drive of the driven guide pulley 20 of the feed conveyor 12 and of the guide pulley 29 of the lower transport conveyor 25 is indicated. Both representations are schematically connected by switching or control lines of an electronic control unit 46. The control unit 46 (indicated in dot-dash lines) comprises a mini-computer 47 (indicated in broken lines), an input/output terminal 48 and a control valve 49 for the pressure medium cylinder 41. To clarify the circuit. an input level 50, an output level 51 and a central unit 52 of the minicomputer 47 are shown separately. The drive of the guide pulleys 20 and 29 is effected according to Fig. 8 by a common electric motor 53 via an appropriate drive element, for example a chain drive 54. This simultaneously drives a guide pulley 34, not shown in Fig. 9, of the pressure conveyor 26. By means of the selection of suitable different numbers of teeth on the chain wheels on the guide pulley 20 on the one hand and the guide pulleys 29 or 34 on the other, the drive of the feed conveyor 12 is effected with a lower speed than the drive of the lower transport conveyor 25 and of the pressure conveyor 26, which runs at the same speed, of the stretching conveyor 13. Alternatively, it is also conceivable to drive the guide pulleys 21 or 30 of the feed conveyor 12 or the lower transport conveyor 25 instead of the guide pulleys 20 or 29. The braking of the feed conveyor 12 is effected by a brake assigned to the guide pulley 20 (or alternatively to the guide pulley 21), which brake is preferably designed as an electromagnetic brake 55. This electromagnetic brake 55, which is schematically represented inFig. 8, is actuated by a time switch 56, which is assigned to the output level 51 of the mini computer 47 and which is triggered by a light barrier 57, which is connected to the input level 50 of the mini-computer 47. The light barrier, seen in the direction of feed 11, is arranged behind the guide pulley 34, which faces towards the feed conveyor 12, of the pressure conveyor 26. The light barrier 57 is triggered, when the front end 45 of the piece of laundry 10 is in the arrival area 43 of the stretching conveyor 13, that is to say when it has been taken hold of by the conveyor belts 27 or 28 of the lower transport conveyor 25 and of the pressure conveyor 26. After the actuation of the electromagnetic brake 55, it is automatically, that is to say without any influence from the light barrier 57, released again by the time switch 56 after a period of time of a fraction of a second, for example 0.25 seconds. which can be preset on the input/output terminal 48. The braking by the electromagnetic brake 55 takes place preferably until the momentary standstill of the guide pulley 20, that is to say of the entire feed conveyor 12. Alternatively, the braking can also be effected in such a manner that a forceful delay in the drive of the guide pulley 20 takes place without, however, the complete standstill of the latter.

1 Additionally, as shown in Fig. 8, the feed side of the feed conveyor 12 can be assigned a further light barrier 58. This gives a signal to the input level 50 of the mini-computer 47, by means of which a switch 59, which is assigned to the output level 51 of the minicomputer 47, is opened to disengage a clutch 60 which is assigned to the guide pulley 20 of the feed conveyor 12. By this means, the feed conveyor 12 is automatically stopped, when it is being fed manually with pieces of laundry 10 and the operator actuates the 1 light barrier 58 to this end. In devices, in which the pieces of laundry 10 are fed to the feed conveyor 12 exclusively by'clamps 14 as shown in Fig. 1, the light barrier 58 shown in Fig. 8 and the associated switch 59 can be omitted.

The control valve 49, which is also shown in Fig. 8, serves to control the pressure medium cylinder 41 which serves to adjust the arrival area 43 on the stretching conveyor 13. The cylinder - similarly to the time switch 56 for the actuation of the electromagnetic clutch 55 - is actuated by the mini-computer 47 to brake the guide pulley 20 in dependence on the signal from the light barrier 57, which is assigned to the stretching conveyor 13, and preferably in fact according to the two procedures which are explained below in association with the course of the braking process according to the invention and with reference to Figs 2 to 7.

Figs 2 to 4 show the smoothing out of the folded back leading edge 44 on the front end 45 of the piece of laundry 10, the deflecting shaft 37 of the deflecting element 32 having first been moved up. Here, the minicomputer 47 accordingly actuates the control valve 49 to move out the pressure medium cylinder 41, when an operation program, which is specially intended for the feed of large pieces of laundry 10 requiring accurate mangling, for example tablecloths, is selected on the input/output terminal 48. Here, therefore, the upper conveyor section 31 of the lower transport conveyor 25 and the lower conveyor section 35 of the pressure conveyor 26 run, independently of the position of the piece of laundry 10 in the stretching conveyor 13, approximately parallel to one another.

It can also be seen from Figs 2 to 4 that, according to the representation in Fig. 2, the piece of laundry 10, with the feed conveyor 12 and the stretching conveyor z 1 13 - 13 being driven continuously but at different speeds, is first conveyed via the upper conveyor section 31 of the lower transport conveyor 25 into the arrival area 43 and, approximately in the position according to Fig. 3, in which the front end 45, which is to be smoothed out, of the piece of laundry 10 has just been taken hold of by the upper conveyor section 31 of the lower transport conveyor 25 and by the lower conveyor section 35 of the pressure conveyor 26, is temporarily braked by contact with the light barrier 57 of the feed conveyor 12, the resulting slip between the piece of laundry 10 and the upper conveyor section 31 and the lower conveyor section 35 smoothing out the folded back leading edge 44 on the front end 45 of the piece of laundry 10 in relation to the direction of feed 11. After the temporary braking, the piece of laundry 10 is then transported further with a stretched leading edge 44 and the feed conveyor 12 continuing to run according to the representation in Fig. 4.

Figs 5 to 7 show that the front end 45 of the piece of laundry 10 is fed to the stretching conveyor 13 with a V-shaped arrival area 43. In this connection, the deflecting shaft 37 of the deflecting element 32 has been swivelled by the pressure medium cylinder 41 in such a manner that it lies next to the axis of rotation 38 of the rotating frame 39, with the result that the upper conveyor section 31 of the lower transport conveyor 25, having started with the arched travel recognizable in the other Figures and especially in Fig. 1, is given an approximately straight travel and thus the upper conveyor section 31 converges, as it runs towards the mangle, with the lower conveyor section 35 of the pressure conveyor 26.

After the front end 45 of the piece of laundry 10 has run so far into the still V-shaped arrival area 43 of the stretching conveyor 13 that the front end 45 has reached the light barrier 57, in this exemplary 1 embodiment the control valve 49 for the pressure medium cylinder 41 is actuated by the light barrier 57 via the mini-computer 4, which results in the deflecting shaft 37 being swivelled in such a manner that it moves the upper conveyor section 31 of the lower transport conveyor 25 up so far until the said section runs approximately parallel to the lower conveyor section 35 of the pressure conveyor 26, that is to say according to the representation in Figs 6 and 7. Together with the actuation of the pressure medium cylinder 41 and the resulting gradual narrowing of the V-shaped arrival area 43, an actuation takes place of the electromagnetic brake 55 on the guide pulley 20, by means of which the feed conveyor 12 is temporarily braked approximately synchronously with the change in shape of the arrival area 43. Here, therefore, the slip of the stretching conveyor 13 overlaps with the moving together of the conveyor belts 27, 28 of the same for the particularly efficient smoothing out of the leading edge 44 of the piece of laundry 10.

Alternatively, the narrowing of the arrival area 43 and the braking of the feed conveyor 12 can also take place in a temporally staggered manner or one after another.

Fig. 7 shows the position of the piece of laundry 10 after the smoothing out of the leading edge 44 and the restarting of the feed conveyor 12. In this connection, the deflecting element 32 is still adjusted in such a manner that the arrival area 43 is narrowed as in Fig. 6. Expediently, the deflecting element 32 is only returned to the position shown in Fig. 5, with the deflecting shaft 37 lowered, when a rear end 61 of the piece of laundry 10 has passed the light barrier 57.

- 15 C 1 a i m s 1. Procedure for feeding pieces of laundry to a mangle or similar, in which the pieces of laundry are conveyed to the mangle or similar via a feed conveyor and between two part conveyor s, arranged one above the other, of a stretching conveyor, and in which at least the stretching conveyor is driven with a greater conveying speed in relation to the feed conveyor. characterized in that the feed conveyor (12) is temporarily braked.

2. Procedure according to Claim 1, characterized in that the feed conveyor (12) is temporarily braked (once) immediately after the arrival of a front end (45) of the piece of laundry (10) in an arrival area (43) which is formed between conveyor sections, which face one another, of the part conveyors, which are arranged one above the other, of the stretching conveyor (13).

3. Procedure according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the travel of the conveyor sections, which face one another, of the part conveyors of the stretching conveyor (13), in particular in the arrival area (43), is changed before the braking of the feed conveyor (12).

4. Procedure according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the separation of the conveyor sections, which face one another, of the part conveyors of the stretching conveyor (13) is decreased during the 1 1 braking of the feed conveyor (12).

5. Procedure according to Claim 4, characterized in that the separation of the conveyor sections, which have been moved together, of the part conveyors of the stretching conveyor (13), is increased again after a rear end (61) of the piece of laundry (10) has passed through the arrival area (43).

6. Procedure according to Claim 1 and one or more of the other Claims, characterized in that the braking of the feed conveyor (12) takes place within a period of a fraction of a second, in particular 0.25 seconds.

7. Procedure according to Claim 1 and one or more of the other Claims, characterized in that the feed conveyor (12) is braked to a (temporary) standstill.

8. Device for feeding pieces of laundry to a mangle or similar, with a feed conveyor and, adjoining this and arranged in front of the mangle or similar, a stretching conveyor comprising two part conveyors.. which are arranged one above the other and between the conveyor sections, which face one another, of which the pieces of laundry can be conveyed. the feed conveyor preferably having a lower conveying speed than the stretching conveyor, characterized in that the feed conveyor (12) has a braking device (electromagnetic brake 55) which can be controlled from the stretching conveyor (13).

9. Device according to Claim 8, characterized in that an end area (arrival area 43), which faces towards the feed conveyor (12), of the stretching conveyor (13), is assigned at least one light barrier (57) for the actuation of the braking device (electromagnetic brake 55) for the temporary braking of the feed conveyor (12).

10. Device according to Claim 9, characterized in that the light barrier (57) is assigned to the end area (arrival area 43), which faces towards the feed conveyor (12), of the stretching conveyor (13) in such a manner that, after a front end (45) of the piece of laundry (10) has passed through the guide pulleys (29, 34) of the stretching conveyor (13) which are directed towards the feed conveyor (12), the light barrier (57) can be activated by the front end (45) of the piece of laundry (10) to actuate the braking device (electromagnetic brake 55).

11. Device according to Claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the braking device (electromagnetic brake 55) is assigned to a driven guide pulley (20) of the feed conveyor (12).

12. Device according to Claim 8 and one or more of the other Claims, characterized in that the braking device is designed as an electromagnetic brake (55).

13. Device according to Claim 8 and one or more of the other Claims, characterized in that the end area. which faces towards the feed conveyor (12), of the stretching conveyor (13) is designed as an arrival area (43) which can have its shape changed.

14. Device according to Claim 13, characterized in that the arrival area (43) of the stretching conveyor (13) can be changed from an approximately V-shaped travel of the conveyor sections, which face one another, of the part conveyors to an approximately parallel travel of the conveyor sections, and vice versa.

15. Device according to Claim 13 or 14, characterized in that the shape of the arrival area (43) can be changed by the deflection of one conveyor section of at least one part conveyor of the stretchng conveyor (13).

16. Device according to Claim 15, characterized in 18 - that the upper conveyor section (31) of a (lower) part conveyor, which is designed as a lower transport conveyor (25), is assigned a deflecting element (32), which can move up and down, for raising or lowering the upper conveyor section (31) as an area.

17. Device according to one or more of Claims 13 to 15, characterized in that the deflecting element (32) is arranged under an upper conveyor section (31) of the lower transport conveyor (25), in the area of a guide pulley (34) of a pressure conveyor (26) which is designed as an upper part conveyor, which guide pulley is arranged opposite a guide pulley (29) of the lower transport conveyor (25) and offset towards the mangle or similar.

18. A method of feeding pieces of laundry to a mangle or the like substantially as described herein with reference to the drawings.

19. A device for feeding pieces of laundry to a mangle or the like substantially as described herein with reference to the drawings.

Published 1990at The Patent,Office. State House. 66 71 High Holborn, London WC1R4TP. Further copies maybe obtainedfrom The Patent Office. Sales Branch S Man. Cray- Orpingtcn Kent EF.5 3Rr' Prn-ted by Multiplex techniques ta. St Ma-y Cray, Kent. Con. 187