For the achievement of this object, the apparatus according to the
invention has the features of Claim 1.
Due to the design according to the invention, an apparatus for feeding items of laundry to a mangle or the like is obtained which constitutes an exceptionally sturdy arrangement, which is, as a result, less susceptible to malfunction, in the region of each vertical conveyor route, that is to say in the region of the upward- and downward-conveying item conveyor, despite small constructional outlay since both the continuous conveyor member, here in particular a continuous conveyor chain, and the pegs, which can be coupled to said chain, are picked up captively in this region by a guide, here 4 is in particular by a profile rail, and are movable in said prof ile rail. Due to this measure, on the one hand the output in the feeding of items of laundry to a mangle or the like is increased since the susceptibility to malfunction and repair, in particular of these upwardand downward- moving item conveyors, is virtually completely ruled out due to -the simple design and, furthermore, as a result of the rigid guide of the continuous conveyor member together with the pegs receiving the items of laundry, a substantially greater cycle time can be achieved in feeding these items of laundry. On the other hand, however, in this region a reliable transportation of the pegs and the items of laundry is also guaranteed at the same time precisely due to the rigid guide of the continuous conveyor member together with the pegs which are carried along by said conveyor member.
Moreover, provision is made according to the invention for the peg to be arranged on a carriage which is movable in the guide, in particular in the profile rail. In particular, it is within the scope of the invention for the carriage to be composed of a bearing plate aligned essentially perpendicular to the direction of movement, on which bearing plate there are arranged, on the one hand, two spaced-apart pairs of running wheels and, on the other hand, the peg. In addition to the increase in the output in the feeding of items of laundry to a mangle or the like and in addition to a reliable transportation of the pegs or the items of laundry, a design of this type additionally brings about a reduction in the operational noise, especially in this region, since the movement of the pegs in the guide, that is to say in the profile rail, takes place exclusively via a rolling movement of the carriages which entails little friction and is therefore low in noise.
The content of the further features of the invention is the advantageous design of the carriages. For example, provision is made, inter alia, according to the invention for each outer limb of the one web of the is bearing plate to have a recess, corresponding to one another, provided between the two horizontal axles of the running wheels arranged in each case on the outer limbs and extending transversely to the direction of movement. It is achieved by this means that the carriages, which are each provided with a peg, can be coupled simply and captively to the continuous conveyor member, that is to say the continuous conveyor chain, as a result of the interaction of the guide, that is to say the profile rail. Furthermore, it is within the scope of the invention to space the recess of each outer limb of the one web of the bearing plate away from the two horizontal axles, each arranged on one outer limb and extending transversely to the direction of movement, of the running wheels for receiving a horizontal axle, extending transversely to the direction of movement, of the continuous conveyor member, in particular the continuous conveyor chain, by which means the carriages can be coupled into the continuous conveyor member, that is to say into the continuous conveyor chain, regularly without simultaneously impairing the mode of functioning of the continuous conveyor member itself. To simplify the coupling-in operation of the carriages, provided with one peg in each case, into the continuous conveyor member, that is to say into the continuous chain, the recess of each outer limb of the one web of the bearing plate has an opening which broadens facing away from the other web. Moreover, in order to ensure that the carriages, together with the continuous conveyor member, that is to say the continuous chain, can be guided and moved in the guide, that is to say in the profile rail, accurately and virtually without any tilting, in the region adjoining the broadening opening and receiving the horizontal axle, extending transversely to the direction of movement, of the continuous conveyor member, in particular of the continuous conveyor chain,, the recess is designed according to a further feature of the invention to be only slightly larger than the diameter of this particular axle.
The following features of the invention refer to 4 is the design of the continuous conveyor member, in particular the continuous conveyor chain. Accordingly, it is within the scope of the invention to construct the continuous conveyor member, in particular the continuous conveyor chain, from a link chain with pairs of support rollers, which pairs are arranged spaced apart. The design of the continuous conveyor member as a link chain allows a regular coupling-in operation of the carriages in a continuous conveyor chain of this type, with the result that the output of the feed apparatus according to the invention can be additionally increased in the feeding of items of laundry to a mangle or the like. Moreover, the operational noise of the continuous conveyor member, that is to say the continuous conveyor chain, can likewise be reduced due to the support rollers, mounted on said chain, which entail little friction and are thus less noisy. In this connection, it has proved to be particularly advantageous to provide a stainless steel chain as the link chain in order to prevent the formation of corrosion due to the high air humidity prevailing in such laundries and thus to obtain a long service life of the upward- and downward-conveying item conveyor.
Additionally, provision is made according to the invention for each support roller or running wheel of the carriage and/or of the continuous conveyor member to be formed by a bearing, preferably a ball bearing which is accommodated by the corresponding horizontal axle extending transversely to the direction of movement and is secured accordingly on said axle. The bearing is composed, in particular, of an inner and outer ball race made of plastic and roll-off bodies made of steel. Due to these very simple structural measures, the running whee.1ds or support rollers can be designed to run particularly quietly, by which means the development of noise during the operation of item or transport conveyors according to the invention is additionally reduced. Furthermore, the noise level inevitably occurring during the operation can be reduced still further by coating the outer ball race in the region of its outer raceway with an additional resilient layer, for example with a layer of rubber.
Further features [lacuna] invention relate to an advantageous design of the guide or profile rail according to the invention, which guide or profile rail is expediently constructed as a hollow profile or the like to increase the bearing strength and rigidity.
For example, it is within the scope of the invention for the profile rail to have at least one part, which is provided for receiving and moving the carriage and/or the continuous conveyor member, is adapted approximately to the cross-sectional shape of the carriage and the continuous conveyor member and is provided with a central longitudinal slot facing the peg, and to have another part which f aces away from the peg and is provided for fastening the profile rail to a bearing means or the like. Due to an arrangement of this type according to the invention, a guide, that is to say in particular a profile rail, is produced which fulfils two functions at the same time without great constructional outlay. on the one hand, it serves for the secure accommodation and movement and conveyance of the continuous conveyor member together with the carriage coupled therein, on the other hand, however, also for the fastening to a bearing means, provided specifically for this purpose, inside a factory hall and similar. In particular, provision is made according to the invention for the one part of the profile rail to be of approximately rectangular construction, the inside surfaces of which, provided as running surfaces for the support rollers or running wheels of the carriage and/or the continuous conveyor member, having a distance from one another which is slightly greater than the outside diameter of the support rollers or running wheels. It is achieved by this means that the carriages and the continuous conveyor member can be accommodated and guided by the guide, that is to say in particular the profile rail, securely against tilting with only slight play.
According to a further feature of the invention, the central longitudinal slot of the one part of the profile rail is larger than the thickness of the web, assigned to the longitudinal slot, of the bearing plate and it additionally has the running surface, divided through the central longitudinal slot, on each surface of the bearing plate at least with the width of the corresponding running wheel. It is achieved by this means that, on the one hand,, the other web of the bearing plate passing through the central longitudinal slot of the guide does not come into contact with the profile rail and. on the other hand, the running wheels roll off over their entire width over the running surface, divided by the central longitudinal slot, on each side of the bearing plate, by which means, the wear of the running wheels and the noise level caused by them can be minimised.
In a further design of the invention, the one part of the profile rail is formed by side walls, extending at least partially obliquely to the running surface divided by the central longitudinal slot, in particular over a height which preferably corresponds to half the outside diameter. Due to this measure. both the carriages and the continuous conveyor member are inevitably centred in the guide. that is to say in particular in the profile rail, during their movement, with the result that the support rollers or running wheels are solely in contact with the running surfaces of the guide or profile rail. The result of this is that. on the one hand, the service life of the support rollers or running wheels is increased and, on the other handi the running of the support rollers or running wheels with their end faces against the side walls of the guide or profile rail which increases the operating noises is reduced.
Due to the construction according to the invention of the vertical conveyor routesi namely connecting a downward-conveying strand to an upward-conveying strand in the region of the loading and remova 1 station via a curved deflection part and, in the upper region of the loading and removal station, via a drive wheel, the item 1 conveyor can be constructed in a simple manner as a circulating or continuous conveyor. In particular. according to the invention the curved deflection part is provided with a curved guide, guiding the continuous conveyor member. in particular the continuous conveyor chain, and a curved flange, supporting the running wheels of the carriage and the link chain, with the result that a secure and low-noise transportation of the continuous conveyor member together with the carriages coupled therein is guaranteed even in the region of the curved deflection part. The result of this, in turn, is an undiminished high output in the feeding of items of laundry to a mangle or the like.
According to the invention, the curved deflection part furthermore has in the region of the removal station a switching line which actuates the peg and due to which the handling is simplified and the input of manual activity is reduced. Namely, in the region of such a switching line, the pegs attached to the carriages can each be actuated automatically without the assistance of operators in such a way that the items of laundry introduced therein can easily be removed from the pegs.
For separating the pegs or the carriages accommodating the latter from the continuous conveyor member. in particular from the continuous conveyor chain, an uncoupler is assigned to each drive wheel in the upper region of the loading and removal station downstream of the upward- conveying strand. Furthermore, according to the invention a photosensor, interacting with the drive wheel, is arranged in the region of the loading station in order to be able to start the continuous conveying member, in particular the continous conveyor chain, after the loading of a respective peg with the corresponding item of laundry. The prior halting of the corresponding pegs in the loading and unloading station is effected by a pulse generator which is arranged downstream of the drive wheel of the continuous conveyor member and positions the respective peg in the planned position in conjunction with a memory-programmable control.
-1 Additionally, provision is made according to the invention for the vertical conveyor route(s) of the loading station and/or of the removal station, but in particular the removal station, to be designed so as to be swivellable out of the vertical, for example for the manual introduction of small items of laundry (e.g. hand towels) which are not to be fed to the mangle feed machine via the feed device. In this case, a swivel movement of this type can be undertaken by any conceivable swivel device, e.g. by a linked hydraulic or compressed air system or the like.
Additionally, it is within the scope of the invention to design an apparatus for feeding items of laundry to a mangle or the like according to one or more of the preceding Claims 1 to 32, but also independently thereof, in such a way that the peg in the region of an adjoining or connecting conveyor route is movable in an inclined guide, in particular in an inclined profile rail, solely as a result of its own weight from the upper region of the loading station to the upper region of the removal station with the item of laundry and from the upper region of the removal station to the upper region of the loading station without an item of laundry. In a particular embodiment of the invention, the drive wheel with the uncoupler is located at a higher level in the upper region of the loading station or removal station than a separator in the upper region of the removal station or the loading station, said separator being provided for feeding the peg or the carriage into the continuous conveyor member, in particular into the continuous conveyor chain. Due to an embodiment of this type, an arrangement, which is particularly unsusceptible to malfunction, of an item conveyor can be achieved with only small constructional expenditure, which item conveyor consequently has a high output in the feeding of items of laundry to a mangle or the like and still guarantees a secure transportation of the pegs or of the carriages and the items of laundry connected thereto. This means at the same time that the noise inevitably is produced in the operation of such an item conveyor can be greatly reduced. Quite independently of the above, energy-savings of a substantial size can be achieved with such a conveyor guide without even slightly impairing its mode of functioning.
The features of further subclaims serve for the expedient embodiment of the separator which is arranged in each case between a peg store.. arranged downstream of the inclined guide, in particular downstream of the inclined profile rail, and a coupling point which joins the pegs or peg carriages to the continuous conveyor member, in particular to the continuous conveyor chain, of the downward-conveying strand. According to the invention, each separator interacts, in particular, with a pulse counter arranged in the upper region of the loading and removal station, preferably on the drive wheel of each vertical conveyor route. This pulse counter counts the chain division in the region of the drive wheel and thereby controls the feeding of the carriages, each provided with a peg, into the downward-conveying strand, with the result that these carriages enter with their running wheels in the correct position between adjacent running wheels of the continuous conveyor member, in particular of the continuous conveyor chain.
It is furthermore within the scope of the invention for each separator to be constructed in such a way that a carriage is released and, at the same time, the carriage following this carriage is restrained by actuation of a swivel device. In this case, according to the invention each separator is composed of a multi-arm lever which is mounted so as to be rotatable on a stationary bearing means, interacts with the swivel L- device and has essentially three arms projecting approxl mately evenly from its linkage point. It is achieved by the special arrangement of these three arms relative to one another and their special design that the carriage. which is at the front in each case, with the associated peg is released by the separator for feeding into the continuous conveyor member upon a signal from the corresponding pulse counter, but the carriage following this carriage is restrained by the separator. In terms of construction, this can be implemented particularly advantageously in such a way that, in the restraining position, a front arm of hooked construction of the multi-arm lever grips around a front side of the bearing plate of the carriage which is at the front in each case while, in the release position, a rear arm of the multiarm lever of the separator engages in the respective recess in the lower web of the bearing plate of the following carriage, by which means, as has been shown in practice, an exceptionally reliable mode of functioning of a separator of this type according to the invention can be obtained by simple constructional measures.
Finally, it is within the scope of the invention to design a peg for f ixing an item of laundry or the like to be transported, having a peg housing and a clamping member, in particular for an apparatus according to at least one of the preceding Claims 1 to 32, but also independently thereof, in such a way that varying clamping forces can be applied to the peg in such a way that, for the removal of the item of laundry, a smaller clamping force is effective and, for the transportation of the item of laundry, in particular for pulling the item of laundry out of a laundry container, dryer or the like, a higher clamping force is effective. An embodiment of this type according to the invention has, on the one hand, the advantage that a reduced or smaller clamping force acts on the corresponding item of laundry only in the region of the removal station, by which means the pulling-out of the item of laundry from this peg is made substantially easier for an operator. on the other hand, it is ensured by this measure that, during the transportation of the item of laundry and here, in particular, during the upward movement of the respective peg or of the carriage, a very high clamping force is exerted by the peg on the corresponding item of laundry, by which means the item of laundry is in any case held reliably by the peg. For example, especially during the pulling-out is of the item of laundry from a laundry container, dryer or the like, quite large tensile forces occur since the item of laundry Is generally entangled with other items of laundry situated in the laundry container and firstly has to be untangled from the latter during the upward movement. in accordance with the further embodiment of the invention, in particular the smaller clamping force is to be selected to be so small that the item of laundry can be removed from the peg in a non-destructive manner. In this way, in addition to a secure transportation, the item of laundry can be removed or pulled out f rom the respective peg by an operator without great effort in the region of the removal station.
In terms of construction,, the application of varying clamping forces to the peg in accordance with the invention can be achieved in that the peg has with [sic] at least two clamping members which, in turn, exert a different clamping force. According to a further feature of the invention, the clamping members of the peg are composed of at least one clamping roller, which is mounted preferably rotatably in the peg housing and preferably two clamping levers which are mounted swivellably likewise in the peg housing, the construction of the clamping roller substantially facilitating the pulling-out of the item of laundry from the peg as well as the manual introduction of the item of laundry into the peg due to the rolling movement of the clamping roller despite the active clamping force. In a further embodiment of the invention, provision is made for spring forces of dif f erent sizes to act on the clamping members. that is to say on the clamping roller and the two clamping levers. Additionally. provision is made according to the invention for each of the two clamping levers to be brought into engagement with an actuation lever, which is mounted in each case so as to be movable likewise in the peg housing. in such a way that the two-clamping levers are moved simultaneously out of their clamping position by swivelling the actuation levers. In particular. . a switching line. specially provided for this purpose, of is the curved deflection part is provided for swivelling each actuation lever in the region of the removal station, with the result that each actuation lever, arranged on the peg,, is swivelled automatically and without the assistance of an operator when the carriage passes through the curved deflection part. This results simultaneously in the fact that the two clamping levers are swivelled out of their clamping position and thus the respective item of laundry is held only by the clamping roller to which a smaller clamping force is applied.
Finally, the invention receives a further embodiment due to the fact that the clamping members are arranged in the peg housing in such a way that additional clamping forces between the clamping members and the clamping housing can be utilised, which forces are produced by the own weight of the item of laundry to be transported. This is achieved by an angular position of the clamping lever relative to the clamping wall. By this means, a clamping of the items of laundry, which is adequate to requirements, is achieved with relatively compact [lacuna].
Further features, advantages and details of the invention emerge from the following description of preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention which are explained in greater detail below with reference to the drawing, in which:
Figure 1 shows a diagrammatically illustrated apparatus for feeding items of laundry to a mangle on a reduced scale, Figure 2 shows a lateral view of an embodiment of a carriage according to the invention in an enlarged illustration in relation to Figure 1, Figure 3 shows a vertical section along the line III-III in Figure 2 through the carriage, Figure 4 shows a plan view of a partial central section along the line IV- W in Figure 5 through an embodiment of a continuous conveyor member according to the invention.
Figure 5 shows a partial central section through an is embodiment of a guide according to the invention together with a continuous conveyor member with a carriage coupled on and a peg according to the invention mounted thereon in the region of a conveyor route in an enlarged illustration in relation to Figure 1, Figure 6 shows a partial section through the guide along the line VI-VI in Figure 5, Figure 7 shows a plan view of a partial central section through the guide along the line VII-VII in Figure 5, Figure 8 shows a partial illustration of an embodiment of a curved deflection part according to the invention in the region of the removal station according to the detail VIII in Figure 1 in an enlarged illustration in relation to Figure 1, Figure 9 shows a vertical section IX-IX through the curved deflection part of Figure 8, shows a vertical section analogous to Figure 9 through an embodiment of a curved deflection part according to the invention in the region of a loading station, shows an illustration of an embodiment of a separator according to the invention according to the detail XI in Figure 1 in an enlarged illustration in relation to Figure 1, Figure 12 shows a front view of an embodiment of a peg according to the invention, Figure 10 Figure 11 Figure 13 shows a section XIII-XIII through the peg according to Figure 12. and Figure 14 shows a section XIV-XIV through the peg according to Figure 12 in an alternative position of its clamping members.
The apparatus illustrated in Figure 1 for feeding items of laundry 10 from a laundry container 11 to a mangle feed machine 12 is composed of a loading station 13. a vertical conveyor route 14,, a [sic] region of the loading station 13, a swivel force [sic] conveyor route 15, a vertical conveyor route 16 and a feed station 17.
is The feeding of items of laundry 10 takes place via pegs 18 which are moved and guided in the circuit according to the direction of the arrow 19 in the feed apparatus. In this case! the pegs 18 in the region of each vertical conveyor route 14. 16 are coupled with a continuous conveyor member which, in this case, is constructed as a conveyor chain 20 which runs in the guide 21.
The pegs 18 are arranged in each case on a carriage 22 which is movable in the guide 21. According to Figures 2 and 3, the carriage 22, illustrated in those figures without the peg 18, comprises the bearing plate 23 which is aligned essentially vertically in the direction of movement and is formed by two webs 24, 25 pointing away from each other. Whereas two spaced-apart pairs of running wheels 26 are provided on the upper web 24 in Figure 6, the peg 18 (not shown here) is arranged on the lower web 25 in Figure 6. Furthermore, the one web 24 of the bearing plate 23 is of approximately U-shape in cross-section, the running wheels 26 being arranged on the outside of its two outer limbs 27 and the other web 25 of the bearing plate 23 being arranged approximately centrally on a central limb 28. Each running wheel 26 is connected in each case individually to the web 24 of the bearing plate 23 via a horizontal axle 29 which runs transversely to the direction of movement and is interrupted in the centre. In order that the running wheels 26 do not come into contact with their insides 30 with the outside 31 of the respective outer limb 27 of the web 24 of the bearing plate 23, each running wheel 26 is spaced slightly away from the web 24 of the bearing plate 23 via a spacer 32.
Furthermore, each bearing limb 27 of the one web 24 of the bearing plate 23 has a recess 34. corresponding to one another. which are provided between the two horizontal axles 29 of the running wheels 26, which axles are arranged in each case on the outer limbs 27 and extend transversely to the direction of movement. The recess 34. which serves for receiving a horizontal axle is 35, extending transversely to the direction of movement (Figure 7), of the continuous conveyor member 20, is arranged approximately centrally between the axles 29 of the running wheels 26 on each bearing limb 27 of the web 24 of the bearing plate 23. Furthermore, the recess 34 of each outer limb 27 of the one web 24 of the bearing plate 23 has an opening 36 which widens f acing away from the web 25. The broadening opening 36 is formed by two sloping surfaces 37 extending facing away from the other web 25, to which sloping surfaces there adjoins a region 38 which is slightly larger than the diameter of the horizontal axle 35 of the conveyor chain 20 extending transversely to the direction of movement. Adjoining the region 38 of the broadening opening 36 is an undercut 39 which faces the web 25 of the bearing plate 23 and which extends from the (upper) web 24 in Figure 3 into a short part of the adjoining (lower) web 25, which emerges clearly from Figure 3. Figure 4 shows a section of the conveyor chain 20 which comprises a link
chain known per se with individual chain links 41 and with pairs of support rollers 43 arranged spaced apart. In this case, each support roller 43 is connected in each case individually to the conveyor chain 20 via a horizontal axle 35 extending transversely to the direction of movement and is spaced away from the conveyor chain 20 via spacers 44. In this case, the distance between each running wheel 43 and the conveyor chain 20 is greater than the outer distance of the parallel outer limbs 27 on the web 24 of the bearing plate 23.
Finally, Figures 2 to 4 show in detail the structure of the running wheels 26 of the carriages 22 and of the support rollers 43 of the conveyor chain 20. In this case, each running wheel 26 of the carriage 22 is preferably formed from a roller bearing which is received by the corresponding horizontal axle 29 (axle stub), extending transversely to the direction of movement, on the bearing plate 23 and is secured on said axle by means of spring ring 46 or the like. In this case, the roller bearing comprises an inner and an outer bearing ring 47, 48, preferably made of plastic, and here spherical roller bodies 49 made of steel. The outer ball race 48 can, if required, be coated additionally with a rubber coating in the region of its outer raceway. In contrast, according to Figure 4.. a ball race 51 made of plastic is provided as support roller 43 of the conveyor chain 20, the outer raceway 50 of which ball race is coated with a rubber sheath 52. The ball race 51 is received by the corresponding horizontal axle 35, extending transversely to the direction of movement, and is secured on said axle by means of a spring ring 53 or the like. However, it is likewise conceivable, if required, to design the support rollers 43 of the conveyor chain 20 as a roller bearing in accordance with the running wheels 26 of the carriage 22.
Figures 5 to 7 show a guide, constructed as a profile rail 21, together with the conveyor chain 20, a carriage 22 coupled therein and a peg 18 mounted thereon. The profile rail 21 comprises a hollow profile 54 with two parts 55,, 56. The one part 55, which serves for receiving and moving the carriage 22 and/or the conveyor chain 20, has approximately the crosssectional shape of the carriage 22 and is provided with a central longitudinal slot 57 facing the peg 18. The other part 56 of the hollow prof ile 54 faces away from the peg 18 and serves for the attachment of the profile rail, for example via a recess 58, to a bearing means (not illustrated in detail). The part 55 of the profile rail 21 is of approximately rectangular construction,, the inside surfaces provided as running surfaces 59 for the running wheels 26 of the carriages 22 and/or the conveyor chain 20 having a distance 60 relative to one another which is slightly larger than the diameter 61 of the running wheels 26. The central longitudinal slot 57 of the one part 55 of the prof ile rail 21 is, in turn, larger than the thickness 45 of the web 2 5 of the bearing plate 23. Furthermore, the running surface 59 divided by the central longitudinal slot 57 corresponds on each side is of the bearing plate 23 at least to the width 62 of the corresponding running wheel 26. The side walls 63 of the one part 55 of the profile rail 21 extend slightly obliquely to the running surface 59 divided by the central longitudinal slot 57, the slope preferably reaching only up to about half the diameter 61 of the running wheel 26.
The vertical conveyor route 14, 16 illustrated in Figure 8 comprises in each case a downward-conveying strand 64 and an upward-conveying strand 65. In the region of the loading and removal station 13, 17, the strands 64 and 65 are connected to each other via a curved deflection part 66 and in the upper region 67 of the loading and removal station 13, 17 via a drive wheel 68. In accordance with Figures 8 to 10, the curved deflection part 66 is provided with a curved guide 69, via which the conveyor chain 20 is guided, and with a curved flange 70 which supports the running wheels 26 of the carriages 22 and the support rollers 43 of the conveyor chain 20. Furthermore, the curved deflection part 66 has in the region of the feed station 17 a switching line 71 which can be actuated the peg 18 [sic], which switching line,, in turn,, is composed of two switching elements 72. In this case. the switching elements 72 are each arranged laterally relative to the central longidudinal slot 57 of the curved flange 70 and project over the curved flange 70 in the shape of an ellipse.
Furthermore,. according to Figure 1. an uncoupler 73 is assigned to each drive wheel 68 in the upper region 67 of the loading and removal station 13. 17 downstream of the upward-conveying strand 65,, which uncoupler serves in each case f or separating the carriage 22 with a peg 18 from the conveyor chain 20. Mounted in the region of the loading station 13 is a photosensor 74 which serves for starting the conveyor chain 20 after loading of the peg 18 with an item of laundry 10,, that is to say it activates a drive motor for the drive wheel 68. Moreover, the vertical conveyor route 16 of the feed station 17 is constructed here so as to be swivellable out of the is vertical by means of a swivel device 75 in the form of a hydraulic or compressed air system.
In the region of the gravity conveyor route 15. the profile rail 21 is inclined. Furthermore,, the drive wheel 68 with the uncoupler 73 is located at a higher level in the upper region 67 of the loading station 13 or the feed station 17 than a separator 76 which is arranged in the upper region 67 of the feed station 17 or the loading station 13 and serves for feeding the peg 18 into the conveyor chain 20.
Figure 11 illustrates the separator 76 in detail. Accordingly. the separator 76 is arranged in each case between a peg store 77, which is provided, in turn, downstream of the inclined profile rail 21, and a coupling point 78 which joins the peg 18 to the conveyor chain 20 of the downward-conveying strand 64. The separator 76 interacts with a pulse counter (not illustrated in detail) which is arranged in the upper region 67 of the loading and removal station 13, 17 and. in this case, preferably on the drive wheel 68, of each conveyor route 14,, 16 and serves for the conveyor route control.
As can also be seen from Figure 11. each separator 76 is constructed in such a way that, by actuation of a swivel device 80, one carriage 22 is released and, at the same time, the carriage 81 following this carriage is restrained. In this case, each separator 76 is composed of a multi-arm lever 83 which is mounted so as to be swivellable on a bearing means 82 or the like and interacts with the swivel device 80. A pivot point 84 of the multi-arm lever 83 is located above the divided running surface 59 of the profile rail 21. In the pivot point 84, the multi-arm, lever 83 is provided with a (approximately) central bore hole 85, through which there extends a bolt 86 which is connected to the bearing means 82.
Moreover. the multi-arm lever 83 has essentially three arms 87. 88, 89 projecting approximately evenly from the bore hole 85. The front arm 87 of the multi-arm L.
lever 83 extends in the direction of movement of the profile rail 21 and is provided with a hook 90 which faces the peg 18 and protrudes into the profile rail 21 for guiding the carriage 22. In the restraining position of the carriage 22. the arm 87 grips with the hook 90 around a front edge of the bearing plate 23 of the front carriage 22. In the release position. , the arm can be swivelled to the extent that it releases the bearing plate 23 of the front carriage 22. In the release position of the carriage 22, the rear arm 88 of the multi-arm lever 83 protrudes into the part of the recess 34 of the following carriage 81, said part being situated in the lower web 25 of the bearing plate 23.
Finally, a hydraulic or compressed air.system is provided as swivel device 80 which is linked to the arm 89 of the multi-arm lever 83 so as to be rotatable via a bolt 93.
Figures 12 to 14 illustrate the peg 18 according to the invention which, according to Figures 12 and 13, has a double clamping effect with varying clamping forces and. according to Figure 14. has a clamping force only at the rear and solely with the smaller clamping force.
The peg 18 has different clamping members 91, 94 which are accommodated in the peg housing 95. The peg housing is produced integrally from plastic (by the injection moulding process). It comprises an upper transverse wall 96. on the underside 97 of which there are arranged a clamping wall 98 which interacts with the clamping members 91, 94, and two side walls 99 which each extend perpendicular to the upper transverse wall 96. Moulded integrally onto the upperside 100 of the upper transverse wall 96 is a tongue 101 which extends perpendicular to said upper transverse wall. The two side walls 99 are each held spaced apart from the clamping wall 98 by lateral slots 102 and they receive the clamping members 91, 94 mounted so as to be rotatable via a horizontal axle 103 extending transversely to the direction of movement. In this case, the axle 103 is situated in a region 104 which is remote from the upper kt transverse wall 96 and clamping wall 98. The tongue 101 is provided with an approximately central slot 124. Additionally, the tongue 101 has two transverse bore holes 105 which each receive a bolt 106 for attachment of the web 25, which engages in the slot 124, of the bearing plate 23 of the respective carriage 22 according to Figure 6.
The clamping members 91, 94 of the peg 18 are composed. on the one hand. of a clamping roller 107. which is mounted so as to be swivellable on the peg housing 951 and two clamping levers 108 which are mounted so as to be rotatable on an axle 103. The clamping roller 107, in turn, is received so as to be rotatable in a roller holder 109. The roller holder 109, which itself is linked to the axle 103 on the peg housing 95, has two limbs 110 assigned to opposite sides of the clamping roller 107. The clamping roller 107 is rotatably connected to the two limbs 110 of the roller holder 109 via a horizontal axle 111, which extends transversely to the direction of movement and extends in a bore hole, provided for this purpose, through the two limbs 110 of the roller holder 109 and a central bore hole in the clamping roller 107. The roller holder 109, in turn, is arranged between the two swivellable clamping levers 108.
The two clamping members 91,, 94, namely the clamping roller 107, which is linked so as to be rotatable on the swivellable roller holder 109. and the two swivellable clamping levers 108, are each provided with a spring 112, 113. Each spring 112, 113 is attached by its one projecting end 114 to the respective clamping member 91. 94 and with the other projecting end 115 in the peg housing 95.
Two actuation levers 117, which each extend through a cutout 116 in the upper transverse wall 96 of the peg housing 95, are linked so as to be rotatable on a horizontal axle 118, extending transversely to the direction of movement, of an upper transverse wall 96. The axle. of rotation 118 of the actuation lever 117 has a smaller distance from the clamping wall 98 than the - 1 is axle 103. provided for mounting the clamping members 91, 94,, from the clamping wall 98. Each actuation lever 117 protrudes with its one arm 119 from the peg housing 95 and with its other arm 120 into the interior of the peg housing 95, the arm 120 interacting with an outer limb 121 of the respective clamping lever 108. Additionally, a free end of the arm 120 protrudes into a depression 125, arranged next to the outer limb 121f in the corresponding clamping lever 108.
During the swivelling of the respective actuation lever 117 by the associated switching element 72 of the switching line 71, according to Figure 14 each clamping lever 108 is automatically swivelled out of its clamping position by the clamping wall 98 counter to the force produced by the respective limb spring 113. On leaving the switching line 71. the respective actuation lever 117 is no longer supported on the corresponding switching element 72 of the switching line 71, with the result that the two clamping levers are then swivelled back into the clamping position in accordance with Figure 13 as a result of the spring forces acting on them by the limb springs 113. In this case, each actuation lever 117 is simultaneously brought back into its initial position via the outer limb 121, interacting with it, of the respective clamping lever 108.
The item of laundry 10 (not illustrated) which is pushed into the lateral slots 102 between the respective side wall 99 and the clamping wall 38 in the region of the loading station 13 is thus pressed by the clamping roller 107 and by the two clamping levers 108 onto the clamping wall 98 while the item of laundry 10 is being pulled out of the laundry container 11 and during the transportation. In contrastr in the region of the feed station 17, the clamping levers 108, to which a greater spring force is additionally applied, are swivelled out of the clamping position, with the result that in the region of the feed station 17, that is to say while the item of laundry 10 is being pulled out of the peg 18, the item of laundry 10 is now held solely between the 1 1 clamping roller 107 and the clamping wall 98 with a smaller clamping force.
In the apparatus for feeding items of laundry to a mangle or the like. the carriage 22r provided with a peg 18, follows the path which corresponds to the direction of the arrow 19 in Figure 1 and is described below. In this case, the carriage 22, provided with the peg 18, is moved further in the profile rail 21 both in the region of each vertical conveyor route 14, 16 of the loading and removal station and in the region of the downwardly inclined gravity conveyor route 15. Furthermore, whereas in the region of each vertical conveyor route 14, 16 the driven conveyor chain 20 is additionally provided in the profile rail 21 for conveying the carriage 22, the carriage 22 slides along the gravity conveyor route 15 solely as a result of its own weight. The item of laundry 10 is partially pulled out of the laundry container 11 by an operator 122 and inserted in the peg 18 mounted on the carriage 22. After this, the carriage is moved by the conveyor chain 20 via the upward- conveying strand 65 into the upper region 67 of the loading station 13. The carriage 22 with the item of laundry 10 is separated from the conveyor chain 20 via the uncoupler 73 and it runs solely as a result of its own weight in the inclined profile rail 21, that is to say along the gravity conveyor route 15, from the upper region 67 of the loading station 13 to the upper region 67 of the feed station 17 which is located at a lower level than the upper region 67 of the loading station 13. After this. the carriage 22 is moved into the peg store 77 and is then inserted into the conveyor chain 20 of the downward-conveying strand 64 of the vertical conveyor route 16 by the separator 76 via a coupling point 78. Aln the removal station, the item of laundry 10 is pulled out of the peg 18 by an operator 123 and fed to a mangle feed machine 12. mangle or the like. After this, the carriage 22 with the peg 18 without an item of laundry 10 is conveyed by the conveyor chain 20 through the upward-conveying strand 65 of the ascending conveyor is route 16 into the upper region 67 of the feed station 17. In the uncoupler 73, the carriage 22 is once more separated from the conveyor chain 20 and it moves solely via its own weight from the upper region 67 of the removal station 17 back to the upper region 67 of the loading station 13 on the inclined gravity conveyor route 15. In this case, the upper region 67 of the feed station 17 is located at a higher level than the upper region 67 of the loading station 13. In the upper region 67 of the loading station 13,, the carriage 22 with the peg 18 arranged thereon is once more joined to the conveyor chain 20 in the region of the vertical conveyor route 14 after it has run several times through the peg store 77, the separator 76 and the coupling point 78. At the loading station 13, the peg 18 is once more available for renewed receipt of an item of laundry 10 from the operator 122.
The invention is not restricted to the illustrated embodiments. For example, it would be quite conceivable, if required, also to provide a switching line 71 with the associated switching elements 72 in the region of the loading station 13, with the result that solely a smaller clamping force acts here too when loading the peg. This could be advantageous if the items of laundry 10 were to be pulled out of the laundry container 11 completely manually by an operator 122 and, as a result, disentangled from other items of laundry at the same time. In this case, greater clamping forces would not be necessary, but the insertion of the item of laundry 10 into the peg would be made somewhat easier. The apparatus could then also be provided with conventional pegs which have only a single clamping member..
n 1 - \1 Claims 1. Apparatus for feeding items of laundry to a feed station of a mangle or the like. in which apparatus each item of laundry can be fed by means of a peg from a loading station to the feed station via at least one vertical or inclined ascending conveyor route and at least one adjoining or connecting conveyor route, charac terised in that the peg (18) is in connection, at least in the region of an ascending conveyor route (14. 16), with a continuous conveyor member (conveyor chain 20) running in a guide (profile rail 21).