JP2009095421A - Ironer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve productivity and work efficiency of a linen laundry by providing a technical means which enables a worker to realize at a glance the current position of items put into an ironer to iron the creases of washing and by permitting timely and correct ironing to be done by cutting wasteful waiting time caused during the putting and taking out of the items into and from the ironer. <P>SOLUTION: A display monitor is provided on the laundry putting-in side of the ironer and preferably on both putting-in side and taking-out side. The ironer displays the condition of the items put in and moving in the device along the passage of the items in the ironer on the screen 32 of the monitor. An entrance passage sensor to detect the presence of the items on the entrance side of the item passage of the ironer is provided, and the display modes of a plurality of display elements arranged on the screen of the monitor are varied for every time interval required for the progress of a prescribed distance from the time when the items are detected by the passage sensor. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an ironer that irons a laundry after washing and dehydration and stretches the basket, and relates to a technique for displaying the position of the laundry in the ironer on a monitor screen.

  There are two types of ironers that are installed in washing lines such as sheets, pillowcases and towels, which are called linen products, and are used to stretch the linen products that have already been washed. There are two types of formulas. A calender type belt type roll ironer (hereinafter simply referred to as “roll ironer”) is composed of a plurality of (usually 4 to 5) rotary heating cylinders heated with steam inside, and these cylinders. Constructed by a conveyor belt that moves around and synchronously moves with the cylinder peripheral surface while pressing the dewatered laundry (hereinafter referred to as “goods”) against the cylinder peripheral surface, and stretches and finishes the product. The gloss on the surface of the laundry is inferior to that of the chest type, but is characterized by relatively inexpensive equipment and low energy consumption.

  FIG. 5 is a side view schematically showing an example of a roll ironer proposed by the present applicant in Patent Document 1, and is an example of a roll ironer having six heating cylinders. In the figure, 1 (1a to 1f) is a heating cylinder, 7 is a passage for goods, 4 (4a to 4f) is a conveyor belt provided along the passage, 21 is a casing of the apparatus, and 22 is input of goods. Mouth 23 is a discharge port.

  The conveyor belt 4 is for sending the laundry by pressing it against the heating cylinder 1 and is composed of a plurality of belts arranged across the entire width of the heating cylinder 1 with a slight gap in the belt width direction. The heating cylinder 1 is heated by blowing steam into the inside, and the laundry is stretched and dried while the laundry is sequentially wound around these cylinders by the conveyor belt 4 and transferred.

  An input belt 2 and a presser belt 3 are provided at an input port for goods to the apparatus. The goods thrown into the apparatus are fed into the inlet of the first cylinder 1a while being sandwiched between the throwing belt 2 and the presser belt 3. Each conveyor belt 4 presses an article against the peripheral surface of each cylinder between an inlet roller 5 (5a to 5f) and an outlet roller 6 (6a to 6f) of each cylinder. The goods that have passed through the exit rollers 6a to 6e are sent to the inlets of the next cylinders 1b to 1f while being sandwiched between the conveyor belts 4a to 4f, and the goods that have passed through the last cylinder 1f to the outlet 23. Sent.

  At the entrances of the first cylinder 1a and the second cylinder 1b, press rolls 9 and 27 around which sticking prevention tapes 10 and 29 are wound are arranged. The double circles in the figure, which are given some reference numerals 25, are drive rollers for each conveyor belt 4. Circles in the figure are guide rollers of the conveyor belt. This guide roller includes a tension adjusting roller having a part 24.

  In the structure proposed in Patent Document 1, an article is fed from the upper part of each heating cylinder 1 and delivered from below, and the front and back surfaces of the passing article are even numbers of heating cylinders 1. It is structured to be pressed against the surface alternately.

Since the items are continuously put into the ironer, if for some reason the item remains stuck on the outlet part of each heating cylinder without leaving the cylinder, the subsequent items are caught one after another and the laundry Therefore, it is necessary to detect the sticking at an early stage, stop the operation once, take out the jammed item, and speed up the recovery.
JP 2007-111122 A

  When switching the conveyance speed of the items in the ironer depending on the type of items flowing through the washing line, it is necessary to switch the conveyance speed after confirming that all the previously input items have come out of the apparatus. However, since the conventional device does not have a means for confirming whether or not the product remains in the device, the operation is continued for a while after the previous product has been charged, and it is confirmed that the product does not come out from the outlet. The method was taken.

  In addition, in order to manually put an item into the ironer, a person who receives the item from the device at the exit side is required, but since it is not known when the item will come out, the exit side of the device is constantly monitored. It was necessary to have.

  In recent years, linen product varieties have been diversified, and in order to deal with a wide variety of items, it is often necessary to manually input and remove items from the ironer. Even for an item that can use an automatic loading device, the loading preparation work to the automatic loading machine has to be performed manually, and in a general factory, the most manual operation is required for the loading and unloading operation of the ironer.

  While industrial washing machines and dryers are becoming larger and more labor-saving, and productivity is improved, ironers still have to rely on human resources. It is easy to become a bottleneck of sex. Therefore, improving the workability at the time of loading and unloading with an ironer greatly contributes to the improvement of the productivity of the whole factory.

  This invention reduces the wasteful waiting time that occurs during the loading and unloading operations of items to the ironer by providing technical means that allows the operator to know at a glance the current position of the items loaded into the ironer. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to improve the productivity and workability of a linen laundry factory so that timely and accurate processing can be performed.

  Display monitors 30, 31 are provided on the laundry input side of the ironer, preferably on the input side and the extraction side. The display monitor can also be used as a controller monitor. On the screen of this monitor, the conveyance state of the item in the ironer is displayed so that it can be seen at a glance. That is, the state where the thrown-in article is moving in the apparatus is displayed on the monitor screen along the path of the article when the apparatus is viewed from the side.

  Specifically, at least one passage sensor including a speed sensor 35 that detects a signal corresponding to the conveyance speed of the item in the ironer and an inlet passage sensor 37 that detects the absence of the item on the inlet side of the item passage of the ironer. 37, 38, 39 and a plurality of display elements (for example, a circle 34 or an LED of ○ or □) arranged at predetermined positions on the monitor screen at every time interval required for a predetermined distance after the article is detected by the passage sensor. Display switching means for changing the display mode (for example, color and shape).

  The plurality of display elements 34 are generally arranged at regular intervals along a line of a shape corresponding to the passage 7 of the item in the apparatus on the monitor screen. The display switching means is output from a speed sensor, a timer, a counter, an arithmetic unit, etc. at every time interval required for the article to travel by a distance corresponding to the arrangement interval of the display elements after the article is detected by the passage sensors 37 and 39. The display mode corresponding to the presence / absence signal of the passing sensor is sequentially moved to the adjacent downstream display elements.

  For example, on the monitor screen, a diagram of an article passage where the entrance and exit of the ironer can be recognized, and the first figure is arranged on the diagram so as to equally divide the route on the diagram. In this manner, a figure 34 such as a circle or a square as a display element is arranged. The graphic 34 serving as a display element displays the presence or absence of an item by changing the color or shape when receiving the detection signal of the item. When the entrance passage sensor detects an article, the first display element (start point display element) corresponding to the arrangement position of the entrance passage sensor is set to the display mode with the article, and the entrance passage sensor detects the article. When there is no item, the first display element is set to a display mode without an article. Then, the time required for the product to move within the apparatus by a distance corresponding to the interval between the adjacent display elements is calculated according to the conveyance speed of the product detected by the speed sensor, and the diagram is obtained for each time interval obtained by the calculation. For all the display elements arranged above, the display mode is moved to a display element adjacent to the downstream side (the exit side of the product).

  Similarly to the inlet side, an outlet passage sensor 38 that detects the presence or absence of an item is provided on the outlet side, so that it can be confirmed that the input item has reached the outlet reliably. This confirmation is made by comparing the display state of the nth display element (nth display element counted from the first display element) corresponding to the position where the outlet passage sensor 38 is present with the article detection signal of the outlet passage sensor. Providing a warning means for displaying or sounding a warning when the exit passage sensor does not detect an article when the nth display element is in a display mode with an article, and an abnormal stopping means for stopping the apparatus. Can be realized.

  Since the length of the laundry path between the arrangement position of the inlet passage sensor 37 and the arrangement position of the outlet passage sensor 38 is known, if the distance is divided by the detected conveyance speed, the laundry is detected by the inlet passage sensor 37. The time from when an object is detected until the item reaches the position of the exit passage sensor 38 can be calculated. Therefore, if the product is not detected by the exit passage sensor even after this time has elapsed, it is considered that the product has stuck to the cylinder's peripheral surface, so a warning display is displayed on the monitor screen or a warning sound is emitted and the machine is automatically stopped. It can also be made. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent subsequent articles from being wound around the cylinder one after another and causing clogging of laundry.

  The ironer according to the invention of claim 1 of this application is arranged at the entrance of the laundry passage 7 to detect the presence or absence of laundry on the laundry passage 7 at the placement position, and the signal Presence / absence of the detected laundry at a plurality of positions set on the passage 7 is predicted using a signal corresponding to the laundry conveyance speed in the passage, and is arranged on the screen corresponding to each of the plurality of positions. It is an ironer characterized by including a monitor screen 32 that displays each of the displayed elements 34 in a display manner associated with the predicted presence or absence of laundry.

  The ironer according to the invention of claim 2 of this application is the ironer provided with the above means, wherein the plurality of positions on the laundry passage 7 are arranged along the passage 7 starting from the position where the entrance passage sensor 37 is disposed. Signals corresponding to the conveyance speed are set at equal intervals, and the display elements 34 of the monitor screen are arranged at positions corresponding to the plurality of positions on the line 33 displaying the laundry passage 7 in a side view. Is a timing pulse of a time interval necessary for the laundry to move between adjacent positions of the plurality of positions, and the prediction indicates the laundry presence / absence signal of the entrance passage sensor 37 detected at the start point as the timing. The ironer is characterized in that it is controlled by sequentially moving it so as to be applied to the adjacent downstream display element 34 every time a pulse is emitted.

  The ironer according to the invention of claim 3 of this application is an ironer provided with the above means, and is arranged at the outlet of the laundry passage 7 to detect the presence or absence of the laundry on the laundry passage at the arrangement position. An exit passage sensor 38 is provided, and the presence / absence of laundry at the installation position of the exit passage sensor 38 is predicted using the signal of the entrance passage sensor 37 and the signal corresponding to the transport speed, and the presence of laundry is predicted. An ironer characterized by comprising automatic stop means for stopping the apparatus when the outlet passage sensor 38 outputs a laundry-less signal.

  Further, one or a plurality of intermediate passage sensors 39 are provided between the entrance passage sensor 37 and the outlet passage sensor 38, and the display mode of the display element corresponding to the arrangement position of the intermediate passage sensor and the detection signal of the intermediate passage sensor By contrasting, when an abnormal passage of goods occurs in the middle position of the passage, the section where the abnormal passage occurred is displayed by displaying on the monitor which passage sensor has detected the abnormality. Can be recognized. Since an article often sticks to the cylinder surface at the exit portion of the cylinder, the intermediate passage sensor is preferably provided at the exit portion of the cylinder. As a result, it is possible to avoid damage to the product due to the sticking of the product to the cylinder, etc., and to shorten the recovery work time when an abnormal stop occurs.

  By providing a large number of display elements on the monitor screen, it is possible to realistically display a state in which an item moves in the apparatus. Even if the number of display elements is increased, it is not necessary to increase the number of passing sensors, so that the control system can be simplified and maintenance is easy.

  By looking at the monitor screen, the operator can recognize the position of the item in the device at a glance, and the input operator can confirm that the input item is discharged from the device on the input side of the device, and the transfer speed Can be changed smoothly and the machine can be stopped.

  In addition, since the monitor screen is displayed on the exit side of the roll ironer, it is possible to predict the timing at which the product will be ejected. That's fine. In addition, since it is clearly understood that the product has not been charged, it is possible to perform another operation immediately after the last product is discharged, thereby reducing waiting time.

  Hereinafter, an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of a product input side of an ironer, in which a touch panel 30 installed on a control panel for controlling the ironer is used as a display panel for displaying a monitor screen. Preferably, a display panel 31 is also installed on the product outlet side of the ironer as shown in FIG. At this time, the same screen is displayed on the display panels 30 and 31.

  3 and 4 are diagrams showing an example of a monitor display screen, which is an example of the ironer monitor screen shown in FIG. On the monitor screen 32, a plurality of figures (small circles in the example in the figure) 34 serving as display elements are arranged at regular intervals on a path 33 that schematically displays the passage path 7 of the item in the ironer. This interval corresponds to the distance that the article moves through the passage 7 between one pulse of the speed sensor 35 or one timing pulse output for each specified number of pulses. If the interval between the timing pulses is shortened, the interval between the graphics 34 on the monitor screen becomes close, and the movement of the item in the apparatus can be displayed smoothly. The interval between the adjacent figures 34 is set to be sufficiently narrower than the interval corresponding to the minimum product length. Reference numerals 22 and 23 with parentheses are attached to indicate the inlet side and the outlet side, respectively.

  The monitor screen 32 shown in the figure displays circles 41a to 41f that schematically display the cylinders 1a to 1f of the ironer. Further, FIG. 47 of the inlet passage sensor, FIG. 48 of the outlet passage sensor, and FIG. 49 of the intermediate passage sensor are displayed at positions corresponding to the respective positions arranged on the ironer body. FIG. 48 of the exit passage sensor and FIG. 49 of the intermediate passage sensor indicate the display modes (for example, display colors) when the corresponding sensors 38 and 39 detect the presence of an article and the absence of the article, respectively. Is changing. By comparing the display modes of these sensors shown in FIGS. 48 and 49 and the display mode of the graphic 34 of their arrangement positions, it can be determined whether or not an article passes through the ironer as expected.

  The controller that controls the display of the monitor screen is provided with a blinking flag (a storage element having 1 and 0 as the storage content) corresponding to each graphic 34, and the corresponding blinking flag 1 or 0 state (ON (Or OFF), the controller outputs two display color signals (for example, red and blue) preset as color signals of the graphic 34 corresponding to each blink flag to the display elements of the graphic 34. By making the display color of the graphic 34 corresponding to the OFF state of the blink flag the same color as the background color, the graphic 34 can be made invisible on the monitor screen when there is no item passing through.

  As shown in FIG. 4, an entrance passage sensor 37 is installed near the entrance of the article passage 33 of the apparatus. An exit passage sensor 38 is installed near the exit. Further, an intermediate passage sensor 39 is provided at the inlet of the third cylinder 1c. If this exit passage sensor 38 is installed at a position corresponding to the position between the graphic 34 c at the downstream end of the monitor screen and the graphic 34 b immediately before it, an error between the actual product position and the calculated product position will occur. A control error can be easily avoided. As these sensors 37, 38, 39, photoelectric sensors and proximity sensors can be used.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, at the axial end of any one of the rollers (for example, the entrance roller 5 a) that is synchronously rotated by the conveying belt wound around the heating cylinder, A disk 43 having notches 42 is fixed at a plurality of locations that equally divide. The circumferential length of the disk 43 when the cutout 42 is provided at one place, or the distance between the cutouts 42 when the cutout 42 is provided at a plurality of places, is a distance corresponding to the distance between the figures 34 arranged on the monitor screen. Is the interval of movement. A proximity sensor 44 is attached at a position where the outer periphery of the disk 43 can be sensed. When the disk 43 rotates simultaneously with the rotation of the roller 5a, the proximity sensor detects the notch 42 and generates a timing pulse. From the number of timing pulses, the moving distance of the item in the apparatus can be calculated.

  Instead of providing the disk 43 as described above, the rotational speed of the motor that rotates the heating cylinder 1 or the speed of the conveyor belt is read, and the moving distance of the product is calculated based on the read speed, or the product is arranged with the figure 34. A timing pulse may be generated by calculating a time for moving a distance corresponding to the interval.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a display control procedure for the monitor screen. In this example, the figures 34 are densely arranged on the monitor screen. If the figures 34 are densely arranged, the time difference generated between the timing when the entrance passage sensor 37 detects the leading edge and the trailing edge of the product and the output timing of the timing pulse can be ignored. When the interval of the graphic 34 is widened to such an extent that this time difference cannot be ignored, it is necessary to start timing the timing pulse time interval from the time when the entrance passage sensor first detects the article.

  In FIG. 8, in step 51, the first flag corresponding to the upstream end graphic 34 a is set to 1 or 0 according to the article detection state of the entrance passage sensor 37. If it is 1, the first graphic on the monitor screen is turned on (color corresponding to the presence of an item), and if it is 0, it is turned off (color corresponding to no item). In the flowchart, the first flag is described as flag (1).

  Next, in step 52, a timing pulse from the speed sensor is waited. When the pulse is received, the display mode of all the figures 34 is shifted one by one downstream. In the example shown in the figure, the counter i is set to the number n of the figures 34 on the monitor screen, and the processing of step 53 in which the contents of the i-1 flag are transferred to the i flag, i in step 54, i one by one. While decreasing, it is repeated until i becomes 2, and when it is detected that i becomes 1 in step 55, the process of exiting the loop is performed.

  Then, on condition that the product presence signal is not output from the outlet passage sensor 38 when both the downstream end and the flags corresponding to the graphics 34c and 34b immediately before the same are 1 (steps 56 and 57), the apparatus is operated. Stops automatically and displays a warning on the monitor screen. As the warning display, for example, the display color of the graphics 34c and 34b at the downstream end and immediately before (n-th and (n-1) -th) figures is blinking in a warning color. As described above, if the position of the outlet passage sensor 38 is provided between the downstream end and the position corresponding to the arrangement position of the graphics 34c and 34b immediately before the downstream end sensor, the leading edge or the trailing edge of the article is moved to the outlet by the above processing. An allowable deviation value when there is a deviation between the timing of passing the position of the passage sensor 38 and the timing when the controller changes the contents of the flag is automatically set to the movement interval corresponding to the interval between the two figures 34. Is done.

  The required number of intermediate passage sensors 39 for confirming the passage of items in the apparatus can be provided at any location in the apparatus (for example, slightly downstream of the outlet of each cylinder). Then, if the same processing as in steps 56 and 57 is performed on the flags of the graphic 34 corresponding to the position of the installed intermediate passage sensor before and after, the graphic on the monitor screen shows the position in the apparatus where the abnormality has occurred. Judgment can be made by looking at 34 display modes.

  By the above processing, the part where the color of the graphic 34 is changed on the screen is displayed in a band shape, and the band-like part represents the part where the product is currently passing. Without this indication, it can be determined that all items in the apparatus have been discharged. Further, when all the flags are 0 and the product is not detected by the inlet and outlet passage sensors, it can be determined that the product has been completely discharged, and it can be displayed on the monitor screen that the product has not passed.

  The display on the monitor screen is a prediction based on the signal from the entrance passage sensor and the signal from the speed sensor, and does not indicate the actual passage of the product, so it is determined that there is no product in the device on the monitor screen. However, in reality, there is a possibility that the item is not completely removed from the apparatus due to an abnormality or an error. For this reason, a sensor 38 that directly detects an item is attached to the outlet, and by reliably detecting that the item has reached the outlet, the apparatus is prevented from being stopped while the item remains in the apparatus.

  That is, the number of pulses corresponding to the distance from the installation position of the inlet passage sensor 37 to the installation position of the outlet passage sensor 38 has elapsed since the processing in the above steps 56 and 57 or the entrance passage sensor 37 detected an article. After that, if no item is detected by the exit passage sensor 38, a warning is displayed on the monitor screen and the apparatus is stopped.

Front view of the roll ironer on the laundry input side Front view of roll ironer on laundry discharge side The figure which shows the 1st example of a monitor screen. The article passage is indicated by a set of circles. When the passage of the item is detected, the display mode changes as “●”. The figure which shows the 2nd example of a monitor screen. The goods passage is indicated by a line. Schematic side view showing an example of the internal structure of the roll ironer corresponding to the screens of FIGS. Sectional view showing an example of speed sensor Front view of the disk of FIG. Flow chart showing an example of control procedure

Explanation of symbols

7 passage
32 Monitor screen
37 Inlet passage sensor
38 Outlet passage sensor

Claims (3)

  Corresponding to the signal of the entrance passage sensor (37) that is arranged at the entrance of the laundry passage (7) and detects the presence or absence of laundry on the laundry passage at the arrangement position, and the laundry conveyance speed in the passage Using the signal, predict the presence or absence of the detected laundry at a plurality of positions set on the passage, and predict each of the display elements (34) arranged on the screen corresponding to each of the plurality of positions An ironer comprising a monitor screen (32) for display in a display manner associated with the presence or absence of laundry.   The plurality of positions on the laundry passage (7) are set at equal intervals along the passage starting from the position where the entrance passage sensor is arranged, and the display element (34) of the monitor screen is provided with the laundry passage. Are arranged at positions corresponding to each of the plurality of positions on the line displayed in a side view, and a signal corresponding to the transport speed is a time interval necessary for the laundry to move between adjacent positions of the plurality of positions. And the prediction is sequentially moved so that the laundry presence / absence signal of the entrance passage sensor detected at the start point is given to the adjacent downstream display element (34) each time the timing pulse is issued. The ironer according to claim 1, wherein the ironer is controlled by control.   Provided with an outlet passage sensor (38) that is arranged at the outlet of the laundry passage (7) and detects the presence or absence of laundry on the laundry passage at the arrangement position, and corresponds to the signal of the inlet passage sensor and the conveyance speed The presence or absence of laundry at the position where the exit passage sensor is installed, and the exit passage sensor outputs a no laundry signal when the presence of laundry is predicted. The ironer according to claim 1, further comprising an automatic stop means for stopping.

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