JP2019198490A - Clothing treatment system and clothing treatment method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a clothing treatment system that can improve convenience of a user when using folded clothing.SOLUTION: A clothing treatment system comprises an expansion unit of lifting clothing from a housing basket in which clothing is housed and expanding the clothing, a folding unit of folding the clothing expanded by the expansion unit in the width and height directions, and a storage unit of storing the clothing folded by the folding unit in a storage box.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a clothing processing system and a clothing processing method.

  Conventionally, as shown in Patent Document 1 below, a clothing processing apparatus that automatically unfolds and folds clothing is known. In this garment processing apparatus, for example, after washing clothes can be unfolded once and then folded by using a plurality of manipulators.

Japanese Patent No. 5299934

  However, in the conventional garment processing apparatus, it is necessary to move the automatically folded garment to a separate storage place after that, and there is room for improvement in user convenience.

  Then, an object of this invention is to provide the clothing processing system which can improve the convenience of the user at the time of using folded clothing.

  In a garment processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention, a deployment unit that lifts and unfolds the garment from a housing cage in which the garment is housed, and the garment that is unfolded by the deployment unit in the width direction and the height direction A folding unit for folding, and a storage unit for storing the clothing folded by the folding unit in a storage box.

  Further, the unfolding unit picks up the clothes from the storage basket, a blower that blows and unfolds the clothes toward the clothes lifted by the lifts, and images the clothes. And an identification unit for identifying the clothing.

  Moreover, the said expansion | deployment unit may be equipped with the baffle plate which rectifies the ventilation from the said ventilation part.

  Moreover, the said identification part may recognize the to-be-identified part of the said clothing, and may identify the shape of the said clothing.

  The identification unit may identify the position of the clothing by recognizing the uppermost portion of the clothing stored in the storage basket.

  Moreover, the said raising / lowering part may be provided with the hand part which hold | grips the said clothing, and the crane part which supports the said hand part movably in the front-back direction, the left-right direction, and the up-down direction.

  Further, the storage unit may store the clothing by distinguishing a position of storing the clothing in the storage box based on user information of the clothing.

  According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a garment processing method comprising: a deployment step of lifting and unfolding the garment from a housing basket in which the garment is housed; A folding step of folding, and a storage step of storing the clothing folded in the folding step in a storage box.

  According to the present invention, the clothing processing system includes a storage unit that stores the folded clothing in the storage box. For this reason, it becomes possible to use the clothing folded by the user as it is from the storage box without separately storing it in the storage location, and the convenience for the user can be improved.

It is a conceptual diagram which shows the structural example of the clothing processing system in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the accommodation basket used for the garment processing system shown in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the system configuration | structure of the clothing processing system shown in FIG. It is a perspective view of the expansion | deployment unit in the clothing processing system shown in FIG. It is an enlarged view of the hand part shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the control flow of the expansion | deployment unit shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining an example of the rotation operation | movement of the hand part shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the other example of rotation operation | movement of the hand part shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the motion of the robot hand of the hand part shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the movement at the time of holding | gripping clothing with one robot hand among the hand parts shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the movement at the time of lifting clothing by the hand part shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the attitude | position change of the hand part shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the movement at the time of holding | gripping clothing by the other robot hand among the hand parts shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the movement which moves clothing by the crane part shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the movement which expand | deploys clothing by the robot hand shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the state which ventilates clothing by the ventilation part shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the folding unit in the clothing processing system shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the state which excluded the mounting board among the folding units shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the state which mounted clothing on the folding unit shown in FIG. FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a state in which the slide unit is slid in the folding unit shown in FIG. 19. In the folding unit shown in FIG. 20, it is a figure which shows the state which made the protrusion plate of a folding part protrude. It is a figure which shows the planar view of the mounting board in the folding unit shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the state which the garment shown in FIG. 19 is folded in the width direction by the sliding movement of a slide part. It is a figure which shows the planar view of the mounting board in the folding unit shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The garment processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is a system that automatically processes, for example, the garment C after washing into a usable state.
As shown in FIG. 1, the garment processing system 1 includes a deployment unit 10 that unfolds a garment C accommodated in a storage basket 100, a folding unit 20 that folds the clothing C unfolded by the unfolding unit 10, and a folding unit 20. A storage unit 30 that stores the folded clothing C in a storage box 200. For example, clothes after washing are stored in the storage basket 100.

The unfolding unit 10 lifts and unfolds the clothing C from the housing basket 100 in which the clothing C is housed. As shown in FIG. 2, the accommodation car 100 may be divided into a plurality of sections. When the garment processing system 1 is used in a home, for example, the compartment of the storage basket 100 can be distinguished for each user of the garment C. Further, in the storage basket 100, the clothing C may be stored separately for each genre such as underwear or T-shirt.
The folding unit 20 folds the garment C in the width direction and the height direction.

(System configuration)
As shown in FIG. 3, the clothing processing system 1 includes a control unit 40 that is a processor that controls each unit, a storage unit 50 that stores various programs and various data necessary for the control unit 40 to operate, An image analysis unit 60 that analyzes image data captured by the identification unit 13 described later.

The control unit 40 may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an ASIC, an FPGA, or a graphic processing unit (GPU). The control unit 40 is not limited to these examples.
The storage unit 50 is realized by various media such as an HDD, an SSD, and a flash memory. The control unit 40 executes the program stored in advance in the storage unit 50 to cause each unit of the clothing processing system 1 to realize each function.

(Expansion unit)
As shown in FIG. 4, the unfolding unit 10 includes an elevating unit 11 that lifts the garment C from the storage basket 100, a blowing unit 12 that blows and unfolds the garment C toward the garment C lifted by the elevating unit 11, and the garment C. And an identification unit 13 that picks up an image and identifies the clothing C.

The unfolding unit 10 is configured inside a rectangular parallelepiped frame 300. In the following description, directions along the frame 300 that are orthogonal to each other are referred to as the front-rear direction X1, the left-right direction Y1, and the up-down direction Z1.
The elevating unit 11 includes a hand unit 14 that grips the clothing C, and a crane unit 15 that supports the hand unit 14 movably in the front-rear direction X1, the left-right direction Y1, and the up-down direction Z1.

As shown in FIG. 5, the hand unit 14 includes a plate-like hand unit main body 14A having a rectangular shape in a plan view orthogonal to the front and back surfaces, and a pair of robot hands 14B coupled to the hand unit main body 14A. ing.
In the following description, the direction along the long side in the plan view of the hand portion main body 14A is the long side direction D1 of the hand portion main body 14A, and the direction along the short side in the top view of the hand portion main body 14A is the direction of the hand portion main body 14A. This is referred to as the short side direction D2. A direction perpendicular to each of the long side direction D1 and the short side direction D2 is referred to as a thickness direction D3.

14 A of hand part main bodies are arrange | positioned so that the long side direction D1 may correspond with the front-back direction X1 in the state before the raising / lowering part 11 drive. (See Figure 4)
The elevating unit 11 includes a first rotating device 16 that can rotate the hand unit main body 14A about a first rotating axis A1 along the thickness direction D3. By driving the first rotation device 16, the hand portion main body 14A can be rotated around the first rotation axis A1.
Thereby, as shown in FIG. 12, the posture of the hand portion main body 14A can be changed so that the long side direction D1 of the hand portion main body 14A matches the left-right direction Y1.

As shown in FIG. 5, the elevating unit 11 includes a second rotating device 17 that can rotate the hand unit main body 14 </ b> A around the second rotating axis A <b> 2 along the short side direction D <b> 2. By driving the second rotation device 17, the hand portion main body 14 </ b> A can be rotated around the second rotation axis A <b> 2.
Thereby, as shown in FIG. 8, the posture of the hand portion main body 14A can be changed so that the long side direction D1 of the hand portion main body 14A coincides with the vertical direction Z1.

As shown in FIG. 5, the pair of robot hands 14 </ b> B are arranged on the lower surface of the hand portion main body 14 </ b> A with an interval in the long side direction D <b> 1.
The elevating unit 11 includes a hand drive device 14C that can move the pair of robot hands 14B in the long side direction D1. In the present embodiment, the hand drive device 14C is configured by a rack and pinion. By driving the hand drive device 14C, the pair of robot hands 14B can be moved closer to or away from each other.

Here, the structure of the robot hand 14B will be described in detail.
The robot hand 14B is provided with a pair of skewer-shaped gripping portions 14D having a bifurcated tip. The pair of gripping portions 14D are disposed to face each other in the short side direction D2.
Protrusions 14E that protrude toward the inside of the short side direction D2 are formed at portions located on the outside of the short side direction D2 of the tip portions of the pair of gripping portions 14D. Since the protrusion 14E is caught by the clothing C, the clothing C can be easily grasped by the grasping portion 14D.

The robot hand 14B includes a third rotation device 18 that can rotate the pair of gripping portions 14D around the third rotation axis A3 along the long side direction D1 in synchronization with the reverse direction.
When the third rotation device 18 is driven, the pair of gripping portions 14D rotate around the third rotation axis A3 and approach or separate from each other. Thereby, the clothing C can be gripped by the pair of gripping portions 14D.

Further, the robot hand 14B includes a fourth rotating device 19 that can simultaneously rotate the pair of gripping portions 14D around the second rotation axis A2.
When the second rotating device 17 is driven, as shown in FIG. 9, the pair of gripping portions 14D positioned outside the long side direction D1 in the hand portion main body 14A is connected to the tip of the gripping portion 14D in the hand portion main body 14A. It can be rotated to face the outside in the long side direction D1.

As shown in FIG. 10, the crane unit 15 includes a plurality of columnar members 15 </ b> A, 15 </ b> B, 15 </ b> C, 15 </ b> D, and 15 </ b> E arranged in a telescopic manner.
The plurality of columnar members 15A, 15B, 15C, 15D, and 15E have different external shapes. The plurality of columnar members 15A, 15B, 15C, 15D, and 15E are disposed on the common axis O1.

  The columnar members 15A, 15B, 15C, 15D, and 15E are configured by a plurality of bar members 15G that are arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction with respect to the common axis O1. By configuring the columnar members 15A, 15B, 15C, 15D, and 15E with the plurality of rods 15G, the weight of the crane portion 15 can be suppressed.

As shown in FIG. 4, the crane unit 15 includes a moving device 5 that is movable in the front-rear direction X1 and the left-right direction Y1. The upper end portion of the crane portion is connected to the moving device 5. The lower end portion of the crane unit is connected to the upper surface of the hand unit main body 14 </ b> A via the first rotating device 16 and the second rotating device 17.
Of the crane portion 15, a columnar member 15 </ b> A having the largest outer diameter is connected to the moving device 5. Of the crane portion 15, a columnar member 15E having the smallest outer diameter is connected to the hand portion main body 14A.

The moving device 5 includes a wire 5A that suspends the hand portion main body 14A and a winder 5B that can wind the wire 5A. One end of the wire 5A is connected to the hand portion main body 14A.
By opening the motor of the winder 5B, the hand portion main body 14A can be lowered from its state shown in FIG. 4 by its own weight, and the crane portion 15 can be extended in the vertical direction Z1. Moreover, the crane part 15 can be shortened to the up-down direction Z1 by winding up the wire 5A with the winder 5B and raising the hand part main body 14A.

The ventilation part 12 is located in the lower end part of the expansion | deployment unit 10, and is arrange | positioned in the position adjacent to the position where the accommodation basket 100 is mounted, and the left-right direction Y1. The air blowing unit 12 blows air from below to above.
The air blowing unit 12 is controlled by the control unit 40 at the timing of blowing air. The air blower 12 blows air, for example, when the clothing C is positioned above the air blower 12 together with the lift 11.

The deployment unit 10 includes a rectifying plate 70 that rectifies the air blown from the blower unit 12.
The rectifying plate 70 is disposed above the air blowing unit 12. As shown in FIG. 4, the current plate 70 is formed in a rectangular lattice shape when viewed from above. Note that the shape of the grid of the rectifying plate 70 may be a hexagonal shape or a circular shape in a top view.

  Even if the air blown from the blower 12 is a swirling flow, the swirling is canceled and the air can be adjusted upward by passing through the current plate 70. The clothing C evenly receives the air arranged upward, so that the clothing C lifted by the elevating unit 11 is smoothly deployed in the horizontal direction.

The identification unit 13 includes a first identification unit 13A that identifies the clothing C accommodated in the accommodation basket 100, and a second identification unit 13B that identifies the clothing C developed by blowing air from the blower.
Each of the first identification unit 13A and the second identification unit 13B includes an image sensor that images the clothing C using visible light.

  13 A of 1st identification parts recognize the part located most among the clothes C accommodated in the accommodation basket 100, and identify the position of the clothes C. As shown in FIG. 2, the first identification unit 13 </ b> A images the clothing C inside the accommodation basket 100 from above when the accommodation basket 100 is arranged in the deployment unit 10. Processing in the image analysis unit 60 for the captured data will be described later.

  The first identification unit 13A includes a driving device (not shown). By driving the drive device, the first identification unit 13A can change its position. Thereby, at the time of movement of the hand part 14 mentioned later, interference with the hand part 14 and 13 A of 1st identification parts can be avoided.

The second identification unit 13B recognizes the identified part of the clothing C and identifies the shape of the clothing C. The identified part of the clothing C is, for example, the collar or sleeve of the clothing C, and can be set arbitrarily. In the present embodiment, a configuration in which the collar portion is the identified portion will be described. Note that the sleeve portion and other portions may be used as the identified portion. Moreover, you may provide the to-be-identified part of clothing separately from clothing. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, a pair of garments that are used as a pair of socks can be washed with the pair of socks held by a clip, and this clip can be used as an identification part of the garment.
As shown in FIG. 4, a pair of the second identification units 13B is arranged with an interval in the vertical direction Z1. The pair of second identification units 13B is arranged at a position where the hand unit 14 is sandwiched from the vertical direction Z1 when the hand unit 14 is positioned above the blower unit 12.

  The second identification unit 13B includes a driving device (not shown). By driving the driving device, the second identification unit 13B can change its position. Thereby, when the hand part 14 is not located upward, the 2nd identification part 13B can be made to stand by in a predetermined position, and can be accommodated.

(Folding unit)
As shown in FIG. 17, the folding unit 20 is configured inside a rectangular parallelepiped frame 400. In the following description, directions along the frame 400 that are orthogonal to each other are referred to as the front-rear direction X2, the left-right direction Y2, and the up-down direction Z2.
The folding unit 20 includes a placement plate 21 on which the clothing C is unfolded and placed, a slide portion 22 that slides the clothing C along the placement plate 21, and a sliding motion of the slide portion 22. And a folding part 23 for folding the C sleeve part inward in the width direction.

The mounting plate 21 is disposed so as to incline in an oblique direction gradually upward as the front and back surfaces are directed rearward. The mounting plate 21 has a substantially rectangular shape with two sides extending in the left-right direction Y2 in plan view and the remaining two sides extending in an oblique direction.
As for the lower end part of the mounting board 21, the center part of the left-right direction Y2 protrudes toward the downward direction. The magnitude | size of the left-right direction Y2 of the mounting board 21 is smaller than the magnitude | size of the front-back direction X2.

The clothes C are placed on the placing plate 21 in a state where the sleeve portion is hung outward. At this time, the collar portion of the clothing C is located at the upper end portion of the placing plate 21. The sleeve portion of the clothing C is in a state of hanging downward from the outer peripheral edge portion of the placement plate 21.
An opening 21B is formed in the folding unit. The opening 21B has a flat rectangular shape with two long sides extending in the left-right direction Y2 and two short sides extending in the up-down direction Z2.

The slide portion 22 includes a fixing portion 22A that presses and fixes the collar portion of the clothing C against the placement plate 21. The garment C placed on the placement plate 21 holds the collar portion by the fixing portion 22A.
The slide portion 22 further includes a rail 22B extending along the vertical direction Z2 of the mounting plate 21, and a pair of first rotating arms 22C that drive the mounting plate 21 along the rail 22B.

  When the first rotating arm 22C is rotated by the motor, the slide unit 22 slides the clothing C along the rail 22B from the position where the clothing C is placed to the upper side. In the following description, the direction in which the slide portion 22 slides is referred to as the slide direction, and the direction in which the clothing C moves from the position where the clothing is placed on the placement plate 21 is referred to as the rear in the slide direction. Note that the sliding direction may coincide with the horizontal direction.

  The folding part 23 is located below the mounting plate 21. As shown in FIG. 18, the folding portion 23 is arranged below the mounting plate 21 and the supporting plate 24 and is arranged above the supporting plate 24, and guides the sleeve portion of the garment C toward the inside in the width direction. And a guide plate 25. The structure of the support plate 24 and the guide plate 25 will be described in detail.

  The support plate 24 is disposed at a distance from the mounting plate 21 in the front and back direction. The support plate 24 has a planar view shape equivalent to the placement plate 21. The support plate 24 is formed with a slit 24A that extends in the front-rear direction in plan view. The clothing C slides on the mounting plate 21 while the sleeve portion passes through the slit 24A.

The guide plate 25 includes a first guide plate 25A positioned below and a second guide plate 25B positioned above. Each of the first guide plate 25A and the second guide plate 25B is disposed in pairs with a space in the left-right direction. Each of the pair of first guide plate 25A and second guide plate 25B is disposed so as to be a surface object with respect to the central portion in the left-right direction.
The first guide plate 25 </ b> A and the second guide plate 25 </ b> B are each disposed above the support plate 24 and are disposed with a gap between the lower surface of the mounting plate 21.

The first guide plate 25A includes a first guide piece 25C having a triangular shape in plan view. The front and back surfaces of the first guide piece 25C face the direction intersecting with the front-rear direction X2, the left-right direction Y2, and the up-down direction Z2.
25 C of 1st guide pieces are gradually extended toward the back of the sliding direction of clothes as it goes inside the left-right direction. In addition, the first guide piece 25C has a shape that gradually tapers toward the inner side in the left-right direction. The first guide piece 25C is fixed by a fixing piece 25D connected to the rear end portion in the sliding direction.

The second guide plate 25B is connected to a second guide piece 25E having a rectangular shape in a plan view and a rear end portion in a sliding direction of the second guide piece 25E, and a third guide piece 25F having a substantially trapezoidal shape in a plan view. And.
The front and back surfaces of the second guide piece 25E face the outside in the left-right direction Y2 and upward. The second guide piece 25E is located on the inner side in the left-right direction Y than the first guide piece 25C.
The front and back surfaces of the third guide piece 25F face the outside in the left-right direction Y2 and the front in the slide direction. The third guide piece 25F gradually extends outward in the left-right direction Y as it goes rearward in the sliding direction.

As shown in FIG. 17, the folding unit 20 also includes a folding unit 26 that projects in the direction intersecting with the placement plate 21 and folds the clothing C with the sleeves folded in the height direction. The folding unit 26 is disposed below the placement plate 21.
The folding unit 26 includes a protruding plate 26A whose front and rear surfaces are directed in the front-rear direction X2, and a pair of second rotating arms 26B that are slid and moved upward with the protruding plate 26A facing upward.
As the second rotating arm 26B is rotated by the motor, the protruding plate 26A slides upward in a direction intersecting the mounting plate 21. At this time, the protruding plate 26 </ b> A passes through the opening 21 </ b> B of the mounting plate 21.

(Storage unit)
The storage unit 30 stores the clothing C by distinguishing the position where the clothing C is stored in the storage box 200 based on the user information of the clothing C.
The storage unit has a crane (not shown). The crane holds the garment C, and stores the garment C folded by the folding unit 20 in the storage box 200 at a position where the garment C is stored, based on a command from the control unit 40. The position where the clothing C is stored can be distinguished by the user and the genre of clothing.

(Clothing processing method)
Next, a clothing processing method using the clothing processing system 1 will be described.
The clothing processing method of this embodiment is provided with the expansion | deployment process, the folding process, and the accommodation process.
In the unfolding step, the garment C is lifted and unfolded from the housing basket 100 in which the garment C is housed. In the folding process, the garment C developed by the developing process is folded in the width direction and the height direction. In the storage process, the clothing C folded in the folding process is stored in the storage box 200.

First, the unfolding process using the unfolding unit 10 will be described in detail.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the steps of the expansion unit 10. When the accommodation car 100 is placed at a predetermined position, the first identification unit 13A moves to a position where the inside of the accommodation car 100 can be imaged. Then, the image analysis unit 60 analyzes the data captured by the first identification unit 13A.

  The image analysis unit 60 calculates the coordinates of the clothing C in the storage basket 100 as step S1. Next, as step S <b> 2, the coordinates of the uppermost position among the clothes C in the storage basket 100 are calculated. Next, the hue of the clothing C is acquired as step S3. Next, as step S4, the area of the clothing C is calculated by calculating the area within the specific range using the acquired hue value.

  Next, a process part calculates the 1st coordinate of the clothing C which is first hold | gripped by the hand part 14 as step S5. Next, the processing unit confirms the current coordinate position of the hand unit 14 and calibrates the lifting unit 11 as step S6. Then, as shown in FIGS. 7 to 10, as step S <b> 7, the crane unit 15 and the hand unit 14 are driven, and the clothing C is gripped by the robot hand 14 </ b> B of the hand unit 14.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 10, when gripping the clothing C located at a deep position of the storage basket 100, the hand portion main body 14A so that the long side direction D1 of the hand portion main body 14A faces the vertical direction Z1. And the robot hand 14B is rotated so that the robot hand 14B extends outward in the long side direction D1 with respect to the hand portion main body 14A. Thereby, one robot hand 14B can easily hold | grip the clothing C located in the deep position of the accommodation basket 100 among a pair of robot hands 14B.

  Next, the control part 40 calculates the 2nd coordinate of the clothing C hold | gripped with the other robot hand 14B as step S8. Then, in order to grasp the second coordinate, the hand portion main body 14A is rotated as shown in FIGS. 11 to 13, and the one-side robot hand 14B grasping the first coordinate grasps the second coordinate. The posture of the hand portion main body 14A is changed so as to be positioned above the robot hand 14B on the other side. Then, by further changing the posture so that the long side direction D1 of the hand portion main body 14A coincides with the left-right direction Y2, the pair of robot hands 14B can hold the garment C. (See Figure 13)

  Next, as step 9, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the moving device 5 is driven to move the hand unit main body 14 </ b> A so that the clothing C is positioned above the blower unit 12. At this time, the second identification unit 13B moves to a position where the hand unit main body 14A is sandwiched in the vertical direction Z2. In addition, as shown in FIG. 16, the air blowing unit 12 starts air blowing toward the clothing C. Thereby, the clothing C is developed in the horizontal direction. The second identification unit 13B images the garment C to be developed from both the upper side and the lower side of the garment C.

  Next, as step 10, the image analysis unit 60 analyzes the image data captured by the pair of second identification units 13 </ b> B, and calculates the spread rate of the clothing C. The spread rate is calculated by comparing the size of the garment C stored in the storage unit 50 in advance with the area size of the garment C calculated from actual imaging data. Then, the position and posture of the hand unit 14 are finely adjusted so that the clothes C are sufficiently spread. Note that the spread rate may be calculated by estimating the shape and size of the clothes using artificial intelligence.

Next, as step S11, the collar portion (identified portion) is detected. When detecting the collar, the collar 50 is detected with reference to the shape of the clothing C stored in the storage unit 50 in advance. The detection of the collar may be realized, for example, by installing artificial intelligence in the control unit 40 and performing machine learning.
At this time, the front and back of the clothing C are detected as step S12. The determination of the front and back can be detected by referring to the shape of the clothing C stored in the storage unit 50 in advance, similarly to the detection of the collar portion. Here, since a pair of the second identification portions 13B are arranged so as to sandwich the clothing C in the up-down direction Z2, regardless of the orientation of the clothing C, the collar portion can be reliably detected and the back and front can be accurately determined. it can.

  Finally, as step S13, the inclination of the clothing C is calculated. The inclination of the clothing C can be calculated with reference to the shape of the clothing C stored in the storage unit 50 in advance, similarly to the detection of the collar portion. By calculating the inclination of the garment C, the garment C can be delivered in a desired posture to the folding unit 20 which is the next step.

  In this embodiment, the hand part 14 delivers the clothing C to the folding unit 20 so that the collar part is on the upper side. At this time, the posture of the garment C is adjusted so that the width direction of the garment C matches the left-right direction Y2 of the folding unit 20. In addition, the delivery of the clothing C to the folding unit 20 may be performed by the hand unit 14 or may be performed using another mechanism.

Next, a folding method using the folding unit 20 will be described in detail.
The folding method according to the present embodiment includes a placing step of unfolding the clothing C and placing it on the placement plate 21, a sliding step of sliding the clothing C, and a sleeve portion of the clothing C facing inward in the width direction. And a folding process.

As shown in FIG. 19, in the placing step, the garment C is placed on the placement plate 21 with the sleeve portion hanging down.
As shown in FIGS. 20 and 22, in the sliding process, first, the fixing portion 22 </ b> A of the sliding portion 22 grips the collar portion of the clothing C. And in this state, when the motor of the slide part 22 drives, the 1st rotation arm 22C rotates, and the slide part 22 slides toward diagonally upward along the rail 22B. As the slide unit 22 slides, the garment C slides in the sliding direction obliquely upward from the position where the garment C is placed.

In the process of sliding the clothing C, the sleeve portion of the clothing C is gradually folded inward in the width direction by interfering with the first guide piece 25C as shown in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 24, the sleeve portion folded inward in the width direction is refolded along the sliding direction by interfering with the second guide piece 25E. Thereby, a sleeve part will be in the state folded in two places.
Then, as urged by the third guide piece 25F, the garment in which the sleeve portion is folded on the back side of the placing plate 21 slides toward the rear in the sliding direction.

  The folding method further includes a folding step of folding the clothing C in which the sleeve portion is folded in the height direction. As shown in FIG. 21, in the convolution process, the protruding plate 26 </ b> A protrudes in a direction intersecting the mounting plate 21 as the second rotating arm 26 </ b> B rotates. At this time, the protruding plate 26 </ b> A protrudes so as to pass through the opening 21 </ b> B of the mounting plate 21. At this time, the fixing portion 22A of the slide portion 22 is opened. Thereby, clothing C is folded up because the tip of the protruding portion pushes out clothing C.

Finally, in the storing step, the clothes C in which the crane is folded are stored in the storage box 200. The control unit 40 uses the image analysis unit 60 to determine the user from the shape of the clothing C, and stores the clothing C in a predetermined position for each user in the storage box 200.
The determination of the user is determined by referring to the user information for each clothing C stored in the storage unit 50 in advance. The determination of the user may be realized by, for example, installing artificial intelligence in the control unit 40 and performing machine learning. Further, when purchasing new clothing C, the user information may be stored in the storage unit 50 by registering the user information in the control unit 40 in advance.
The clothing C may be stored separately depending on the genre of the clothing C.

As described above, according to the clothing processing system 1 according to the present embodiment, the clothing processing system 1 includes the unfolding unit 10 and the folding unit 20. For this reason, the clothing C accommodated in the accommodation basket 100 can be automatically unfolded and folded.
In addition, the clothing processing system 1 includes a storage unit 30 that stores the folded clothing C in the storage box 200. For this reason, it becomes possible to use the clothing C folded by the user as it is from the storage box 200 without separately storing it, and the convenience for the user can be improved.

Moreover, the expansion | deployment unit 10 is provided with the raising / lowering part 11 which lifts the clothing C, and the ventilation part 12 which blows and expand | deploys the clothing C lifted by the raising / lowering part 11 from the downward direction. For this reason, for example, compared with a configuration in which the garment C is gripped by a plurality of manipulators and the garment C is deployed by driving the manipulator, the deployment unit 10 has a simple structure, and the number of parts can be reduced or control can be performed. It can be made simple.
Moreover, since the expansion | deployment unit 10 is provided with the identification part 13 which images and identifies the clothing C, the clothing C which is the object which the raising / lowering part 11 lifts can be discriminate | determined reliably, and an exact operation | movement can be performed.

Moreover, since the identification part 13 recognizes the to-be-identified part of the clothing C and identifies the shape of the clothing C, the type of the clothing C can be grasped.
Further, by comparing the position of the identified portion in the entire garment C with the shape of the garment C stored in advance, for example, even when the garment C is stored in the storage basket 100 in a random manner, the lifting unit It is possible to easily grasp the posture of the clothing C when 11 is lifted.

  Further, since the identification unit 13 recognizes the uppermost portion of the garment C, for example, even when a plurality of garments C are stacked up and down and stored in the storage basket 100, the uppermost position is determined. By lifting the portion to be lifted, the elevating part 11 can reliably lift the clothes C one by one.

  Moreover, since the expansion | deployment unit 10 is equipped with the baffle plate 70, it suppresses that the ventilation from the ventilation part 12 forms eddy current etc., for example, and expand | deploys the clothing C effectively by becoming rectification | straightening from one direction. Can be made.

  Further, since the storage unit distinguishes the position where the clothing C is stored based on the user information, for example, when the clothing processing system 1 is used in the home, the clothing C of each of the plurality of users is distinguished and stored. By doing so, the convenience of the user can be further improved.

Moreover, the clothing C accommodated in the accommodation basket 100 can be automatically expanded and folded by performing the unfolding step and the folding step.
In addition, the clothing processing method includes a storage step of storing the folded clothing C in the storage box 200. For this reason, by performing the storing step, the user can use the folded clothing C without storing it separately from the storage box 200, and the convenience for the user can be improved.

  Moreover, according to the folding unit which concerns on this embodiment, the sleeve C of the clothing C is placed inside in the width direction by placing the clothing C on the placement plate 21 and sliding the clothing C with the slide portion 22. It is folded towards. For this reason, for example, compared to a configuration in which the garment C is gripped by a plurality of manipulators and the manipulator is driven to fold the garment C, the folding unit 20 has a simple structure and the number of parts can be reduced or control can be simplified. Can be made.

  In addition, since the slide part 22 includes a fixing part 22A that presses and fixes the clothing C against the placement plate 21, when the slide part 22 slides the clothing C, the clothes C are unlikely to come off the slide part. The clothes C can be smoothly slid.

  Moreover, since the slide part 22 slides the garment C diagonally upward, the slide part 22 is suppressed from being bulky in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction as compared with the configuration in which the slide part 22 slides straight in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction. be able to.

Moreover, since the folding part 23 is provided with the guide plate 25, when the sleeve part of the clothing C interferes with the guide plate 25, the sleeve part can be folded toward the inner side in the width direction. Thereby, the folding part 23 can be made into a simple structure.
Moreover, the clothing C can be folded in the height direction by projecting the folding part 26 in the direction intersecting the placement plate 21.

  As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was described, this invention can be changed in the range which does not deviate from the meaning. For example, the functions included in each means, each step, etc. can be rearranged so as not to be logically contradictory, and a plurality of means, steps, etc. can be combined into one or divided. .

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Clothing processing system 10 Unfolding unit 11 Lifting unit 12 Blower unit 13 Identification unit 20 Folding unit 21 Mounting plate 22 Slide unit 22A Fixing unit 23 Folding unit 25 Guide plate 26 Folding unit 30 Storage unit 70 Rectifying plate

Claims (8)

A deployment unit for lifting and unfolding the clothing from a housing basket containing the clothing;
A folding unit that folds the garment developed by the deployment unit in a width direction and a height direction;
A clothing processing system comprising: a storage unit that stores the clothing folded by the folding unit in a storage box. The deployment unit is
An elevating part for lifting the garment from the housing basket;
A blower unit that blows and unfolds from the bottom of the garment toward the garment lifted by the elevating unit,
The clothing processing system according to claim 1, further comprising: an identification unit that images the clothing and identifies the clothing.   The clothing processing system according to claim 2, wherein the unfolding unit includes a rectifying plate that rectifies the air blown from the blower unit.   The garment processing system according to claim 2, wherein the identification unit recognizes a part to be identified of the garment and identifies the shape of the garment.   The said identification part recognizes the uppermost part among the said clothes accommodated in the said accommodation basket, and identifies the position of the said clothes, The any one of Claim 2 to 4 characterized by the above-mentioned. A clothing processing system according to claim 1. The elevating part is
A hand portion for gripping the clothing;
The garment processing system according to claim 2, further comprising a crane unit that supports the hand unit so as to be movable in the front-rear direction, the left-right direction, and the up-down direction.   6. The storage unit according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit stores the clothing by distinguishing a position in which the clothing is stored in the storage box based on user information of the clothing. A clothing processing system according to claim 1. An unfolding step of lifting and unfolding the clothing from a housing basket containing the clothing;
A folding step of folding the garment developed by the deployment step in a width direction and a height direction;
And a storage step of storing the clothing folded in the folding step in a storage box.

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