Device for capturing a fabric article and method for operating the device

Abstract

The invention relates to a device (1) for capturing clean or dirty items of laundry, in particular selected portions of linen or terry items, comprising: a first conveyor belt (10) and a second conveyor belt (50) separated from each other by an elongated gap (80) and configured to convey items of laundry (2) through the gap (80) in a first direction (P); a gripper (100) arranged to capture a selected portion (3, 3 ', 3 ") from above and / or below when the selected portion (3, 3', 3") passes through the gap (80), the gripper (100) being movable to remove the item of laundry (2) captured by the gripper (100) from the second conveyor belt (50); and a controller (C) configured to activate the gripper (100) for capturing and to move the gripper (100) when the selected portion (3, 3 ', 3 ") passes through the gap (80).

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a device for capturing selected portions of a cloth item / piece, such as a clean or soiled item of clothing, in particular an item of linen or terrycloth.

[0002] US 9,908,152 and US 9,920,470 disclose devices having a clamp with pivotally connected jaws for capturing a clothing item by attacking opposite sides of an upright fold or crease of the clothing item.

[0003] The present invention seeks to provide a simplified device for capturing a portion of a cloth item. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of this purpose, there is provided a device for capturing selected portions of cloth items, such as clean or dirty clothing items, in particular linen or terry cloth items, the device comprising: a first conveyor belt and a second conveyor belt, the first conveyor belt and the second conveyor belt being separated from each other by an elongated gap and configured to convey items through the gap in a first direction; a gripper arranged to capture the selected portion from above and / or below as the selected portion passes through the gap, the gripper being movable to remove the item captured by the gripper from the second conveyor belt, preferably by dragging / pulling the item laterally away from the second conveyor belt; and a controller configured to enable the gripper for capturing and to effect movement of the gripper as the selected portion passes through the gap.

[0005] Thus, according to the present invention, effective gripping of a selected portion of an article can be achieved by engaging the gripper with the upper face and / or the opposite lower face of the selected portion of the article. In an embodiment, the capture is performed by a gripper having a first capture portion that is actuated in a piston-like manner by a pin comprising a linear movement, the pin having a free end that defines a head that contacts the selected portion and the pin clamps the selected portion between the head and a second capture portion of the gripper.

[0006] In one embodiment, a 2D (two-dimensional) image analysis is performed to select the portion of the item to be captured. In another embodiment, a 3D image analysis may be performed to select the portion to be captured.

[0007] According to the present invention, there is also provided a device for capturing selected portions of cloth items propelled by a conveyor belt, such as clean or dirty clothing items, in particular linen or terry cloth items, the device comprising: a gripper for capturing the selected portion by suction, the gripper being movable from a capturing position above the conveyor belt to a position along the side of the conveyor belt, thereby removing the items captured by the gripper from the conveyor belt; a controller configured to move the gripper to a capturing position corresponding to an expected movement path of the selected portion below the gripper, so as to enable the gripper for said capturing and said movement of the gripper to said position along the side of the conveyor belt when the selected portion moved by the conveyor belt passes through the capturing position; and a device, communicating with the controller, for recording an image, preferably a 2D image, of the items on the conveyor belt as seen from above the conveyor belt, the controller being configured to process the image to select the portion to be captured in a corresponding portion of the image showing a tapered geometry with a tip portion.

[0008] Preferably, the apparatus comprises a contour and / or shape detector of the cloth item, such as a camera, the detector being in communication with a controller, and the controller being configured to select a candidate portion to be captured in a corresponding portion of the image showing a tapered geometric shape with a tip portion based on a 2D image of the item. Among the candidate portions for selection, the controller may be configured to select the portion to be captured as the tail portion of the item, i.e. the last portion of the item placed on the conveyor belt. Alternatively, a 3D image analysis may be performed to select the portion to be captured.

[0009] Further preferred embodiments are defined in the dependent claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the device of the present invention,

[0011] Figure 2 is a top view of the first embodiment of the device in operation with two laundry items passing through,

[0012] Figures 3 to 7 is similar to Figure 1 , which shows the different steps in the process of capturing and subsequently releasing the laundry item, and

[0013] Figure 8 It is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the device of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] The invention will now be explained in more detail below by reference to a currently preferred embodiment used in the context of articles of clothing.

[0015] Figure 1 There is shown a device 1 of the invention configured for capturing a selected portion of a cloth item, shown as a clean or soiled laundry item 2, in particular a portion of a rectangular linen item or a rectangular terrycloth item having four corners.

[0016] The clothing items 2 are shown placed in a more or less unfolded form on a first or upstream conveyor belt 10 which moves the clothing items 2 from an article receiving end or portion 12 of the first conveyor belt 10 in a first direction P. Also shown is a downstream, second conveyor belt 50 which is also operated to move clothing items in the first direction P. An elongated gap 80 separates the downstream end of the first conveyor belt 10 from the upstream end or portion 52′ of the second conveyor belt 50.

[0017] The elongated gap 80 has a relatively small width, which is selected so that the clothing item 2 moved by the first conveyor belt 10 will pass through the gap 80 and onto the second conveyor 50, and so that when a selected portion of the clothing item 2 passes through the gap 80, the gripper 100 can be operated to grip and hold the selected portion of the clothing item 2.

[0018] In the embodiment shown, the gripper 100 has an upper capturing portion 110 and a lower capturing portion 150, both of which are carried by a frame F, which is arranged to move back and forth in a transverse direction as indicated by arrow A relative to the first direction P. At least one of the upper capturing portion 110 and the lower capturing portion 150 is movable along the upright direction B shown from a non-capturing position toward the other capturing portion 110, 150 to interface with the other capturing portion in a capturing position located within the gap 80 or slightly above the gap 80, as shown. Figure 4 As shown in . Depending on the position along the gap 80 to which the frame F has been moved in the transverse direction A, the capture position can in principle be any position along the length of the gap 80. Figure 1 and Figure 3 In the non-capturing position shown, the laundry items 2 can be transferred onto the second conveyor 50 without hindrance.

[0019] In the capture position, a selected portion of the article 2 passing through the gap 80 can be captured and held between the upper capture portion 110 and the lower capture portion 150 by a clamping force applied by the upper capture portion 110 and the lower capture portion 150 against the upper surface and the opposite lower surface of the selected portion of the clothing article 2, respectively.

[0020] exist Figure 1In the preferred embodiment shown in , the upper capture portion 110 comprises a vertically movable pin having a free end defining a head and moving towards a lower capture portion 150 defined by an abutment surface fixed relative to the frame F to engage a selected portion of the clothing item 2 from above and press the clothing item 2 against the abutment surface. Merely by way of example, a hydraulically or pneumatically operated linear actuator may be used to move the pin, which forms an extension of the piston rod and thus moves linearly. The use of a pin having a free end with a relatively small area allows the gripper 100 to attack a relatively small portion of the clothing item 2 and to provide a relatively high clamping pressure on the clothing item 2.

[0021] Figure 1 Also shown is a controller C, which includes a computer with a data storage device / memory, and is configured to i) receive data from the sensor 200 and the camera 300, ii) analyze the data and select a portion of the clothing item 2 to be captured based on the stored data, iii) enable the gripper 100 to perform the above-mentioned capture when the selected portion passes through the gap 80, and iv) control the movement of the gripper 100 along the lateral direction A.

[0022] Figure 2 is a top view of the apparatus 1 showing two articles 2 placed one after the other on a first conveyor belt 10. The articles 2 may be dropped or placed onto the first conveyor belt 10 in any non-specific and more or less random manner, either manually or from a feed device, which may be a chute, to deliver a more or less continuous stream of articles 2, 2' to the first conveyor belt 10. The individual laundry articles 2 may be placed folded and spaced apart from each other on the first conveyor belt 10, or in an overlapping manner as shown by the dashed lines, whereby an upstream laundry article 2 partially overlaps the tail of another downstream laundry article 2'.

[0023] Typically, each of the laundry items 2, 2' placed individually or together onto the moving conveyor belt will have identifiable parts that are visible on the Figure 2 In the embodiment of the invention, the identifiable parts are "free" in the sense that they are not covered by another clothing item 2'. Experience has shown that some of these free parts 3, 3', 3" usually have a generally pointed shape when viewed from above, such as Figure 2 , and those specific free portions may correspond to corners 4 of an item of clothing 2 in the form of a rectangular piece of linen or terry cloth.

[0024] The use of the very simple device 1 of the invention to capture a portion 3, 3', 3" of an item of laundry 2" - which portion 3, 3', 3" is considered to correspond to a corner 4 of the item 2 from its shape - allows such captured item of laundry 2 to then be processed in a downstream machine of the type in which the item of laundry 2 is first fed to the downstream machine at its leading edge, being held at the captured corner 4 and the adjacent corner. Such a downstream machine may be, for example, a laundry ironing machine or a laundry folding machine.

[0025] For operation of the apparatus 1, the controller C is configured to move the gripper 100 with the captured object 2 along a transverse direction A parallel to the gap 80 and away from the first conveyor belt 10 and the second conveyor belt 50 to a release position outside the gap 80, such as at Figure 2 The right side and Figure 5 to Figure 6 In the process, the selected laundry item 2 is pulled laterally away from the second conveyor belt 50 onto which the selected laundry item 2 has been partially transferred.

[0026] In such Figure 5 and Figure 6 In the released position shown in which the clothing item 2 is suspended from the gripper 100, the captured portions 3, 3', 3", 3'" - which most likely correspond to the corners 4 of the item 2 - can be transferred to another gripper G, in the process causing the two capturing portions 110, 150 to move away from each other. The clothing item 2, now suspended at its corners 4 from another gripper G, can then be transferred to a special device for locating and gripping the aforementioned adjacent corners of the item 2, and then the leading edge of the clothing item 2 is directly transferred and presented to an ironing and / or folding machine or to a conveyor that advances the clothing item 2 to such a machine.

[0027] Note that the analysis of the digital image of each laundry item 2 generated by the camera 300 by the controller C may determine the outline and / or shape of the item 2 placed on the first conveyor belt 10 based on, for example, the color difference between the color of the item 2 and the color of the conveyor belt 10. This may be a simple 2D image analysis, thereby avoiding the need for equipment to perform any 3D image analysis.

[0028] As can be understood from the above, Figure 2, which partially covers the downstream article 2' shown, the controller C can select the tail portion 3 of the clothing item 2 having such a pointed shape among the portions 3, 3', 3" of the clothing item 2 as the preferred corner 4 of the article 2 to be captured. Then, when the articles 2 - except the selected portion 3 - have moved through the gap 80 to arrive on the second conveyor 50, the controller C enables the gripper 100. The selected portion 3 is captured when the selected portion 3 passes through the gap 80, and the frame F of the gripper 100 is then moved laterally in the direction A, and then the clothing item 2 is completely pulled laterally away from the second conveyor 50, thereby separating the selected article 2 from the clothing item flow on the two conveyors 10, 50. Side rails (not shown) can be provided where necessary to prevent other clothing items entangled with the captured clothing item 2 from falling laterally from the conveyor belts 10, 50.

[0029] It has been found that pulling the captured clothing items 2 laterally away from the conveyor belts 10, 50 allows high-speed operation of the device 1, thereby minimizing interference with the flow of clothing items placed on the first conveyor belt 10, and allows the items 2 on the first conveyor belt 10 immediately following the clothing items 2 being pulled off to also be successfully processed in the manner described above, i.e. analyzed to determine the portion to be selected and pulled laterally.

[0030] As mentioned, for capture, the gripper 100 is able to move to the correct position along the length of the gap 80, and to this end, the controller C is preferably configured to determine based on the signal from the overhead position sensor 200 and the conveyor belt speed: a) the expected arrival position of the selected portion 3, 3', 3" of the clothing item 2 along the length of the gap 80, and b) the arrival time of the selected portion 3, 3', 3" at the gap 80, and the controller C is configured to move the gripper 100 to the determined expected arrival position so that the selected portion 3, 3', 3" can be clamped between the upper capture portion 110 and the lower capture portion 150. The controller C is also configured to provide release of the captured selected portion 3, 3', 3" when the gripper 100 reaches a release position near the gap 80, so as to transfer the corner 4 to the gripper G.

[0031] The downstream portion 52" of the second conveyor belt 50 defines an alternative discharge route for the laundry items 2, for returning laundry items 2' that have not been captured to the laundry receiving portion 12 of the device 1. Such non-capture may be due to the fact that the image of the item 2 does not allow determining any portion 3, 3', 3" that is suitable for selection, for example due to the way in which the item 2 is placed on the first conveyor 10.

[0032] Figure 7The gripper G is shown moving in a direction P2 away from the release position, carrying a clothing item 2 suspended at the corner 4; for simplicity, the gripper 100 is not shown in FIG. Figure 7 Shown in.

[0033] Note that in Figure 8 In the alternative embodiment shown, a single capturing portion 110 of the gripper 100 can be configured to capture a selected portion 3, 3', 3" by applying suction to the selected portion 3, 3', 3" using an air pump (not shown) after the capturing portion 110 has moved downwardly toward a selected portion 3 of a clothing item 2 placed on the conveyor belt 10 shown, followed by the aforementioned movement in the lateral direction A to pull the selected clothing item 2 laterally away from the conveyor belt 10 into a release position along the side S of the clothing item 2 along the conveyor belt 10; there is no need to provide the gap 80 discussed above.

[0034] Although it is currently preferred that the above reference Figures 1 to 8 The gripper 100 is shown and described as moving linearly only in the transverse direction A shown, but an upward movement of the gripper 100 , possibly in combination with the transverse movement A shown, for removing a selected laundry item 2 is also foreseen.

Claims

1. A device (1) for capturing a selected portion (3, 3', 3") of a cloth item, such as a clean or dirty item of clothing (2), in particular an item of linen or terrycloth (2), comprising: a first conveyor belt (10) and a second conveyor belt (50), the first conveyor belt (10) and the second conveyor belt (50) being separated from each other by an elongated gap (80) and being configured to convey the article (2) through the gap (80) in a first direction (P), a gripper (100) arranged to capture the selected portion (3, 3', 3") from above and / or below when the selected portion (3, 3', 3") passes through the gap (80), the gripper (100) being movable to remove the article (2) captured by the gripper (100) from the second conveyor belt (50), and - a controller (C) configured to activate the gripper (100) for said capturing and for said moving of the gripper (100) when the selected portion (3, 3', 3") passes through the gap (80).

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein said movement of said gripper (100) is transverse to said first direction (P) to a position near said gap (80).

3. The device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the gripper (100) comprises a capture portion (110), which is operated to apply suction to capture the selected portion (3, 3', 3") when the selected portion (3, 3', 3") passes through the gap (80).

4. The device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the gripper (100) includes an upper capture portion (110) and a lower capture portion (150), wherein the lower capture portion (150) is arranged below the upper capture portion (110), and at least one of the upper capture portion (110) and the lower capture portion (150) is capable of moving toward the other capture portion (110, 150), preferably linearly, so as to capture the selected portion (3, 3', 3") between the upper capture portion (110) and the lower capture portion (150) when the selected portion (3, 3', 3") passes through the gap (80), wherein the upper capture portion (110) and the lower capture portion (150) provide a clamping force on the upper and lower surfaces of the selected portion (3, 3', 3") when the selected portion (3, 3', 3") passes through the gap (80).

5. The device (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, - the gripper (100) is movable along the gap (80) to a plurality of positions along the length of the gap (80), - the controller (C) is configured to determine the arrival position of the selected portion (3, 3', 3") of the conveyed article (2) along the length of the gap (80) and to move the gripper (100) to the determined arrival position.

6. The device (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the second conveyor belt (50) defines a first downstream portion (52') and a second downstream portion (52"), wherein at the first downstream portion (52'), the article (2) can be removed from the second conveyor (50) by moving the gripper (100) to the external position near the gap (80), and the second downstream portion (52") defines an alternative discharge route for the article (2) from the second conveyor (50), wherein the alternative discharge route optionally returns the article (2) to the article receiving portion (12) of the device (1).

7. According to the device (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, the controller (C) is configured to release the captured selected part (3, 3', 3") from at least one of the capture parts (110, 150) when the object (2) has been removed from the second conveyor belt (50).

8. An apparatus (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the controller (C) is configured to determine the arrival time of the selected part (3, 3', 3") at the gap (80), and / or the controller (C) is configured to receive a signal indicating that the selected part (3, 3', 3") has arrived at the gap (80).

9. The device (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, comprises an identifier (200) of an item (2), the identifier (200) of the item (2) being used to identify individual items (2) conveyed from the receiving part (12), the identifier (200) of the item (2) communicating with the controller (C), and the controller (C) being configured to select the item (2) to be captured based at least on data from the identifier (200).

10. Apparatus (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a contour and / or shape detector (300) of the textile item (2), such as a camera, the detector (300) communicating with the controller (C), the controller (C) being configured to select the part (3, 3', 3") of the item (2) to be captured based at least on data from the detector (300), preferably on a 2D image of the item (2).

11. Device (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, said selected portion (3, 3', 3") being a tail portion (3) of said object (2).

12. A method of using a device (1) according to any one of the preceding claims to capture selected portions (3, 3', 3") of a fabric item (2) and then presenting the item (2) in a suspended form for further processing, the method comprising the steps of: - loading said textile article (2) or a plurality of such articles (2) onto a receiving portion (12) of said first conveyor (100), - conveying the object (2) towards the gap (80) via the first conveyor (100), - selecting the part (3, 3', 3") of the object (2) to be captured, - determining or recording the arrival time at the gap (80) of the selected portion (3, 3', 3") of the fabric item (2) conveyed by the first conveyor (100) towards the gap (80), - determining or recording the arrival position of said selected portion (3, 3', 3") of said object (2) at said gap (80), - activating the gripper (100) to move to the determined or recorded arrival position of the selected portion (3, 3', 3") of the object (2) and to capture the selected portion (3, 3', 3") of the object (2) at the determined or recorded arrival time, - moving the gripper (100) with the captured selected portion (3, 3', 3") of the article (2) to the position near the gap (80) to pull the article (2) laterally away from the second conveyor belt (50).

13. The method according to claim 12, the selected portion being a portion which, when viewed from above the first conveyor belt (10), is considered to be a corner portion of the article (2) by having a tapered geometry with a tip portion.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13 comprises a further step of transferring the selected portion (3, 3', 3") to another gripper (G) by first moving the other gripper (G) in a direction (P2) oriented approximately from the receiving portion (12), preferably in a direction (P2) approximately parallel to the first direction (P).

15. A device (1) for capturing selected portions (3, 3', 3") of a cloth item (2), such as a clean or dirty article of clothing (2), in particular a linen or terrycloth item (2), propelled by a conveyor belt (10), the device (1) comprising: a gripper (100) for capturing the selected portion (3, 3', 3") by suction, the gripper (100) being movable from a capturing position above the conveyor belt (10) to a position along the side (S) of the conveyor belt (10) in order to thereby remove the object (2) captured by the gripper (100) from the conveyor belt (10), - a controller (C) configured to move the gripper (100) to the capture position corresponding to the expected movement path of the selected portion (3, 3', 3") below the gripper (100), to enable the gripper (100) to perform the capture and to perform the movement of the gripper (100) to the position along the side (S) of the conveyor belt (10) when the selected portion (3, 3', 3") moved by the conveyor belt (10) passes the capture position, and - a device (200, 300) communicating with the controller (C), the device (200, 300) being used to record an image of the article (2) on the conveyor belt (10) as seen from above the conveyor belt (10), - said controller (C) processes said image to select said portion (3) to be captured in a corresponding portion of the image showing a tapering geometric shape with a tip portion.

Images