Cloth picking up device

Abstract

To provide a cloth picking up device to pick up one cloth from a plurality of entangled clothes.SOLUTION: A cloth picking up device 10 comprises: a withdrawing clamp part 100 to withdraw clothes W; and a cloth carry-out conveyor 120 to convey the clothes withdrawn by the withdrawing clamp part 100. The clothes carry-out conveyor 120 has a first carry-out conveying part 131 and a second carry-out conveying part. The withdrawing clamp part 100 sorts the clothes either into the first carry-out conveying part or the second carry-out conveying part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a fabric pickup device that supplies one piece of fabric from a plurality of pieces of fabric to an operator so that the fabric can be fed into a fabric feeding device, which is the next process. [Background technology]

[0002] The so-called linen supply industry deals with linen products such as sheets and towels, and when these linen products and other fabrics are collected from customers, they are washed, ironed, folded, and then delivered to the customers. At that time, workers pick up the fabrics one by one from the state where multiple washed fabrics are in a pile, and feed them into a fabric feeder that transports them to the next process to be further spread and folded.

[0003] However, it is a burden for the worker to untangle the clumps of multiple pieces of cloth and pick up each piece one by one. To be more specific, after washing, the cloth is brought to the washing machine in a semi-dry state. At that time, the multiple pieces of cloth are brought to the washing machine in a tangled clump. The worker must find and pick up the first piece of cloth from the clump of multiple tangled pieces of cloth. This type of work requires the worker to bend over, which is a heavy workload.

[0004] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-112100 discloses a device to assist in such work. The cloth removal device disclosed in the above publication as a device for picking up cloth is a cloth removal device in which a gripping device capable of gripping any portion of cloth is moved up and down between a lower cloth gripping position and an upper cloth lifting position by a vertical movement device, so that one piece of cloth can be removed in a suspended state from a pile of cloth. The gripping device is characterized by comprising: a chuck having a pair of left and right chuck pieces, each of which has an outer end portion pivotally connected to each link by an axis so that the inner side of each chuck piece can swing up and down; a chuck opening and closing device which opens and closes each chuck piece in the mutually approaching and separating directions by operating each link; and a chuck piece swinging device which swings each chuck piece upwards so that, in a chuck closed state, the tip gripping portions of each chuck piece are displaced from a position where they are joined below a line connecting the axes of each chuck piece to a position where they are joined above the line connecting the axes.

[0005] However, the gripping device in the above device grips the fabric at the same position, and therefore cannot grip the fabric if no fabric is placed at that position. Even if the fabric is placed at that position, the fabric placed below the mass of multiple fabrics may be pulled out, in which case the worker must untangle the tangled fabrics to remove one piece of fabric, and the burden on the worker cannot be reduced. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 7-112100 DISCLOSURE OF THEINVENTION [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a cloth pickup device for picking up one piece of cloth from among a plurality of entangled pieces of cloth. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the fabric pickup device of a first aspect has a take-up clamp section that takes up fabric, and a fabric output conveyor that transports the fabric taken up by the take-up clamp section, the fabric output conveyor has a first output transport section and a second discharge transport section, and the take-up clamp section distributes the fabric to either the first output transport section or the second discharge transport section.

[0009] In addition, the fabric pickup device of the second aspect has a fabric gripping device that grips the transported fabric, a take-up clamp section that takes up the fabric gripped by the fabric gripping device, and a fabric output conveyor that transports the fabric taken up by the take-up clamp section, the fabric output conveyor has a first output conveying section and a second discharge conveying section that transport the fabric, and the take-up clamp section distributes the fabric to either the first output conveying section or the second discharge conveying section.

[0010] In addition, the fabric pickup device of the third aspect has a fabric gripping device that grips the transported fabric, a take-up clamp section that takes up the fabric gripped by the fabric gripping device, and a fabric output conveyor that transports the fabric picked up by the take-up clamp section, the fabric output conveyor having a first output conveying section and a second discharge conveying section that transport the fabric, and the take-up clamp section clamps the fabric gripped by the fabric gripping device and moves it rearward, and distributes the fabric to either the first output conveying section or the second discharge conveying section. Effect of the Invention

[0011] Since the present invention is constructed and operates as described above, it is possible to provide a fabric pickup device that picks up one piece of fabric from a plurality of entangled pieces of fabric. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1]FIG. 2 is a side view of the cloth pickup device and the cloth supply conveyor. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the cloth pickup device and the cloth supply conveyor. [Diagram 3] 1A is a front view of the cloth pickup device, and FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a front view of the cloth gripping device in the cloth pickup device. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a side view of the cloth gripping device in the cloth pickup device. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a plan view of a cloth gripping device in the cloth pickup device. [Figure 7] 6A is a cross-sectional view taken along line VIIA-VIIA in FIG. 4. FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view taken along line VIIB-VIIB in FIG. [Figure 8] 1A is a diagram illustrating a state before the cloth gripping device identifies the position of the apex of the cloth, and FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating a state after the cloth gripping device identifies the position of the apex of the cloth. [Figure 9] 1A is a diagram showing a state in which the cloth holding device holds the apex of a piece of cloth, and FIG. 1B is a diagram showing a state in which the cloth holding device holds and lifts the apex of the piece of cloth. [Figure 10] 13 is a diagram showing the state in which the cloth holding device holds and lifts the top portion of the cloth and delivers it to a take-up clamp section that clamps the cloth. FIG. [Figure 11] 1A is a schematic side view showing a state in which the take-up clamp unit is about to move the cloth backward, and FIG. [Figure 12] 1A is a schematic side view showing a state in which the take-up clamp unit places the gripped cloth in a first discharge conveyor of the cloth discharge conveyor, and FIG. [Figure 13] 1A is a schematic side view showing a state in which the take-up clamp unit places the gripped cloth in the second discharge conveyor of the cloth discharge conveyor, and FIG. [Figure 14]1A is a schematic side view showing the cloth transported by the first output conveyor section being sandwiched between the second output roll section and the first sandwich conveyor in the first output conveyor section, and FIG. [Figure 15] FIG. 11 is a side view of the cloth pickup device and the cloth supply conveyor of the second embodiment. [Figure 16] FIG. 11 is a plan view of the cloth pickup device and the cloth supply conveyor of the second embodiment. [Figure 17] 1A is a front view of the cloth pickup device according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a rear view of the cloth pickup device according to the second embodiment. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THEINVENTION

[0013] The fabric pickup device 10 will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiment. The fabric pickup device 10 has a main body 15 that constitutes the outer shell of the fabric pickup device 10, a conveyor 20, and a sensor 30. The main body 15 serves as a housing for arranging the conveyor 20 and the sensor 30. The fabric pickup device 10 can receive a plurality of fabrics W from a fabric supply conveyor 250.

[0014] The conveying unit 20 is for conveying a plurality of pieces of fabric W, and the sensor unit 30 is for detecting the apex portion Wt of one piece of fabric W1 among the plurality of pieces of fabric W arranged in the conveying unit 20. The fabric pickup device 10 also has a fabric gripping device 40 that grips the apex portion Wt of one piece of fabric W1 detected by the sensor unit 30. Here, the apex portion Wt of one piece of fabric W1 among the plurality of pieces of fabric W refers to the apex portion Wt of one piece of fabric W1 that is located at the highest position among the plurality of pieces of fabric W. This is because it has been found that by gripping this apex portion Wt, entanglement of the plurality of pieces of fabric W is relatively reduced.

[0015] Here, the conveying section 20 includes a first conveying roll section 21 which is a cylindrical roller, a second conveying roll section 22 which is also a cylindrical roller, and a first conveying belt section 23 which is a band-shaped belt, which is stretched around the first conveying roll section 21 and the second conveying roll section 22. The conveying section 20 in this embodiment is disposed substantially horizontally.

[0016] The main body 15 has a conveyance confirmation sensor 18a and a conveyance confirmation sensor 18b arranged in this order from the front to the rear Z for detecting the presence of the cloth W on the conveyor 20. The main body 15 also has a position confirmation sensor 18c for detecting the cloth W conveyed directly below the cloth gripping device 40, and a position overrun confirmation sensor 18d for detecting that the cloth W has passed through position A.

[0017] The multiple pieces of cloth W are detected in this order by the transport confirmation sensor 18a and then by the transport confirmation sensor 18b, and when the multiple pieces of cloth W are detected by the position confirmation sensor 18c, the transport unit 20 stops transporting the cloth W. As will be described later, the cloth gripping device 40 may leave multiple pieces of cloth W located directly below it ungrabbed, causing the cloth W to be transported further backward Z from the front. In that case, when the position overrun confirmation sensor 18d detects the cloth, the transport unit 20 transports the cloth W in the reverse direction (forward).

[0018] As described above, the sensor unit 30 detects the vertices Wt of multiple pieces of fabric W, and is capable of searching an XY plane consisting of a width direction X and a height direction Y at any position A on the main body 15 of the fabric pickup device 10.

[0019] Here, the width direction X literally refers to the width direction of the main body 15 of the fabric pickup device 10, and the height direction Y literally refers to the height direction of the main body 15 of the fabric pickup device 10. In other words, the sensor unit 30 is a so-called two-dimensional sensor that can search on an XY plane consisting of the width direction X and height direction Y at an arbitrary position A from the front to the rear Z of the fabric pickup device 10. It is preferable that the sensor unit 30 is capable of measuring cross sections of multiple fabrics W on this arbitrary XY plane with high accuracy. By using a so-called two-dimensional sensor in this way, costs can be reduced without using a three-dimensional sensor.

[0020] In addition, the sensor unit 30 detects the vertex portion Wt of one piece of cloth W1 that is placed at the highest position among the multiple pieces of cloth W placed at the position A by searching the XY plane at the position A.

[0021] The arbitrary position A in the cloth pickup device 10 is preferably a position approximately three-quarters of the way from the front to the rear Z in the conveying section 20. However, the arbitrary position A is not limited to this position.

[0022] The fabric grasping device 40 detects the vertex Wt of one piece of fabric W1 that is located at the highest position among multiple pieces of fabric W using the sensor unit 30, and grasps the vertex Wt. That is, the sensor unit 30 detects where on the XY plane the vertex Wt of the one piece of fabric W1 is located, and transmits two-dimensional position information on the XY plane to a control unit 80 that has a built-in PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) (not shown), and the control unit 80 transmits a command based on the position information to the fabric grasping device 40, and the vertex Wt of the one piece of fabric W1 is grasped according to a predetermined program.

[0023] The fabric gripping device 40 has a first drive unit 41 that moves up and down, a second drive unit 51 that moves up and down, a first link unit 42 connected to the first drive unit 41 via a first connection unit 43, a second link unit 52 connected to the second drive unit 51 via a second connection unit 53, and a gripping unit 60 that grips the fabric W attached to the first link unit 42 and the second link unit 52 (see particularly Figures 3A, 4, 5 and 6).

[0024] The first driving unit 41 has an elevation servomotor 411 which serves as a driving force for moving up and down, a reducer 412 which reduces the rotation speed of the servomotor, a timing pulley 413 on the driving side, a timing pulley 414 on the driven side, and a timing belt 415 which is wound around them so as to be rotatable. The first driving unit 41 also has a driving joint 416 which serves as a joint between the reducer 412 and the timing pulley 413 on the driving side. The first driving unit 41 also has a plate-shaped bracket 417 which is connected to the timing belt 415 and moves up and down, and the bracket 417 is connected to the first link unit 42 via the tip of the first connecting unit 43 and moves up and down. As described later, the first driving unit 41 also has a rotation servomotor 420 for rotating the first link unit 42 in the backward Z direction via the first connecting unit 43, a reducer 422 which reduces the rotation speed of the servomotor, and a coupling 430 which serves as a joint (see particularly Figs. 3A, 4, 5, and 6).

[0025] Similarly, the second drive unit 51 has an elevation servo motor 511 which provides the driving force for moving up and down, a reducer 512 which reduces the rotation speed, a driving timing pulley 513, a driven timing pulley 514, and a timing belt 515 which is looped around them to rotate (see FIG. 6 in particular).

[0026] Also, the second driving unit 51 has a driving joint 516 as a joint between the reducer 512 and the driving-side timing pulley 513. Also, the second driving unit 51 has a plate-shaped bracket 517 connected to the timing belt 515 and moving up and down, and the bracket 517 is connected to the second link unit 52 via the tip of the second connecting unit 53 and moves up and down.

[0027] As will be described later, the second link portion 52 also includes a rotation servo motor 520 for rotating the second link portion 52 in the backward Z direction via the second connection portion 53, a reduction gear 522 for reducing the speed of rotation, and a coupling 530 as a joint.

[0028] The gripping portion 60 is literally for gripping the fabric W, and has a bracket portion 61, a clamp portion 62, and fabric detection sensors 63, 63 for detecting the presence of the fabric W.

[0029] The cloth gripping device 40 further includes a third link portion 65. The third link portion 65 is connected to the second link portion 52 via the tip portion of the second connection portion 53. The third link portion 65 is disposed at a position 65a extending horizontally from the center portion 61 disposed at the center of the gripping portion 60 in the cloth gripping device 40 and the right first connection portion 52a connecting the second connection portion 53 and the second link portion 52. In this case, the third link portion 65 is disposed so as to be parallel to the second link portion 52. As a result, even if the gripping portion 60 rises or falls, the third link portion 65 keeps the gripping portion 60 parallel to the floor surface. In this way, the third link portion 65 keeps the gripping portion 60 parallel, so that the gripping portion 60 can reliably grip the vertex portion Wt of one piece of cloth W1.

[0030] 8A and 8B, a method for the fabric gripping device 40 to reach the vertex Wt of the fabric W placed on the XY plane will be briefly described. As an example, the lengths of the first link portion 42 and the second link portion 52 are both 550 mm. The distance between the left first connection portion 42a, which is the connection portion between the first link portion 42 and the tip end of the first connection portion 43, and the left second connection portion 42b, which is the connection portion between the first link portion 42 and the gripping portion 60, projected in the width direction X1 is set to be 170 mm.

[0031] Similarly, the lengths of the right first connection portion 52a, which is the connection portion between the second link portion 52 and the tip portion of the second connection portion 53, and the second connection portion 42B, which is the connection portion between the second link portion 52 and the gripping portion 60, projected in the width direction X2 are set to 170 millimeters.

[0032] In such a case, a case will be described where the vertex WT of one piece of cloth W1 is disposed at a position X3 that is shifted 100 mm to the right from the center line C. The length Y1 of the tilted first link part 42 projected in the height direction Y by the control unit 80 is expressed by subtracting the square of the sum of 170 mm and 100 mm (270 mm) from the square of 550 mm, and finding the square root of the difference, for example, from Pythagoras' theorem. In this case, the length Y1 of the distance between the left first connection part 42a and the left second connection part 42b of the first link part 42 projected in the height direction Y is 479 mm.

[0033] The length Y2 of the tilted second link portion 52 projected in the height direction Y by the control portion 80 is expressed by subtracting the square of the difference between 170 mm and 100 mm (70 mm) from the square of 550 mm, and finding the square root of the difference, for example, from Pythagoras' theorem. In this case, the length Y2 of the distance between the right first connection portion 52a and the right second connection portion 52B of the second link portion 52 projected in the height direction Y is 545 mm.

[0034] By using the lifting servo motor 411 in the first drive unit 41 to move the first link unit 42 to a position 545-479=66 mm lower than the second link unit 52, the gripping unit 60 can be positioned directly above the apex Wt of the fabric W1 that is 100 mm shifted from the center in the width direction X. Thereafter, by lowering both the first link unit 42 and the second link unit 52 in this state until they reach the apex Wt of the fabric W1, the gripping unit 60 can grip the apex Wt of the fabric W1.

[0035] In this way, by using a two-dimensional sensor capable of searching the XY plane at any position A in the sensor unit 30, the fabric gripping device 40 can reach any position on the XY plane without using complex calculations, and can grip the fabric W. Therefore, the fabric pickup device 10 does not unnecessarily increase costs. In addition, although dust is generated from the fabric W in the linen factory, the fabric pickup device 10 has a relatively simple configuration as described above, and therefore the risk of the dust causing the fabric pickup device 10 to break down can be reduced as much as possible.

[0036] The fabric pickup device 10 also has a second conveying section 70 that conveys a plurality of fabrics W. The second conveying section 70 is disposed near the second conveying roll unit 22 in the conveying section 20, and is disposed so as to be inclined with respect to the horizontally disposed conveying section 20. The second conveying section 70 is preferably inclined at an angle of 70 degrees to 80 degrees with respect to the conveying section 20, and more preferably at an angle of 75 degrees.

[0037] The second conveying section 70 includes a third conveying roll section 71 which is a cylindrical roller, a fourth conveying roll section 72 which is also a cylindrical roller, and a second conveying belt section 75 which is a band-shaped belt, which are wound around the third conveying roll section 71 and the fourth conveying roll section 72. The third conveying roll section 71 is disposed near the second conveying roll section 22 in the conveying section 20.

[0038] When the multiple pieces of fabric W conveyed by the conveying unit 20 are further conveyed, they bump into the second conveying unit 70 in an inclined state. This second conveying unit 70 conveys the multiple pieces of fabric W in a direction to lift them up, but on the way, the multiple pieces of fabric W fall back onto the conveying unit 20 due to their own weight, so that the multiple pieces of fabric W are agitated, and it is expected that the entangled multiple pieces of fabric W will be untangled. In addition, when the fabric W that has fallen from the second conveying unit 70 is placed back onto the conveying unit 20, the vertices of different pieces of fabric W can be made to appear.

[0039] The fabric pickup device 10 also has a take-up clamp section 100 that takes up the fabric W, a fabric output conveyor 120 that conveys the fabric W in two lanes, a first output conveyor 131 and a second output conveyor 141, and a first clamping conveyor 135 and a second clamping conveyor 145. The first output conveyor 131 also has a plurality of first fabric sensors 132 that detect the presence of fabric W. The second output conveyor 141 also has a plurality of second fabric sensors 142 that similarly detect the presence of fabric W (see FIG. 13A).

[0040] The take-up clamp section 100 that takes up the fabric W clamps the fabric W gripped by the gripping section 60 of the fabric gripping device 40 and moves it backward Z, and can further distribute it to one of two lanes, the first output conveying section 131 and the second output conveying section 141, on the fabric output conveyor 120. In this way, by arranging each worker at each of the output destinations S1, S2 of the first output conveying section 131 and the second output conveying section 141, two workers can receive the fabric W at one fabric pickup device 10.

[0041] The above-mentioned first output conveying section 131 is a conveyor that conveys the cloth W, and the first output conveying section 131 includes a first output roll section 131a which is a cylindrical roller, a second output roll section 131b which is a cylindrical roller, and a first output belt section 131c which is a band-shaped belt, wound around the first output roll section 131a and the second output roll section 131b. The first pinch conveyor 135 is disposed so as to be in contact with the second output roll section 131b. The first pinch conveyor 135 is disposed so as to be at a substantially right angle to the first output conveying section 131 in a side view and to descend.

[0042] The first pinch conveyor 135 has a first pinch roll part 135a which is a cylindrical roller, a second pinch roll part 135b which is a cylindrical roller, and a third pinch roll part 135c which is a cylindrical roller, and a first pinch belt part 135d which is a band-shaped belt is wound around them. It also has a first pinch sensor 137. The first pinch sensor 137 is for detecting a state in which the cloth W is pinched between the second discharge roll part 131b of the first discharge conveyor 131 and the first pinch conveyor 135, as described later.

[0043] The second pinch conveyor 145 has a fourth pinch roll part 145a which is a cylindrical roller, a fifth pinch roll part 145b which is a cylindrical roller, and a sixth pinch roll part 145C which is a cylindrical roller, and a second pinch belt part 145d which is a band-shaped belt is wound around them. It also has a second pinch sensor 147. The second pinch sensor 147 is for detecting a state in which the cloth W is pinched between the second discharge conveyor part 141 and the second pinch conveyor 145, as described later.

[0044] The take-up clamp unit 100, which takes up the fabric W and clamps the fabric W, has a chuck 101 that clamps the fabric W, and a chuck rotation actuator 102 for rotating the chuck 101 left and right. When the first fabric sensor 132 or the second fabric sensor 142 does not detect the fabric W, the take-up clamp unit 100, which takes up the fabric W, places the fabric W in the first outgoing conveyor unit 131 or the second discharging conveyor unit 141, which does not detect the fabric W. When the fabric W is not present in either the first outgoing conveyor unit 131 or the second discharging conveyor unit 141, it is preferable to place the fabric W in the first outgoing conveyor unit 131.

[0045] Next, an operation of the fabric pickup device 10 to pick up the fabric W will be described. A fabric supply conveyor 250 for supplying the fabric W supplies a plurality of fabrics W to the conveying section 20. The fabrics W are conveyed from the front to the rear Z in a side view, and are detected in order by the conveying confirmation sensor 18a and the conveying confirmation sensor 18b. When the fabrics W are detected by the position confirmation sensor 18c, the plurality of fabrics W reach point A in the front to rear Z (see FIG. 1).

[0046] At the above-mentioned point A, the sensor unit 30 searches the XY plane consisting of the width direction X and height direction Y at position A, and detects the vertex Wt of one piece of cloth W1 among the multiple pieces of cloth W. As described above, in the case where the vertex WT of the piece of cloth W1 is located at a position shifted 100 mm to the right from the center line C (see FIG. 8B), as described above, the sensor unit 30 transmits the position information to the control unit 80, the control unit 80 indicates the position of the vertex Wt of the one piece of cloth W1 based on the position information, and the cloth grasping device 40 grasps the vertex Wt of the one piece of cloth W1 based on the instruction (see FIG. 9A).

[0047] Thereafter, the cloth holding device 40 rises while holding the vertex Wt of that one piece of cloth W1, and places it on the center line C (see FIG. 9B). In order to rotate the cloth holding device 40 backward Z, the first link portion 42 is connected to a rotation servo motor 420 via a coupling 430 as a joint.

[0048] That is, the first link unit 42 is caused to swing like a pendulum in the backward Z direction by the swing servo motor 420. At the same time, the second link unit 52 is connected to the swing servo motor 520 via a coupling 530 serving as a joint. The second link unit 52 is caused to swing like a pendulum in the backward Z direction by the swing servo motor 520 (see FIG. 10).

[0049] In this manner, the gripping portion 60 connected to the first link portion 42 and the second link portion 52 rotates like a pendulum backward Z, and the cloth W1 is handed over to a chuck 101 that clamps the cloth W1 in the take-up clamp portion 100 (see Figures 11A and B).

[0050] The take-up clamp unit 100 that takes up the cloth W1 can distribute it to one of two lanes, the first outgoing conveying unit 131 and the second discharging conveying unit 141, on the cloth output conveyor 120. For example, the cloth W1 is distributed to a conveying unit where the cloth W1 is not present, among a plurality of first cloth sensors 132 and a plurality of second cloth sensors 142. Specifically, when the cloth W1 is not present in the first outgoing conveying unit 131, the chuck rotation actuator 102 rotates the chuck 101, and the cloth W1 is placed on the first outgoing conveying unit 131 (see FIGS. 12A and 12B).

[0051] Furthermore, when the cloth W1 is not present in the second output conveying section 141, the chuck rotation actuator 102 rotates the chuck 101 clamping the cloth W1, and places the cloth W1 on the second output conveying section 141 (see FIGS. 13A and 13B). In this way, the take-up clamp section 100 can convey the cloth W1 in two lanes, the first output conveying section 131 and the second output conveying section 141.

[0052] Thereafter, for example, when cloth W1 is transported to the first output conveying section 131, the cloth W1 is clamped between the second output roll section 131b in the first output conveying section 131 and the first clamping conveyor 135, and a worker (not shown) can remove the cloth W1 (see Figures 14A and B).

[0053] An operator (not shown) removes the cloth W, and when the first clip sensor 137 no longer detects the presence of the cloth W, the next cloth W is sandwiched between the second output roll portion 131b in the first output conveyor 131 and the first clip conveyor 135, and the above-mentioned process is repeated. The same is true for the second output conveyor 141, and another operator (not shown) can remove the cloth W.

[0054] In this way, the fabric pickup device 10 can pick up one fabric W from a plurality of fabrics W, and supply that fabric W to two workers. Also, since two supply ports, the first output conveyor section 131 and the second output section 141, are provided to supply the fabric W, one fabric pickup device 10 is sufficient for two workers, eliminating the need for an area dedicated to two devices, and improving the work efficiency relative to the installation area of ​​the fabric pickup device 10.

[0055] Next, a fabric pickup device 500 of the second embodiment will be described (see Figs. 15, 16, and 17). The difference between the fabric pickup device 10 and the fabric pickup device 500 of the second embodiment is that a second sensor unit 530 is provided instead of the sensor unit 30. The other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, so the same reference numerals are used and the description thereof will be omitted.

[0056] The second sensor unit 530 is similar in that it detects a vertex portion Wt of one piece of cloth W from among a plurality of pieces of cloth W, but has a different configuration. The second sensor unit 530 has a sensor main body 531 and a sensor driving unit 540 that moves the sensor main body 531 in the width direction X. By moving the sensor main body 531 in the width direction X by the sensor driving unit 540, the vertex portion Wt of the piece of cloth W1 is detected, and its position information on the XY plane is transmitted to the control unit 80. The subsequent steps are similar to those in the first embodiment, and therefore description thereof will be omitted. [Explanation of symbols]

[0057] 10 Fabric pick-up device 15 Main body 20 Conveyor section 30 Sensor section 40 Cloth gripping device 41 First Drive Unit 42 First link 51 Second Drive Unit 52 Second Link 60 Grip part 65 3rd Link 70 Second conveyor section 80 Control section 100 Take-up clamp section 120 Cloth discharge conveyor 131 First discharge transport section 132 First Fabric Sensor 135 First sandwich conveyor 141 Second discharge conveying section 142 Second fabric sensor 145 Second sandwich conveyor 250 Cloth supply conveyor 500 Second embodiment of cloth pickup device 530 Second Sensor Section A position W Cloths W1 1 Fabric Wt vertex part X Width direction Y Height direction Z backward

Claims

1. A take-up clamp unit for taking up the cloth; a cloth discharge conveyor for conveying the cloth taken up by the take-up clamp unit, The cloth discharge conveyor has a first discharge conveying section and a second discharge conveying section, The take-up clamp section is a cloth pickup device that distributes the cloth to either the first outgoing conveying section or the second discharge conveying section.

2. a cloth gripping device for gripping the transported cloth; A take-up clamp unit that takes up the cloth gripped by the cloth gripping device; a cloth discharge conveyor for conveying the cloth taken up by the take-up clamp unit, The cloth discharge conveyor has a first discharge conveying section and a second discharge conveying section for conveying cloth, The take-up clamp section is a cloth pickup device that distributes cloth to either the first outgoing conveying section or the second discharging conveying section.

3. a cloth gripping device for gripping the transported cloth; A take-up clamp unit that takes up the cloth gripped by the cloth gripping device; a cloth discharge conveyor for conveying the cloth taken up by the take-up clamp unit, The cloth discharge conveyor has a first discharge conveying section and a second discharge conveying section for conveying cloth, The take-up clamp section is a cloth pickup device that clamps the cloth grasped by the cloth grasping device and moves it rearward, and distributes the cloth to either the first output conveying section or the second output conveying section.

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