Laundry reversal system
The laundry inversion system addresses the limitation of existing systems by using selective inversion mechanisms to correct the orientation of rectangular cloth pieces, enabling exposure of logos or features as desired.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- RAYTEC CO LTD
- Filing Date
- 2024-12-09
- Publication Date
- 2026-06-19
AI Technical Summary
Existing laundry systems cannot correct the orientation of rectangular cloth pieces to desired positions, such as exposing logos on towels after washing, due to limited reversal capabilities.
A laundry inversion system comprising a front-to-back inversion mechanism, a front-to-back inversion mechanism, and a reversal control system that selectively operates these mechanisms to correct the orientation of rectangular cloth pieces based on detected logos, allowing for four possible orientations.
The system enables selective inversion of laundry in forward/backward and front/back directions, correcting the orientation to four desired configurations, improving the ability to expose logos or other features as intended.
Smart Images
Figure 2026100431000001_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present invention relates to a system for reversing a laundry made of a rectangular cloth piece, and particularly to a laundry reversing system suitable for correcting the orientation of a laundry made of a rectangular cloth piece.
Background Art
[0002] Conventionally, as a technique for reversing laundry, for example, the technique described in Patent Document 1 is known.
[0003] The technique described in Patent Document 1 includes an input machine that conveys clothes put into the process in a tidied state to the next process, and is equipped with a conveyor that conveys the put-in clothes to the next process. A pressing member is arranged on the conveyor to push up the front end of the clothes from the conveying surface of the conveyor upward. While fixing the front end of the clothes pushed up above the conveying surface of the conveyor, a pickup part for making the rear part of the clothes precede the front end is arranged above the conveyor. In the reverse mode, in order to operate the pressing member and the pickup part, a position detection sensor for detecting the position of the front end of the clothes moving on the conveying surface of the conveyor is arranged.
Prior Art Documents
Patent Documents
[0004]
Patent Document 1
Summary of the Invention
Problems to be Solved by the Invention
[0005] When washing a towel with a company logo or the like, it is desirable to fold the towel so that the logo is exposed on the front of the washed towel. However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, since the laundry can only be reversed back and forth in the conveying direction, there is a problem that it cannot be corrected to the desired orientation depending on the orientation of the towel after washing.
[0006] This problem applies not only to towels, but also to other types of laundry made from rectangular pieces of cloth.
[0007] Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the unresolved problems of the conventional technology, and aims to provide a laundry inversion system suitable for correcting the orientation of laundry made of rectangular pieces of cloth. [Means for solving the problem]
[0008] There are four possible orientations for laundry consisting of rectangular pieces of cloth. The first aspect is one in which the logo, etc., faces forward and is upside down.
[0009] The second aspect is one in which the logo, etc., faces the reverse side and is upside down. The third aspect is one in which the logo, etc., faces backward and is oriented correctly both vertically and horizontally.
[0010] The fourth aspect is one in which the logo, etc., is facing forward and is oriented correctly both vertically and horizontally. After diligent research, the inventors discovered that it is necessary to invert the laundry according to the four embodiments described above. Specifically, in the first embodiment, the laundry needs to be inverted in the forward and backward directions of the transport direction. In the second embodiment, the laundry needs to be inverted in the front and back directions of the transport direction, because inverting the front and back also inverts the top and bottom. In the third embodiment, the laundry needs to be inverted in the forward and backward directions of the transport direction and in the front and back directions. In the fourth embodiment, inversion is not necessary. Therefore, in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, the inventors conceived the present invention based on these findings.
[0011] [Invention 1] To achieve the above objective, the laundry inversion system of Invention 1 comprises a front-to-back inversion means for inverting laundry made of rectangular cloth pieces in the forward and backward directions in the transport direction, a front-to-back inversion means for inverting the laundry so that it is on the front and back sides in the transport direction, and an inversion control means for selectively operating the front-to-back inversion means and the front-to-back inversion means.
[0012] With this configuration, the reversal control means selectively operates the front-to-back reversal means and the front-to-back reversal means. When the front-to-back reversal means operates, the laundry is reversed to the front and back in the transport direction. When the front-to-back reversal means operates, the laundry is reversed to the front and back in the transport direction.
[0013] Here, this system may be implemented as a single device or as a combination of multiple devices.
[0014] [Invention 2] Furthermore, in the laundry inversion system of Invention 2, the inversion control means operates the front-to-back inversion means to invert the laundry to the front and back in the transport direction, operates the front-to-back inversion means to invert the laundry to the front and back in the transport direction, and operates the front-to-back inversion means and the front-to-back inversion means to invert the laundry to the front and back and front and back in the transport direction.
[0015] In this configuration, the reversal control means activates the front-to-back reversal means, reversing the laundry in the forward and backward directions of the transport. The reversal control means also activates the front-to-back reversal means, reversing the laundry in the front and back directions of the transport. Furthermore, the reversal control means activates both the front-to-back reversal means and the front-to-back reversal means, reversing the laundry in both the front-to-back and front-to-back directions of the transport.
[0016] [Invention 3] Furthermore, in the laundry inversion system of Invention 3, the inversion control means operates the front-to-back inversion means to invert the laundry to the front and back in the transport direction if the determination result of the determination means for determining the front-to-back orientation and front-to-back orientation of the laundry in the transport direction is the first orientation; operates the front-to-back inversion means to invert the laundry to the front and back in the transport direction if the determination result of the determination means is the second orientation; and operates the front-to-back inversion means and the front-to-back inversion means to invert the laundry to the front and back and front and back in the transport direction if the determination result of the determination means is the third orientation.
[0017] With such a configuration, when the determination result of the determination means is in the first direction, the front-back inversion means operates by the inversion control means, and the laundry is inverted back and forth in the conveyance direction. When the determination result of the determination means is in the second direction, the front-back inversion means operates by the inversion control means, and the laundry is inverted front and back in the conveyance direction. When the determination result of the determination means is in the third direction, the front-back inversion means and the front-back inversion means operate by the inversion control means, and the laundry is inverted back and forth and front and back in the conveyance direction.
Advantages of the Invention
[0018] As described above, according to the laundry inversion system of Invention 1, since the laundry can be selectively inverted back and forth and front and back in the conveyance direction, the orientation of the laundry made of a rectangular cloth piece can be corrected as compared with the prior art.
[0019] Furthermore, according to the laundry inversion system of Invention 2, the orientation of the laundry can be corrected according to four modes.
Brief Description of the Drawings
[0020] [Figure 1] It is a front view of the overall configuration including the laundry inversion system 100. [Figure 2] It is a top view of the overall configuration including the laundry inversion system 100. [Figure 3] It is a cross-sectional view showing the inversion mechanism of the front-back inversion device 10. [Figure 4] It is a front view of the front-back inversion device 20. [Figure 5] It is a top view of the front-back inversion device 20. [Figure 6] It is the left side view of the front-back inversion device 20. [Figure 7] It is a flowchart showing the control process executed by the inversion control device 30. [Figure 8] It is a cross-sectional view showing the inversion mechanism of the front-back inversion device 20.
Modes for Carrying Out the Invention
[0021] The embodiments of the present invention will be described below. Figures 1 to 7 show these embodiments. First, the configuration of this embodiment will be described.
[0022] Figure 1 is a front view of the overall configuration, including the laundry reversal system 100. Figure 2 is a top view of the overall configuration, including the laundry reversal system 100.
[0023] In a laundry factory, the system for folding washed towels (hereinafter simply referred to as "towels") is configured as shown in Figures 1 and 2, with an input conveyor 1, a towel input device 2, a laundry reversal system 100, and a towel holder 3 provided in that order.
[0024] The input conveyor 1 is connected to the towel input device 2 and transports towels from the upstream process to the towel input device 2.
[0025] The towel input device 2 is connected to the laundry reversal system 100 and divides the towels received from the input conveyor 1 into smaller portions and inputs them one by one into the laundry reversal system 100.
[0026] The laundry reversal system 100 comprises a front-to-back reversal device 10 that reverses towels received from the towel input device 2 in the forward and backward directions of the transport direction, a front-to-back reversal device 20 that reverses towels received from the front-to-back reversal device 10 in the front-to-back direction of the transport direction, and a reversal control device 30 that selectively operates the front-to-back reversal device 10 and the front-to-back reversal device 20. The front-to-back reversal device 20 is connected to the towel holder 3.
[0027] The towel holder 3 folds the towels received from the towel reversal device 20. The folded towels are discharged from the towel holder 3 and sorted by the worker.
[0028] The input conveyor 1, towel input device 2, and towel holder 3 can employ known technologies, such as the technology described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2017-185140.
[0029] Next, the configuration of the front-to-back reversal device 10 will be described. Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the reversal mechanism of the front-to-back reversal device 10.
[0030] As shown in Figure 3, the front-to-back reversal device 10 is configured to include three vertically connected rollers 11a to 11c, a lane 12a that guides towels between rollers 11a and 11b, a switchback lane 13 that stores towels discharged from rollers 11a and 11b and reverses the transport direction to guide tiles between rollers 11b and 11c, and a lane 12b that guides towels discharged from rollers 11b and 11c downstream (towards the front-to-back reversal device 20).
[0031] The towels are transported through lane 12a in the direction of arrow 14a between rollers 11a and 11b. The towels discharged from rollers 11a and 11b are transported to switchback lane 13 in the direction of arrow 14b and temporarily stored in switchback lane 13. In switchback lane 13, the transport direction of the tiles is reversed, and they are transported between rollers 11b and 11c in the direction of arrow 14c. The towels discharged from rollers 11a and 11b are transported downstream through lane 12b in the direction of arrow 14d. As a result, the towels are reversed in the forward and backward directions of transport.
[0032] Next, the configuration of the front-to-back reversal device 20 will be described. Figure 4 is a front view of the front / back reversal device 20.
[0033] Figure 5 is a top view of the front-to-back reversal device 20. Figure 6 shows the left side of the front / back inversion device 20.
[0034] As shown in Figures 4 to 6, the front-to-back inversion device 20 is composed of a base 21, a cylindrical drum 22, a drive unit 23 that rotates the drum 22, and two conveyors 24a and 24b that are connected vertically and hold and transport towels between them.
[0035] The drum 22 has flanges 22a at its upstream and downstream ends in the conveying direction, and is mounted on a base 21 with its rotation axis aligned with the conveying direction. The base 21 is equipped with two passive rollers 23a that receive the flanges 22a at the upstream end, two passive rollers 23a that receive the flanges 22a at the downstream end, and a drive roller 23b that contacts the inner circumferential surface of the drum 22 and transmits rotational driving force to the drum 22. The drive unit 23 consists of a motor or the like, and transmits the rotational driving force of the drive unit 23 to the drive rollers 23b via a belt 23c, thereby rotating the drum 22.
[0036] The conveyors 24a and 24b are installed inside the drum 22 with their axis of rotation aligned with the drum's axis of rotation. The conveyors 24a and 24b are connected to the inner circumferential surface of the drum 22 and rotate in conjunction with the rotation of the drum 22.
[0037] The towels are held between conveyors 24a and 24b and transported. As the drum 22 rotates, the conveyors 24a and 24b rotate 180 degrees, causing the towels to be flipped over to face the front and back sides in the direction of transport.
[0038] Next, the configuration of the reversal control device 30 will be described. The laundry inversion system 100 is equipped with a camera (not shown) that photographs towels inserted from the towel input device 2. The laundry inversion system 100 is configured to acquire image data of towels from the camera and, based on the acquired image data, recognize the logo on the towel and determine the front / back orientation and the front / back orientation of the towel in the transport direction based on the orientation of the logo, etc. The determination unit determines the orientation of the towel into one of the following four types.
[0039] The first aspect is one in which the logo, etc., faces forward and is upside down. The second aspect is one in which the logo, etc., faces the reverse side and is upside down.
[0040] The third aspect is one in which the logo, etc., faces backward and is oriented correctly both vertically and horizontally. The fourth aspect is one in which the logo, etc., is facing forward and is oriented correctly both vertically and horizontally.
[0041] Figure 7 is a flowchart showing the control process performed by the inversion control device 30. The inversion control device 30 is configured by connecting, for example, a CPU, ROM, RAM, and I / F via a bus. When the control logic is executed in the CPU, it first proceeds to step S100, as shown in Figure 7.
[0042] In step S100, the determination result is obtained from the determination unit, and the process proceeds to step S102 to determine whether the obtained determination result is the first form. If it is determined to be the first form (YES), the process proceeds to step S104 to operate the front-to-back reversal device 10 to reverse the towels in the forward and backward directions of the transport, and the series of processes is completed.
[0043] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S102 that it is not the first embodiment (NO), the process proceeds to step S106.
[0044] In step S106, it is determined whether the determination result obtained in step S100 is the second form. If it is determined to be the second form (YES), the process proceeds to step S108, where the front / back reversal device 20 is operated to reverse the towel to the front / back side in the transport direction, and the series of processes is completed.
[0045] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S106 that it is not the second form (NO), the process proceeds to step S110.
[0046] In step S110, it is determined whether the judgment result obtained in step S100 is of the third form. If it is determined to be of the third form (YES), the process proceeds to step S112, where the front-to-back reversal device 10 is operated to reverse the towels in the forward and backward directions of the transport, and the process proceeds to step S114.
[0047] In step S114, the front / back inversion device 20 is operated to invert the towel to the front / back side in the transport direction, and the series of processes is completed.
[0048] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S110 that it is not the third form (NO), the series of processes is terminated.
[0049] Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. Towels are transported from the upstream process by the input conveyor 1 and fed into the laundry reversal system 100 by the towel input device 2. If the orientation of the inserted towels is in the first configuration, the front-to-back reversal device 10 operates and reverses the towels in the forward and backward directions of the transport.
[0050] If the orientation of the inserted towel is in the second configuration, the towel is flipped over to face the front and back sides in the direction of transport by the front-to-back reversal device 20.
[0051] If the orientation of the inserted towel is that of the third configuration, the front-to-back reversal device 10 and the front-to-back reversal device 20 are activated, and the laundry is reversed in the front-to-back and front-to-back directions in the transport direction.
[0052] If the orientation of the inserted towel is that of the fourth embodiment, the towel is transported in its original orientation without the front-to-back reversal device 10 and the front-to-back reversal device 20 being activated.
[0053] In this way, the front-to-back reversal device 10 and the front-to-back reversal device 20 operate selectively depending on the orientation of the towel, and the towel is discharged from the laundry reversal system 100 in the same orientation (fourth mode). The discharged towel is folded by the towel holder 3 and sorted by the worker.
[0054] Next, the effects of this embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, the laundry reversal system 100 includes a front-to-back reversal device 10 that reverses towels in the forward and backward directions of the transport direction, a front-to-back reversal device 20 that reverses towels in the front and back directions of the transport direction, and a reversal control device 30 that selectively operates the front-to-back reversal device 10 and the front-to-back reversal device 20.
[0055] This allows for selective reversal of the towels in the forward / backward and front / back directions of the transport, thus enabling correction of the towel's orientation compared to conventional methods.
[0056] Furthermore, in this embodiment, if the determination result of the determination unit is in the first form, the reversal control device 30 operates the front-to-back reversal device 10 to reverse the towel in the front-to-back direction of the transport; if the determination result of the determination unit is in the second form, it operates the front-to-back reversal device 20 to reverse the towel in the front-to-back direction of the transport; and if the determination result of the determination unit is in the third form, it operates the front-to-back reversal device 10 and the front-to-back reversal device 20 to reverse the towel in the front-to-back and front-to-back directions of the transport.
[0057] This allows the orientation of the towel to be corrected according to four different configurations. In this embodiment, the towel corresponds to the laundry in Inventions 1 to 3, the front-to-back reversal device 10 corresponds to the front-to-back reversal means in Inventions 1 to 3, the front-to-back reversal device 20 corresponds to the front-to-back reversal means in Inventions 1 to 3, and the reversal control device 30 corresponds to the reversal control means in Inventions 1 to 3. Furthermore, the determination unit corresponds to the determination means in Invention 3.
[0058] [Variation] In the above embodiment and its modified form, the front-to-back reversal device 10 reverses the towels in the forward and backward directions of the transport direction by a switchback mechanism as shown in Figure 2. However, it is not limited to this, and any reversal mechanism that reverses the towels in the forward and backward directions of the transport direction can be used.
[0059] Furthermore, in the above embodiment and its modified form, the front-to-back inversion device 20 inverts the towels to the front and back sides in the transport direction by a drum mechanism as shown in Figures 4 to 6. However, it is not limited to this, and any inversion mechanism that inverts the towels to the front and back sides in the transport direction can be used. For example, the following configuration can be used.
[0060] Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view showing the reversal mechanism of the front / back reversal device 20. As shown in Figure 8, the front-to-back reversal device 20 is configured to include a roller 25, a lane 26 that guides the towel along the roller 25, and a lane 27 that rotates the towel 180 degrees along the roller 25 and guides it downstream (towards the towel holder 3).
[0061] The towel is conveyed to the roller 25 in the direction of arrow 28a via lane 26. The towel rotates 180 degrees between the roller 25 and lane 27 and is conveyed downstream via lane 27 in the direction of arrow 28b. This reverses the towel's front and back sides in the direction of conveyance.
[0062] With the configuration shown in Figure 8, the front-to-back inversion device 20 can be made smaller compared to the configurations shown in Figures 4 to 6.
[0063] Furthermore, in the above embodiment and its modified form, the front-to-back reversal device 10 is installed on the upstream side of the front-to-back reversal device 10 and the front-to-back reversal device 20, but the invention is not limited to this, and the front-to-back reversal device 20 can also be installed on the upstream side.
[0064] Furthermore, in the above embodiment and its modified form, the front-to-back reversal device 10 and the front-to-back reversal device 20 are installed immediately before the folding process, but the invention is not limited to this, and can be installed in the washing process, dewatering process, drying process, ironing process, or any other process.
[0065] Furthermore, while towels were used in the above embodiments and their modifications, the invention is not limited to towels, and other laundry items made of rectangular pieces of cloth can also be used.
[0066] Furthermore, in the above embodiment and its modifications, the logo on the towel was recognized, and the front-to-back orientation and front-to-back orientation of the towel in the transport direction were determined from the orientation of the logo, etc. However, the invention is not limited to this, and any determination method can be adopted.
[0067] Furthermore, the above embodiments and their modified forms (including their respective constituent technologies) are mutually applicable.
[0068] Furthermore, while the above embodiments and their modifications apply to cases such as reversing the towel in the forward / backward or front / back direction of transport, the present invention is not limited to these cases and can be applied to other cases without departing from the spirit of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]
[0069] 1…Input conveyor, 2…Towel dispenser, 3…Towel holder, 100…Laundry reversal system, 10…Front / back reversal device, 11a, 11b, 11c, 25…Rollers, 12a, 12b, 26, 27…Lanes, 13…Switchback lane, 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d, 28a, 28b…Arrows, 20…Front / back reversal device, 21…Base, 22…Drum, 22a…Flange, 23…Drive unit, 23a…Passive roller, 23b…Drive roller, 23c…Belt, 24a, 24b…Conveyor, 30…Reversal control device
Claims
1. A front-to-back reversal means for reversing laundry made of rectangular pieces of cloth in the forward and backward directions of transport, A means for reversing the laundry to the front and back sides in the transport direction, A laundry reversal system characterized by comprising a reversal control means for selectively operating the front-to-back reversal means and the front-to-back reversal means.
2. The aforementioned inversion control means is The front-to-back reversal means is operated to reverse the laundry in the forward and backward directions of the transport. The front-to-back inversion means is operated to invert the laundry so that it is front-to-back in the transport direction. A laundry inversion system characterized by operating the front-to-back inversion means and the front-to-back inversion means to invert the laundry in the front-to-back and front-to-back directions in the transport direction.
3. The aforementioned inversion control means is If the determination result of the determination means for determining the front-to-back orientation and front-to-back orientation of the laundry in the transport direction is the first orientation, the front-to-back reversal means is operated to reverse the laundry in the front-to-back orientation in the transport direction. If the determination result of the determination means is the second orientation, the front / back inversion means is operated to invert the laundry so that it is front or back in the transport direction. A laundry inversion system characterized in that, if the determination result of the determination means is a third orientation, the front-to-back inversion means and the front-to-back inversion means are operated to invert the laundry in the front-to-back and front-to-back directions of the transport direction.