Automatic cloth feeder
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current automatic cloth feeding systems face challenges in maintaining balance and efficiency, particularly in detecting and unfolding trailing ends of cloth at high speeds, leading to delays and limited buffering capacity, despite advancements in feeder technologies like JP-A-10-5500 and WO 2005/014918 A2.
Innovation Solution
An automatic cloth feeder with a feeding conveyor, sensors to detect trailing ends, and a keeping-transferring part with unfolding members that hold and convert trailing ends into leading ends, allowing for smoother operation and increased buffering capacity by maintaining orthogonal unfolding and holding directions, and incorporating a trailing end separating mechanism to promote flapping and support at the central portion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the unfolding members are positioned close to the lifting means to enable compact design, then the device complexity is reduced, but the unfolding members may interfere with the lifting means operation
Solution Approach 1:
The holding pieces are designed to be movable between open and closed states. When approaching the lifting means, the holding pieces are in an open state to avoid interference, and when at the positioning position, they close to hold the trailing ends. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction by making the structure adaptable to different operational phases.
Solution Approach 2:
The holding pieces open and close in a direction substantially orthogonal to the unfolding direction of the cloth. This dimensional change allows the holding pieces to clear the lifting means path while maintaining their holding function at the target position, resolving the spatial interference issue.
2Volume of moving object
If the cloth movement distance per station is kept short to reduce station size, then the device footprint is reduced, but the buffering capacity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system maintains continuous operation by having multiple stations working in sequence with overlapping operations. While one station is unfolding cloth, another is positioning, and a third is preparing the next cloth item. This continuous flow increases effective buffering capacity without requiring larger individual station footprints.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensors detect trailing ends in advance during the conveyance process, allowing the keeping-transferring part to prepare for holding and unfolding before the cloth actually arrives at the processing position. This preliminary detection and preparation enables smoother, faster operations that increase throughput and effective buffering.
3Reliability
If the holding pieces are designed to close firmly to ensure reliable cloth holding, then the reliability is improved, but the speed of opening and closing operations decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The holding pieces are designed with dynamic opening and closing capability, allowing them to quickly transition between states. The mechanical design enables rapid opening when approaching the lifting means and quick closing when positioning, maintaining both speed and reliability through optimized dynamic response.
Solution Approach 2:
The holding pieces operate in periodic cycles of opening and closing synchronized with the cloth conveyance and positioning rhythm. This periodic action allows the system to optimize for speed during the opening phase and for reliability during the closing and holding phase, achieving both objectives through time-separated operations.
4Loss of time
If sensors are positioned to detect trailing ends early in the conveyance process, then the detection time is reduced, but the precision of detecting the exact trailing end position may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The detection process is segmented into two phases: preliminary detection by sensors during conveyance to identify the general location and timing, and precise positioning by the keeping-transferring part when the cloth arrives at the processing position. This segmentation allows early detection for timing purposes while maintaining precision for actual positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensors serve as an intermediary detection mechanism that provides early warning of trailing end approach, allowing the system to prepare for the main holding and unfolding operation. The keeping-transferring part then acts as the primary precision mechanism for accurate positioning, with the sensor detection serving as a preparatory intermediate step.
Data Source
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AI summary
The total amount of treatment is increased by realizing reliability and high speed through processes of respective parts that convey cloth, and detect, unfold, and feed a trailing end of the cloth. In an automatic cloth feeder that conveys cloth with a feeding conveyor, detects a trailing end of the cloth to hold the trailing end with a keeping-transferring part in the process of conveyance, and feeds the trailing end of the cloth into a process as a leading end, the keeping-transferring part having a pair of unfolding members 37 and 38 provided as one set are provided on an outlet side of the feeding conveyor 20 in order to hold the left and right trailing ends 37a, 37b, 38a, and 38b of the cloth, and the keeping-transferring part has holding pieces that are opened and closed substantially to the right and the left as seen from the top or from the front, and is configured so as to hold the trailing ends of the cloth that is in a positional relationship of approaching lifting means 39 but not coming into contact with the lifting means, in an open state and that is at the position of the lifting means in a closed state.