Laundry Feed Conveyor Speed Differentials for Edge Unfolding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing devices for feeding laundry to laundry treatment devices, such as ironers, often fail to ensure that larger items are spread out and smoothed adequately, leading to impaired ironing quality due to folded edges and wrinkles.
Innovation Solution
A device featuring pairs of belt conveyors with independent drives, where one belt conveyor can temporarily operate at a higher speed than the other, creating a slipping action to stretch and smooth out laundry items, while a wedge-shaped stretching gap and varying friction surfaces on the belts ensure effective unfolding and smoothing without reducing feed speed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a single belt conveyor is used to feed laundry items, then the device complexity is low, but the ability to stretch and smooth laundry items is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The conveyor system is segmented into multiple independent belt conveyors (first, second, third, and fourth belt conveyors) that can operate independently. Each belt conveyor can be controlled separately to create differential speed movements, enabling stretching and smoothing of laundry items without requiring a single complex conveyor unit.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs dynamic speed control where belt conveyors can temporarily operate at different speeds. The variable-speed drive allows the second belt conveyor to be driven at a higher speed than the first belt conveyor during stretching phases, creating a dynamic stretching action that smooths the laundry items while maintaining feeding continuity.
2Manufacturing precision
If the feed conveyor is decelerated to smooth folded edges, then the smoothing quality improves, but the productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of decelerating the entire feed conveyor, the system dynamically adjusts only the speed of specific belt conveyors (second and fourth) relative to others during stretching phases. This localized dynamic speed adjustment smooths folded edges while the overall feeding rhythm is maintained, preventing productivity loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The stretching action is applied periodically through temporary speed increases of specific belt conveyors rather than continuous deceleration. The variable-speed drive enables periodic stretching cycles that smooth edges intermittently, allowing the feed conveyor to maintain its overall feeding speed and productivity.
3Manufacturing precision
If one belt conveyor is driven at higher speed temporarily, then the stretching and smoothing effect improves, but the risk of slippage between belt and laundry increases
Solution Approach 1:
The belt conveyors have differentiated surface properties - the first and third belt conveyors have high-friction surfaces for reliable gripping, while the second and fourth belt conveyors have low-friction surfaces that allow controlled slippage. This local quality differentiation enables the system to achieve stretching through controlled slippage on specific belts without compromising overall reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the friction parameter of belt surfaces by using different material properties (high-friction vs. low-friction surfaces). This parameter change allows the belt conveyors to transition between gripping and slipping states as needed, enabling stretching action while maintaining controlled contact stability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution ensures that laundry items are fed to treatment devices with minimal wrinkles and folded edges, maintaining high ironing quality by continuously driving one belt conveyor at a constant speed and temporarily increasing the speed of the other, resulting in improved feeding performance without impairing the subsequent treatment process.
Implementation Method 1
the belts of each pair of superimposed conveyor belts are designed to allow slippage between the conveyor belt, which is driven at least temporarily or at a slightly faster speed, and the laundry item
Data Source
AI summary
Laundry items (11) are fed from infeed machines (10) to mangles (12). In practice, it sometimes happens that a front transverse edge (20) of the laundry item (11) is folded over. To prevent this, infeed machines (10) have stretching devices (22). These have superimposed belt conveyors (24, 25), one of which is briefly braked to remove a folded-over front transverse edge (20) of the laundry item (11). This braking reduces the infeed rate. The invention provides to drive one belt conveyor (25) of the stretching device (22) at a faster speed, at least temporarily, and thereby remove any folded-over transverse edge (20) of the laundry item (11) before the laundry item (11) enters the mangle (12). This increases the infeed rate because neither of the belt conveyors (24, 25) needs to be braked anymore.