Laundry Item Separation and Diagonal Measurement on Conveyors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automated laundry separation methods are unreliable, leading to incomplete separation of items before sorting, which is crucial for proper laundry treatment.
Innovation Solution
A method where the gripper places laundry items on a conveyor with only the rear corner of the last item fixed, allowing the others to slide off, and then uses a combination of pivoting conveyors and sensors to ensure accurate measurement and separation by diagonally aligning items with opposite corners on the conveyor, enabling reliable identification and sorting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple laundry items are placed on the conveyor by the gripper, then the separation process can handle multiple items simultaneously, but multiple items remain on the conveyor instead of being separated individually
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the problem of multiple items remaining on the conveyor by introducing a dedicated separation means that actively removes excess items. The separation means is configured to detect when multiple items are on the conveyor and selectively removes all but one item, ensuring complete separation while maintaining the ability to process multiple items simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback through detection means that monitor the number of items on the conveyor in real-time. When multiple items are detected, the system triggers the separation means to remove excess items. This closed-loop feedback ensures reliable separation while allowing batch processing, resolving the contradiction between productivity and separation completeness.
2Ease of operation
If the gripper places laundry items without specific orientation, then the placement process is simple and fast, but the items cannot be reliably measured and sorted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by having the gripper place items in a standardized manner (with corners aligned) before measurement occurs. This preliminary positioning ensures that subsequent measurement means can accurately determine item dimensions without requiring complex real-time orientation adjustments, maintaining both simplicity and measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses local quality by requiring only that specific corners of the laundry items be aligned during placement, rather than requiring perfect orientation of the entire item. This localized alignment requirement simplifies the placement process while providing sufficient geometric reference points for accurate measurement and sorting.
3Stability of the object's composition
If all laundry items are fixed on the conveyor, then items remain stable during transport, but multiple items cannot be separated as they remain stuck to the conveyor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by fixing only the necessary portion of each laundry item (specific corners) to the conveyor, rather than fixing the entire item. This localized fixation provides sufficient stability for transport while leaving other portions free to allow for reliable separation when needed, resolving the contradiction between stability and separability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the fixation approach by using separate fixation means for different items on the conveyor. The system can selectively fix individual items at specific locations while leaving other items unfixed, enabling stable transport of fixed items and reliable separation of unfixed items, thus resolving the stability versus separation reliability contradiction.
Data Source
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AI summary
Laundry items are sorted in laundries, especially before washing. This sorting should be as automatic as possible. Previous automatic sorting of items of laundry only works to a limited extent. The invention aims to create a reliable automatic sorting of laundry items. For this purpose, several items of laundry that are gripped at the same time are separated by a gripping device (20) after they have been gripped. After a piece of laundry has been reliably separated, it is measured in the stretched state on a conveyor. The distance between two diagonally opposite corners of the item of laundry on the conveyor is preferably determined. In this way, there is always a very precise automatic measurement of only a single item of laundry.