Device for sorting of laundry items, preferably laundry items for cleaning
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Solution Overview
Problem
The manual sorting of laundry items for cleaning is labor-intensive, prone to errors, and unhygienic, and existing automated systems face challenges with damaged or unreadable data storage media, leading to mixed sorting processes.
Innovation Solution
A method and device that utilize imaging devices to create three-dimensional recordings of laundry items, adding supplemental information to derive sorting criteria, and store these in a database for self-learning and automatic sorting, allowing for fully automated sorting even without data storage media.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual sorting is used for laundry items, then flexibility and adaptability to various sorting criteria are maintained, but labor intensity increases and hygiene conditions deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical sorting operations with an automated system comprising imaging devices (cameras), transport systems, and control units. The imaging devices capture images of laundry items, the control unit processes these images to determine sorting criteria, and the transport system automatically directs items to appropriate sorting stations, eliminating the need for manual handling and improving hygiene while reducing labor intensity.
2Extent of automation
If data storage media (RFID chips) are used for automated sorting, then automation level increases, but reliability decreases due to damaged or unreadable media
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses imaging devices to create visual copies (images) of laundry items as an alternative to relying on physical data storage media like RFID chips. These images serve as reliable data representations that can be processed without the issues of damaged or unreadable electronic media, maintaining automation while improving reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of information representation from electronic data storage (RFID) to optical data capture (imaging). This parameter change allows the system to extract sorting criteria directly from visual features of the laundry items, bypassing the reliability issues associated with electronic data storage and reading.
3Reliability
If imaging devices are used to create recordings of laundry items, then automation level increases and reliability improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The imaging devices serve multiple functions: they capture images for identification, extract sorting criteria, and provide visual records for verification. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate specialized devices for each function, thereby managing system complexity while maintaining high reliability through comprehensive data capture.
4Manufacturing precision
If supplemental information is added to recordings, then sorting precision improves, but loss of time increases due to additional data processing
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by capturing comprehensive images and extracting multiple sorting criteria simultaneously during the initial imaging phase, rather than sequentially gathering information. This preliminary extraction of color, shape, size, and other features reduces subsequent processing time while maintaining high sorting precision through multi-criteria evaluation.
Data Source
AI summary
The automatic sorting of laundry items requires a knowledge of all sorting criteria. One strives to read these out from data storage media attached to the laundry items. The problem is when laundry items lack data storage media, or they are not readable because they have been damaged, for example. The invention calls for deriving sorting criteria which cannot be otherwise obtained from at least one imaging recording of an imaging device, such as a 3D-camera. Such sorting criteria, which cannot be derived from the picture or recording of the 3D-camera, are derived from supplemental information which can be obtained in different ways. Thus, it is also possible to sort laundry items without data storage medium or with damaged data storage media in a fully automatic or at least largely automatic manner.