Device for sorting laundry items, preferably laundry items to be cleaned
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Manual sorting of laundry is labor-intensive, prone to errors, and unhygienic, while automated sorting using data carriers is not always reliable due to readability issues and the need for data storage media.
Innovation Solution
A device equipped with an imaging device for automatic identification of sorting criteria, combined with a database and additional information recording stations, enables partially or fully automated sorting by generating images and deriving criteria for sorting, even without data carriers, through a transport system with multiple routes for efficient sorting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual sorting is used, then flexibility and adaptability are maintained, but labor intensity and error rate increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical sorting with an automated imaging-based identification system. Cameras capture images of laundry items, and image processing algorithms automatically extract sorting criteria such as color, pattern, and garment type, eliminating the need for manual visual inspection and classification.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service sorting where the laundry items themselves provide identification information through their visual characteristics. The imaging device automatically detects and extracts sorting criteria from the items without requiring external data carriers or manual intervention, allowing the items to 'identify themselves' based on their appearance.
2Extent of automation
If data carriers are used for automated sorting, then automation extent increases, but reliability decreases due to readability issues
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of relying on physical data carriers that may be damaged or unreadable, the system creates optical copies (images) of the laundry items. These images serve as reliable data sources that can be processed multiple times without degradation, extracting sorting criteria directly from the visual representation of the items.
Solution Approach 2:
The imaging device serves multiple functions: it captures item identification information, determines sorting criteria, and creates a digital record. This universal approach eliminates the need for separate data carriers while improving reliability, as the same imaging system handles both identification and sorting decision-making.
3Measurement precision
If comprehensive imaging analysis is performed, then sorting precision improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The image processing system segments the complex task of laundry sorting into distinct analytical components: color detection, pattern recognition, garment type classification, and condition assessment. Each component processes specific visual features independently, then combines results to determine comprehensive sorting criteria, managing complexity through functional segmentation.
4Loss of information
If multiple data acquisition stations are provided, then information completeness improves, but loss of time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple data acquisition functions into a single integrated imaging station. The imaging device simultaneously captures color, pattern, garment type, and condition information in one operation, eliminating the need for sequential data collection at multiple separate stations and reducing overall processing time while maintaining information completeness.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
The automatic sorting of laundry items (10) requires knowledge of all sorting criteria. Efforts are made to read these criteria from data carriers attached to the laundry items (10). A problem arises when the data carriers are missing from the laundry items (10) or cannot be read, for example, due to damage. The invention provides for deriving sorting criteria that cannot be obtained in any other way from at least one image taken by an imaging device, such as a 3D camera (26). Such sorting criteria, which cannot be derived from the image or the recording of the 3D camera (26), are derived from additional information that can be obtained in various ways. This makes it possible to sort laundry items (10) without data carriers or with damaged data carriers fully automatically or at least almost automatically.