Abstract: A method and apparatus that makes provision for a length of a transverse edge of a laundry item to be spread out to be measured upstream of a spreading device, to be precise preferably from above. It is thereby possible to individually determine the length of the transverse edge for each individual laundry item before the laundry item is situated in the spreading device. The length dimension of the transverse edge determined upstream of the spreading device can then be used to move apart the spreading clamps of the spreading device in a targeted and controlled manner in order to spread out the transverse edge in as gentle a manner as possible.

Abstract: A method and device for feeding laundry pieces to a laundry treatment installation. Laundry pieces are fed to ironers by infeed machines. In practice, a front transverse periphery of a laundry piece is folded back on itself. In order to prevent this, infeed machines have stretching installations that have belt conveyors that lie on top of one another, one of which is briefly decelerated so as to unravel a front transverse periphery of the laundry piece that is folded back on itself. This deceleration decreases the infeed performance. One belt conveyor of the present stretching installation is at least temporarily driven at a faster speed to unravel a transverse periphery of the laundry piece that has potentially folded back on itself before the laundry piece runs into the ironer, increasing the infeed performance as it is no longer necessary for either of the belt conveyors to be decelerated.

Abstract: A method and device in which a respective laundry piece initially is automatically gripped at a location and pulled apart. The automatic gripping of laundry pieces for feeding to an infeed machine requires a plurality of handling procedures which for reliable automation have to be coordinated. The laundry piece is subsequently reoriented such that said laundry piece can be acquired in a manner which is favorable in terms of the subsequent steps, which can take place in front of a wall that stabilizes the laundry piece. Once the laundry piece has been gripped in the region of a periphery, the laundry piece, as a function of which periphery has been gripped and by way of which alignment the laundry piece is to be fed to the infeed machine, is pulled longitudinally or transversely onto a conveyor that transports said laundry piece to the infeed machine.

Abstract: In commercial laundries, textile items are treated in batches. This applies in particular to washing in continuous washing machines and to drying in tumble driers. Such a batch-wise treatment has to be carried out such that the treatment does justice to all textile items of the batch. The textile items are mixed in the batch-wise treatment, making it necessary to sort the batches again after the treatment, namely, the textile items have to be identified again after the treatment. The invention provides that the textile items are individually treated in succession, resulting in an individual treatment of each textile item being implemented. Damage to the textile items or wrong treatments are thus avoided. The textile items are treated while maintaining the sequence of the textile items, on account of which the textile items are not mixed and do not have to be sorted again at the end of the treatment.

Abstract: A device and method for providing temporary storage of dirty washing in a store in front of the continuous washing machines to be loaded. The laundry reaches the store by a first non-constant conveyor, is taken from the store by a second non-constant conveyor and transported to the continuous washing machine which is then loaded with this laundry. In commercial laundries, for example, continuous washing machines are loaded with dirty washing from laundry bags. The laundry bags hang from a rail transport system and are partly transported to the continuous washing machines under force of gravity. The laundry bags in the rail transport system establish the order of loading of the continuous washing machine. The rail transport systems are extremely susceptible to fault, in particular in their downward sloping sections for transport under force of gravity, and require a great deal of space in the laundry.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for transferring items of laundry after being separated first of all to a transfer device which then transfers the individual items of laundry to a loading device. The items of laundry are then hung individually by clips of the loading device into a clip which is in each case held ready and is to be loaded on the conveyor. Items of laundry can thereby be rapidly and reliably hung fully automatically into the clips to be loaded.

Abstract: Providing a boiler in the interior of the mangle body, for heating up a gas in particular by an infrared radiant heater, which heats up a heat transfer medium in the cavity of a double-walled shell of the mangle body. The pressing surface of the mangle body can be heated up effectively and in a targeted manner by this heat transfer medium in the cavity of the double-walled shell of the mangle. Belt mangles are known, in the case of which a circumferentially driven mangling belt runs along the outside of the stationary mangle body, which mangling belt transports the laundry items to be mangled on the smooth pressing surface of the mangle body by entrainment. The heating of the pressing surface has been shown to be ineffective in the case of these known belt mangles.

Abstract: A method for inspecting work coats by x-raying, in which the x-ray radiation is shielded or reduced by x-raying in a chamber or spatially sufficiently remote from the persons so that the persons are not exposed to impermissibly high levels of radiation, for use in freeing used textile articles such as work coats from foreign bodies before being treated in laundries, which has previously been done manually, which is time-consuming and in itself entails a risk of injury to the persons freeing the work coats from foreign bodies.

Abstract: For washed laundry items, such as flat laundry items, that have been separated into singles, spread out and fed to a mangle or the like, for automating these processes a method and device for pulling the singles onto a belt conveyor with a front transverse edge region transversely to the feed direction. Using a guide means in front of the belt conveyor, a front transverse edge of the laundry item is aligned at right angles to the feed direction when being pulled. Once pulled on, the laundry item is centered with respect to the track center of the following transfer conveyor by the belt conveyor. From the belt conveyor the laundry item is placed on a following transfer conveyor where the front transverse edge of the laundry item is aligned at right angles to the feed direction and a sagging of the transverse edge of the laundry item is eliminated.

Abstract: Laundry items by way of devices are fed to mangles, for example. The laundry items by way of the corners thereof are transferred to clamps, for example spreader clamps during the feeding procedure. Tails of the laundry item that project beyond the clamping locations of the spreader clamps are usually formed herein. Said tails lead to so-called ears in particular on the front periphery of the laundry item that is tautly stretched by the spreader clamps. Said ears compromise the quality of the laundry items, specifically of mangled laundry items. The invention provides for the tails in the spreader clamps to be eliminated in that the tails are transported through the spreader clamps so far until the corners of the laundry item are still held in the spreader clamps only at the outermost corner points. The tails are effectively eliminated in that ears can no longer be formed.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: A method and apparatus that makes provision for two identical folding machines to be arranged one beside the other, and for these to be operated synchronously, so that the large operating width which is necessary for ironing large laundry items, in particular transversely, is also available for folding such laundry items. If large laundry items are to be ironed, and folded, in particular transversely, this requires ironers and folding machines with an appropriately large operating width. Such large operating widths currently cannot be realized technologically in folding machines.

Abstract: A method that facilitates the automatic identification of the long edge or the short edge of the item of laundry by determining the lengths or the angles of the edge areas of the item of laundry extending from a lower corner of the item of laundry. It may be derived from the determined angles or lengths of the edge areas whether the respective edge area belongs to the long edge or to the short edge of the item of laundry. With this information, a targeted transverse or longitudinal feed of rectangular items of laundry may be carried out to a downstream inserting machine. The fully automated feeding of items of laundry to, for example, an inserting machine is carried out in a targeted way with either the long edge of the item of laundry extending transversely to the feed direction or the short edge extending transversely to the feed direction.

Abstract: The automatic supply of items of laundry to a feeding machine for supplying the items of laundry to a mangle requires the formation of adjacent corners of an edge of the item of laundry, which edge is to be spread upstream of the feeding machine, which hitherto has not been able to be achieved automatically with sufficient reliability. The invention brings the respective item of laundry into a U-shaped configuration before same is supplied to the feeding machine and, starting from said configuration, to stretch apart said item of laundry with a spreading device having a conveyor cascade. This reliably forms the adjacent corners of the edge, which is to be stretched out, of the item of laundry, said corners being required for automatically feeding the item of laundry into the feeding machine. A reliable automatic supply of the respective item of laundry to the feeding machine is therefore ensured.

Abstract: A method that provides to partially automate the feeding of pieces of laundry to an insertion machine by steps which necessitate long distances to be traveled being performed manually. With large pieces of laundry such as, for example, tablecloths and bed sheets, for complete automation a large amount of space is required and the clamps holding corners of the pieces of laundry are required to travel long distances. To achieve this, it is provided to temporarily store the respective piece of laundry after it has been separated and before it is delivered to an insertion machine. It is furthermore provided that in a first corner of the piece of laundry is supplied or held ready by an automatic separator for an operator to manually locate the second corner of the piece of laundry. Partial automation can be achieved without the cycle time being adversely affected owing to manual handling processes.

Abstract: A method and device allowing the items of laundry which are to be ironed to enter the ironer gap in a manner directed downwards. For this purpose, the inlet region is preferably arranged below the outlet region. The invention ensures a disturbance-free and crease-free entry of items of laundry to be ironed into the band ironer. In the case of band ironers, the inlet region, and outlet region have to lie tightly together in order to bring about as large a wrapping angle of the ironer body by means of the ironer band as possible. This makes the inlet of items of laundry to be ironed into the ironer gap emerging from the inlet region problematic. This invention described herein provides a solution to this problem.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for a transfer operation of items of laundry to be automated by a handling device, which is designed for example in the form of a handling robot. Up until now, items of laundry have been transferred usually manually from a supply conveyor to loading conveyors of, for example, feeding machines. This is work-intensive and time-consuming.

Abstract: Washed laundry that has been rinsed still contains bound acidic or basic rinsing liquid. In many cases this must be neutralized. This used to be conducted on the basis of values gained from experience, which generally resulted in only partial neutralization. Herein, sample liquid is taken continuously from the neutralization chamber (18) and, after the fine filtration of same, the pH value of the sample liquid is continuously measured by a pH value measurement device (31). In this manner a pH value control system is possible which ensures an automatic and complete neutralization of the rinse liquid still bound in the laundry after rinsing.

Abstract: Ironers are provided with spiral wrappings for the ironer roll thereof and ironer belts which are subjected to significant stress during the ironing process. This leads to settling phenomena and to warpage in the known spiral wrappings and ironer belts, whereby the ironing quality is impaired. The object of the invention is to form the spiral wrapping and/or the ironer belt from a base layer and a non-woven fabric layer assigned to this base layer on at least one side. The non-woven fabric layer is preferably connected to the base layer by needling. The base layer forms a stable three-dimensional support layer for the non-woven fabric layer, whereby the ironer belt and/or the spiral wrapping may be effectively stabilized and as a result may be used for a longer period of time without settling phenomena and warpage.

Abstract: Methods and apparatuses that provide for laundry to be washed and rinsed in a washing device in a state in which it lies spread out on an upper strand of a belt conveyor and, directly thereafter, to be dried in a likewise spread-out state on an upper strand of a belt conveyor. During the washing, rinsing and also the drying operations, the laundry rests on the belt conveyors, which also transport the laundry through the washing device and the dryer. The items of laundry here are washed, and also rinsed, by being sprayed with jets of liquid. The procedure described provides for a compact washing and drying system and is gentler on the items of laundry.