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: 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: In band ironers, laundry items are moved along a pressing surface of a stationary ironer roller by an ironer band that entrains the laundry items, wherein the laundry items slide with slip along a lateral surface of the ironer roller. As the speed of the ironer increases, slip between the laundry items and the lateral surface of the ironer roller increases. When the desired ironing quality makes less slip necessary, the circumferential speed of the ironer band has to be reduced, and the throughput of the band ironer suffers. The invention is to drive the ironer roller in a circumferential manner wherein the slip between the ironer roller and the laundry items is adjusted in an arbitrary manner as a result of adjusting the rotational speed of the drive of the ironer roller and/or the circumferential speed of the ironer band without reducing the throughput of the band ironer.

Abstract: An apparatus whereby laundry items are fed automatically to a mangle. This is achieved in that splaying clamps are movable by a linear motor, wherein slides are assigned to a primary part of the linear motor or form the primary parts of the linear motor and a rail is assigned to a secondary part of the linear motor or forms the secondary part. Laundry items are fed in industrial laundry facilities to a mangle in an outspread state. This is performed by machine using apparatuses for feeding laundry items. Each laundry item attached to splaying clamps is deposited with an outspread front edge arranged to the front onto a feeding conveyor, which feeds the laundry item in the outspread state to the mangle. Here, the splaying can mean that the laundry item either is not completely outspread or that the laundry item is tensioned such that it is damaged irreversibly.

Abstract: A method and device for directly determining the region of the respective laundry item to be inserted into a clamp. In this way, it is possible to determine whether the clamp has actually been loaded with a laundry item and whether the region of the laundry item designated for this has also been properly inserted into the clamp. During the transport and the spreading out of laundry items being washed it is customary at commercial laundry establishments to hang the laundry items from clamps, which are transported further by a conveyor to various processing stations. It happens that the clamps may move away before having been loaded with the laundry item. This results in operational disruptions in most cases.

Abstract: Items of laundry are fed from an input machine to a mangle or some other laundry-treatment arrangement. Operating personnel are employed to feed the input machine with the items of laundry. This is costly in terms of time and personnel. The invention makes provision for determining surface profiles of the items of laundry by means of imaging installations. From these surface profiles a location for the automatic gripping of the item of laundry or of a corner of same, and preferably also the position of the location or corner, is determined by electronic image processing, whereby the location or corner of the item of laundry can be securely gripped in an automatic and targeted manner. By virtue of the described measures, hitherto manual activities in front of the input machine can be easily performed in a reliable and fully-automatic mode.

Abstract: Items of laundry are fed to mangles by insertion machines, which have a spreading device with moveable spreading clips which spread out and center a front transverse edge of the item of laundry upstream of a feed conveyor. A plurality of loading stations are located upstream of the spreading device. The spreading clips retrieve an item of laundry from the loading stations, which, in the case of outer loading stations, requires long movement distances of the spreading clips, which reduces the cycle time of the insertion machine. The invention makes provision to transfer items of laundry from outer loading stations to transfer clips which move the items of laundry from the outer loading stations into the vicinity of the center of the feed conveyor, then transfer the item of laundry to the spreading clips in the center of the feed conveyor, thus reducing the travel distances of the spreading clips.

Abstract: For the purpose of delivering a laundry item (10) to an ironer, the laundry item (10) is spread, by opposite corners of a lateral edge (20), by means of spreader clips (18, 19). In this case, deformations, or “ear formation” may occur at the corner regions (12, 13) of the laundry item (10) that are gripped by the spreader clips (18, 19). This “ear formation” is mostly irreversible, and in the long term results in damage to the laundry items (10). The invention creates a method and a device by which the laundry item (10) is delivered to an ironer in a gentle manner. For this purpose, at least one corner region (12, 13) of the laundry item (10) that is gripped by a spreader clip (18, 19) is captured by an imaging means as the laundry item (10) is being spread.

Abstract: The sorting of laundry items, in particular dirty laundry items, has hitherto been carried out manually in most cases, which is costly in terms of personnel and time. High sorting capacities are therefore only possible with the corresponding personnel expenses. The invention provides that, at the start of sorting, specifically during their separation, and prior to their further transport to the individual sorting sites, the dirty laundry items are scanned by imaging techniques and, as a result of the appropriate image analysis, it is possible to determine the areas of the dirty laundry items to be preferably gripped and/or at least a number of sorting criteria, such as size and color. These measures result in a largely automated sorting procedure. These measures can be extended so as to achieve a fully automatic sorting procedure.

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: An apparatus whereby laundry items are fed automatically to a mangle. This is achieved in that splaying clamps are movable by a linear motor, wherein slides are assigned to a primary part of the linear motor or form the primary parts of the linear motor and a rail is assigned to a secondary part of the linear motor or forms the secondary part. Laundry items are fed in industrial laundry facilities to a mangle in an outspread state. This is performed by machine using apparatuses for feeding laundry items. Each laundry item attached to splaying clamps is deposited with an outspread front edge arranged to the front onto a feeding conveyor, which feeds the laundry item in the outspread state to the mangle. Here, the splaying can mean that the laundry item either is not completely outspread or that the laundry item is tensioned such that it is damaged irreversibly.

Abstract: A method for providing fresh air fed through a fan to a burner of a dryer, thereby charging the burner, when the dryer is operated with recirculating air. In commercial dryers in which the drying air is heated by a burner, it is customary to reuse the moist air leaving a drum containing the laundry to be dried as recirculating air. The recirculating air component is increased with increasing drying of the laundry. At the end of the drying operation, when the moist air no longer contains as much moisture as at the start, the moist air is used as recirculating air. The burner then no longer gets enough combustion air, which leads to an incomplete combustion. The dryer can be operated with a higher recirculating air component, an optimal combustion being guaranteed through the charging of the burner with fresh air. The invention permits more economical drying.

Abstract: For the purpose of delivering a laundry item (10) to an ironer, the laundry item (10) is spread, by opposite corners of a lateral edge (20), by means of spreader clips (18, 19). In this case, deformations, or “ear formation” may occur at the corner regions (12, 13) of the laundry item (10) that are gripped by the spreader clips (18, 19). This “ear formation” is mostly irreversible, and in the long term results in damage to the laundry items (10). The invention creates a method and a device by which the laundry item (10) is delivered to an ironer in a gentle manner. For this purpose, at least one corner region (12, 13) of the laundry item (10) that is gripped by a spreader clip (18, 19) is captured by an imaging means as the laundry item (10) is being spread.

Abstract: A device for the sealing of an external drum of a continuous-flow washing machines in relation to the internal drum in a more reliable manner and to prevent the risk of treatment liquid flooding from the one treatment chamber into the adjacent treatment chamber if a seal leaks by providing separate seals between adjacent external drums by each of the end faces of the adjacent external drums which point to one another having assigned thereto an own, preferably identically realized seal. In continuous-flow washing machines stationary external drums are assigned to some treatment chambers in a rotatingly drivable internal drum. Said stationary external drums have to be sealed relative to the treatment chambers of the rotatable internal drum. If one common seal is provided between adjacent external drums, if there are leaks, this results in total failure with treatment liquid flooding from the external drum into the adjacent external drum.

Abstract: Contaminants, in particular stains, of cleaned or washed items of laundry can be on both sides. Therefore, it is necessary to examine washed or cleaned items of laundry on each side in respect of contaminants. This is very complicated. The invention provides for illuminating or transilluminating the items of laundry from one side by a lighting apparatus, as a result of which contaminants on this illuminated or transilluminated side of the items of laundry shine through to the opposite side. As a result, contaminants on both sides of the items of laundry are establishable from one side, which is directed away from the lighting apparatus, by way of a camera or the like. Therefore, as a result of the invention, it is not necessary to examine both sides of the items of laundry, either simultaneously or in succession, in respect of the presence of contaminants.

Abstract: In band ironers, laundry items are moved along a pressing surface of a stationary ironer roller by an ironer band that entrains the laundry items, wherein the laundry items slide with slip along a lateral surface of the ironer roller. As the speed of the ironer increases, slip between the laundry items and the lateral surface of the ironer roller increases. When the desired ironing quality makes less slip necessary, the circumferential speed of the ironer band has to be reduced, and the throughput of the band ironer suffers. The invention is to drive the ironer roller in a circumferential manner wherein the slip between the ironer roller and the laundry items is adjusted in an arbitrary manner as a result of adjusting the rotational speed of the drive of the ironer roller and/or the circumferential speed of the ironer band without reducing the throughput of the band ironer.

Abstract: Belt mangles, in which a revolvingly driven mangle belt runs along on the outside of the mangle body which is curved in a trough-like manner, convey in an entrained manner laundry items to be mangled along a smooth flattening face of the mangle body. Slippage between the mangle belt and the laundry items, which causes the quality of mangling to suffer, can occur. A mangle belt is provided with a structured outer face to bear on the laundry items to be entrained. The outer face is formed from a needled felt from highly temperature-resistant man-made fibers. On account of the structuring of the outer face of the mangle belt, a rough entrainment face or adhesion face, respectively, for the laundry items, that ensures slippage-free entrainment of the laundry items by the mangle belt while conveying the laundry items along the flattening face of the mangle body, is created.

Abstract: Items of laundry are fed from an input machine to a mangle or some other laundry-treatment arrangement. Operating personnel are employed to feed the input machine with the items of laundry. This is costly in terms of time and personnel. The invention makes provision for determining surface profiles of the items of laundry by means of imaging installations. From these surface profiles a location for the automatic gripping of the item of laundry or of a corner of same, and preferably also the position of the location or corner, is determined by electronic image processing, whereby the location or corner of the item of laundry can be securely gripped in an automatic and targeted manner. By virtue of the described measures, hitherto manual activities in front of the input machine can be easily performed in a reliable and fully-automatic mode.

Abstract: The sorting of laundry items, in particular dirty laundry items, has hitherto been carried out manually in most cases, which is costly in terms of personnel and time. High sorting capacities are therefore only possible with the corresponding personnel expenses. The invention provides that, at the start of sorting, specifically during their separation, and prior to their further transport to the individual sorting sites, the dirty laundry items are scanned by imaging techniques and, as a result of the appropriate image analysis, it is possible to determine the areas of the dirty laundry items to be preferably gripped and/or at least a number of sorting criteria, such as size and color. These measures result in a largely automated sorting procedure. These measures can be extended so as to achieve a fully automatic sorting procedure.

Abstract: A device for the sealing of an external drum of a continuous-flow washing machines in relation to the internal drum in a more reliable manner and to prevent the risk of treatment liquid flooding from the one treatment chamber into the adjacent treatment chamber if a seal leaks by providing separate seals between adjacent external drums by each of the end faces of the adjacent external drums which point to one another having assigned thereto an own, preferably identically realized seal. In continuous-flow washing machines stationary external drums are assigned to some treatment chambers in a rotatingly drivable internal drum. Said stationary external drums have to be sealed relative to the treatment chambers of the rotatable internal drum. If one common seal is provided between adjacent external drums, if there are leaks, this results in total failure with treatment liquid flooding from the external drum into the adjacent external drum.