Abstract:
A method of processing at least one garment involves a local environment with ambient moisture, a garment having a moisture content, a plurality of work stations, and a threshold amount of moisture. The plurality of work stations operate according to a plurality of parameters. The threshold amount of moisture is the amount of ambient moisture naturally absorbed by the garment. The method includes a processing step, a measuring step, a determining step and an adjusting step. The garment is processed through at least one of the work stations during the processing step. During the measuring step, the moisture content of the garment is measured. The relationship between the measured moisture content and the threshold amount of moisture is determined during the determining step. And, at least one parameter is adjusted based on the relationship between the measured moisture content and the threshold amount of moisture during the adjusting step.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/344,298 filed on Dec. 26, 2008, which in turn claimed priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/016,961 filed Dec. 27, 2007 and each of these prior applications is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Industrial and commercial laundering facilities have the capability of processing thousands of garments a day. As a result of this capacity, it may be beneficial to better define process controls to reduce cost and increase efficiency. Garments may naturally absorb ambient moisture present in the local environment. Consequently, it may be a waste of resources and inefficient to dry garments below a threshold moisture content (i.e. the ambient level of moisture). Therefore, it may be beneficial to monitor the moisture content of a garment at one or more points during the laundering process to allow process parameters to be adjusted to reduce cost and increase efficiency. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  depicts a prior art moisture meter. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic representation of a generally-known example of a process for laundering, drying and sorting garments. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic representation of the process shown in  FIG. 2  incorporating the step of measuring the moisture content of one or more garments. 
         FIG. 4  depicts the energy usage data presented in Table C. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring now to the figures,  FIG. 2  shows a schematic of a generally-known process for laundering, drying, and sorting garments. While the steps and work stations involved in the processes shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3  will be described in a particular order, it will be appreciated that the steps and work stations involved in these processes may be arranged in any suitable order. As will be described herein, the inventive method of the present invention is an adaptation of this prior art method of garment processing. As used herein, “garments” includes clothing as well as any other washable items comprised of fabric including but not limited to towels, linens, mop heads, rugs or any other suitable item. 
     Garments  12 , which may be soiled, may be delivered to the laundering facility by delivery vehicles, which may be delivery trucks. This incoming delivery step is indicated by box  10  in  FIG. 2 . Each delivery of soiled garments  12  corresponds to a specific route. The soiled garments  12  are unloaded from the vehicle and may undergo a pre-wash sorting  20  where the garments  12  may be separated by the type of garment  12  (e.g. garage wear, lab wear, etc.), by color (e.g. light, dark, etc.) or any other suitable characteristic. 
     After the pre-wash sort  20 , the garments  12  may be transferred to a washing work station  30 , which may comprise washing machines, where the garments  12  are washed. For the purposes of this description, “wash”, “washing” and “washed” may mean traditional laundering, dry cleaning, and any other suitable method or process and “washing machine” may refer to an apparatus for washing or any other suitable device. After being processed through the washing work station  30 , the garments  12  are processed through a drying work station  40 , during which the garments  12  may be dried using dryers, by passing through a steam tunnel or any other suitable method or device. Once dried, the garments  12  are transferred to an inspection work station  50 . At the inspection work station  50 , a worker may inspect the garments for damage such as rips, tears, missing buttons and such. 
     After inspection, each garment  12  is configured for processing and placed on a conveyor. Garments  12  may be configured for processing by being hung on hangers, folded or by undergoing any other suitable preparation. The garments  12  may be delivered as configured for processing or may be subsequently configured for delivery by being hung on hangers, folded or by undergoing any other suitable preparation. In one embodiment, a garment  12  is configured for processing by being hung from a clothes hanger where the hanger is attached to a carrier that interfaces with the conveyor. If the garment  12  is in satisfactory condition, the garment  12  may be transferred to a sorting and storage work station  75 . Alternatively, if the garment  12  has sustained some damage and is in need of repair, the garment  12  may be transferred to a repair work station  70 . Once the garment  12  has been repaired, the garment  12  may be transferred to the sorting and storage work station  75 . Additionally, the garments  12  may be steamed or pressed any time after washing, or not at all, and do not necessarily have to be steamed or pressed prior to sorting. 
     At the sorting and storage station  75 , the garment  12  may be directed to a pre-sort buffer (not shown) determined by the delivery route for the garment  12 . The pre-sort buffer may consist of several rails, where each route is temporarily assigned to one or more rails. Once all, or a substantial majority, of the garments  12  for a route are collected on a rail, the garments  12  may be directly conveyed to a sorter (not shown) where they are sorted by delivery sequence within the route. Once sorted, the garments  12  may be automatically and immediately conveyed to storage where they are stored until they are scheduled for loading and delivery  90 . 
     Alternatively, the sorting and storage station  75  may incorporate a multi-destination storage capability (not shown) in lieu of a pre-sort buffer. In this version, the garments  12  may be grouped together in storage based on route, but may be out of sequence. Each garment  12  may be conveyed to a storage rail corresponding to its route. The garments  12  may remain in storage until it is determined that they should be sorted. From storage, the garments  12  may be conveyed to a sorter where they are sorted by delivery sequence within the route. Once sorted, the garments  12  may be conveyed to a staging area (not shown) prior to being transferred to loading and delivery  90 , may be loaded for delivery, or may be conveyed back into storage and loaded for delivery at a later time. 
     Each garment  12  may include a permanent or temporary unique identifier (not shown), such as an alphanumeric code, which may be unique to each garment or a class of garments. The identifier may be manually readable by workers or may be encoded in a machine readable format, such as a bar code, radio frequency (RF) chip, and any other suitable method or device. The identifier may allow users to track the progress of a particular garment or class of garments through the process or be used to collect various other types of data regarding a particular garment, a specific class of garments, certain steps of the process, the process as a whole or any other suitable category of information. 
     Embodiments of the improved method of garment processing of the present invention include a method of laundering, drying and sorting garments that comprises measurement of the moisture content of at least one garment  12  at one or more stages of the process. The moisture content may be observed and recorded. The moisture content may be measured using a moisture meter or any other suitable device. In one embodiment, the moisture content may be measured using a device similar to the BD-2100 Moisture Meter device manufactured by the Delmhorst Instrument Company (www.delmhorst.com), an example of which is shown in  FIG. 1 . As one of ordinary skill appreciates, the moisture meter of  FIG. 1  is a hand-held and manually operated meter with which a user pushes the meter&#39;s contact pins into the item for which the moisture is to be measured, such as the garment  12 . With the contact pins driven into the garment  12 , the user reads the moisture content of the garment displayed on the meter after the read key on the meter is depressed. According to the testing procedures for the meter, corrections may be required for the temperature and type of material being tested as well as the use of insulated or non-insulated contact pins. Obviously, use of this particular device is not required within the scope of this invention. The moisture meter may be adapted to measure moisture content in various types of garments. The moisture content may then be measured and evaluated. Based on the results, the steps in the laundering, drying, and sorting process may be changed, equipment may be modified, equipment settings may be adjusted, or any other similar modifications may be made. In some embodiments of the inventive method, the garments may include a permanent or temporary unique identifier, as described above. The identifier may facilitate collection of data regarding a particular garment, a specific class of garments, certain steps of the process, the process as a whole or any other suitable category of information. 
     In one embodiment of the inventive method, shown in  FIG. 3 , the laundering, drying and sorting process is similar to the generally-known process described above and shown in  FIG. 2 ; however it includes the additional step of moisture content measurement  145 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , the process includes the following steps and work stations: incoming delivery  110 , pre-wash sorting  120 , washing work station  130 , drying work station  140 , moisture content measurement  145 , inspection work station  150 , repair work station  170 , sorting and storage work station  175 , and loading and delivery  190 . In this embodiment, the moisture content measurement  145  occurs directly after drying  140 . However, it will be appreciated that the moisture content measurement  145  may be incorporated at one or more other stages during the process. For example, the moisture content measurement may occur prior to drying, after inspection, or any other suitable stage of the process. Additionally, the method may include multiple moisture content measurement work stations or steps. During the moisture content measurement  145 , an operator may use a moisture meter or other similar device to measure the moisture content of one or more garments  112 . To obtain accurate information, preferably 30 or more garments  112  are tested per load. However, any suitable number of garments may be tested per load. 
     Garments may naturally absorb ambient moisture present in the local environment. Consequently, it may be inefficient and a waste of resources to dry garments below a threshold moisture content (i.e. the ambient humidity). For example, if a garment undergoes the drying process and has a moisture content of 1% after drying, once the garment is removed from the dryer and exposed to the environment (such as, for example while awaiting transfer to the next station, while undergoing repair, while being kept in storage, etc.) the garment may begin absorbing ambient moisture. As a result, after drying, the moisture content of the garment may have increased to equal the ambient humidity. Therefore, efficiency may be gained and resources may be saved if the parameters of the process are set such that the garment is only dried sufficiently to reduce the moisture content of the garment to a level that is approximately equal to the humidity. 
     In the embodiment of the present invention shown in  FIG. 3 , if the moisture content of the garment  112 , or the average of the garments tested, is below a threshold amount, such as, for example 6% or any other suitable amount, then the parameters of the laundering, drying and/or sorting process may be adjusted to achieve a moisture content approximately equal to or above the threshold amount for garments  112  that undergo the process in the future. For instance, the moisture content of a garment  112  may be measured after the drying step  140  and prior to the inspection step  150 . Based on that data, the speed of the washing machines may be adjusted for a future load of garments  112  in order to achieve the desired moisture content in the future load. 
     Alternatively, in addition to, or instead of, adjusting parameters for garments  112  that undergo the process in the future, parameters for steps not yet completed by the garment  112  presently being measured may be adjusted to achieve the desired moisture content in the current load of garments. For instance, if the moisture content is measured after washing  130  and prior to drying  140 , the temperature at which the garments  112  are dried in the drying step  140  may be adjusted to achieve a moisture content in the current load of garments  112  substantially equal to the threshold amount. One or more adjustments to the process may be made, including but not limited to adjusting the drying time for the garments  112 , changing the temperature at which the garments  112  are dried, adjusting the speed of the washing machines, adjusting the speed of the conveyor transporting the garments  112 , or any other suitable modifications to the process. 
     In one embodiment of the present invention, as a result of monitoring the moisture content of one or more garments after the drying process, the drying time for the garments may be decreased and the temperature at which the garments are dried may be increased. The following two Tables A and B provide sample data and calculations that demonstrate the potential time and financial savings resulting from these adjustments to the process parameters in a sample laundering facility. 
     
       
         
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE A 
               
               
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 Time 
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 Saved 
                 Total 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Loads 
                 Old 
                 New 
                 Per 
                 Time 
               
               
                 FORMULA 
                 Classification 
                 Ran 
                 Time 
                 Time 
                 Load 
                 Saved 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 1 
                 Color Shirts 
                 61 
                 2 
                 1 
                 1 
                 61 
               
               
                 2 
                 Color Pants 
                 70 
                 8 
                 5 
                 3 
                 210 
               
               
                 3 
                 Food Service 
                 17 
                 13 
                 10 
                 3 
                 51 
               
               
                   
                 White 
               
               
                 4 
                 Blood Whites 
                 15 
                 13 
                 10 
                 3 
                 45 
               
               
                 5 
                 Mats 
                 0 
                   
                   
                 0 
                 0 
               
               
                 6 
                 Shop Towels 
                 31 
                 30 
                 25 
                 5 
                 155 
               
               
                 7 
                 Mops/Feners 
                 0 
                   
                   
                 0 
                 0 
               
               
                   
                 Covers 
               
               
                 9 
                 Cotton Shirts 
                 11 
                 14 
                 10 
                 4 
                 44 
               
               
                 11 
                 Bar Mops 
                 24 
                 25 
                 20 
                 5 
                 120 
               
               
                 12 
                 Color Aprons 
                 0 
                   
                   
                 0 
                 0 
               
               
                 15 
                 Queens Mats 
                 0 
                   
                   
                 0 
                 0 
               
               
                 19 
                 Nomex 
                 0 
                   
                   
                 0 
                 0 
               
               
                 20 
                 Cotton Pants 
                 30 
                 32 
                 27 
                 5 
                 150 
               
               
                 28 
                 HVY Soil 
                 28 
                 23 
                 19 
                 4 
                 112 
               
               
                   
                 Colored 
               
               
                   
                 Cottons 
               
               
                   
                 Average 
                 31.9 
                 17.8 
                 14.1 
                 2.4 
                 67.71 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     
       
         
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                 TABLE B 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
                 Minutes Saved/Week 
                 948 
               
               
                   
                 Hours Conversion/Week 
                 15.8 
               
               
                   
                 MCF rate 
                 1 
               
               
                   
                 MCF/week 
                 15.8 
               
               
                   
                 Cost per hour of MCF 
                 $7.73 
               
               
                   
                 Estimated Savings/Week 
                 $122.13 
               
               
                   
                 Estimated Savings/Month 
                 $488.54 
               
               
                   
                 Estimated Savings/Year 
                 $6,350.97 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     The data and calculations shown in Tables A and B represent a comparison between the amount of natural gas typically used during the drying process and the amount of natural gas used after making the adjustments. In the sample shown, the drying equipment generally requires one thousand cubic feet of natural gas (1 mcf) for every hour of operation (i.e. “MCF rate”). Consequently, if the hours of operation required are reduced, then less natural gas may be required, which may result in financial savings for the user. Obviously, the cost per hour of MCF and estimated savings are estimates and may vary depending on actual costs. 
     Table C and  FIG. 4  further illustrate potential reductions in energy usage resulting from making adjustments to the process parameters in response to the monitoring of the moisture content of the garments at some point during the process. Table A includes the amount of energy used each work day over a seven week time period at a sample laundering plant where an embodiment of the inventive method was utilized. 
     
       
         
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                 TABLE C 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Avg. Energy 
                   
               
               
                   
                 Usage For 
                 Energy Usage 
               
               
                   
                 the Week 
                 Per Day 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                   
                   
                 936 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 796 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 872 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 833 
               
               
                   
                 Week 1 
                 855 
                 839 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 906 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 873 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 961 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 874 
               
               
                   
                 Week 2 
                 921 
                 993 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 742 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 820 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 821 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 820 
               
               
                   
                 Week 3 
                 790 
                 749 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 717 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 785 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 781 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 782 
               
               
                   
                 Week 4 
                 768 
                 775 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 613 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 664 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 700 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 670 
               
               
                   
                 Week 5 
                 654 
                 621 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 664 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 568 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 542 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 627 
               
               
                   
                 Week 6 
                 588 
                 541 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 586 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 562 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 629 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 519 
               
               
                   
                 Week 7 
                 574 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
       FIG. 4  depicts the energy usage data shown in Table C. In the sample depicted in  FIG. 4 , the energy usage clearly trends downward as a result of implementation of an embodiment of the inventive method. In fact, in this particular sample, implementing an embodiment of the inventive method resulted in a roughly 62% reduction in energy usage, based on the average usage in Week 7 and the highest average energy usage in Week 2. As discussed above, energy may be saved by adjusting the parameters of the laundering, drying and sorting process in order to produce garments that are not over-dried and have a moisture content approximately equal to or above the ambient humidity after drying. The energy savings may result in a more efficient process and significant financial savings. 
     While the present invention has been illustrated by description of several embodiments and while the illustrative embodiments have been described in considerable detail, it is not the intention of the applicant to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. Additional advantages and modifications may readily appear to those skilled in the art.