Patent Description:
As linen products handled in the so-called linen supply industry, there are bed sheets, bed covers, large and small towels, other various types of cloth, and clothing such as gowns. The cloth collected from a customer is repeatedly subjected to a process of washing, ironing, and folding, thereby being delivered to the customer. The cloth is fed into the process by a feeder. However, in an automated feeding process, when the cloth is placed on a feeding conveyor, a particular portion is held by a member on the feeder side while being carried, and then, the cloth is automatically spread. The spread cloth is fed onto a carrying conveyor from leading end portions. Accordingly, the cloth can be carried into the ironing process in a spread state, for example.

An automatic feeding method is divided into two main types of methods. One is a method in which one end or both ends of cloth are searched for so as to be fed, and the other one is a method in which both ends of cloth are automatically searched for and are automatically spread when a side of the cloth is fed onto the carrying conveyor. Presently, the main stream is the former method because the latter method has low stability and quality. However, according to the studies carried out by the inventor, it is difficult to say that the former method is absolutely advantageous. The latter method rather has room for improvement, achieving a prospect of being superior to the former method when improved. As the latter method, there is the invention disclosed in <CIT>. Examples of the former method are provided in <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT> and <CIT>. In particular, <CIT> discloses an automatic cloth feeder comprising a feeder conveyor, a deposition section comprising catch means to catch and hold a trailing end portion of the cloth detected by a sensor, and a buffering device comprising a cloth supply section provided at a preceding stage of the feeding conveyor and configured to move upward to the feeding conveyor from below to introduce the cloth to the feeding conveyor, wherein the cloth supply section is equipped with a clamp.

As the automatic feeding method is employed, working efficiency per one worker is improved, and production volume per one feeding station is increased. Thus, by adopting the two-station feeding process, it is possible to exhibit the maximum capacity of a straightening unit for straightening cloth. Meanwhile, balance cannot be maintained with respect to a supply amount from the feeding station, and a delay of feeding has become a problem. It is preferable to be able to increase the number of cloth pieces which can be accumulated from the feeding station to the straightening unit, but there is no room for an increase in the existing device. The delay of feeding leads directly to a problem of reduced production volume. When a delay occurs once, it is extremely difficult to recover after the delay.

The present invention has been made taking the foregoing circumstances into consideration. An object thereof is to provide a buffering device in an automatic cloth feeder including a cloth standby section in which cloth stands by temporarily, and allowing the cloth to be accumulated. Another object of the present invention is to provide a cloth spreading device in which the cloth standby section is arranged before a feeding conveyor and a deposition section, and the number of cloth pieces to be accumulated can be increased and decreased.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention discloses an automatic cloth feeder as defined in claim <NUM> Cloth is considered as a target in the device of the present invention. However, it is natural that the cloth includes clothing as well.

The automatic cloth feeder applied with the buffering device of the present invention adopts a method in which a side of cloth is fed onto the carrying conveyor and both ends of cloth are automatically searched for and are automatically spread. When the cloth is introduced to the feeding conveyor at the substantially central portion in the carrying direction and is carried to a predetermined position on the front face of the feeder main body, both the right and left portions of cloth are crumpled in a central portion direction of the cloth, thereby performing deposition from the right and left trailing end portions of the cloth. As the cloth is introduced to the feeding conveyor at the substantially central portion and is carried to a predetermined position on the front face of the feeder main body, both the right and left portions of the cloth drooping on the right and left sides of the feeding conveyor are crumpled (gathered) in the central portion direction of the cloth, and the right and left trailing end portions are held by a member provided on the feeder side.

In such a configuration, according to the device of the present invention, means for arranging the cloth standby section in which the cloth to be carried stands by temporarily at the preceding stage of the feeding conveyor or at the following stage thereof is devised. The cloth supply section is means for supplying the cloth to perform automatic feeding. Therefore, the cloth supply section itself constitutes the cloth standby section. The cloth standby section causes the cloth to stand by temporarily without congesting feeding of the cloth which flows at a substantially regular speed and is combined as buffering means by a type of retention means. Having the feeding conveyor as a fiducial point, the cloth standby section can be arranged at the preceding stage, or at both the preceding stage and the following stage at the same time.

As the cloth standby section, a configuration in which cloth is held at the substantially central portion between the right and left sides in the movement direction and the cloth supply section equipped with a clamp moving upward to the feeding conveyor from below is arranged at the preceding stage of the feeding conveyor is provided. This is a method of newly providing new buffering.

In addition, the straightening unit can be provided at the following stage of the feeding conveyor in order to pull cloth held in the deposition section to the right and left sides so as to achieve a straightened state, and the straightening unit can be arranged at a plurality of places so as to function as the cloth standby section. When the straightening unit is provided at one place on the front face of the feeder, the straightening unit is also provided on the right and left sides, thereby easily realizing buffering.

Moreover, it is preferable to have a configuration in which the automatic cloth feeder includes a circulation carrying device equipped with multiple clamps for holding cloth at the substantially central portion between the right and left sides in the movement direction along a circulation route. On account of such a configuration equipped with the multiple clamps so as to perform circulation, only attaching of cloth can be independently performed with respect to the clamp, being separated from an operation of the feeder. Thus, it is possible to establish a stable system having high productivity. The clamp in this method is common to the configuration described in the second previous section in that the clamp is equipped with a portion which moves upward to the feeding conveyor from below.

According to the present invention which is configured and operates as described above, a cloth standby section in which cloth stands by temporarily is provided so as to accumulate the cloth, thereby preventing a delay of feeding. As a result, it is possible to exhibit an effect in that a stable system having high productivity can be established. In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a buffering device in an automatic cloth feeder in which the cloth standby section is arranged before the feeding conveyor and the number of cloth pieces to be accumulated can be arbitrarily increased and decreased.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to an illustrated embodiment. <FIG> and <FIG> illustrate the entirety of an automatic cloth feeder <NUM> to which a buffering device according to the present invention is applied. On the front face of a feeder main body, a cloth supply section <NUM> which is equipped with a clamp <NUM> holding cloth at a substantially central portion in a movement direction and moving upward toward a feeding conveyor <NUM> from below is arranged at a position corresponding to a front portion of the feeding conveyor <NUM>.

The cloth supply section <NUM> is arranged at three places in total at the center and both ends on the right and left sides on the front face of the feeder main body, and movement mechanisms <NUM> are respectively provided therein. The illustrated movement mechanism <NUM> includes a belt 13c wound around between upper and lower rollers 13a and 13b which are respectively equipped with a pair of the clamps <NUM> and <NUM> on the right and left sides, thereby configuring the cloth supply section <NUM> in its entirety. Each clamp <NUM> is attached to the belt 13c thereof, and moves upward and downward between a lower position which is closer to a worker so as to be easily attached and a higher position which is higher than a feeding port 20a of the feeding conveyor <NUM>.

The pair of the clamps <NUM> and <NUM> on the right and left sides fixes cloth at the substantially central portion in the movement direction. Each clamp <NUM> may be a known clamp for pinching cloth and moves from the higher position closer to a worker to the higher position closer to the feeding conveyor <NUM> due to the aforementioned movement configuration (refer to <FIG> and <FIG>). Cloth is attached to the pair of the clamps <NUM> and <NUM> on the right and left sides by the worker so as to cause a portion between the pair of the clamps to be as horizontal or linear as possible. The movement mechanism <NUM> does not repeat to move upward and downward in an example of the embodiment described below, but the clamps <NUM> move from the lower position to the higher position as a part of the movement which circulates a regular route.

The clamps <NUM> and the movement mechanism <NUM> hold cloth at the substantially central portion between the right and left sides in the movement direction and configure the cloth supply section <NUM> equipped with the clamp <NUM> which moves upward towards the feeding conveyor <NUM> from below. In addition, in the embodiment, the cloth supply section <NUM> configures a cloth standby section <NUM> in which cloth to be simultaneously carried stands by temporarily. Particularly, the cloth standby section <NUM> corresponds to the cloth standby section <NUM> which is arranged at a preceding stage of the feeding conveyor <NUM>.

A trailing end separation mechanism <NUM> for cloth is provided so as to be parallel to the cloth supply section <NUM>. The trailing end separation mechanism <NUM> includes a trailing end guidance frame <NUM> which is formed to have a narrow width at the lower portion and to have a wide width at the upper portion, and a leading end cover <NUM> provided on a leading end side which is formed to have a narrow width. In the leading end cover <NUM>, a central portion 17a protrudes outward so as to come into contact with the central portion of cloth to be carried, and the right and left trailing end portions are provided so as to be easily separated to the right and left. The reference numeral <NUM> indicates an operation unit. The trailing end separation mechanism <NUM> helps the trailing end portion of cloth be unerringly separated to the right and left sides even though the below-mentioned feeding conveyor <NUM> has a short carrying distance.

In the illustrated feeder main body, the feeding conveyor <NUM> is arranged at an upper portion of the trailing end separation mechanism <NUM>, and the feeding conveyor <NUM> is formed with a lower conveyor <NUM> and an upper conveyor <NUM>. The feeding conveyor <NUM> is arranged so as to be orthogonal to the front face of the feeder main body, and each one is arranged at three places in total behind the cloth supply section <NUM> (<FIG> and <FIG>). Since the feeding conveyor <NUM> is formed to be short in a cloth movement direction as described before, the trailing end portion of cloth tends to be difficult to separate to the right and left sides compared to a conveyor which is long in the cloth movement direction. In contrast, the trailing end separation mechanism <NUM> supplements the tendency and contributes to overall miniaturization.

The lower conveyor <NUM> is supported upward in its entirety by a pressing mechanism <NUM> formed with a cylinder device and has a structure in which contact pressure with respect to the upper conveyor <NUM> is adjustable. The feeding conveyor <NUM> includes the feeding port 20a which is obliquely downward in accordance with a track of the movement mechanism <NUM> and is provided so as to be able to feed the approaching cloth carried by the clamp <NUM>, with no difficulty. The upper conveyor <NUM> is formed with a belt conveyor and is arranged obliquely upward from below so as to be low on a side closer to the feeding port 20a and high on a side of an output portion on the opposite side (<FIG>). The feeding conveyor <NUM> which is shaped thin and long in width and length so that cloth to be fed is placed at the substantially central portion and both the right and left portions of the cloth droop.

In the feeding conveyor <NUM>, guide members <NUM> and <NUM> which are provided in tapered shapes are arranged on both the right and left sides in order to gather and crumple both the right and left portions of cloth drooping on the right and left sides thereof in the central portion direction (<FIG>). Therefore, crumpling paths <NUM> and <NUM> are formed on the right and left sides of the feeding conveyor <NUM> so as to allow both the right and left portions of cloth drooping from the central portion to both the right and left sides to enter and to be crumpled. A pair of sensors <NUM> and <NUM> on the right and left sides for checking the arrival of the right and left trailing end portions (Wl and Wr in <FIG>) is arranged at the leading ends of the crumpling paths <NUM> and <NUM>, and a pair of catch means <NUM> for catching the trailing end portion is provided farther ahead each on the right and left sides (<FIG>).

Each catch means <NUM> is formed to include a pair of rolls <NUM> and <NUM> at the front and rear which is provided to be able to come into contact with and to separate from each other so as to be able to pinch the trailing end portions Wl and Wr of cloth, and a catch member <NUM> which operates in an arrow direction from an open state to a closed state as illustrated for pinching and holding the right and left trailing end portions of cloth when the right and left trailing end portions approach the place between the pair of the rolls. The catch member <NUM> is open and closed by a drive unit <NUM> and is provided to be movable in a front and rear direction by a movement mechanism <NUM> as illustrated in <FIG>. The movement mechanism <NUM> is configured to include a slider <NUM> having an arm for holding the drive unit <NUM>, guide rails <NUM>, and a cylinder of a drive unit <NUM>. The movement mechanism <NUM> is installed on the right and left sides of the feeding conveyor <NUM>.

The catch means <NUM> in the embodiment is connected to one end of a crank <NUM> which is pivotally supported by a support shaft 35a on the feeder main body side, and operates by a drive unit <NUM> which is connected to the other end of the crank <NUM> and includes a linear cylinder, for example (refer to <FIG>). The catch means <NUM> including the catch member <NUM> configures a deposition section <NUM> for moving cloth to a deposition member <NUM> while holding the right and left trailing end portions of the cloth together with spreading members <NUM> and <NUM> described below.

In <FIG>, the catch member <NUM> holds the right and left trailing end portions of cloth which is caught by the catch means <NUM>. The caught right and left trailing end portions of the cloth are in states of extending upward from below the pair of the rolls <NUM> and <NUM>, and the catch member <NUM> holds the lower portion thereof. The catch member <NUM> is provided to be movable in the movement direction of cloth and is provided to correspond to each of the catch means <NUM>. A movement range of the catch member <NUM> is from a reception position R where the right and left trailing end portions of cloth indicated by the solid line in <FIG> are received from the catch means <NUM>, to a deposition position S where the right and left trailing end portions are deposited in the pair of the spreading members <NUM> and <NUM>.

The spreading members <NUM> and <NUM> are provided to form one set with a pair thereof for holding the right and left trailing end portions Wl and Wr of cloth. In other words, in an example of the embodiment in which depositing cloth to be carried is performed on the feeding conveyor <NUM>, the pair of one set of the spreading members <NUM> and <NUM> is provided on both the right and left sides toward the front face of the feeder (refer to <FIG>). The right and left trailing end portions of cloth are the trailing end portions when being caught by the catch means <NUM>, but the front and rear positions of cloth W are switched therebetween by being moved over to the spreading members <NUM> and <NUM> so as to be spread. Therefore, after being spread, the right and left trailing end portions are carried to the next process as the leading end portions of the cloth W.

A lifting means <NUM> is arranged in the deposition position S. The lifting means <NUM> in the embodiment utilizes a suctioning force. However, without being limited to the suctioning force, a picking up method can be applied with no technical problem, for example. When the catch member <NUM> moves from the reception position R to the deposition position S, the lifting means <NUM> performs suctioning of the right and left trailing end portions of cloth, thereby lifting the right and left trailing end portions of cloth to positions higher than the spreading members <NUM> and <NUM>. When the catch member <NUM> moves to the deposition position S, the spreading members <NUM> and <NUM> move to a standby position in a right and left direction (refer to <FIG>). The lifting means <NUM> temporarily holds the right and left trailing end portions Wl and Wr extending upward from the catch means <NUM> on account of a suctioning force. In the meantime, the right and left trailing end portions Wl and Wr are held by the spreading members <NUM> and <NUM>. Therefore, the lifting means <NUM> is provided in a vertically movable manner in order to take over the right and left trailing end portions. The reference numeral <NUM> denotes a drive unit for vertically moving the lifting means <NUM>, and a known drive device such as the aforementioned linear cylinder is utilized.

The spreading members <NUM> and <NUM> can move in the right and left direction by a guide rail <NUM> which is installed in an upper portion at the rear portion of the feeder main body. The reference numeral <NUM> in <FIG> indicates a movable deposition member, which is provided to be movable in the front and rear direction by a drive mechanism (not illustrated) in order to receive the leading end portions of cloth which are placed on the top face of the catch member <NUM> at the deposition position S and to hand over the leading end portions to a carrying conveyor <NUM>. The spreading members <NUM> and <NUM> configure a straightening unit <NUM> for pulling cloth held in the deposition section <NUM> to the right and left sides so as to achieve a straightened state. The straightening unit <NUM> is arranged at two places on the right and left sides in the following stage of the feeding conveyor <NUM>, and configures the cloth standby section <NUM>. The reference numeral <NUM> indicates a suctioning box which performs suctioning of fed cloth and straightens the cloth so as to be in its original shape.

In the device of the present invention having such a configuration, while the cloth W in the forefront is in a spread state in the spreading members <NUM> and <NUM>, a worker can attach the cloth W to the clamps <NUM> at three places (refer to <FIG>). In the feeder of the present invention, a portion of the cloth W attached to the pair of the clamps <NUM> and <NUM> therebetween is caused to be straight. In such a state, the cloth W is carried while being placed at the substantially central portion, and both the right and left portions drooping on the right and left sides of the feeding conveyor <NUM> are gathered and crumpled in a central portion direction by the guide members <NUM> and <NUM>. As a result, the right and left trailing end portions Wl and Wr (refer to <FIG>) of cloth pass through the sensor last of all, are detected, and are held by the catch means <NUM> at the same time. Moreover, the lifting means <NUM> moves downward, approaches the right and left trailing end portions Wl and Wr of the cloth W, and performs suctioning of the right and left trailing end portions Wl and Wr, thereby lifting the right and left trailing end portions Wl and Wr to positions higher than the spreading members <NUM> and <NUM>.

Then, the spreading members <NUM> and <NUM> approach the right and left trailing end portions Wl and Wr of cloth at a position higher than the catch member <NUM> which is at the deposition position S, thereby holding the right and left trailing end portions Wl and Wr. In this manner, the first stage of transferring the cloth W is completed (refer to <FIG>). Accordingly, the trailing end portions Wl and Wr of cloth may be referred to as the leading end portions of the cloth switched thereafter. Subsequently, the spreading members <NUM> and <NUM> holding the right and left trailing end portions Wl and Wr of the cloth W spread the cloth to the right and left sides while moving to the central portion of the feeder main body. In other words, the front and rear positions of the cloth W are switched therebetween, and a side portion E turns into the leading end side while maintaining a straight line shape and is carried to the next process. As cloth is fed at working speed by a general worker in the above-described manner, feeding proceeds at the following stage without congestion.

In an automatic feeder of the related art, a supplying amount of cloth depends on only the working speed of a worker, and thus, it is not possible that the working speed exceeds the feeding speed of the automatic feeder. However, according to the present invention, one piece of the cloth W is fed into the process in accordance with the above-described feeding processing at one place among the three places of the clamps <NUM> and the cloth W is not directly placed on the feeding conveyor, but the cloth passes through the movement mechanism <NUM> first. Accordingly, the movement mechanism <NUM> functions as the cloth standby section <NUM> at the preceding stage of the feeding conveyor <NUM>. While the first cloth W is in the feeding process as described above, one for each, that is, two pieces of the cloth W in total are in standby states in the clamps <NUM> at the two remaining places, and thus, the two pieces of the cloth W is also in buffering states. Therefore, it is possible to adjust the number of the cloth pieces to be accumulated while the cloth is slowly carried through the process.

<FIG> illustrates a state where the right and left trailing end portions Wl and Wr of cloth W are held by the catch means <NUM> and the like. <FIG> illustrates a state passing through three processes such as a process in which the cloth W is held by the clamp <NUM> in the device of the present invention, a process in which detection of the right and left trailing end portions is performed while being carried in the feeding conveyor <NUM>, and a process in which the right and left trailing end portions are held by the catch means <NUM>. When comparing the process to the process in the related art as illustrated in <FIG>, it is found out that a temporary standby time or timing therefor is gained as long as the process in which the cloth W is held by the clamp <NUM> that is the cloth standby section at the preceding stage of the feeding conveyor <NUM>. In addition, it is also understood that the feeding conveyor <NUM> can be shorter than a conveyor V in the related art.

<FIG> illustrates the buffering state in the device of the present invention in which a process of spreading cloth performed by the straightening unit <NUM> formed with the spreading members <NUM> and <NUM> is added to that in <FIG>. In <FIG>, since a straightening process performed by the straightening unit <NUM> is added, the number of processes that the cloth must pass through is double that of the processes in the related art, when simply comparing the numbers of processes therebetween. Moreover, since a pair of the straightening unit <NUM> is arranged on the right and left sides with respect to the deposition section <NUM> at one place, it is found out that a temporary standby time or timing for cloth can be gained further.

Moreover, a developed embodiment of the buffering device according to the present invention will be described with reference to <FIG>. In <FIG>, the cloth standby section <NUM> includes a circulation carrying device <NUM> together with a dedicated portion <NUM> for buffering and is provided with multiple clamps <NUM> which move along a circulation route so as to cause the cloth W to be held at the substantially central portion between the right and left sides in the movement direction. The circulation carrying device <NUM> includes a plurality of circulation conveyors <NUM> and <NUM>, and a conveyor belt <NUM> is wound around therebetween. The multiple clamps <NUM> are attached to the conveyor belt <NUM>.

Claim 1:
An automatic cloth feeder (<NUM>) comprising:
a feeding conveyor (<NUM>) configured to carry a cloth (W) in a carrying direction to a deposition section (<NUM>) and to crumple the cloth (W) from the right and left sides;
guide members (<NUM>, <NUM>) provided in tapered shapes and arranged on right and left sides of the feeding conveyor (<NUM>) and forming crumpling paths (<NUM>, <NUM>) on the right and left sides of the feeding conveyor (<NUM>) so as to allow right and left portions of the cloth (W) drooping from a central portion to the right and left sides to enter and to be gathered and crumpled;
a pair of sensors (<NUM>, <NUM>) arranged on the left and right side of the feeding conveyor (<NUM>) at leading ends of the crumpling paths (<NUM>, <NUM>) and being configured to detect the arrival of right and left trailing end portions (Wr, Wl) of the cloth (W) carried by the feeding conveyor (<NUM>);
the depositions section (<NUM>) comprising a pair of catch means (<NUM>) located farther ahead on the right and left sides and being configured to catch and hold the right and left trailing end portions (Wr, Wl) of the cloth (W) detected by the sensors (<NUM>, <NUM>) and to feed the cloth (W) with the right and left trailing end portions (Wr, Wl) as leading end portions into a process; and
a buffering device comprising cloth supply section (<NUM>) provided at a preceding stage of the feeding conveyor (<NUM>) and configured to move upward toward the feeding conveyor (<NUM>) to introduce the cloth (W) from below to the feeding conveyor (<NUM>) at a substantially central portion of the cloth (W) in the carrying direction,
wherein the cloth supply section (<NUM>) is arranged at a position corresponding to a front portion of the feeding conveyor (<NUM>), and equipped with a clamp (<NUM>) being configured to hold the cloth (W) at a substantially central portion between the right and left sides of the cloth (W), such that the cloth supply section (<NUM>) is configured to provide a cloth standby section (<NUM>) in which the carried cloth (W) stands by temporarily, so as to accumulate and supply a quantity of cloths (W) exceeding a processing quantity of feeding and to proceed with feeding in the feeding conveyor (<NUM>) without congestion in the automatic cloth feeder (<NUM>).