Apparatus for separating laundry articles

A laundry separating apparatus for separating an article of laundry from a bundle of laundry articles, the apparatus comprising:

• a grip device mounted for guided movement towards and away from said bundle to extract said article of laundry from said bundle;
• a conveyor mounted adjacent the path of movement of said grip device;
• a nip roller mounted adjacent the conveyor to define therebetween a nip;
• transfer means for transferring a portion of said article of laundry into said nip;
• and
• control means for actuating the transfer means and actuating said grip device so as to release said article of laundry which is then conveyed by said conveyor.

A conveyor apparatus for separating at least one article of laundry from a bundle of laundry articles, the conveyor system comprising:

• a frame;
• a clamp moveably connected with the frame along a first path of travel;
• a conveyor connected with the frame, the conveyor operable to transfer an article of laundry from a first end to a second end of the conveyor, the conveyor offset from the first path of travel;
• and
• a nip formed with the first end of the conveyor, the nip adjacent to the first path of travel wherein the second end of the conveyer is spaced further from the from the first path of travel than the first end.

A laundry article separation apparatus for moving a gripping device towards an article of laundry and moving the gripping device away from the article of laundry, the system comprising:

• a winch wheel;
• a belt operatively connecting the winch wheel to the gripping device;
• and
• a drive operatively attached to the winch wheel, the drive operable to rotate the winch wheel in a first direction and allow gravity rotation in a second direction.

A method for moving a gripping device on a laundry article separator, the method comprising the steps of:

• (a) driving the gripping device upwards;
• (b) moving the gripping device downward with gravity;
• and
• (c) guiding movement of the gripping device with a guide.