Separator for Articles of Laundry

A clamping arrangement for clamping an article of laundry, the clamping arrangement comprising:

• a first laundry clamp;
• a first clamp support positioned to support the first laundry clamp;
• and
• a drive operatively connected with the first clamp support, the first clamp support moved in response to operation of the drive, wherein the first laundry clamp moves with the first clamp support until the first laundry clamp is blocked, the first clamp support operable to move away from and then return to the first laundry clamp when the first laundry clamp is blocked.

An apparatus for separating articles of laundry, the apparatus comprising:

• a first clamp tiltable towards and away from a bin and operable to clamp an article of laundry from the bin while titled towards the bin;
• and
• a deposit platform spaced from the bin, the first clamp movable from the bin to the deposit platform while the article of laundry is clamped, the first clamp operable to release the article of laundry while adjacent to the deposit platform;
• wherein after release of the article of laundry, the first clamp is operable to tilt away from the bin while returning to the bin.

An apparatus for separating articles of laundry, the apparatus comprising:

• a clamp moveable between a gripping position and a release position;
• a strap connected with the clamp;
• a drive connected with the strap, the drive operable to raise and lower the clamp with the strap;
• a spring trigger adjacent the strap, the spring trigger operable to change position in response to the strap being slack;
• and
• a sensor adjacent to the spring trigger and connected with the drive, the sensor operable to sense the change in the position, the drive operable to reverse direction in response to the sensor sensing the change in the position.

An apparatus for assisting in separating articles of laundry, the apparatus comprising:

• a bin for a bundle of the articles of laundry;
• a clamp operable to clamp one of the articles of laundry from the bundle in the bin and remove at least part of the one article;
• a plate forming a barrier for the bundle in the bin, the plate having first and second positions with first and second, different amounts of angling, respectively;
• a drive operable to move the plate between the first and second positions;
• a sensor operable to control the drive as a function of a position of the bundle relative to the clamp.

A method for separating articles of laundry, the method comprising:

• gripping a plurality of articles of laundry from a first bin:
• depositing the plurality of articles onto a non-horizontal conveyor;
• tilting the non-horizontal conveyor to another position;
• conveying the plurality of articles from the non-horizontal conveyor into a second bin;
• clamping individual ones of the articles of laundry in the second bin;
• depositing the individual ones of the articles of laundry onto a second conveyor;
• and
• conveying, on the second conveyor, the individual ones of the articles of laundry to an exit location.