Apparatus for feeding and spreading laundry articles

An apparatus for transferring and spreading a sheet of laundry into position for placement onto a conveyor, comprising:

• an elongated endless member having a first leg and a second leg, said first and second legs being substantially horizontal and parallel to each other;
• a pair of clamps each having a pivot arm adapted to releasably grip a corresponding top corner portion of the sheet, said pivot arms being movable between a forwardly extending first position for gripping the top corner portions of the sheet and a second spreading position closer to the conveyor than said first position, one of said clamps being fixed to the first leg of the endless member and the other of said clamps being fixed to the second leg of the endless member, said clamps being positionable adjacent each other in a center position near the centerline of the conveyor for receiving the corners of the sheet;
• and
• a drive mechanism adapted to move the endless member in one direction to spread the clamps laterally apart and in an opposite direction to move the clamps toward each other, wherein the clamps are spread apart after the pivot arms reach the second spreading position while maintaining a grip on the corner portions of the sheet to thereby spread the sheet, and wherein the clamps are moved toward each other after releasing the sheet to thereby return said clamps to said center position for receiving another sheet.

An apparatus for spreading a sheet of laundry into position for placement onto a conveyor, comprising:

• an elongated endless member having a first leg and a second leg, said first and second legs being substantially horizontal and parallel to each other;
• a pair of clamps adapted to releasably grip opposite top corner portions of the sheet, one of said clamps being fixed to the first leg of the endless member and the other of said clamps being fixed to the second leg of the endless member, said clamps being positionable adjacent each other in a center position near the centerline of the conveyor for receiving the corners of the sheet;
• and
• a drive mechanism adapted to move the endless member in one direction to spread the clamps apart and in an opposite direction to move the clamps toward each other, wherein the clamps are spread apart while maintaining a grip on the corner portions of the sheet to thereby spread the sheet, said drive mechanism adapted to reduce the speed at which the clamps are spread apart prior to the clamps reaching a position where the sheet is fully spread, and wherein the clamps are moved toward each other after releasing the sheet to thereby return said clamps to said center position for receiving another sheet.

An apparatus for loading, transferring and spreading a sheet of laundry for placement on a conveyor, comprising:

• a hanger adapted to grip opposing top corner portions of a sheet of laundry;
• a mechanism for moving the hanger between an input position accessible to an operator and a transfer position, said input position being lower than said transfer position;
• a pair of clamps each having a pivot arm adapted to releasably grip a corresponding top corner portion of the sheet, said clamps being positionable adjacent each other near said transfer position and said pivot arms being movable between a grabbing position for grabbing the respective corner portions of the sheet from said hanger and a rearwardly extending spreading position;
• and
• a mechanism for moving the clamps laterally apart to spread the sheet and for returning the clamps to the transfer position to pick up another sheet.

An apparatus for loading, transferring and spreading a sheet of laundry for placement on a conveyor, comprising:

• a plurality of longitudinal tracks positioned forwardly of the conveyor, each track extending at an angle downwardly and outwardly from a top portion thereof located generally at the centerline of the conveyor;
• a hanger movably attached to each track, each hanger adapted to grip opposing top corner portions of a sheet of laundry and move along the track from a lower input position accessible to an operator to an upper transfer position at the top portion of the corresponding track;
• a mechanism for moving each hangers along the tracks;
• an elongated endless member having a first leg and a second leg, said first and second legs being substantially horizontal and parallel to each other;
• a pair of clamps each having a pivot arm rotatable about a vertical axis and adapted to releasably grip a corresponding top corner portion of the sheet, one of said clamps being fixed to the first leg of the endless member and the other of said clamps being fixed to the second leg of the endless member, said clamps being positionable adjacent each other at a center location near the top portions of the tracks, and said pivot arms being rotatable between a transfer position for grabbing the corresponding top corner portions of the sheet from one of the hangers and a rearwardly extending spreading position;
• a first drive mechanism adapted to move the endless member in one direction to spread the clamps apart and in an opposite direction to move the clamps toward each other;
• two pairs of endless flexible lower belts extending laterally outward from the centerline of the conveyor and adapted to receive the sheet therebetween, said lower belts being movable in one direction to assist in spreading the sheet and movable in another direction to return the sheet to the center position if a corner portion of the sheet is released during the spreading operation;
• a second drive mechanism adapted to move the lower belts in one direction to spread the sheet apart and in an opposite direction to move the sheet toward the center location;
• and
• a plurality of position control sensors adapted to send signals to the clamps and to the first and second drive mechanisms, one of said sensors adapted to signal when the sheet is in a proper initial loading position for being gripped by the clamps, and one of said sensors adapted to send a signal to the clamps and to the first and second drive mechanisms so that when a clamp has released the sheet during the spreading operation, the first drive mechanism reverses the direction of movement of the endless belt and the second drive mechanism reverses the direction of movement of the lower belts to return the sheet to the center location, and the clamps release the sheet;
• whereby in normal operation a sheet is placed on one of said hangers and is moved upwardly along the corresponding track to the top portion of said track, the clamps are moved toward each other to the center location, the pivot arms of the clamps grab the corresponding top corner portions of the sheet from the hanger, the pivot arms move rearwardly to a spreading position, the clamps are moved apart to spread the sheet, the clamps release the sheet and the pivot arms return to a forwardly extending position, and the clamps are moved toward each other to the transfer position to grab another sheet, and if a corner portion of the sheet is released during the spreading operation the clamps and lower belts return the sheet to the transfer position and release the other corner portion of the sheet.