Apparatus for sorting laundry pieces

A device for sorting of laundry pieces comprising:

• a feed device that receives the laundry pieces and dispenses them;
• a transport device for transporting different types of laundry pieces dispensed from the feed device at a predetermined interval, wherein the interval is one of a predetermined distance between the laundry pieces on the transport device and a predetermined period of time between the dispensing of the laundry pieces, so that individual laundry pieces are separated from each other, and wherein the transport device comprises a conveyor belt that transports the individual, separated laundry pieces in a transport direction;
• a first collection device for receiving a first type of laundry piece, the first collection device being disposed in a receiving relationship to the transport device;
• a second collection device for receiving a second type of laundry piece, the second collection device being disposed in a receiving relationship to the transport device;
• a recognition device disposed near the transport device for determining different types of laundry pieces dispensed on the transport device, and for generating a data signal related thereto, the transport device transferring a laundry piece according to the data signal, the transport device transferring the laundry piece to a region near the first collection device if the data signal indicates that laundry piece is of a first laundry type, and transferring the laundry piece to a region near the second collection device if the data signal indicates that the laundry piece is of a second type;
• a registering device located with respect to the first collection device and to the second collection device for registering the transferred laundry piece and generating a corresponding register signal;
• a data processor connected to the recognition device and to the registering device for receiving and processing the data signal received from the recognition device, and for receiving and processing the register signal received from the registering device, and generating a control signal in response thereto;
• and
• a controller connected to the data processor for receiving the control signal, the controller selecting one of the first collection device and the second collection device based on the control signal and operating the selected collection device to receive the transferred laundry piece, wherein
• the feed device further comprises a first transport band having a plurality of individual compartments for receiving individual laundry pieces, and
• the individual laundry pieces of the first transport band are emptied onto the transport device leading to the recognition device.

A method for sorting of laundry pieces comprising the steps of:

• receiving the laundry pieces in a feed device comprising first transport band having a plurality of individual compartments for receiving individual laundry pieces;
• dispensing the individual laundry pieces from the feed device to a transport device at a predetermined interval, wherein the interval is one of a predetermined distance between the laundry pieces on the transport device and a predetermined period of time between the dispensing of the laundry pieces, so that individual laundry pieces are separated from each other, and wherein the transport device comprises a conveyor belt that transports the individual, separated laundry pieces in a transport direction;
• operating the conveyor belt to receive the laundry pieces dispensed from the feed device to the on a transport device in order to transport the individual, separated laundry pieces to positions on and along the conveyor belt that are within reach of a recognition device and in a delivery relationship to a plurality of collection devices;
• recognizing different types of laundry pieces with the recognition device;
• delivering a data signal corresponding to one of the individual, separated laundry pieces from the recognition device to a data processor;
• processing the data signal received from the recognition device in the data processor;
• registering the one laundry piece with a register device predisposed relative to the plurality of collection devices;
• generating a corresponding register signal associated with the registration of the one individual laundry piece in the register device;
• sending the register signal from the register device to the data processor;
• generating a corresponding control signal for the one laundry piece in response to the received data signal and the received register signal;
• using the data processor to select one of a plurality of the collection devices depending on the data signal;
• employing the control signal for controlling the one collection device for receiving the one laundry piece corresponding to the control signal;
• transferring the one laundry piece from the recognition device to the one collection device;
• and
• receiving the one laundry piece in the one collection device.