Apparatus and method for automatically assembling randomly ordered laundered stems in a selected order
First Claim
1. An apparatus for assembling laundry, comprising:
- a frame;
a plurality of collector arms attached to said frame;
a rotating pickup assembly attached to said frame;
computer means for receiving data signals and delivering control signals;
means for inputting identification data from a randomly ordered stack of laundry tickets to said computer means;
means for inputting identification data for each laundered item to said computer means, said computer means remembering the order in which items are input;
means for automatically placing said laundered items onto said rotating pickup assembly, said laundered items each having a separable tag portion of a laundry ticket bearing identification data associating an item of laundry with one of said laundry tickets in said randomly ordered stack of laundry tickets;
means for automatically bringing said collector arms, one at a time, toward said rotating pickup assembly for receiving a laundered item;
means for automatically removing said laundered items from said rotating pickup assembly according to the identification data so that each group of items is assembled with its corresponding ticket without altering the speed of said rotating pickup assembly.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method are provided for sorting laundry. The method includes laundering a plurality of items each having a separable tag portion of a laundry ticket bearing bar coded identification data associating an item of laundry with a laundry ticket, arranging tickets for the plurality of items into a randomly ordered stack, and scanning bar coded identification data from the randomly ordered stack of tickets for the laundered items into a control computer. The method includes scanning identification data for each laundered item into the computer, placing the scanned items onto a rotating pickup assembly, and bringing collector arms, one at a time, toward the rotating pickup assembly. The method also includes removing the items, one at a time, from the rotating pickup assembly to the collector arms according to the identification data so that items may be assembled with the associated ticket without altering the rotational speed of the rotating pickup assembly.
34 Citations
36 Claims
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1. An apparatus for assembling laundry, comprising:
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a frame; a plurality of collector arms attached to said frame; a rotating pickup assembly attached to said frame; computer means for receiving data signals and delivering control signals; means for inputting identification data from a randomly ordered stack of laundry tickets to said computer means; means for inputting identification data for each laundered item to said computer means, said computer means remembering the order in which items are input; means for automatically placing said laundered items onto said rotating pickup assembly, said laundered items each having a separable tag portion of a laundry ticket bearing identification data associating an item of laundry with one of said laundry tickets in said randomly ordered stack of laundry tickets; means for automatically bringing said collector arms, one at a time, toward said rotating pickup assembly for receiving a laundered item; means for automatically removing said laundered items from said rotating pickup assembly according to the identification data so that each group of items is assembled with its corresponding ticket without altering the speed of said rotating pickup assembly. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. An apparatus for assembling laundry, comprising:
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a frame; a rotating pickup assembly attached to said frame; computer means for receiving bar coded data signals and delivering control signals; means for scanning bar coded identification data from a randomly ordered stack of laundry tickets into said computer means, each ticket in said stack of randomly ordered laundry tickets having a separable tag portion bearing bar coded identification data associating each laundry ticket with at least one item of laundry; a rail for hanging said laundered items; means for scanning bar coded identification data for each item on said rail into said computer means, said computer means remembering the order in which items are scanned; means for automatically delivering said laundered items one at a time from said rail to said rotating pickup assembly; a plurality of collector arms attached to said frame and being movable, one at a time, toward and from said rotating pickup assembly in response to signals from said computer means; means for removing said items form said rotating pickup assembly to said collector arms according to the identification data so that items may be assembled with the associated ticket without altering the rotational speed of said rotating pickup assembly. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. An apparatus for assembling laundry, comprising:
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a frame; a plurality of collector arms attached to said frame; a rotating pickup assembly attached to said frame; computer means for receiving data signals and delivering control signals; means for inputting identification data from a randomly ordered stack of laundry tickets to said computer means; means for inputting identification data for each laundered item to said computer means, said computer means remembering the order in which items are input; means for automatically placing said laundered items onto said rotating pickup assembly, said laundered items each having a separable tag portion of a laundry ticket bearing identification data associating an item of laundry with one of said laundry tickets in said randomly ordered stack of laundry tickets; means for automatically bringing said collector arms, one at a time, toward said rotating pickup assembly for receiving a laundered item; means for automatically removing said laundered items from said rotating pickup assembly according to the identification data so that each group of items is assembled with its corresponding ticket without bringing the speed of said rotating pickup assembly to zero.
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28. A method for assembling laundry, comprising:
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laundering a plurality of items each having a separable tag portion of a laundry ticket bearing identification data associating an item of laundry with a laundry ticket; arranging tickets for said plurality of items into a randomly ordered stack; inputting identification data from said randomly ordered stack of tickets for said laundered items into a control computer; inputting identification data for each laundered item into said control computer, said computer remembering the order in which items are input; automatically delivering said input items onto a rotating pickup assembly; bringing collector arms toward said rotating pickup assembly; automatically removing said items from said rotating pickup assembly to said collector arms according to the identification data so that items are assembled with the associated ticket. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
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31. A method for assembling laundry, comprising:
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laundering a plurality of items each having a separable tag portion of a laundry ticket bearing identification data associating an item of laundry with a laundry ticket; arranging tickets for said plurality of items into a randomly ordered stack; inputting identification data from said randomly ordered stack of tickets for items in said lot into a control computer; hanging said laundered items on a rail; inputting identification data for each item on said rail into said control computer, said computer remembering the order in which items are input; associating said randomly ordered stack of tickets with collector arms of a sorting apparatus with one ticket per arm with said tickets kept in the order in which they appear in said stack of tickets; automatically delivering items, one at a time, from said rail to a rotating pickup assembly; automatically bringing said collector arms, one at a time, toward said rotating pickup assembly; automatically removing said items, one at a time, from said rotating pickup assembly to said collector arms according to the identification data so that each group of items is assembled with its corresponding ticket. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33)
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34. A method for assembling laundry, comprising:
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receiving a plurality of groups of items to be laundered; ticketing each group of items with a single ticket identifying the group and specifying the number of items in the group, said ticket having a number of separable tags equal to the number of items in the group, said ticket and said separable tags each having identification data; tagging each item in each group with one of the separable tags from the ticket for the group; arranging several groups of said plurality of groups into a lot for cleaning; arranging tickets for said lot into a randomly ordered stack; inputting identification data from said randomly ordered stack of tickets for items in said lot into a control computer; laundering said items in said lot; placing said laundered items in said lot on individual hangers; hanging said assembled items on a rail; inputting identification data for each item on said rail into said control computer, said computer remembering the order in which items are input; associating said randomly ordered stack of tickets with collector arms of a sorting apparatus with one ticket per arm with said tickets kept in the order in which they appear in said stack of tickets; automatically delivering items, one at a time, from said rail to a rotating pickup assembly; bringing said collector arms, one at a time, toward said rotating pickup assembly in response to a signal from said control computer; removing said items, one at a time, from said rotating pickup assembly to said collector arms according to the identification data so that each group of items is assembled with its corresponding single ticket. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36)
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Specification