Overhead Laundry Sortation Conveyor: Historical Project (2008)
Updated: 6 days ago
From the Central Conveyors archive. Originally documented in February 2008; restored here as a historical account.
An industrial laundry needed to sort items ranging from lightweight overalls to heavy floor mats. Identification chips built into the fabric supplied the information needed to direct each item to the correct wheeled basket.
Available floor space was restricted, and staff still needed access to the baskets. Central Conveyors addressed the layout with an overhead chain track carrying suspended platters.
The track descended to waist level at the loading position, then rose above head height before reaching the sorting area. This arrangement separated the loading task from the elevated transport route.
After an item's identification code was scanned, the control system selected its discharge position. Pneumatic tilt rods tipped the appropriate platter into one of three sorting baskets. A fourth basket on the return leg collected rejects where a chip was missing or could not be read.
A variable-speed drive allowed the conveying speed to be adjusted for different loading requirements. The original account also described a slipping clutch as part of the mechanical design.
This project shows how identification, overhead transport and controlled discharge were combined within a constrained laundry layout. It is a historical installation, rather than a specification for a current standard product.
Comments