Laundry items are spread out by a spreading device during which a front edge of the laundry item is stretched out. Subsequently, a front edge strip of the stretched-out front edge is transferred onto a depositing strip which deposits the edge strip onto a feed conveyor which feeds it to a mangle. This front edge typically has a residual sag. In larger laundry items, the depositing strip can collide therewith as it moves down under the edge strip, impairing the mangling quality. Making provision to space the depositing strip from the edge strip, prior to the movement under the latter, to an extent that the edge strip does not collide with the depositing strip as the latter moves down results in the depositing strip accepting the edge strip with a rectilinear front edge and then the laundry item is fed to the mangle and inserted into the latter.

Laundry items are spread out by a spreading device during which a front edge of the laundry item is stretched out. Subsequently, a front edge strip of the stretched-out front edge is transferred onto a depositing strip which deposits the edge strip onto a feed conveyor which feeds it to a mangle. This front edge typically has a residual sag. In larger laundry items, the depositing strip can collide therewith as it moves down under the edge strip, impairing the mangling quality. Making provision to space the depositing strip from the edge strip, prior to the movement under the latter, to an extent that the edge strip does not collide with the depositing strip as the latter moves down results in the depositing strip accepting the edge strip with a rectilinear front edge and then the laundry item is fed to the mangle and inserted into the latter.

One embodiment can provide an apparatus. The apparatus can include a robotic arm, a pair of jaws coupled to the robotic arm configured to grip a fabric piece at a pair of predetermined locations, a force sensor coupled to the jaws and configured to measure a tension force applied to the fabric piece by the jaws, and a control module configured to control movements of at least one jaw based on the measured tension force, thereby allowing the fabric piece to be stretched.

An apparatus for recovering bulkiness of a nonwoven fabric by blowing hot air and heating the nonwoven fabric transferred in a transfer direction, includes a case member that has both end portions in the transfer direction opened; an entrance and an exit provided to openings on opposite end sides, in the transfer direction, of the case member to transfer the nonwoven fabric; and a blast opening provided on the entrance side of the case member for blasting hot air inside the case member toward the exit. Inside the case member, a sectional area at a first position downstream of the blast opening is wider than at a second position located between the blast opening and the first position. Hot air blasted from the blast opening flows downstream through the first and second positions while coming into contact with one of two faces of the nonwoven fabric inside the case member.

An apparatus for recovering bulkiness of a nonwoven fabric by blowing hot air and heating the nonwoven fabric transferred in a transfer direction, includes a case member that has both end portions in the transfer direction opened; an entrance and an exit provided to openings on opposite end sides, in the transfer direction, of the case member to transfer the nonwoven fabric; and a blast opening provided on the entrance side of the case member for blasting hot air inside the case member toward the exit. Inside the case member, a sectional area at a first position downstream of the blast opening is wider than at a second position located between the blast opening and the first position. Hot air blasted from the blast opening flows downstream through the first and second positions while coming into contact with one of two faces of the nonwoven fabric inside the case member.

A cloth spreading apparatus includes: a spreading unit having spreading clamps that spread an upper-side part of a fed cloth in a right-left direction; and an ejection unit having an intermediate movable body that releases the upper-side part of the cloth that the intermediate movable body has received from the spreading clamps in the forward position and held onto an upper surface by sucking, and a belt conveyor that receives the upper-side part of the cloth released by the intermediate movable body and ejects the entire cloth backward. The ejection unit has: a large number of suction holes that are dispersedly disposed in the intermediate movable body's upper surface; a negative pressure source that sucks out air inside the intermediate movable body to form a negative pressure region inside the intermediate movable body; and sucking force maintaining means that maintains a sucking force of the suction holes

An automatic cloth spreading machine, that keeps the number of pieces processed even in the event of failure in handling, includes a separating device for separating pieces of cloth one by one from a mass of cloth made of a plurality of pieces of cloth by cloth handling devices, an edge locating device for locating an edge of each of the pieces of cloth having been separated one by one, a spreading device for spreading the piece of cloth, the edge of which has been located, and a discharging device for discharging the piece of cloth having been spread to a subsequent step. The separating device includes multiple units of cloth handling devices that perform the same process, and the multiple units of cloth handling devices simultaneously perform at least one of single- or multiple-step processes of separating pieces of cloth one by one from the mass of cloth.

An automatic cloth spreading machine, that keeps the number of pieces processed even in the event of failure in handling, includes a separating device for separating pieces of cloth one by one from a mass of cloth made of a plurality of pieces of cloth by cloth handling devices, an edge locating device for locating an edge of each of the pieces of cloth having been separated one by one, a spreading device for spreading the piece of cloth, the edge of which has been located, and a discharging device for discharging the piece of cloth having been spread to a subsequent step. The separating device includes multiple units of cloth handling devices that perform the same process, and the multiple units of cloth handling devices simultaneously perform at least one of single- or multiple-step processes of separating pieces of cloth one by one from the mass of cloth.

Laundry items are spread out by a spreading device during which a front edge of the laundry item is stretched out. Subsequently, a front edge strip of the stretched-out front edge is transferred onto a depositing strip which deposits the edge strip onto a feed conveyor which feeds it to a mangle. This front edge typically has a residual sag. In larger laundry items, the depositing strip can collide therewith as it moves down under the edge strip, impairing the mangling quality. Making provision to space the depositing strip from the edge strip, prior to the movement under the latter, to an extent that the edge strip does not collide with the depositing strip as the latter moves down results in the depositing strip accepting the edge strip with a rectilinear front edge and then the laundry item is fed to the mangle and inserted into the latter.

Laundry items are spread out by a spreading device during which a front edge of the laundry item is stretched out. Subsequently, a front edge strip of the stretched-out front edge is transferred onto a depositing strip which deposits the edge strip onto a feed conveyor which feeds it to a mangle. This front edge typically has a residual sag. In larger laundry items, the depositing strip can collide therewith as it moves down under the edge strip, impairing the mangling quality. Making provision to space the depositing strip from the edge strip, prior to the movement under the latter, to an extent that the edge strip does not collide with the depositing strip as the latter moves down results in the depositing strip accepting the edge strip with a rectilinear front edge and then the laundry item is fed to the mangle and inserted into the latter.