Clothes folding machine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025146210-A1
Application number	US-202218832461-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 8, 2022
Priority date	Jan 28, 2022
Publication date	May 8, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present invention relates to a clothes folding machine comprising: a frame part forming an external skeleton; a folding part which is mounted to the frame part, holds clothes, and folds the held clothes; and a holder which is disposed in front of the folding part and holds the clothes before the clothes are held by the folding part. The holder forms an upwardly convex curved surface, thus preventing wrinkles from occurring in the clothes held by the holder and preventing the occurrence of creases in the folded clothes.

First claim

1 . A clothes folding machine comprising:
a frame part that forms an external skeleton; a folding part that is mounted to the frame part, holds clothes, and folds the held clothes; and a holder that is disposed in front of the folding part and holds the clothes before the clothes are held by the folding part, wherein the holder forms an upwardly convex curved surface.

2 . The clothes folding machine of claim 1 , wherein the holder has a first curvature when viewed from a front and a second curvature that intersects the first curvature when viewed from one side.

3 . The clothes folding machine of claim 1 , wherein the holder includes a protrusion whose front end is formed to be convex forward when viewed from a top.

4 . The clothes folding machine of claim 1 , wherein the holder includes:
a holder body that holds the clothes on an upper surface; a holder side wall that extends upward from one side of the holder body; and a sleeve folding portion that is formed to protrude inward from one side of the holder side wall and folds one side edge of the clothes when the clothes passes through the holder body.

5 . The clothes folding machine of claim 4 , wherein a side of the sleeve folding portion is formed at least in part with a slop with an upper end disposed more inwardly than a lower end.

6 . The clothes folding machine of claim 4 , wherein the sleeve folding portion includes:
a side plate that extends upward from the holder body; and an upper plate that extends medially from an upper end of the side plate.

7 . The clothes folding machine of claim 6 , wherein the side plate has a rear end disposed inwardly than a front end.

8 . The clothes folding machine of claim 6 , wherein the upper plate has an inner end disposed lower than an outer end.

9 . The clothes folding machine of claim 6 , wherein the sleeve folding portion is disposed on a front end of the side plate, and includes a front guide that is formed to protrude medially from the holder side wall.

10 . The clothes folding machine of claim 1 , wherein the holder includes:
a holder body that holds the clothes on an upper surface; a holder side wall that extends upward from one side of the holder body; and a sleeve support portion that extends rearward from one side of the holder body and supports one side of the clothes.

11 . The clothes folding machine of claim 1 , comprising a loading part that is movably coupled to the frame part and fixes one side of the clothes when the clothes is placed on the holder and transfers the clothes to the folding part.

12 . The clothes folding machine of claim 11 , wherein the loading part includes:
a loading part body; a gripper that is disposed on the loading part body and fixes the clothes to the loading part body; a pinion that is disposed on one side of the loading part body; and a rack that is disposed on the frame part, extends in a retraction direction of the clothes, and is connected to the pinion.

13 . The clothes folding machine of claim 12 , wherein the gripper includes:
a lower plate that is fixedly coupled to the loading part body and is in close contact with a lower surface of the clothes; an upper plate that is disposed on an upper portion of the lower plate, is movably coupled to the loading part body, and is in close contact with an upper surface of the clothes; a first link that has one side rotatably coupled to the lower plate and the other side rotatably coupled to the upper plate; and a second link that is disposed to be spaced apart from the first link, has one side rotatably coupled to the lower plate, and the other side rotatably coupled to the upper plate.

14 . The clothes folding machine of claim 12 , wherein the gripper includes:
a lower plate that is fixedly coupled to the loading part body and is in close contact with a lower surface of the clothes; an upper plate that is disposed on an upper portion of the lower plate, is movably coupled to the loading part body, and is in close contact with an upper surface of the clothes; and a first spring that has one side coupled to the lower plate and the other side coupled to the upper plate.

15 . The clothes folding machine of claim 12 , wherein the gripper includes:
a lower plate that is fixedly coupled to the loading part body and is in close contact with a lower surface of the clothes; an upper plate that is disposed on an upper portion of the lower plate, is movably coupled to the loading part body, and is in close contact with an upper surface of the clothing; and a pressing member that has one side disposed on the loading part body and the other side in close contact with the upper plate.

16 . The clothes folding machine of claim 15 , wherein the gripper includes a second spring having one side coupled to the loading part body and the other side coupled to the pressing member.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Kim Sangjo

Classifications

• D06F89/02 Primary

  of textile articles to be worn, e.g. shirts · CPC title

• A41H43/0257

  Folding · CPC title

• A41H43/02

  Handling garment parts or blanks, e.g. feeding, piling, separating or reversing · CPC title

• D06F89/026 Primary

  Details, e.g. collar holders · CPC title