Innovation all round

Jensen used its open house to demonstrate its ability to innovate for every section of the laundry line.

An undoubted highlight was the presentation of the Universal Highline, the latest in the development of the Jensen-Senking tunnel washers.

For this star of the show, the company had adopted a theatrical presentation. Two laundry women argued about the benefits of stirring or shaking the clothes clean, Enter singer and songwriter James Wash to settle the argument by presenting a machine that could provide both a rotating and swivelling wash action and an oscillating action option

The Highline works on Archimedian screw principle which raises the water level and combines this with a rotating action in which linen is lifted from the bottom of the drum by scoops, turned round by the drum axis and dropped on the other side. To effect transfer the drum then rotates in the opposite direction as the linen is again lifted by scoops and slides down diagonally into the next chamber. This combination of rotating action and smooth lift gives a high degree of mechanical action so the machine is especially suitable for heavily soiled linen and for dustmats.

However, some linen will require a gentler action and the Universal Highline allows the drum to be programmed to oscillate. So it caters for both preferences - stir or shake - as James Wash pointed out, and settles the laundry ladies’ argument.

But, he told the audience, Jensen innovation does not end there but extends into flatwork finishing. The Evolution automates towel handling. The dry towel drops into a box and travels on a steep conveyor to the preparation section. Robotic arms pick the towel up and pass it through different “hands” to find the first corner. It is then spread on a clamp to locate the second corner and fed into the Tematic pro towel folder.

This system can fold sort and stack towels up to 2m individually. It eliminates the need for an operator to feed the towels as this is now done by the “magic hands” in the upper part of the machine.

For large flatwork feeding, Jensen showed a further development based on lessons learned in both its 700 Logic and 850 Variant ranges.

The Logic Plus achieves a capacity of up to 1,050 pieces/hour in one lane and up to 1,800 pieces/hour in two lanes. This high rate results from the inclusion of pivoting, soft-touch spreading clamps, claimed as a first for this market, which combine the advantages of height-adjustable vertical feeding and the horizontal transfer technique used on the Variant range.

The feeder can handle large and small pieces, with front feeding of sheets, duvet covers and table cloths, and a high positioned vacuum box which can be lowered for feeding small pieces in three to five lanes.

The soft-touch spreading clamps are a new technique, patent pending. These clamps work on an air cushion and as the linen is placed in the clamps, the corners are held in place by the air pressure, which adjusts to suit linen of various categories and thicknesses.

The clamp’s ability to pivot from vertical (for receiving linen) to horizontal for transfer ensures that the leading edge is straight and a brush on the clamps straightens out the corners.

The high-positioned vacuum box deals with the trailing edge of large pieces and stretches the linen while spreading belts and brushes take care of the side edges. As the leading edge is lifted into the high position for transfer, the rear edge is sucked into the vacuum box so that the spreading belts and brushes can deal with the entire side edges. This action also moves the piece away from the spreading area, allowing the next piece to be spread and centred, as the first is fed into the ironer.

In addition to the Logic Plus feeder the ironer line also featured the Jenroll EXPG oil/gas heated ironer, the Universal folder, the Jenscan quality control and sorting system.

The Garment division introduced Metricon Live software for controlling garment sorting.

Metricon Live can be run on a standard PC pocket PC or a small hand-held computer.

The program can integrate and control all elements of a garment sorting system. Machines can be disabled or started by a double click on the appropriate symbol. Hovering over the symbol will give extra data about the machine in question.

If problems occur, the display will show their location along with recommendations for fixing the error.

Metricon Live has a feature that allows garments to be discharged at differing locations around the plant.

The company feels that the three-day event, was very successful. In all 1,300 visitors came to the Jensen-Senking factory at Harsum, Germany. Seventy percent of the visitors came from outside Germany and this international contingent included representatives from 40 countries covering North America, Asia, Europe and Australia.