摘要 |
The present invention provides an apparatus (10) for separating a jumbled collection of articles, such as clothing or garment hangers (23), into a plurality of separate and discrete hangers. The apparatus includes conveyor means (12, 26, 32) adapted to transport a plurality of hangers (23) in succession along a process path; separation means, such as barrier gate members (20, 21), adapted to permit the hangers to proceed along the process path one at a time, sensing means (19, 38) adapted to detect when a hanger is entangled or interconnected with one or more other hangers; and removal means (30) adapted to remove any such entangled or interconnected hangers from the process path. The invention also provides a method for separating the hangers (23).
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