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northwesty

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What a surprise this is!

50, 000 pounds in weight, 79 feet in length, a million dollars in price, and shoots out 250 pounds of laundry every 2 &1/2 minutes.

 

How can that--the 250 in 2&1/2 minutes --be possible? Who either knows or can figure out how this behemoth works? All I can come up with is that after it's loaded with many thousands of pounds of laundry, and time has passed, then the loads come out that fast.

 

Or is this an assembly line of wash/rinse/spin operations and the 250 pound load passes through 79 feet of washing magic in 2 minutes and 33 seconds?

 

Someone will have the answer.

 

Talk about a forbidden cycle. YIKES!

 

[this post was last edited: 12/3/2011-12:47]
 
Here is how it works.  It does resuse the rinse waters.  This is the wash and rince(s) only then it goes to extractors and dryers.  My company uses lots of wrap around smocks for our line employees and our major linen company uses the tunnel type washers and then does the extract and after thqt they are hung and go through a tunel dryer. 

 

I am sure Mac (Sudsman)  sees tis he can really explain about the workings of this an the job flow.

 

 

 

 
Archimedes Screw

Tunnel washers use archimedes screw principle to whiz through laundry.

Soiled items enter the machine in one direction whilst fresh water comes through the other. Thus as the laundry goes though various compartments of the unit it moves from dirty water to fresh. Meanwhile the clean water coming from the other direction goes from that state to finally ending up as dirty when it is used as a wash bath.

All and all a very efficent method of doing major amounts of laundry quickly.

 
The machine works as a modified front loader.  The cylinders are all connected and they rock back and forth as one.  When it is time to move the load into the next compartment, the cylinders do a complete revolution.  When the load is burped out of the other end, it usually slides directly into a hydralic press or a centrifugal extractor.  From there the load is turned out onto a conveyor that shuttles them to the dryers.

 

If you measure the time the first load goes in until the last load comes out and divide by the number of pounds cleaned, you get how many pounds are cleaned each minute.
 
Oh wow...

I just learned how they do laundry on an industrial level.

Thanks for the video stainfighter, it was very descriptive.

For the extractor, I thought that they just used high speed spinning tubs, I didn't know they make the clothes into a gigantic pancake! It makes sense though.

That really is fascinating.
 
Kannegiesser PowerSpin

There is a spin for tunnel Washer from Kannegiesser.
Spins up to 800G

Partner in Wäschereitechnik: Kannegiesser - Germany

Kannegiesser bietet als Technikpartner der Wäscherei das gesamte Produktprogramm an industrieller Wäschereitechnik. Mit den Produktfeldern Waschtechnik, Flachwäsche, Formteile und Systemübergreifende Technologien im Bereich Großwäschereitechnik.
www.kannegiesser.de

commercial++12-4-2011-07-15-37.jpg
 
Wouldn't want to get caught in that monster, 800 G's could do something very nasty to the human body.. yikes..

I can see how that would be a bit more efficient than using a press. Man, to be able to push that much G force, the bearings and suspension on it must be downright massive.

I'm kind of surprised to see such small feet on such a large device like that..
 
I wouldn't want to get "caught" in ANY of those monster laundry machines--any would mangle the fragile human body.The compaction style extraction presses are sort of interesting-would think this would be hard on the items.the machine works like an up-downstroke vertical cardbaord or trash baler.the spinner one sounds more efficient-hope it has good off balance protection-wouldn't want that beast leaping around the laundry facility and everyone diving for cover!Would like to see the mechanism of that spin type extractor.Suppose if you work as a maintenance tech in one of those laundry places-make sure you have adequite "Lockout&tagout" kits!You don't want ANY of those devices to be started if you were inside it working on it!Fascinating videos on how those machines work-esp the "tunnel" washer!
 
Move over: wringers, and spinners.....LOOK OUT......

Here comes the presser. WOW!!! The water is flattened out. I'm amazed.

 

That reverse scooping to shift the load reminds me of something right out of "War of the Worlds." In spinning washers, the clothes get pretty much glued together, especially in a unimatic, and because the pressing is so brief, I'm thinking this method maybe no more worse for wear on the fabrics.

 

Got a kick out of the drain in Mike's vid, a simple brass elbow among all that high technology. Who woulda thunk?

 

When I was a kid, the only laundry book at the local library was an industrial laundry tome showing pics of how each machine drained into the next, so there was a constant recycling of water of from very used to sparking fresh, a lot like what's going on here. In that book they called the water "washing liquors," a term which has stayed with me ever since.

 

This is amazing, fascinating stuff--suds-savers forever! Thank you all so much for the industrial tutorial.
 
You know, I had a thought...

In the second video, they mention how the transfer mechanism never jams so you never have to go inside of the machine to clear clogs.

How on Earth can someone climb inside of that machine and unclog clothing that gets jammed between tubs? God, being smothered by 150 lbs of Linen while being tumbled around is nightmare material... Has this ever happened to anyone?

Then again, that is what lockout tags are for.
http://www.mylockouttags.com/img/lg/T/Do-Not-Operate-Lockout-Tag-TG-1021-01.gif

I suppose if one would be lucky enough, they'd escape with some cuts and bruises, maybe a few broken bones.. but nothing like what would happen with the press at the end.. Ugh..

They should make a horror movie about a serial killer that "Washes" his victims in a tunnel washer before they are compressed and air tumbled... Ugh ugh..
 
Laundry Equipment horror picture-the "Mangler" RETURNS!Guess the multistage tunnel washer could be the star.
and in one of those scenes in the videos-an attendent enters-thru an interlocked door-into the area where the bales of compressed laundry were being loaded by the loader to the dryers.when he opened that door to enter-all motion of the equipment stopped.
so,when it gets down to it-when the laundry is wrungout-at that point doesn't matter what method is used-the rotary extractor,or the hydraulic "baler" press.Wonder how much force that hydraulic press exerts?
I wonder how that tunnel wash mechanism could jam-from the video clips-looks pretty foolproof.Maybe someone who has operated or worked on this equipment could speak out.If I had to go into that thing-would make sure its drained,most laundry removed,and the power to the unit LOCKED OUT!!!The keys are on ME!I do that at the transmitter site when I have to go into the blower tunnels.I would think if the tumbling cycle-rocking action on the wash drum isn't adjusted right the machine could jam.And if there was still water in the machine-think someone could drown in it if the machine started and dumpted the laundry on top of you in the water.
 
To Tolivac,

Is it wrong that I can hear the movie trailer right now?

"Sam Duggan was an innocent man, but a gruesome accident involving a washing machine in a laundromat in a rough part of town left him disfigured for life, transforming him into.... the Cleaner... starring Nicolas Cage.. Vowing revenge on people who put slugs into coin operated machines, His victims are.... cleaned permanently..."

Oh God, it gives me the shivers just thinking about it.. I shouldn't joke about such things, considering that dying in one of those machines would be one of the worst experiences I could think of.

Tolivac, I agree that it wouldn't be impossible to drown in one of those machines. I bet the water at the bottom of the tub would be at least waist high, if not chest high, but 150-200 lbs of Linen toppling ontop of someone would expedite their demise.

It would make sense to me that these machines wouldn't be key operated, but would have some kind of a strict lockout mode so that they couldn't accidentally start.
I'm sure that when you are buying a $1 million dollar machine, asking the manufacturer to include a lockout key isn't asking for much.
 
So those things can jam!!guess you follow Melnors suggestions to prevent it-water levels,don't overload-and the machine mechanism is adjusted properly.Another one of man's massive machines to solve mans massive issues.Two of our transmitters have european style lockout systems to prevent you from entering the cabinets unless all power is removed and the grounding switches applied.Some of our other rigs older ones-have key interlocks to prevent you from entering the transformer vaults and opening certain cabinets until the 4160V breaker has been tripped open and locked out.New transmitters for us are about 1.5Mil each.Another one of mans massive machines.-communicate to people on the other side of the world.
 

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