SPREADER FEEDER APPARATUS
A spreader feeder apparatus for laundry flatwork pieces, such as bed sheets. The apparatus has a hanger (H) for releasably gripping the opposite top corners of the flatwork piece and carrying the suspended flatwork piece away from the entry side of the apparatus and toward its exit side. The opposite side edges of the suspended flatwork piece are engaged by upper and lower sets of spreader belts (B-1, B-2, B-3 and B-4), which spread it laterally in opposite directions. The upper sets of spreader belts release the flatwork piece after it has been spread, and pusher mechanisms (32, 32') push it onto a horizontal conveyor, which carries it toward the exit side of the apparatus.