FoldiMate was a California-based company developing a robotic

laundry-folding machine A laundry-folding machine or laundry-folding robot is a machine or domestic robot which folds apparel such that they can be stored compactly and orderly A laundry folding machine can be a part of or integrated with a washing machine, clothes dry ...

founded in 2012. Their clothes folding machine was aimed to enter the market by the end of 2019. In 2021, the company folded.

History

Foldimate was founded by Gal Rozov, an

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i software engineer who decided that folding laundry was a tedious chore that could be done effectively by a robot. In 2010, Rozov quit his job as a software developer and product manager and spent two years developing his laundry-folding device. In 2012, he moved to the United States to work with a robotic team in Silicon Valley. By 2013, he had a patented technology. In 2016, after an initial round of investment, he produced the first prototype. The prototype presented at CES 2017 generated much interest. The company exhibited an updated prototype of Foldimate at

CES 2018 CES (; formerly an initialism for Consumer Electronics Show) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester, Nevada, United States, the event t ...

. In January 2018, BSH Hausgeräte expressed an interest in partnering with Foldimate. On August 30, 2021, the company sent an email to customers who submitted the $85 deposit informing them that the company has gone bankrupt and is requiring customers to submit a form to get the $85 deposit back. The email was titled "Cessation of Business - Deposit claim NOTICE" and began with the line "I hereby inform you that FoldiMate, inc. (“FOLDIMATE”) ceased its business operations". Customers were required to submit the form by February 1, 2022 with disbursements beginning after February 1, 2022. The customer was asked to supply the deposit amount and date. Payments were offered via PayPal or credit card.

Overview

The FoldiMate is slightly larger than a standard

washing machine A washing machine (laundry machine, clothes washer, washer, or simply wash) is a home appliance used to wash laundry. The term is mostly applied to machines that use water as opposed to dry cleaning (which uses alternative cleaning fluids and ...

. According to the developers, it can fold a full wash in less than 4 minutes. The user clips the piece of clothing on two hooks and the item is pulled into the machine. Then a series of rollers and arms moves in all directions to straighten and fold it. The machine can fold shirts, tops, trousers and dresses, but not small pieces of clothing like underwear or large items like sheets. The folded items are returned in a stack through a window at the bottom of the machine. Previous versions included anti-wrinkling technology and fragrance features, but the product was redesigned and simplified with the aim of readying it for the market by the end of 2019. Helpful for Homes
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References

{{Authority control Laundry equipment Home automation Home appliances Inventions

History

Overview

See also

References