GB2150093A - Improved vehicle cleaning - Google Patents

Abstract

To prevent damage to the cleaning members (16, 18) of a drive-through vehicle cleaning installation the approach speed of a vehicle (22) is sensed (via 24) and the cleaning members withdrawn to the sides of the vehicle driveway (12) if the sensed approach speed exceeds a safe maximum. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improved vehicle cleaning This invention relates to a drive-through vehicle cleaning installation of the kind in which as a vehicle is driven through the installation, at least the front and sides of the vehicle are contacted by rotating cleaning members controlled to follow the contour of the vehicle surfaces to be cleaned.

All vehicle cleaning installations of the kind described will have at least one pair of opposed vertical side brushes to clean the sides of the vehicle and some will have also at least one horizontal top brush to clean the top of the vehicle. Cleaning the front of the vehicle can be effected by the horizontal brush(es) where such is (are) provided, but normally front end cleaning is effected with the side brushes which are moved outwardly across the moving front of the vehicle.

To make each brush accurately follow the contour of the vehicle surfaces it is designed to clean, it is necessary for the drive through speed of the vehicle to be no greater than a determined maximum speed. Any drive through speed less than this maximum can be used, but clearly the slower the speed, the less economical is the utilisation of the installation and the greater is the chance that unnecessary waste of cleaning liquid will occur. However, drive-through speeds in excess of the determined maximum will at best downgrade the quality of the cleaning achieved and at worst will damage the installation and/or the vehicle, necessitating down time and expensive repairs.

Drive-through cleaning machines are particularly attractive to organisations operating a fleet of similar vehicles, since such an installation can be provided at the vehicle garage and each driver made to clean his vehicle before garaging it at the end of a working period. As would be expected, there are a proportion of drivers whose interests, at the end of a working period, are not principally directed to achieving optimum cleaning of his vehicle and accordingly excessive drive through speeds are a problem.

A recent survey at a bus garage revealed that although an optimum wash time was 90 seconds per vehicle, some buses were being driven so rapidly through the installation that wash times of less than half the optimum were common and a wash time as low as 20 seconds experienced on one occasion. At this speed, excessive brush/ vehicle pressure will occur, large areas of the vehicle will not be contacted by the brushes at all (providing a wholly unsatisfactory cleaning of the vehicle) and damage can easily be sustained to the vehicle and at least the sensitive brush/moving system of the installation.

Although research is being continually carried out to improve the ability of such installations to accept a vehicle being driven at an excessive speed, an alternative solution is also required and this invention relates to methods of and apparatus for protecting drive-through vehicle cleaning installations against damage by excess vehicle drive-through speeds.

According to one aspect of the invention a method of protecting a drive-through vehicle cleaning installation, against damage by a vehicle driving at excessive speed therethrough, the installation having at least one cleaning member adapted to move across the leading end of the vehicle in contact therewith during a cleaning operation, comprises sensing the approach speed of the vehicle at at least one location upstream of the said at least one cleaning member and controlling the movement of said at least one cleaning member differently depending on whether the sensed approach speed does or does not exceed a predetermined maximum approach speed to avoid cleaning member/vehicle leading end contact when said predetermined approach speed is exceeded.

According to a further aspect of the invention a drive-through vehicle cleaning installation having at least one cleaning member adapted to move outwardly across the leading end of the approaching vehicle, is characterised in that means is provided to sense the approach speed of a vehicle to the installation and in that further means is provided to control the said at least one cleaning member on the basis of the sensed approach speed to avoid cleaning member/leading end contact if said approach speed exceeds a predetermined maximum approach speed.

Where the installation operates with the said at least one cleaning member resting in the path of the vehicle, the movement thereof on a speed sensing, which does not exceed the predetermined maximum approach speed, will be the normal outward movement consequent upon vehicle leading end contact while otherwise the movement thereof will be a rapid withdrawal of the said at least one cleaning member at least to a position where it will only contact the side or top of the speeding vehicle.

Where the installation operates with the leading end cleaning member(s) retracted, but sets it/them to contact the leading end of the vehicle as the vehicle approaches the installation, no movement of the said at least one cleaning member occurs if the sensed approach speed of the vehicle exceeds the predetermined maximum approach speed.

Approach speed sensing can be effected in a variety of different ways, among which may be mentioned devices measuring Dop 1 ppler effect (radar or ultrasonic) or spaced-apart sensors (e.g. pressure pads, photoelectric units, inductive loops or wand switches) combined with timing devices to determine the transit time of the vehicle over a known distance.

The cleaning member would normally be a cylindrical brush which during use is rotated about its longitudinal axis.

One embodiment of installation in accordance with the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, the sole figure of which is a schematic perspective view of a four-brush drive-through bus cleaning installation.

The installation illustrated comprises a stationary gantry 10 straddling a vehicle drive way 12. A leading pair of brushes 14, 16 are journalled at the front end of the gantry 10 about respective arms 1 4a, 16a and a trailing pair of cylindrical rotatable brushes 18, 20 are mounted on arms 1 8a, 20a at the rear end of the gantry 10.

The necessary equipment to rotate the brushes 14-20, move the arms 14a-20a and drench a vehicle on the drive way 12 with detergent-containing water are not shown in the drawing since these are conventional.

As a bus 22 approaches the gantry 10, it actuates a start-up device (not shown) which initiates the water sprays and starts rotation of all four brushes. The brushes 16 and 18 then, in turn, brush across the front of the bus and brushes 14 and 18 clean the right-hand side of the vehicle while brushes 16 and 20 clean the left-hand side. As the vehicle passes each pair of brushes, brushes 16 and 18 move in behind the vehicle to clean the rear end thereof.

To prevent inadequate cleaning and/or damage due to the bus 22 travelling through the gantry 10 at too high a speed, a radar speed sensing Doppler device is mounted on the front end of the gantry 10 above the brushes 14, 16 and is directed so that its sensing beam is intersected by the bus 22 an appropriate distance (e.g. one bus length) in advance of the brushes 14, 16.

If the device 24 detects an unacceptably high approach speed, brush-position control equipment is actuated to rapidly pivot the arms 16a, 18a and cause the brushes 16 and 18 to get out of the way of the approaching bus. To ensure that an overfast drive, through the gantry 10 does not give the vehicle a superficial appearance of having been cleaned, the water sprays can be turned off so that a second run along the drive way 12, at an acceptable speed, must be undertaken to wet the vehicle.

Preferably clear visual indication is given to the bus driver when his approach speed is too high and this can be, for example, either by means of red and green traffic lights or a large dial giving the measured approach speed. In addition an audible warning could be given (e.g. by means of a Klaxon).

The invention is clearly applicable to other types of installation than that illustrated (e.g.

with other arrangements of cleaning members). Thus, symmetrically mounted vertical brushes can be used in place of the asymmetrically mounted brush pairs shown and these can be suspended from track-mounted carriages rather than on pivoted arms. A horizontal top brush can be used for front-/rear-end cleaning in addition to or as a replacement for the brushes 16, 18.

A common method of controlling the movement of the brushes of a drive through type installation is by air operated cylinders. The excessive speed signal could therefore apply air direct to the cylinders to rapidly move the brushes outwards. The retraction operation could be held for a short time delay, the brushes then returning to their normal operating positions.

There are of course other methods of determining the speed of the approaching vehicle.

One such system could be spaced-apart sensors (e.g. P.E. units, inductive loops, wand switches or ultrasonic detectors) with timers to measure the time gap between operation of each sensor which could be translated into approach speed.

To ensure that the cleaning members are removed from a speeding vehicle before vehicle/cleaning member contact can occur, it may be desirable to make the rest position(s) of the front end brush(es) somewhat outwardly of that normally employed in an installation of the kind illustrated and to move the brush(es) inwardly of the rest position(s) if an acceptable approach speed is signalled, but further outwardly thereof if an overfast approach is sensed.

Claims (14)

1. A method of protecting a drive-through vehicle cleaning installation, against damage by a vehicle driving at excessive speed therethrough, the installation having at least one cleaning member adapted to move across the leading end of the vehicle in contact therewith during a cleaning operation, comprising sensing the approach speed of the vehicle at at least one location upstream of the said at least one cleaning member and controlling the movement of said at least one cleaning member differently depending on whether the sensed approach speed does or does not exceed a predetermined maximum approach speed to avoid cleaning member/vehicle leading end contact when said predetermined approach is exceeded.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, in which the leading end cleaning member(s) normally rest(s) in the path of the vehicle, the movement thereof on a speed sensing, which does not exceed the predetermined maximum approach speed, be ng an outward movement consequent upon vehicle leading end contact but the movement thereof being a rapid with drawal of the said cleaning member(s) at least to (a) position(s) where it/each will only contact the side or top of the speeding vehicle if the sensed speed exceeds the said predetermined maximum approach speed.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1, in which the leading end cleaning member(s) is/are normally retracted from the path of the vehicle but it/them is set to contact the leading end of the vehicle as the vehicle approaches the installation, wherein no movement of the cleaning member(s) will occur if the sensed approach speed of the vehicle exceeds the predetermined maximum approach speed.

4. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the vehicle approach speed is sensed by making use of the Döppler effect.

5. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, in which the vehicle approach speed is sensed by noting the time gap between operations of vehicle sensors spaced apart along the approach path of a vehicle to the installation.

6. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, where the installation includes means to spray cleaning liquid onto the vehicle as it is driven through the installation, wherein spray of cleaning liquid is inhibited if the sensed approach speed exceeds the predetermined maximum approach speed.

7. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, in which visual indication is given to a driver of an approaching vehicle if his approach speed is and/or is not exceeding the predetermined maximum approach speed.

8. A method of protecting a drive-through vehicle cleaning installation against damage by a vehicle driving at excessive speed therethrough substantially as herein-before described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

9. A drive-through vehicle cleaning installation having at least one cleaning member adapted to move outwardly across the leading end of an approaching vehicle, characterised in that means is provided to sense the approach speed of a vehicle to the installation and in that further means is provided to control the said at least one cleaning member on the basis of the sensed approach speed to avoid cleaning member/leading end contact if said approach speed exceeds a predetermined maximum approach speed.

10. A vehicle cleaning installation as claimed in claim 9, in which the at least one cleaning member is mounted on a stationary gantry straddling a vehicle driveway and the further means acts to hold the at least one cleaning member out of the driveway if the approach speed of the vehicle exceeds the predetermined maximum approach speed.

11. A vehicle cleaning installation as claimed in claim 10, in which there are four cleaning members, each in the form of a cylindrical brush mounted with its axis extending vertically, each brish being supported on the gantry so that its axis can move transversely across the driveway.

12. A vehicle cleaning installation as claimed in claim 11, in which two brushes define a leading pair journalled at the front end of the gantry and two brushes define a trailing pair journalled at the rear end of the gantry, each of the brushes in each pair being adapted to clean a respective side of the vehicle, with one of the brushes in each pair contacting the front and rear ends of the vehicle, the further means acting on said ones of the brushes in each pair to remove them from contact with the front end of the vehicle if the approach speed thereof to the front end of the gantry exceeds the predetermined maximum approach speed.

13. A vehicle cleaning installation as claimed in claim 11 or claim 12, in which the means sensing the vehicle approach speed is a radar speed sensing Ddppler device mounted on the front end of the gantry so that the sensing beam of the Döppler device is intersected by an approaching vehicle when it is an appropriate distance in advance of the gantry.

14. A vehicle cleaning installation substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawing.