GB2236728A - Vehicle cleaning apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Apparatus to clean cars and other vehicles comprises hand held dispensing tool 1 linked to a control cabinet 2 by way of flexible hoses 3 and an electric cable, and supplied by pumps 7, 8, 9 with water from a tank 4, a cleaning chemical from a reservoir 5 and a sealant, such as wax, from a reservoir 6. All functions of the apparatus are controlled by switches (25, 26, 27, 28 Fig. 2) located on the dispensing tool which controls the flow of water, soap and sealant. These controls are 12V DC. <IMAGE>

Description

CLEANING APPARATUS This invention relates to cleaning apparatus such as may be used to wash cars or other vehicles. Although the invention is not restricted to use in washing cars or other vehicles it is primarily intended for such use and it is convenient to discuss the invention in relation to known car washing devices.

One known form of car washing device is the drive-in washer in which rotating roller brushes brush a mixture of soap and water against the exterior vehicle panels of the car to clean it.

Another known car cleaning device comprises a large rectangular trough-shaped frame about 6 metres by 3 metres in size which in use surrounds a vehicle to be cleaned. The vehicle is first driven into position and the trough is lowered into place. An active ingregient is introduced into the trough and urged from there onto the vehicle. When the user presses a first button a first stage of cleaning occurs in which an active ingredient comprising soap is introduced into the trough and then forced onto the car by jets of water provided at the trough. When a second button is pressed a second stage of cleaning occurs and comprises rinsing off the soap using just the jets of water. When a third button is pressed a third stage of cleaning occurs and comprises introducing a sealant material as the active ingredient into the trough and forcing that onto the car with the jets of water.The sealant then seals the exterior paintwork of the car in its new, clean, state and takes several weeks to wear or wash away in normal use of the car. Such devices are very large, very expensive, and use a lot of water and active ingredients.

Cleaning devices are also known which take the form of a hand-held lance having a high pressure water jet, with or without the addition of soap into the water jet. Such devices rely primarily upon the force of the water jet to dislodge dirt.

It is the aim of the present invention to provide another cleaning device which has at least some advantages over the known devices discussed above.

According to a first aspect the invention consists in cleaning apparatus comprising first supply means for providing a cleaning chemical in the form of a first liquid, second supply means for supplying a sealant chemical in the form of a second liquid, water supply means for supplying water, and a pump means for pumping the liquids and water to a hand-held dispensing tool, the supply means and pump means being provided at a first location and the dispensing tool being movably connected to the output of the pump means by a flexible conduit.

The invention thus allows a car or other object to be washed and sealed using a hand-held dispensing tool. The apparatus has the advantages over drive-in permanently erected wash and sealing installations that the size of vehicle to be washed is not restricted by the size of the drive-in installation, or the size of the trough which in the known systems surround the vehicle; the apparatus is less wasteful since it uses only the amount of water and cleaning and sealant chemicals as is required for the vehicle in question, rather than a pre-set standard amount; and because the vehicle does not have to be driven into an enclosed space there is less risk of accidentally colliding with the cleaning installation.

Preferably the dispensing tool has controls which control the operation of the apparatus. Most preferably the controls on the dispensing tool control components situated back at the first location.

This allows the user to clean his car conveniently, without having to return to a control station to control the cleaning operation. It is also possible to have the first location well away from the site at which a car is cleaned : it need not occupy valuable forecourt space at a garage.

The supply means and pump are preferably provided in a cabinet or unit. The first and second liquid supply means preferably comprise reservoir tanks of liquid, and the water supply means may comprise an integral reservoir tank, an external tank, or a connection to a mains supply of water. The choice of water supply means may depend upon the water pressure of the local water supply, or upon the desired water pressure.

The apparatus may be provided as a self-contained unit, which is preferably portable. The portable self-contained unit is far cheaper than a permanently situated large installation. This may allow a garage to keep a spare in case of breakdown, which is impractical with a drive-in installation.

The pump means may comprise three pumps, one for each of the supply means, and the controls on the dispensing tool then preferably control the operation of the pumps. The controls on the dispensing tool preferably comprise low voltage (such as 12v) D.C. electrical controls. This avoids electric shocks.

The dispensing tool is preferably a gun of pistol-like shape adapted to be held in a single hand of the user. The gun preferably has a mixing chamber in which the cleaning chemical is mixed with water prior to dispensing onto the car and in which the sealant chemical is mixed with water prior to dispensing onto the car.

The cleaning chemical is preferably a soaping agent which chemically loosens and dissolves dirt and grime.

The apparatus preferably includes the safety feature that the sealant cannot be dispensed unless the wash cycle has previously been activated. This prevents the user accidentally sealing a dirty car. Alternatively or additionally the safety feature may be governed by whether the rinse cycle has been performed just prior to the sealing cycle.

A further control feature may be that the release of the cleaning chemical into the water during washing of the car may be delayed for an initial period to allow the car to be wetted. The initial period may be about five seconds.

According to a second aspect the invention consists in a gun for use with cleaning apparatus in accordance with the first aspect of the invention, the gun being adapted to be held in a single hand by the user and having controls for controlling the operation of pump means provided at a distant location.

Preferably the gun has three independent passages defined in it, one for sealant liquid, one for cleaning liquid, and one for water, and a mixing chamber to which the passages lead and in which the cleaning and sealant liquids are mixed in respective cleaning and sealing cycles with water from the water passage.

The cleaning liquid and sealant liquid passages may have one-way valves.

The gun may be adapted to receive accessory attachments, such as a long handle, a lance, or a brush. The gun may have an electric socket, and may be adapted to receive electrical accessories such as a light, or a powered brush.

According to a third aspect the invention consists in a portable self-contained unit in accordance with the first aspect of the invention in which the dispensing tool is a gun in accordance with the second aspect of the invention.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings of which Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a cleaning system; Figure 2 is a schematic plan view of a part of the system of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a schematic cross-section on line 3-3 of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a schematic end view on line 4-4 of Figure 3; and Figure 5 shows schematically part of a wiring arrangement for the cleaning system.

A vehicle cleaning system is shown in Figure 1 comprising a gun 1, an operational cabinet 2 and a flexible conduit or hose 3 connecting the gun 1 with the cabinet 2.

The cabinet 2 comprises a large water tank (or an external water tank) 4, a "soap" reservoir 5, a sealant reservoir 6 for a sealant (such as a silicone sealant), water, soap and sealant pumps 7, 8 and 9, and an electrical control compartment 10. The soap and sealant reservoirs 5 and 6, and the water tank 4 are all re-fillable from the exterior of the cabinet 2. As a general guide to the scale of the system the cabinet 2 is approximately 120 cm x 80 cm x 40 cm when it has an internal water tank, and about 100 cm x 60 cm x 40 cm when it has an external water tank.

The pumps are self-priming pumps and preferably can draw liquid up from a height of 3 metres if need be. This allows the cabinet 2 to be provided at a different height to the site of the cleaning operation.

The conduit 3 has a water pipeline extending from the water pump 7, a soap pipeline 12 extending from the soap pump 8, a sealant pipeline 13 extending from the sealant pump 9, and electrical control cables 14 connecting the control compartment 10 to switches (referenced later) on the gun 1.

The gun 1 is best shown in Figures 2 to 4 and has a handle portion 15 adapted to be gripped by a single hand of a user, and a barrel 16. A series of control switches 17 is provided along the upper region of the barrel 16. The handle portion 15 and barrel 16 define passages 18, 19 and 20 which open at the base of the handle portion at attachment ports to which the pipelines 11, 12 and 13 are respectively releasably connected, for example by screw couplings. The passages 18, 19 and 20 each open into a mixing chamber 21 provided at the forward end of the barrel 16. The passages 19 and 20 have one-way valves 22 to prevent backs low into the sealant or soap passages. A series of nozzle outlets 23 is provided on a nozzle-plate 24 which is screwed to the barrel 16 and part-defines the mixing chamber. The nozzle-plate 24 is removable.The switches 17 comprise an off switch 25, a seal switch 26, a rinse switch 27, and a wash switch 28. Each of these switches operates controls back at the cabinet 2. The top of the barrel 16 also has an electrical socket 29.

As best seen in Figure 4, the rear of the handle portion 15 has a channel for the electrical cables 14, and a removable plate 30 to allow the gun to be attached to accessory components as will be described later.

Figure 5 illustrates schematically the electrical system of the gun 1. A 240 volt 13 amp A.C. mains supply 31 is connected via transformer 32 to a 12v low amperage D.C. supply which passes through an off switch relay 32. The off switch relay 32 is of course controlled by the off switch 25 at the gun 1. The seal, rinse and wash switches 26, 27 and 28 each control a respective seal, rinse and wash relay at the cabinet 2.

The cleaning system operates as follows : the system is switched on at the cabinet 2 by a mains on/off switch (not shown) and the user takes the gun 1 to his car, the flexible conduit 3 allowing the user to go to the car rather than vice-versa. The user then presses the wash button 28 on the gun in order to clean dirt from his car. The wash button controls the soap pump 8 and water pump 7 via solenoid relays (shown in Figure 1, but unreferenced) so as to spray water only onto the car for five seconds and then, following that delay, to pump soap solution and water to the mixing chamber 21 and thence onto the car. When his car is properly soaped the user presses the stop button 25 which turns off all of the pumps.

The user then manually brushes the soap mixture over his car using any convenient means.

The next step is that the user presses the rinse button 27 which activates only the water pump 7 to spray water over the car and rinse the soap away. The seal button is then pressed to activate the sealant pump 9 to mix in sealant with the water pumped by pump 7. The off button is then pressed to stop all of the pumps. The final step is pressing the rinse button 27 once again to rinse off excess sealant, and the off button to terminate the cleaning operation. The car can be leathered down if required.

One safety feature of the system is that the sealant pump cannot be activated unless the wash cycle has been first activated. This prevents the user from accidentially sealing dirt onto the bodywork by accidentally pressing "seal" when he should not.

Examples of the kind of chemicals used as soap and sealant are : "SIL'SLIP" by Eurochem as the sealant, and "WASHWAX" by Eurochem as the soap.

The system also preferably includes accessories for attachment to the gun 1. Examples of accessories include a lance attachment for cleaning underbodies, roofs, and high-sided vehicles; a wide brush attachment for coaches etc; and a flexible pipe attachment for cleaning wheel arches. Each of these attachments is adapted to replace the plate 24. A further attachment could comprise a long handle for attachment to the gun 1 in place of plate 30, so that the gun is at the end of a long handle.

The provision of the 12 volt electrical socket 29 allows the use of still further attachments such a power-driven brush, and/or a light. These could be mounted in place of plate 24 or plate 30.

The cleaning system described is small, compact, does not necessarily occupy any floor space at a garage or other location, and can be provided as a portable unit which may even be provided in a vehicle such as a light van.

The system could be used for removing a transit coat of protective material which is sometimes applied to new cars if a suitable transit coat removing chemical were to be used.

The chemical could be used in place of the soap reservoir, or a further reservoir could be provided.

Claims (18)

1. Cleaning apparatus comprising first supply means for providing a cleaning chemical in the form of a first liquid, second supply means for supplying a sealant chemical in the form of a second liquid, water supply means for supplying water, and a pump means for pumping the liquids and water to a hand-held dispensing tool, the supply means and pump means being provided at a first location and the dispensing tool. being movably connected to the output of the pump means by a flexible conduit.

2. Cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, in which the dispensing tool has controls which control the operation of the apparatus.

3. Cleaning apparatus according to claim 2, in which the controls on the dispensing tool control components situated back at the first location.

4. Cleaning apparatus according to any preceding claim, in which the supply means and pump means are provided in a cabinet or unit.

5. Cleaning apparatus according to any preceding claim, in which the liquid supply means comprise reservoir tanks.

6. Cleaning apparatus according to any preceding claim, in which the water supply means comprises a reservoir tank.

7. Cleaning apparatus according to any preceding claim, which is provided as a self-contained unit.

8. Cleaning apparatus according to Claim 7, in which the unit is portable.

9. Cleaning apparatus according to any preceding claim, in which the pump means comprises three pumps, one for each of the supply means.

10. Cleaning apparatus according to any preceding claim, in which the dispensing tool is a pistol-like gun adapted to be held in a single hand by the user.

11. Cleaning apparatus according to any preceding claim, in which the dispensing tool has a mixing chamber in which the cleaning chemical is mixed with water prior to dispensing and in which the sealant chemical is mixed with water prior to dispensing.

12. Cleaning apparatus according to any preceding claim, which is provided with the safety feature that the sealant cannot be dispensed unless the apparatus has previously been activated in a wash cycle in which water and the cleaning chemical were dispensed.

13. Cleaning apparatus according to any preceding claim, which is provided with the control feature the release of the cleaning chemical into the water during a washing cycle is delayed for an initial period so that water only is dispensed initially.

14. A dispensing gun for use with cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, the gun being adapted to be held in a single hand by the user and having controls for controlling the operation of pump means provided at a distant location.

15. A gun according to claim 14 which has three independant passages defined in it, one for sealant liquid, one for cleaning liquid, and one for water, and a mixing chamber to which the passages lead and in which cleaning and sealant liquids are mixed in respective cleaning and sealing cycles with water from the water passage.

16. A portable self-contained unit in accordance with claim 1, in which the dispensing tool is in accordance with claim 14.

17. Cleaning apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

18. A dispensing gun substantially as herein described and illustrated with reference to Figures 2 to 4 of the accompanying drawings.