GB692005A - An improved vehicle washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

692,005. Washing vehicles. COX, R. E. Aug. 9, 1951, No. 18740/51. Class 138 (i). Apparatus for washing vehicles comprises one or more mobile units each comprising a wheeled platform on which is supported a vertical or substantially vertical cowling, a revolvable shaft carrying brushes disposed within said cowling, pipes adapted for connection with a liquid supply source and having spray apertures for directing jets of liquid onto the vehicle when moving past the cowling and in contact with the brushes, and a power unit mounted on the platform for driving the shaft. Preferably two units are used simultaneously as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The cowling 14 which may be of curved section as shown on the left hand side of Fig. 2, or of rectangular section as shown on the right hand side of Fig. 2, is supported by a frame 10 provided with transverse ribs 10a and mounted on the platform 11 provided with castor wheels 12. Top, bottom and intermediate bearings 16 carried by the frame are provided for the shaft 17 on which are mounted brushes 18, set alternately at right angles to one another. The shaft has a pulley 19 connected by a belt or chain 20 with the pulley 21a of an electric motor 21 mounted on the platform. Spray tubes 15 mounted at the outer edges of the cowling are supplied with water from a pipe 15a. A shield 19a is provided to protect the pulley 19 from splashing of water and the unit has hand rails 13 to facilitate its movement. In use the wheels of the units are guided in channels 23 which need not necessarily be fixtures but which serve to confine the movement of the units to directions at right angles to the vehicle. A drainage arrangement for the water is associated with the units and comprises gulleys 24 provided with perforated steel plate covers (not shown). The cowling, shaft and spray pipes may be articulated so that the upper portion of a unit may be inclined from the vertical for washing the sides of a vehicle which are not truly vertical. The bristles of the brushes are preferably in staggered arrangement.