JP2001047976A - Car washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To brush a car body front face without bending a number plate by controlling side surface brushes so as to rotate in the rolling direction to a car body surface when the side surface brushes open by mutually separating from a mutually approached closed state. SOLUTION: In an automobile car body, deviation of an allowable value or more is recognized in the width direction to a body, and when judging that there is a danger of bending a number plate (S4), operation is switched to brushing operation for avoiding bending from ordinary brushing operation (S5). In the bending avoiding operation (S6), side surface brushes are reversed after stopping rotation once in a closed state to open sideways by rotating a bristle material of the brush so as to act inward from the outside so that the respective side surface brushes act in the rolling direction to the moving direction to thereby prevent bending of the number plate and tear of the bristle material.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a car wash machine having a gate-shaped car wash machine body having at least a pair of left and right side brushes for brushing the side and front surfaces of a vehicle body. This prevents the license plate provided on the front surface from being bent.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, as this kind of car washer, a portal type car washer in which a car washer reciprocates so as to straddle an automobile, and a continuous car washer which conveys an automobile by a conveyor and passes through the interior of the car washer are known. ing. Such a car washer is provided with a pair of left and right side brushes to brush and wash a surface nearly perpendicular to the vehicle body surface, that is, a vehicle body side surface and a vehicle front and rear surface. When brushing the front of the vehicle body with the side brush, there is a problem that the bristle material of the brush is caught on the edge of the license plate on the front of the vehicle body and the plate is bent. Hereinafter, an example in which the license plate is bent will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 7 shows a conventional car washer in which the front side of an automobile A is brushed with left and right side brushes SL and SR. Have been. CL1 is the center line of the car, and CL2 is the center line of the car washer. As shown, the side brushes SL and SR are closed at the center of the car washer and come into contact with the vehicle body, and the left side brush SL is turned clockwise so that the bristle material works from the inside to the outside. The SR is rotating counterclockwise (that is, rotating in the reverse direction with respect to the moving direction of the brushes SL and SR). At this time, if the vehicle is biased to the right as shown in the figure, the right side brush SR comes into contact with the left side edge portion EL of the license plate NP and acts to cause this from the back. The result is that the license plate is bent or the bristle of the brush is torn. Many of these problems are related to the license plate on the front surface of the vehicle body, and the rear surface of the vehicle body is rarely a problem in that the license plate is often attached together with the recess or the cover of the vehicle body.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the object of the present invention is that an automobile is stopped with a right or left side with respect to the car washer, or the license plate of the automobile is not located at the center of the front of the vehicle body but at the left and right. The problem is that there is no car wash machine that can brush the front of the vehicle body without bending the license plate, even if it is installed unevenly.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a car washing machine of the type in which at least a pair of left and right side brushes are provided on a gate-shaped car washing machine main body and the side and front surfaces of a vehicle body are washed by brushing. When there is a concern that the license plate may be bent, an input means for inputting an operation to give an operation to prevent bending, and in a car wash operation receiving an input of bending prevention by the input means, when brushing the front of the vehicle body, A control means for controlling the side brushes to rotate in the rolling direction relative to the vehicle body surface when the side brushes are separated from each other from a closed state close to each other and opened, so as to solve the above problem. It is a thing.

Further, in a car washing machine of a type in which at least a pair of left and right side brushes are provided on a main body of a car washing machine formed in a gate shape and a side surface and a front surface of a vehicle body are washed by brushing, there is a danger that a license plate may be bent by the brushing washing. Detecting means for detecting that there is a danger of bending by the detecting means, when brushing the front of the vehicle body, when the side brushes are close to each other from a closed state, The above object is achieved by providing a control means for controlling the side brush to rotate in the rolling direction with respect to the vehicle body surface when opening it apart.

Here, for example, the detecting means can detect that there is a risk of the number plate being bent by brushing and washing by detecting the deviation of the position of the automobile in the width direction with respect to the car washer body.

Further, in a car wash machine of a type in which at least a pair of left and right side brushes are provided on a gate-shaped car wash machine main body and the side and front surfaces of the vehicle body are washed by brushing, there is a concern that the license plate may be bent by the brushing wash. Input means for inputting an operation for giving an operation for preventing bending, detecting means for detecting that there is a risk of bending of the license plate due to the brushing washing, and an input for preventing bending is received by the input means. When brushing the front of the car body in the car washing operation at the time of the car washing operation or when the detecting means detects that there is a risk of bending, the side brushes are separated from each other from a closed state close to each other. When opening, rotate the side brush in the rolling direction with respect to the body surface By providing a Gosuru control unit, in which attempted to solve the above problems.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Here, an example will be described in which the invention is applied to a portal type car washer in which a car wash machine body reciprocates across an automobile, and the car body is brushed and automatically washed with the travel of the car wash machine body.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a basic structure of an embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a side view of the same. A car washer body 1 is formed in a gate shape and reciprocates on a pair of left and right rails 2 and 2. , 2
Move across the cars that are stopped in between. 3,4
Reference numeral 4 denotes a brush provided on the car washer body 1, reference numeral 3 denotes an upper surface brush which is disposed horizontally and moves up and down along the vehicle body to clean the upper surface of the vehicle body, and reference numerals 4 and 4 denote opening and closing operations in a direction perpendicular to the running direction of the body 1. This is a pair of left and right side brushes for cleaning the side surfaces and front and rear surfaces of the vehicle body. Reference numerals 5 and 5 denote motors for driving the car washer body 1, which drive the wheels 6 to run the body 1. Reference numerals 6 and 6 denote ultrasonic sensors which are attached to the left and right of the body 1 in front of the brushes 3, 4 and 4, respectively, and serve as body side position detecting means. The ultrasonic sensors transmit ultrasonic waves toward the vehicle body side and receive reflected waves from the vehicle body. Then, it consists of a reflection type ultrasonic sensor which counts the time from transmission to reception and detects the distance to the side of the vehicle.

FIG. 3 illustrates a configuration of the side brushes 4, 4. The side brushes 4, 4 are carriers 4 C, 4 C running along a rail 4 R laid horizontally above the rear side of the main body 1.
The motors 4M1 and 4M1 fixed to the carriers 4C and 4C, respectively, can rotate both clockwise and counterclockwise by forward and reverse driving. Carriers 4C, 4C
The side brushes 4, 4 are connected to wire loops 4L, 4L stretched in accordance with the moving ranges on the rails, and are opened and closed by forward and reverse driving of motors 4M2, 4M2 for feeding the loops 4L, 4L.

With such a configuration, the side brushes 4, 4
Can be operated left and right separately (asymmetrically) by individually driving the motors 4M1 and 4M2, and the left and right side brushes can be moved from one end of the rail 4R to the position where they abut against the other brush. Rail 4
It can move over almost the entire length of R. Rail 4
R is pivotally supported by the main body 1 at both ends and supports the side brushes 4 and 4 so as to be able to swing back and forth. A detection switch 4S is provided on the rail 4R, and the side brush 4,
In the closed state, the rail 4R swings back and forth by contacting the front and rear surfaces of the vehicle body, and the detection switch 4S
Are turned on and off, so that the side brushes 4, 4
Is detected as having contacted the front and rear surfaces of the vehicle body.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control system of the embodiment. Reference numeral 10 denotes a control unit including a microcomputer, and 11 drives brushes 3, 4, 4 and traveling motors 5, 5 by a signal from the control unit 10. The driving unit 12 is an operation panel for inputting the start of car washing and inputting designation of a part to be avoided. The control unit 10 executes a car wash operation via the drive unit 11 when a car wash start input is made on the operation panel 12, and controls the side brushes 4 and 4 to appropriately perform forward / reverse rotation and opening / closing operation during the car wash. .

The operation panel 12 specifies a course selection key 13 for selecting and inputting a desired car wash course, and the presence / absence of a projection (a spoiler, a roof carrier, an antenna, etc.) to be noted from the viewpoint of preventing damage during car washing. Projection key 14 to be started, start key 1 for inputting car wash start
5 are provided. A "number plate" key 14n is provided as the projection key 14. If there is a concern that the license plate may be bent by the brush due to the position of the license plate or the mounting structure, press this key to bend the license plate. To prevent

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation at the time of brushing cleaning of the front surface of the vehicle body in the embodiment, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation accompanying FIG. Hereinafter, the operation of the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

The start key 15 on the operation panel 12
Is pushed to start the car wash, and the side brushes 4.4 move to the center of the main body 1 with the start of the car wash and the main body 1 runs closed,
When the side brushes 4 contact the front of the vehicle body and are detected by the detection switch 4S (1), the running of the main body 1 is stopped, and the main body 1 is further retracted by a predetermined small allowable distance.
Correct 4 so that it is at an appropriate position for brushing the front of the vehicle (2). In steps (1) and (2),
As shown in FIG. 6, the side brushes 4 are arranged so that the bristle material of the brush works from the inside toward the outside.
Indicates that the right side brush 4 is rotating counterclockwise.

Subsequently, in brushing the front of the vehicle body, whether the "number plate" key 14n of the projection key 14 of the operation panel 12 is pressed (3),
Alternatively, based on the side surface position (distance to the side surface) detected by each of the ultrasonic sensors 6, the vehicle body is more than allowed in the width direction with respect to the main body 1 (the difference between the left and right sides is greater than a predetermined value). Is detected), and it is determined that there is a risk of bending the license plate (4), the normal brushing operation (5) is switched to a brushing operation for avoiding bending (6).

Normally, the side brushes 4 and 4 are rotated so that the bristle material acts from the inside toward the outside (the left side brush 4 rotates clockwise and the right side brush 4 rotates counterclockwise).
Each of the side brushes 4 and 4 acts in a reversing direction with respect to the moving direction to brush the front of the vehicle body. On the other hand, in the case of the operation of avoiding bending in the step (6), the rotation is temporarily stopped with the side brushes 4 and 4 closed, and then the brushes are turned inward from outside to inside. The side brushes 4 are rotated (the left side brush 4 rotates counterclockwise and the right side brush 4 rotates clockwise) to open sideways, and the side brushes 4 and 4 act in the rolling direction with respect to the moving direction. Thus, even if the side brush touches the edge of the license plate NP, the brush acts in the rolling direction and acts on the front of the vehicle body with a small resistance and moves away from the license plate NP, so that the license plate NP is bent. And the bristle material of the brush can be prevented from being torn. If the brush is applied in the rolling direction with respect to the moving direction, the contact resistance of the brush to the vehicle body surface is reduced and the cleaning effect is reduced. Is rotated in the reversing direction with respect to the moving direction.

When the side brushes 4 and 4 are opened to the side to finish brushing the front of the vehicle body, the main body 1 travels and continuously brushes and cleans the side of the vehicle body with the side brushes 4 and 4. The description is omitted because there is no special difference from the machine.

According to the embodiment configured as described above,
If the vehicle is stopped to the left or right with respect to the car washer, the left and right side positions are detected by the body side position detecting means and the deviation is detected. When the brush is brushed, the license plate is rotated in the rolling direction with respect to the brush moving direction, thereby preventing the license plate from being bent. Also, even if the car is not stopped to the left and right with respect to the car wash machine, there is a concern that the license plate may be bent if the car's license plate is not centered on the front of the car body but is mounted to the left and right. In this case, if the "number plate" key 14n is pressed on the operation panel 12, the same operation as described above is performed, and the number plate can be prevented from being bent.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various embodiments can be considered without departing from the scope of the claims. In the above embodiment, when there is a concern that the license plate may be bent due to brushing cleaning, input means (“number plate” key 14n) for performing an operation input to give an operation to prevent the bending,
Detection means (ultrasonic sensor 6,
6) is provided to prevent the number plate from being bent. However, if necessary, only one of them may be provided to prevent the number plate from being bent. That is, according to the former method of inputting keys on the operation panel, it is possible to cope with a case where the vehicle is stopped imbalanced and a case where the license plate itself is mounted imbalanced on the front of the vehicle body. According to the method of detecting the danger of bending by the detecting means, it is possible to automatically prevent the license plate from being bent without inputting a key.

[0022]

As described above, according to the first aspect, when there is a fear that the license plate may be bent due to brushing cleaning, if the operation input for giving an operation to prevent the bending is performed, the front of the vehicle body is brushed. In this case, when the side brushes are opened apart from each other from a close state close to each other, the side brushes are controlled to rotate in the rolling direction relative to the vehicle body surface, so that the contact resistance of the brush to the vehicle body surface is reduced. Thus, bending of the license plate can be reliably prevented.

According to the second aspect, when it is detected that there is a risk of bending the license plate by brushing and washing, when brushing the front of the vehicle body, the side brushes are separated from each other from a closed state in which they are close to each other. At the time of opening, the side brush is controlled to rotate in the rolling direction with respect to the vehicle body surface, so that the contact resistance of the brush to the vehicle body surface can be reduced and the license plate can be reliably prevented from being bent.

According to the fourth aspect, when there is a fear that the license plate may be bent due to the brushing cleaning, an operation input may be performed so as to give an operation for preventing the bending, or there is a risk that the license plate may be bent due to the brushing cleaning. When it is detected, when brushing the front of the vehicle body, when the side brushes are opened apart from each other from a closed state close to each other, since the side brush is controlled to rotate in the rolling direction with respect to the body surface, The contact resistance of the brush to the vehicle body surface can be reduced to reliably prevent the license plate from being bent.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a basic configuration of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a basic configuration of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a configuration explanatory view of side brushes 4 and 4 of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control system of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation at the time of brushing cleaning of the front surface of the vehicle body in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation associated with FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory diagram in a case where the front surface of the vehicle A is brushed with left and right side brushes SL and SR in a conventional car washer.

[Description of part number]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Car wash machine main body 4.4 Side brush 6.6 Ultrasonic sensor which is detection means 10 Control part which is control means 12 Operation panel 14n License plate key which is input means

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A car washing machine of a type having at least a pair of left and right side brushes provided on a gate-shaped car washing machine main body and brushing and washing the side and front surfaces of a vehicle body. Input means for inputting an operation to prevent bending, and the side brushes approach each other when brushing the front of the vehicle body in a car wash operation receiving an input for preventing bending by the input means. A car washing machine comprising: control means for controlling the side brush to rotate in the rolling direction relative to the vehicle body surface when the cover is opened while being separated from the closed state. 2. A car wash machine of a type in which at least a pair of left and right side brushes are provided on a gate-shaped car wash machine main body and a side surface and a front surface of a vehicle body are brushed and washed, there is a risk that a license plate may be bent by the brushing washing. Detecting means for detecting that there is a danger of bending by the detecting means, when brushing the front of the vehicle body, when the side brushes are close to each other from a closed state, Control means for controlling the side brush to rotate in the rolling direction with respect to the vehicle body surface when opening apart. 3. The car washer according to claim 2, wherein said detecting means detects a deviation of a position of the vehicle in a width direction with respect to the car washer body. 4. A car wash machine of a type in which at least a pair of left and right side brushes are provided on a gate-shaped car wash machine main body and a side surface and a front surface of a vehicle body are washed by brushing, there is a concern that the license plate may be bent by the brushing washing. Input means for inputting an operation for giving an operation for preventing bending, detecting means for detecting that there is a risk of bending of the license plate due to the brushing washing, and an input for preventing bending is received by the input means. When brushing the front of the car body in the car washing operation at the time of the car washing operation or when the detecting means detects that there is a risk of bending, the side brushes are separated from each other from a closed state close to each other. When opening, controls the side brush to rotate in the rolling direction with respect to the body surface Car wash, characterized in that a that the control unit.