JP2002362335A - Vehicle washer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle washer composed of flexible cloth and providing a uniform washing effect without flawing a painting surface of a body. SOLUTION: In the vehicle washer washing a surface of the body by contacting a rotating brush 1A attached with a washing body 1 in an outer circumference part of a rotor 20 to the body surface, the washing body 1 is composed of water repellent or waterproof flexible cloth.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a car washer for cleaning the surface of a vehicle body by bringing a rotating brush made of a cleaning body attached to an outer peripheral portion of the rotary body into contact with the surface of the vehicle body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A car washing apparatus is well known in the art without mentioning a document name, and generally has a gate-shaped traveling frame which reciprocates on a traveling rail laid on a floor as a main component,
The traveling frame is equipped with rotary brushes such as a top brush and a side brush, various nozzles for injecting a processing liquid such as water, detergent, and wax, a blower device for drying, a control device, and the like. Therefore, these devices can be used to automatically clean the surface of a car, but in particular, the rotating brush is rotated while being in contact with the surface of the car body using cleaning water such as water, detergent, etc. Mud, sand, etc. attached to the surface can be washed away. By the way, the rotating brush provided and implemented in the above-described car washing apparatus is formed of brush bristles as is well known. The brush bristles are generally formed from a resin such as polyethylene.
Such a rotating brush made of a synthetic resin has various advantages and has been used for many years. For example, the amount of adsorbed water is small, the weight does not increase more than necessary, and there is no fear of freezing. Furthermore, by changing the material or size of the brush bristles, the tensile strength can be adjusted. There are advantages such as the ability to protect the protrusions on the vehicle body and to avoid applying excessive force to the rotating brush device itself.

[0003] However, there is also a problem with the rotating brush device composed of brush bristles. For example, the brush bristles are formed from a soft resin such as polyethylene, but during car washing, a centrifugal force is generated due to the rotational force, and the tips of the brush bristles are hit on the surface of the vehicle body. Since the cleaning is performed by the action, mud, sand, and the like are rubbed against the painted surface of the vehicle body, which may damage the painted surface.
Originally, the purpose of cleaning a vehicle body is to remove dirt attached to the surface of the vehicle body, but the problem of "car wash damage" accompanies the removal operation. The main substances of body surface dirt are mud, sand,
These substances include carbon and the like, and some of these substances include substances that are harder than the painted surface of the vehicle body. This means that when the brush bristles are washed by physical impact, scars are formed on the painted surface of the vehicle body. That is, even when brushing while releasing mud, sand, etc. with water, detergent, etc., the released mud, sand, etc. are physically beaten by the brush hair on the painted surface of the car body and agitated, so There is still the risk of being scratched.

Therefore, a rotating brush made of a woven fabric or a non-woven fabric has been proposed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 61-177958 and Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 61-181527. Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 61-177958 discloses a car wash brush provided with a reinforcing core in a fiber sheet. Therefore, the surface of the vehicle body can be washed by rotating the car wash brush. Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 61-181527 discloses a car wash brush in which a plurality of flexible brushes are attached around a rotating shaft via an attachment. The car wash brush can also drive the rotating shaft to wash the car.

[0005]

The above-mentioned car wash brush also has
Since the material that comes into contact with the vehicle body surface during car washing is formed of flexible fibers, protection of the painted surface during car washing can be expected to some extent as compared with synthetic resin brush bristles. However, the conventional rotary brush made of a nonwoven fabric has a disadvantage that uniform cleaning cannot be performed.
More specifically, since the nonwoven fabric has a property of containing water, the conventional nonwoven fabric rotating brush contains a large amount of water as the washing progresses or as the number of washing brushes increases to two or three. Then, the weight of the rotating brush increases, and the impact force or hitting force when coming into contact with the vehicle body surface also increases by the amount of weight including the washing water, so the washing effect changes according to the water content of the nonwoven fabric, and the uniformity There is a problem that a good cleaning effect cannot be obtained. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a car washer that does not damage the painted surface of the vehicle body and that can obtain a uniform cleaning effect.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention cleans the surface of a vehicle body by contacting a rotating brush having a cleaning body attached to an outer peripheral portion of the rotor with the surface of the vehicle body. In the car washer, the washing body is made of a water-repellent or waterproof flexible cloth. According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a car washing machine for cleaning a surface of a vehicle body by bringing a rotating brush having a cleaning body attached to an outer peripheral portion of the rotating body into contact with a surface of the vehicle body, wherein the cleaning body includes the rotating body. The side attached to the body is made of a water-repellent or waterproof flexible sheet, and the side in contact with the vehicle body surface is made of a soft cloth.

[0007]

The rotary brush is mounted on, for example, a gate-shaped traveling frame. The traveling frame is provided with various nozzles for injecting water, detergent, wax, and the like, and a traveling frame on which a drying blower device, a control device, and the like are mounted as necessary. The rotating body is driven while the tip of the cleaning body of the rotating brush is slightly bent and contacts the surface of the vehicle body, and the surface of the vehicle body is cleaned in the same manner as in a conventional car washer. At this time,
Since the washing body is made of a water-repellent or waterproof soft cloth, there is little change in weight even if the washing progresses, so there is little change in the contact force when it comes into contact with the vehicle body surface, and a uniform washing effect is obtained. can get. The invention described in claim 2 operates in substantially the same manner. That is, the cleaning is performed in a state where the soft cloth portion is in contact with the surface of the vehicle body. At this time, since the cleaning body has a water-repellent or waterproof flexible sheet on the side to be attached to the rotating body, the change in weight is small even when the cleaning is advanced, and the cleaning body operates as in the first aspect of the present invention.
Further, according to the present invention, the portion of the soft cloth contacts the surface of the vehicle body during cleaning.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A rotary brush 1A according to the present invention is made of a soft cloth. As a soft cloth, a long-fiber nonwoven fabric is preferably suitable. As this long-fiber nonwoven fabric,
As one example, Eltas (registered trademark) of Asahi Kasei Corporation
Can be mentioned. ELTAS is a sheet-like nonwoven fabric obtained by bonding a web in which elongated synthetic fiber filaments such as nylon, polyester, and polypropylene are uniformly dispersed by thermocompression bonding, that is, bonding. This nonwoven fabric has a minus pattern, and the minus pattern is a thermocompression bonding portion.

In order to impart water repellency or waterproofness to such a nonwoven fabric, it is immersed in a fluororesin treatment liquid.
Then, the fluororesin is impregnated between the fiber filaments of the nonwoven fabric. In other words, it penetrates between the crimping portions of the negative pattern. After permeation, squeeze out the fluororesin treatment liquid with a roller press. As a result, it is possible to impart water repellency or waterproofness while leaving the texture before the fluororesin treatment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the radius of the rotating brush 1A when the non-woven fabric treated with the fluororesin and having water repellency or waterproofness is attached to a rotating body 20, which will be described later, as shown in FIG. And a cleaning body 1 having a length D of 300 to 500 mm. When the vehicle body surface is cleaned, a notch 3 having a width of about 20 mm and a depth of about 10 mm is formed on the tip end portion 2 which comes into contact with the body surface, although not shown in the figure,
3, ... In addition, a notch 6 having a predetermined depth F from the end of the fixed portion side portion 5 to be attached to the rotating body 20 is provided substantially in the center.
Is inserted so as to match a valley or mountain fold line described later. Such a washing body 1 is indicated by a chain line 7 in FIG.
... become mountains 7 ', 7', ... and dashed lines 8, 8,
... are turned into valleys 8 ', 8', ..., and are bent so that the depth from the peak 7 'to the valley 8' is approximately 60 mm. The bent state is shown in FIG.

[0011] The lower end portion of the fixed portion side portion 5 attached to the rotating body 20 of the cleaning body 1 is separated to the left and right with the cut 6 interposed therebetween.
As shown in FIG. 3, a right mounting part 9-1 and a left mounting part 9-2 are formed. And these attachment parts 9-1, 9-2, so that the bent part does not open,
For example, as shown by a chain line 10 in FIG. Then, mounting holes 11 and 11 are opened in the sewn inside. In addition, it can also be joined by adhesion etc. instead of sewing.

The four cleaning bodies 1 configured as described above,
Are joined at the ends 1C and 1C of the cleaning bodies 1 and 1 and formed into a disk shape as shown in FIG. 5, passed through a PVC pipe 20, and fixed with round screws 12 and 12. Thus, a first-row cleaning brush 1B is formed. Hereinafter, similarly, over the length of about 1600 mm in the axial direction of the PVC pipe 20,
The cleaning brushes 1B in the third,..., Rows are formed to constitute the rotating brush 1A. The diameter of the PVC pipe 20 is about 100mm
Since the length D of the cleaning body 1 is 300 to 500 mm, the diameter of the rotating brush 1A is about 700 to 1100 mm.

Thus, the diameter is 700 to 1100 m
m top brushes are formed. And the applicant filed Japanese Patent Application No. 4
No. 204332, it is mounted on a car washing device that is currently being proposed for washing. The car washing apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application No. 4-204332 has a vehicle surface position detecting means for detecting a vehicle surface position, and a rotating body follows the vehicle surface position based on a signal from the vehicle surface position detecting means. To move. Alternatively, the position of the rotating brush is controlled based on the target position of the rotating brush stored in the storage means to clean the surface of the vehicle body.

As shown in FIG. 6, a specific example of the car washing apparatus includes a gate-shaped frame 101 which is driven in a front-rear direction on a pair of running rails 100 provided in parallel with a floor surface. ing. A pair of guide rails 102, 10
2 are provided in the vertical direction. The upper brush 116 composed of the rotating brush 1A configured as described above,
It is supported by a pair of trolleys 103, 103 and is driven to rotate by a brush drive motor 109. The pair of trolleys 103, 103
02 guides up and down.

The ends of chains 104, 104 are attached to the upper and lower ends of the carts 103, 103, respectively.
01, a driving sprocket 105 and a driven sprocket 10 provided at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction.
It is hung between 6. The drive sprocket 105 is, for example, a geared motor 1 as a lifting drive.
07 is driven via a chain 108.

The washing apparatus having the above-described structure is provided with a top brush lifting / lowering operation control device S for a car washer described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-164654. The upper brush lifting / lowering operation control device S for a car washer includes frame position detecting means 112 for detecting the position (X, X ′) of the frame 101 in the front-rear direction, and the upper brush 1
A vehicle upper surface position detecting means 110 for detecting a vehicle upper surface position Zv at a predetermined position X in front of a brush-detector distance XA of a predetermined length from 16 and an upper surface brush for detecting an actual height position Z 'of the upper surface brush 116 Position detecting means 113
And a control signal output means 111 for outputting a control signal of the geared motor 107 as a lifting drive from the detection signals of the respective detection means 112, 110 and 113.

The control signal output means 111 outputs a top brush target position Z when the frame 101 is at the predetermined position X from the detection signals of the frame position detection means 112 and the vehicle top position detection means 110. Means 114 and an output signal forming means 115 for forming a control signal according to the difference between the actual upper brush position Z 'at the predetermined position X of the frame 101 and the upper brush target position Z. Therefore, when the frame 101 moves forward during forward movement, the vehicle upper surface height Zv brushed by the upper surface brush 116 when the frame 101 reaches the predetermined position X is equal to the height before the frame 101 reaches the predetermined position X, that is, the frame 101 Is located at a position X 'in front of the predetermined position X by a predetermined distance XA between the brush and the detector.

Then, the upper surface brush target position output means 11
4, the frame 101 is the distance XA between the brush and the detector.
Vehicle top position Z detected when it is only at the position X 'in front of the vehicle
Based on the value of v, the upper surface brush target position Z when the frame 101 is at the predetermined position X is output. On the other hand, the output signal forming unit 111 transmits a control signal corresponding to the difference between the actual upper brush position Z ′ at the predetermined position X of the frame 101 and the upper brush target position Z output from the upper brush target position output unit 114. Output to the motor 107. The geared motor, that is, the elevation drive device 107 controls the signal so that the difference between the upper brush position Z ′ and the upper brush target position Z becomes zero when the frame 101 is at the predetermined position X. Therefore, the distance between the rotating body 20 and the vehicle surface is always kept constant, and the vehicle is washed.

The vehicle upper surface position detecting means 110 may detect the vehicle upper surface position by using an ultrasonic detecting device to emit ultrasonic waves to the surface of the vehicle body and measure the time of reflection. The upper surface brush target position output means 114 is based on signals of a vehicle type input means for inputting a vehicle type or a vehicle number, a base point detecting means such as a photoelectric switch for detecting a front end or a rear end of the vehicle, and a frame position detecting means 112. Then, the upper surface brush target position Z may be read and output from the storage means in which the upper surface brush target position Z when the frame 101 is located at the predetermined position X from the base point for each vehicle type or vehicle number. Alternatively, the storage means may be a removable IC card or the like without providing the vehicle type input means, and the upper brush target position Z corresponding to each automobile to be cleaned may be stored as the storage means.

As shown in FIG. 6, the upper surface of the automobile J is cleaned by moving the gate-shaped frame 101 by the upper surface brush 116 configured as described above. At this time, the upper brush 116 is driven by the brush drive motor 109 at a speed of about 100 to 200 rpm so that about 100 mm from the tip comes into contact with the surface of the automobile J. When washing while moving the gate-shaped frame 101, as described above, the vehicle upper surface position detecting means 11 is used.
At 0, information on the vehicle body shape is detected. Then, the information is input to the control signal output unit 111 and output to the geared motor 107. The geared motor 107 performs forward rotation, reverse rotation, and the like based on this signal to drive the sprocket 10.
5 and the chains 104, 104 wrapped around the vertical sprocket 106 are driven. Therefore, the cart 10
3 and 103 are appropriately driven in the vertical direction,
The rotating body 20 provided at 03 is held at a predetermined height from the upper surface position of the automobile J. Therefore, the rotating body 20
And the upper surface of the car J can be kept constant and the car can be washed. At this time, various nozzles for injecting a processing liquid such as water, a detergent, and wax can be provided on the frame 101, and it is a matter of course that washing water such as water and a detergent is appropriately jetted to the surface of the vehicle for cleaning.

According to this embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. For example, car washing has a washing process, a drying process, etc.
When the washing process is performed, the conventional non-woven brush contains a large amount of washing water and increases in weight, so a motor for driving the brush having a large output must be used, and as a result, power consumption increases and the cost for car washing increases. However, according to the present embodiment, the cleaning body 1 of the rotating brush 1A is made water-repellent or waterproof, so that the amount of cleaning water is small, and the brush driving motor 109 having a small output is inexpensive. Can be washed.
Further, after the washing step as described above, the conventional non-woven fabric brush contains a large amount of washing water and has a poor drainage. Although the liquid may drop on the surface of the vehicle and deteriorate the drying effect, according to the present embodiment, since the content of the washing water is small and the drainage is good, the processing liquid is prevented from dripping from the upper brush during the drying process. Thus, the drying effect can be improved.

Furthermore, if an inverter is connected to a motor for driving the upper brush in order to appropriately change the rotation speed of the upper brush, the motor may stop when a conventional non-woven brush is mounted. . More specifically, when the washing process is performed, the conventional nonwoven brush contains a large amount of washing water, so that the water gathers downward by gravity during the stop of the rotating body between the car wash and the next car wash, The rotation center of gravity of the upper brush is largely displaced downward from the rotation axis, causing rotation unevenness. When the rotation unevenness occurs, the power consumption of the motor greatly fluctuates, exceeding the allowable current value of the inverter, and the protection circuit of the inverter operates. As a result, the motor for driving the upper brush stops. To solve this problem, an inverter having a large capacity may be used. However, another problem that the inverter becomes large and the cost is increased arises. However, according to the present embodiment, since the content of the washing water is small, Such problems can be prevented. Furthermore, when a large amount of water is included, the force of hitting the vehicle body surface also increases, and the mud, sand, etc. on the vehicle body surface is strongly rubbed against the painted surface, damaging the painted surface.
Since the weight does not increase so much, it is possible to prevent the painted surface from being damaged.

The invention can be implemented in various ways. For example, in the above embodiment, the nonwoven fabric is subjected to a water-repellent or waterproof treatment, and then cut into a cleaning body 1 having a predetermined size.
6 are inserted and bent, but it is also possible to perform water repellent or waterproof treatment at an appropriate stage before attaching to the rotating body 20 by performing such processing. Further, the rotating body 20
Only the fixed side portion indicated by 5 in FIG. 1 on the side attached to the body is subjected to water-repellent or waterproof treatment, and the portion in contact with the vehicle body surface during washing may not be subjected to water-repellent treatment. At this time, the fixed side portion 5 and the portion in contact with the vehicle body surface can be formed separately and sewn together. Further, a water-repellent or waterproof material such as a rubber sheet or a vinyl sheet may be used instead of the water-repellent or waterproof treatment. In the present invention, the flexible cloth is intended to include a fibrous cloth, a nonwoven cloth made of synthetic fibers such as nylon, polyester, and polypropylene, and in some cases, artificial leather and vegetable paper.

In the above-described embodiment, the rotating brush 1A is mounted on the car washing apparatus currently proposed by the present applicant in Japanese Patent Application No. 4-204332. However, due to the weight difference between the upper brush side and the weight side, the rotating brush 1A is provided. To wash the vehicle body surface by mounting it on a conventionally known swing arm type car wash device that moves along the upper surface of the vehicle body or a car wash device that detects the load on the upper surface brush with a current value or the like and moves the upper surface brush along the upper surface of the vehicle body. Can also. Also,
The present invention can be similarly applied to a washing apparatus in which the frame 101 is fixed to the installation surface and the car to be washed is passed through the inside of the frame 101 by a transfer device such as a conveyor. Further, the example in which the rotating brush 1A is applied to a top brush is shown, but it is apparent that the rotating brush 1A can be similarly applied to a side brush for cleaning a side surface of an automobile.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, the cleaning body of the rotating brush attached to the outer peripheral portion of the rotating body is:
Since it is made of a soft cloth, the painted surface of the vehicle body will not be damaged during cleaning. Moreover, according to the present invention, since the cleaning body of the rotating brush is water-repellent or waterproof, it is possible to reduce an increase in the weight of the cleaning body including the cleaning water as the vehicle is cleaned. Thereby, an effect unique to the present invention is obtained, in which a uniform cleaning effect can be obtained regardless of the elapsed cleaning time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a cleaning body according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a cleaning brush formed by folding a cleaning body according to the present invention, and is a cross-sectional view taken along line II in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the cleaning body according to the present invention in a bent state.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing the embodiment of the cleaning body according to the present invention in a bent state.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing an embodiment of the rotating brush according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing an embodiment of the car washer according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Cleaning body 1A
Rotating brush 1B Cleaning brush (first row) 20
Rotating body

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] June 20, 2002 (2002.6.2
0)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Claims]

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0006

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a rotating brush cleaning member on the outer periphery of the rotating body is mounted in contact with the vehicle body upper surface on surfaces of the vehicle body A car washing machine that enters a next drying step through a washing step of washing , wherein the washing body is made of polypropylene synthetic fiber.
It is made of flexible cloth .

[Procedure amendment 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0007

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0007]

The rotary brush is mounted on, for example, a gate-shaped traveling frame. The traveling frame is provided with various nozzles for injecting water, detergent, wax, and the like, and a traveling frame on which a drying blower device, a control device, and the like are mounted as necessary. Tip of the cleaning of the rotary brush is driven rotating body in a state in contact slightly bent upper surface of the body, cleaning the upper surface of the vehicle body in the same manner as the conventional car washes. At this time,
Since the cleaning body is consists <br/> a flexible cloth made of polypropylene synthetic fiber, washing little change in weight even in progress, thus the contact force is also less change when in contact with the vehicle body upper surface, A uniform cleaning effect can be obtained.

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0025

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, the rotating brush having the cleaning body attached to the outer peripheral portion of the rotating body is used for the vehicle.
A washing process of washing the upper surface of the vehicle body by contacting the upper surface of the body.
Through a car washing machine which enters a next drying step , wherein the washing body is made of a soft cloth made of polypropylene synthetic fiber.
As a result , the weight of the washing body including the washing water increases as the vehicle is washed. Accordingly, as uniform cleaning effect regardless washing elapsed time is obtained, the effect peculiar to obtain the present invention. Moreover, the original
According to Ming, washing water content is low and draining is good
From the rotating brush during the drying process.
To improve the drying effect.
Is obtained .

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A car washer for cleaning a surface of a vehicle body by contacting a rotating brush having a cleaning body attached to an outer peripheral portion of the rotating body with the surface of the vehicle body, wherein the cleaning body is water-repellent or waterproof. A car washer comprising a flexible cloth. 2. A car washer for cleaning a surface of a vehicle body by contacting a rotating brush having a cleaning body attached to an outer peripheral portion of the rotating body with a surface of the vehicle body, wherein the cleaning body is attached to the rotating body. A car washer characterized in that the side is made of a water-repellent or waterproof flexible sheet, and the side in contact with the vehicle body surface is made of a soft cloth.