JP2004175286A - Car washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a car washing machine, by which an efficient blushing can be carried out by bringing a rocker blush into a sufficient contact with a lower side surface of a vehicle while avoiding the breakage of a projection, which is located on the upper surface of the vehicle and may interfere with the rocker brush and may cause the breakage, by automatically keeping the rocker brush away from the projection by easily and exactly recognizing the projection based on its width in the forward and backward directions and its level. <P>SOLUTION: The car washing machine comprises the projection detecting means for detecting the projection located on the upper surface of the vehicle, and the control means for carrying out the required avoidance movement of the rocker brush for the projection when the width of the projection in the forward and backward directions of the vehicle detected by means of the projection detecting means is not larger than the required value and at least a part of the projection is not higher than the required level. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a car washer in which a lower portion of a side surface of a vehicle can be brushed with a rocker brush provided on the frame while relatively moving the frame and the vehicle in the front-rear direction of the vehicle.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the above-described car wash machine, an apparatus that detects the presence of a protrusion on the upper surface of a vehicle body and automatically controls a brush avoiding operation on the protrusion has already been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent No. 2747815 [0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the above proposal, the type of the detected protrusion (for example, a fender mirror, a taxi indicator, a roof spoiler, a roof carrier, etc.) is determined based on the actually detected vehicle shape and the position of the protrusion on the vehicle body surface. The top and side brush avoidance operation modes are switched in accordance with the determined type. However, a rocker for a relatively low projection (for example, a corner pole at a vehicle end, an antenna, etc.) is determined. Since it is not possible to cope with the brush avoiding operation, if the projection is particularly thin and fragile, it may be damaged due to interference with the rocker brush. Is very complicated, so that there is a problem that the cost is increased.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a car washer that can solve the above-described conventional problems with a simple structure.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 is a car wash wherein a rocker brush provided on the frame can brush the lower side of the vehicle while relatively moving the frame and the vehicle in the front-rear direction of the vehicle. A projection detecting means for detecting a projection on the upper surface of the vehicle, and a width of the projection detected by the projection detecting means in the vehicle front-rear direction is equal to or less than a predetermined width and at least a part of the projection is Control means for causing the rocker brush to perform a predetermined avoiding operation for the projection when the level is equal to or lower than a predetermined level.
[0007]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above feature, the predetermined avoiding operation is performed by holding the rocker brush at the most retracted position at a position corresponding to the protrusion to be avoided. It is characterized by.
[0008]
In the present invention, the “brush” is a concept including a roll made of cloth. Therefore, in the present invention, “brushing” is a concept including an operation of sliding a roll made of a cloth on a vehicle body surface.
[0009]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below based on embodiments of the present invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
[0010]
In the accompanying drawings, FIG. 1 is an overall front view schematically showing a car washer according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an overall side view schematically showing the car washer (a view taken in the direction of arrow 2 in FIG. 1), 3 is a side view showing an example of a vehicle to be cleaned, FIG. 4 is a side view showing an example of an operation mode of a top brush, FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an example of an operation mode of a side brush, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a plan view showing an example of the operation mode of the brush, FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of the avoidance operation of the top brush, FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of the avoidance operation of the side brush, and FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the control procedure of an avoidance operation.
[0011]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the car washer includes a portal frame 1 that straddles a vehicle, and a pair of front and rear wheels 2 provided on the portal frame 1 includes left and right wheels extending along the front and rear direction of the vehicle. It is mounted on a pair of rails 3. A traveling motor 4 is connected to some of the wheels 2 in an interlocking manner. The driving force of the motor 4 allows the portal frame 1 to reciprocate on the rail 3. An output shaft of the motor 4 is provided with a rotary encoder (not shown) capable of detecting a rotation amount of the motor from a reference position (accordingly, a running position of the portal frame 1 from a car washing start position).
[0012]
The gate-type frame 1 has a top brush 5 that can brush and wash the upper surface of the vehicle, a pair of left and right side brushes 6 and 6 that can brush and wash the front and rear surfaces and the left and right sides of the vehicle, and a brush and a lower side surface of the vehicle. A pair of left and right rocker brushes 7, 7 are provided.
[0013]
The top brush 5 has its brush shaft supported by the portal frame 1 via a lift guide mechanism (not shown) so as to be able to move up and down, and can be driven up and down by a lift drive means (not shown) (not shown). It can be rotationally driven by a non-rotating motor. The lifting guide mechanism includes a type that guides the brush shaft up and down through a swing arm that is pivotally supported by the gate frame 1 and a type that moves along a vertical rail supported by the gate frame 1. Any type that guides the brush shaft up and down on the elevating body may be used.
[0014]
The pair of left and right side brushes 6 and 6 have their brush shafts supported by the portal frame 1 via an opening and closing guide mechanism (not shown) so as to be able to open and close in the left and right directions. The motor can be opened and closed between a predetermined open limit position 6o (that is, a maximum open position) and a predetermined close limit position 6s (that is, a minimum close position) by a torque motor), and can be rotationally driven by a rotation motor (not shown). It is. When the torque motor is used, the output torque of the motor, that is, the urging force (pressing force) of the side brush 6 against the side of the vehicle can be controlled to increase or decrease by controlling the voltage applied to the motor. .
[0015]
The pair of left and right rocker brushes 7, 7 has their brush shafts supported by the portal frame 1 via a reciprocating guide mechanism (not shown) so as to be able to move forward and backward with respect to the side of the vehicle. , A torque motor), and can be driven forward and backward between a most forward position 7f at which the lower side of the vehicle can be brushed and a retreating position 7r sufficiently distant from the side of the vehicle. It can be driven.
[0016]
The gate-shaped frame 1 is provided with an upper surface position detecting means 8 for detecting the upper surface position of the vehicle at a position near the front end thereof. In the example shown in the figure, the detecting means 8 is located at a position opposite to the vehicle. A large number of photoelectric sensors 9 composed of a set of a light emitting element and a light receiving element are arranged at equal intervals in the vertical direction.
[0017]
These detection signals of the upper surface position detection means 8 are sent together with an output signal from the rotary encoder of the traveling motor 4 to a control device C as control means provided at an appropriate position on the portal frame 1. The traveling position of the gate-shaped frame 1 and the vehicle upper surface position are associated with each other and stored as the vehicle upper surface shape. Then, the control device C determines the location of the protrusion on the vehicle upper surface (that is, the presence and position of the protrusion on the vehicle upper surface) based on the stored upper surface level change in the vehicle upper surface shape by a conventionally known method (for example, see Japanese Patent No. 2747815). ) Can be recognized. That is, a portion where the body contour of the vehicle given as a vehicle shape locally shows undulations is recognized as a protrusion, and the position of the protrusion in the front-rear direction (especially of the portal frame 1 corresponding to the start and end points of the protrusion). Data such as the travel position), the vertical position, and the width in the front-rear direction of the vehicle are used for control for a protrusion avoiding operation described later.
[0018]
Thus, the control device C, the upper surface position detecting means 8 and the rotary encoder of the traveling motor 4 cooperate with each other to constitute a protrusion detecting means of the present invention capable of detecting a protrusion on the upper surface of the vehicle.
[0019]
The portal frame 1 is provided with various processing devices (not shown) other than the brushes 5 to 7 (for example, a detergent injection device, a fresh water injection device, and a drying device). The control device C includes motors and actuators for operating the brushes 5 to 7 and the respective processing devices, various sensors (for example, a vertical position sensor capable of detecting the vertical position of the top brush 5, opening and closing of the side brush 6). An open / close position sensor capable of detecting the position, an advance / retreat position sensor capable of detecting the advance / retreat position of the rocker brush 7), input operation means capable of arbitrarily inputting an operation, and the like, are connected based on the input operation signal and the output signal of the sensor. Then, by operating each motor and actuator in accordance with a preset control program, a predetermined car washing operation is automatically performed.
[0020]
Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. In the process of the first forward traveling of the portal frame 1 of the car washer at the start of the car washing, the upper surface position detecting means 8 located at the front end of the frame 1 detects the vehicle upper surface position. Based on the output signal from the rotary encoder, the control device C stores the vehicle top shape in association with the traveling position of the portal frame 1 and the vehicle top position, and the stored vehicle top shape (top surface level) is It is used for controlling the brushes 5 to 7 in the same step and for controlling brushes and other processing devices in the subsequent steps.
[0021]
FIG. 3 shows an example of a vehicle to be cleaned. A fender pole X1 is provided at one of the left and right corners (on a front bumper) at a front end of the vehicle, and a fender mirror X2 is provided at both left and right sides of the hood. A pair of front and rear roof carriers X3 is further provided on the roof, and an antenna X4 is provided protruding from the left and right sides of the trunk. In the control device C, as described later, the fender pole X1 is recognized as a projection that is thin (the front-rear width is 20 mm or less) and low (at least the lower end height is 1000 mm or less) from the stored vehicle top shape. The antenna X4 is recognized as a thin but not low projection, and the fender mirror X2 and the roof carrier X3 are recognized as non-slim projections.
[0022]
Thus, in the case of the conventional car washer, only the normal operation of each of the brushes 5 to 7 as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIGS.
[0023]
For example, the normal operation of the top brush 5 is indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 4, that is, the top brush 5 is controlled to move up and down to a certain level higher than the detected upper surface shape of the vehicle. The contact surface pressure with the upper surface of the vehicle is always maintained at a substantially constant appropriate value. Incidentally, such elevation control of the top brush is conventionally well known, and is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 4-43017.
[0024]
The normal operation of the side brush 6 is indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. That is, after the side brush 6 comes into contact with the front end face of the vehicle at the closed position 6s, the gate type frame 1 is slightly retracted and then stopped, and then the side brush 6 is brushed on the front end face of the vehicle to open the end position 6o. Open to move. When the side brush 5 reaches the opening limit position 6o, the forward movement of the portal frame 1 is resumed, and then the side brush 5 is closed and moved to contact the side surface of the vehicle with an appropriate contact pressure, and thereafter, the contact position is maintained. After moving along the side of the vehicle, the side is brushed, and when reaching the rear end of the vehicle, the vehicle goes around the left and right corners to brush the rear end of the vehicle. Incidentally, such opening / closing control of the side brush is conventionally well-known, and is described in, for example, JP-A-2000-198425.
[0025]
The normal operation of the rocker brush 7 is indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. That is, the rocker brush 7 first stands by at the most advanced position 7f, and when the rocker brush 7 comes to a position corresponding to the corner at the front end of the vehicle due to the forward traveling of the gate-shaped frame 1, the rocker brush 7 reacts by the contact reaction force with the corner. After slightly retreating to the opening side, it comes into contact with the lower part of the side of the vehicle. Incidentally, such opening and closing control of the rocker brush is conventionally well known, and is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 12-127918.
[0026]
Next, a control mode of each brush in the car washer according to the present embodiment for avoiding protrusions will be described.
[0027]
[Top brush avoidance operation]
This control is based on the flowchart of FIG. That is, during car washing, it is determined whether or not the top brush 5 is at a protrusion avoiding position set corresponding to the protrusion (for example, set at a predetermined distance before and after the starting point and the end point of the protrusion, respectively) in step S1. If it is determined that the projection is present, it is determined in step S2 whether the protrusion is narrow (in the illustrated example, the front-rear width is equal to or less than a predetermined width of 20 mm). The process proceeds to S3, where the second avoidance operation of the top brush 5 is executed, and if it is determined that it is not, the process proceeds to step S4, where the first avoidance operation is executed. The process proceeds to step S5, and the normal operation described above is performed.
[0028]
As is clear from the solid line in FIG. 4, the second avoidance operation with respect to the top brush 5 is performed by holding the brush 5 in the illustrated example at the projection avoiding position to a height that does not contact the projection. In the illustrated example, the first avoidance operation is performed by rotating the brush 5 at the projection avoiding position at a lower speed than usual.
[0029]
Thus, when a thin protrusion such as the fender pole X1 is recognized at the front end position of the vehicle, the top brush 5 is held at a position corresponding to the protrusion and at an elevation height that does not contact the protrusion, and After passing through the projection, the object descends to a position where the object comes into contact with the upper surface of the vehicle with an appropriate contact surface pressure. Thereafter, while moving along the upper surface of the vehicle while maintaining the contact surface pressure, the upper surface is brushed. However, in the case where the next protrusion is not thin (a fender mirror X2 and a roof carrier X3 in the illustrated example), The rotation speed of the top brush 5 is set lower than usual at the position corresponding to them, so that breakage of the protrusions can be prevented, and the next thin protrusion (the antenna X4 on the trunk in the illustrated example) is recognized. In such a case, the top brush 5 is sufficiently raised at a position corresponding to this, so that the thin projection is reliably prevented from being damaged.
[0030]
[Side brush avoidance]
This control is based on the flowchart of FIG. That is, during car washing, it is determined in step S11 whether or not the side brush 6 is at the projection avoiding position set corresponding to the projection, and if it is determined that there is, the next step is step S12. It is determined whether or not the projection is thin (in the illustrated example, the front-rear width is equal to or less than a predetermined width of 20 mm). If it is determined that the projection is thin, the process proceeds to step S13 to perform the second avoidance operation of the side brush 6. If not, the process proceeds to step S14 to execute the first avoidance operation, and if not, the process proceeds to step S15 to perform the normal operation described above.
[0031]
As is clear from the solid line in FIG. 5, the second avoidance operation with respect to the side brush 6 is performed by holding the brush 6 at the projection avoiding position at the opening limit position 6o in the illustrated example. In the illustrated example, the first avoiding operation is performed by rotating the brush 6 at the projection avoiding position at a lower speed than usual.
[0032]
Thus, when a thin protrusion such as the fender pole X1 is recognized at the vehicle front end position, the side brush 6 contacts the vehicle front end surface at the closed position 6s as shown by a solid line in FIG. After retracting and stopping the gate-shaped frame 1 more than usual, the side brush 6 is opened and moved to the opening limit position 6o (during this time, the front end surface of the vehicle is not brushed except for the center portion), and is moved to the opening limit position 6o. When reaching, the rotation of the side brush 6 is stopped, and then the forward running of the portal frame 1 is restarted. Next, the side brush 6 restarts rotation after passing the protrusion sufficiently, closes and moves to contact the vehicle side surface, and brushes the side surface. Therefore, the side brush 6 damages the protrusion such as the fender pole. There is no fear. Thereafter, while moving along the side of the vehicle while maintaining the contact position, the side is brushed. If the next protrusion is not thin (fender mirror X2, roof carrier X3 in the illustrated example), the protrusions may be brushed. The rotation speed of the side brush 6 is set lower than usual at the position corresponding to the above, so that the protrusions can be prevented from being damaged, and the next thin protrusion (the antenna X4 on the trunk in the illustrated example) is recognized. Stops the rotation of the side brush 6 at the position corresponding thereto and moves the side brush 6 to the open limit position 6o to reliably prevent the thin projection from being damaged.
[0033]
[Rocker brush avoidance operation]
This control is based on the flowchart of FIG. That is, during car washing, it is determined in step S21 whether or not the rocker brush 7 is at the projection avoiding position set corresponding to the projection, and if it is determined that there is, the process proceeds to step S22. It is determined whether or not the protrusion is thin (in the illustrated example, the front-rear width is equal to or less than a predetermined width of 20 mm). If it is determined that the protrusion is narrow, at least the lower end of the protrusion interferes with the rocker brush 7 in step S23. It is determined whether or not the rocker brush 7 is located at a height at which the rocker brush 7 is likely to be present (in the illustrated example, whether or not it is located in a height area equal to or less than a predetermined height of 1000 mm). Is performed, and if it is determined in steps S21 to S23 that the answer is no, the process proceeds to step S25 to perform the normal operation described above.
[0034]
As is clear from the solid line in FIG. 6, the predetermined avoiding operation for the rocker brush 7 is such that the brush 7 is separated from the side of the vehicle at the protrusion avoiding position in the illustrated example (retained at the rearmost position in the illustrated example). That).
[0035]
Therefore, when a thin and low protrusion such as the fender pole X1 is recognized at the front end position of the vehicle, the rotation of the rocker brush 7 is stopped and the brush 7 is held at the last retreat position 7r. After the rocker brush 7 has passed the protrusion X1 sufficiently, the brush 7 starts rotating and closes to contact the lower part of the side surface of the vehicle and brush the lower part of the side surface. There is no danger of damaging thin and low-level projections such as X. Thereafter, it moves along the side of the vehicle and brushes the lower part of the side while maintaining the contact position, during which normal operation continues if there is no other thin and low projection, and If there is an object, the rocker brush 7 stops rotating at the position corresponding to the projection and is opened and moved to the last retreat position 7r, so that damage to the projection can be reliably prevented.
[0036]
The operation of avoiding the protrusions of the side brush 6, the top brush 5, and the rocker brush 7 when the portal frame 1 goes forward has been described above. Then, the same avoidance operation as that at the time of going forward is performed.
[0037]
In the above-described embodiment, the first avoidance operation of the side brush 6 and the top brush 5 is performed by setting the brush rotation speed to be lower than usual at a position corresponding to the projections X2 and X3 that are not thin (the front-back width is large). To prevent the projections from being damaged while brushing the vehicle body surface evenly and neatly. However, instead of such control, the projections X2 and X3 which are not thin (having a large front-rear width) can be used. The first avoidance operation may be performed by reducing the contact surface pressure of the brush on the vehicle body surface at a corresponding position as compared with a normal case. In this case, in order to reduce the contact surface pressure more than usual, control is performed such that the distance of the brush to the vehicle body surface is slightly larger than that in the normal operation, and the brush body is applied to the brush by a torque motor, an air cylinder, or the like. Or a control for slightly reducing the urging force of the normal operation may be performed, or both controls may be performed simultaneously.
[0038]
As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various small design changes can be made without departing from the present invention described in the claims. It is possible to do.
[0039]
For example, in the above-described embodiment, as the car washer, a movable car washer in which the portal frame 1 reciprocates with respect to the stopped vehicle is shown. However, the present invention provides a fixed vehicle for fixing the portal frame 1 and moving the vehicle. It may be applied to a car washer.
[0040]
Further, in the above-described embodiment, as a predetermined avoidance operation of the rocker brush 7 when the thin and low-level projection X1 is detected, the rocker brush 7 is held at the position corresponding to the projection at the last retreat position 7r. However, the present invention may employ another avoiding operation instead of such an avoiding operation. For example, the rocker brush 7 may be rotated at a low speed or stopped at a position corresponding to the protrusion. Alternatively, the contact surface pressure of the rocker brush 7 with the lower part of the vehicle side surface may be reduced.
[0041]
In the above-described embodiment, the projections protruding from the upper surface of the vehicle include the fender pole X1 on the front bumper, the fender mirror X2 on the hood, the roof carrier X3 on the roof, and the antenna X4 on the trunk. However, the equipment is not limited to these, and includes, for example, a taxi indicator light and a rear spoiler on the roof, a spare tire on the tailgate, an emblem on the hood, an antenna on the roof, a fender pole on the rear bumper, and the like.
[0042]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, when the width of the protrusion on the upper surface of the vehicle in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle is equal to or less than a predetermined width and at least a part of the protrusion is equal to or less than a predetermined level, a predetermined avoidance for the protrusion is prevented. Since the operation is performed by the rocker brush, it is possible to easily and accurately recognize the protrusion that may interfere with the rocker brush from the front and rear width and level of the protrusion, and As a result, the rocker brush can be automatically evacuated, so that the protrusion can be prevented from being damaged due to interference with the rocker brush, and the rocker brush can be brought into sufficient contact with the lower side of the vehicle to brush efficiently. it can. Further, since the control is relatively simple in that the projections to be avoided are narrowed by the width and level of the projections, the cost can be reduced.
[0043]
In particular, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the avoiding operation of the rocker brush with respect to the projection is more reliably performed, and this is more effective in preventing the thin and low-level projection from being damaged.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an overall front view schematically showing a car washer according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is an overall side view schematically showing the car washer (as viewed in the direction of arrow 2 in FIG. 1);
FIG. 3 is a side view showing an example of a vehicle to be washed; FIG. 4 is a side view showing an example of an operation mode of a top brush; FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an example of an operation mode of a side brush; FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of a top brush avoidance operation. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of a side brush avoidance operation. FIG. 9 is a control procedure of a rocker brush avoidance operation. [Description of reference numerals]
1… ..Gate type frame (frame)
7 Rocker brush 7r Last retreat position 8 Upper surface position detecting means (projection detecting means)
C: Control device (control means, protrusion detection means)
X1 ... Fender pole (projection)
X2: Fender mirror (projection)
X3: Roof carrier (projection)
X4: Antenna (projection)

Claims (2)

A car wash machine in which a lower portion of a side surface of a vehicle can be brushed with a rocker brush provided on the frame so as to be able to advance and retreat with respect to the side surface of the vehicle while relatively moving the frame and the vehicle in the front-rear direction of the vehicle.
A protrusion detecting means for detecting a protrusion on the upper surface of the vehicle, wherein the width of the protrusion detected by the protrusion detecting means in the vehicle longitudinal direction is equal to or less than a predetermined value, and at least a part of the protrusion is equal to or less than a predetermined level Control means for causing said rocker brush to perform a predetermined avoiding operation for said projection when said condition is satisfied. 2. The car washer according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined avoiding operation is performed by holding the rocker brush at a rearmost position at a position corresponding to a protrusion to be avoided. 3.

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