JP2014172512A - Car washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a car washing machine capable of using sunlight effectively for thawing of a car washing brush.SOLUTION: A car washing machine 1 comprises: an outside air temperature sensor 31, a wind velocity sensor 32, and an illuminance sensor 33 for detecting ambient information of the car washing machine 1; and a control part 29 for calculating a position of the sun on the basis of installation information of the car washing machine 1 and date information, determining whether the sunshine reaches the inside of the car washing machine or not based on the ambient information of the car washing machine and the position of the sun, and moving a car washing brush to a sunshine position which the sunshine reaches when determined that the sunshine reaches the sunshine position.

Description

  The present invention relates to a car wash machine provided with a car wash brush.

  In this type of car wash machine, the car wash brush after the car wash may freeze in severe cold season, and the frozen wash brush is rotated while sprinkling water (Patent Document 1) or heated by a heating device (Patent Document 2). ) And the ice was thawed. Such an ice-breaking operation involves power consumption, and thus has a problem of increasing costs.

Japanese Patent No. 3474983 JP-A-9-175342

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a car wash machine capable of effectively using sunlight for deicing a car wash brush.

  In order to solve this problem, the present invention provides a car washing machine main body formed in a portal shape so that a car washing brush can be freely attached to and separated from an automobile body, and the automobile body is moved by the car washing brush while relatively moving the main body and the automobile. In the car wash machine to be washed, the surrounding detection means for detecting the surrounding information of the car wash machine, the date output means for outputting the date information, the installation registration means for inputting the installation information of the car wash machine, and the surrounding information obtained from the surrounding detection means Based on the above, the necessity of brush deicing is determined, the position of the sun is calculated based on the date information obtained from the date output means and the installation information obtained from the installation registration means, and the ambient information obtained from the surrounding detection means Irrigation ice mode that determines whether or not sunlight can be obtained in the car wash machine based on the solar position information, and moves the car wash brush to the sunlight position when it is determined that sunlight can be obtained. Comprising a control means for executing.

  In addition, a car wash brush that is formed in a door-shaped car wash body is provided with a car wash brush so as to be able to contact and separate from the car body, and the car body is washed with the car wash brush while moving the main body and the car relative to each other. The outside air temperature detecting means for detecting the outside air temperature of the vehicle and the sunlight detecting means for detecting the sunlight inserted into the car wash machine, the necessity of brush defrosting is determined based on the outside air temperature obtained from the outside air temperature detecting means. When it is determined that brush deicing is necessary, the sunlight detection means determines whether or not sunlight can be obtained in the car wash machine, and if it is determined that sunlight is obtained, the sunshine moves the car wash brush to the sunlight sunshine position. Control means for executing the ice-breaking mode was provided.

  According to the car wash machine of the present invention, in a situation where sunlight can be obtained in the car wash machine by the sun, the car wash brush can be moved to a sunlit position to promote ice melting, and energy saving using natural resources can be achieved. The brush de-icing is realized.

1 is a front view showing a car wash machine main body 1. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the upper surface brush. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the side brushes 8 * 8. It is a block diagram which shows a control system. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of sunshine ice-ice mode. It is explanatory drawing which shows the specific example of car wash machine installation and a solar position. It is explanatory drawing which shows operation | movement of sunshine ice-ice mode. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of another sunshine ice-ice mode.

The structure of the car wash machine will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, the car wash machine main body 1 is formed in a gate shape, and travels back and forth on two parallel rails 2 and 2 laid on the floor surface. On the other hand, a car wash treatment is performed by a car wash treatment apparatus installed inside. Reference numerals 4 and 4 denote forward and reverse travel motors that drive the wheels 3 and 3 to reciprocate the car wash machine body 1 on the rails 2 and 2. A traveling encoder 5 is connected to the output shaft of the motor 4 and outputs a pulse signal for each unit angle rotation while detecting the rotation direction of the motor 4 to give the traveling position of the car wash machine body 1. Reference numeral 6 denotes a car shape detection device, which is provided in front of the car wash machine body 1 and has a light emitting part 6a and a light receiving part 6b arranged with the automobile A in the width direction, and a plurality of light emitting elements arranged in the vertical direction of the light emitting part 6a. The vehicle body is detected based on whether or not light can be received by a plurality of light receiving elements arranged so as to face the light emitting unit 6a in the vertical direction of the light receiving unit 6b.

  The car wash machine body 1 is provided with brush devices 7, 8 and 8, blower nozzles 9, 10 and 10 as a car wash treatment device, a water spray nozzle, a liquid agent tank (not shown), etc. A cleaning operation of brushing by spraying etc. and a drying operation of blowing air from a blower nozzle are performed. Further, the car wash machine main body 1 is provided with an outside air temperature sensor 31 for detecting the outside air temperature, a wind speed sensor 32 for detecting the wind speed, and an illuminance sensor 33 for detecting the brightness, and the car wash machine detected by these sensors. In accordance with the surrounding information, it is determined whether or not a brush deicing or anti-freezing measure described later is necessary. Each sensor is ideally attached so that the surroundings of the car wash machine body 1 can be detected as accurately as possible, and it is desirable that the attachment position can be changed as appropriate according to the installation situation of the car wash machine. .

  The brush device installed in the car wash machine body 1 includes an upper brush 7 that moves up and down along the upper surface of the vehicle body and brushes the upper surface, and a left and right brush that moves toward and away from the vehicle body and brushes the front and rear surfaces and side surfaces of the vehicle body. It consists of a pair of side brushes 8 and 8. In addition, you may provide the rocker brush which brushes and cleans the side lower part of a vehicle body, and the tire brush which brushes and cleans a tire. The blower nozzle is composed of an upper blower nozzle 9 that moves up and down along the upper surface of the vehicle body and blows air on the upper surface to dry the air and a pair of left and right side blower nozzles 10 and 10 that blow air on the side surfaces of the vehicle body and dry the air.

  Among these, as shown in FIG. 2, the upper surface brush 7 is configured to move up and down on elevating rails 13L and 13R suspended in the car wash machine body 1 by carriers 12L and 12R directly connected to both ends of the brush shaft 11. The brush motor 14 fixed to one carrier 12R is driven forward and backward. The carriers 12L and 12R include a chain 15 that connects the upper end and the lower end in an endless manner, sprockets 16U and 16D around which the chain 15 is suspended, a rotating shaft 17 that connects the left and right upper sprockets 16U, and the rotating shaft. The elevator 17 is moved up and down by a lifting and lowering motor 18 that rotates forward and backward. Reference numeral 19 denotes a lift encoder, which is connected to the rotary shaft 17 and outputs a pulse signal every given rotation while detecting the rotation direction of the rotary shaft to give the lift position of the carrier. Reference numerals 20 and 21 denote limit switches which are switched by contact with the carrier 12L to give rise and fall limits.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the side brushes 8, 8 are arranged along the open / close rails 23 which are horizontally mounted horizontally on the rear upper part in the car wash machine body 1 by carriers 22 </ b> L, 22 </ b> R directly connected to the upper end of the brush shaft 22. It is configured to open and close and is driven forward and backward by brush motors 24 and 24. The carriers 22L and 22R are an opening / closing device comprising a chain 25 that connects the right end and the left end in an endless manner, sprockets 26L and 26R around which the chain 25 is suspended, and an opening and closing motor 27 that rotates one of the sprockets 26L and 26R forward and backward. It is opened and closed by. An open / close encoder 28 is connected to the output shaft of the open / close motor 27 and outputs a pulse signal for each predetermined rotation while detecting the rotation direction of the motor 27 to give an open / close position of the carrier.

  Each of these brushes normally stands by in the vicinity of the inner plate of the car wash machine body 1. That is, the position where the upper surface brush 7 is raised near the upper surface inner plate of the car wash machine body 1 is a standby position, and the side brushes 8 and 8 are the positions where they are opened near the inner surface plate of the car wash machine body 1 as a standby position. . This standby position is preferably set at a position away from the inner plate by a predetermined distance in order to prevent the bristle from sticking to the inner plate and freezing when the outside air temperature drops to the freezing temperature in winter.

Next, the control system will be described with reference to FIG.
A control unit 29 is connected to the travel encoder 5, the vehicle body detection device 6, the lift encoder 19, the open / close encoder 28, the operation panel 30, the outside air temperature sensor 31, the wind speed sensor 32, and the illuminance sensor 33, and is connected via the car wash drive unit 34. The traveling motor 4 of the car wash machine body 1, the brush motor 14 of the upper surface brush 7, the lifting motor 18 of the upper surface brush 7, the brush motor 24 of the side brush 8, and the opening / closing motor 27 of the side brush 8 are connected.

  The control unit 29 includes a CPU 35 that performs arithmetic processing, a memory 36 that stores a car wash program and various data, and a calendar function unit 37 that outputs date and time information based on a standard radio wave received by a radio timepiece. Control car wash processing and brush de-icing measures based on. For example, a car wash process is executed in accordance with a car wash program written in the memory 36 based on a car wash command from the operation panel 30, and in accordance with a maintenance program written in the memory 36 based on a brush deicing instruction in the operation panel 30. And carry out brush de-icing measures.

  The operation panel 30 includes an indicator 38 that displays an operation guide, a course key 39 that selects a car wash course, a start key 40 that starts car wash, a stop key 41 that stops car wash, and a fee reception device 42 that accepts prepaid cards and cash. , Equipped with a speaker 43 for outputting guidance voices such as car wash reception / car wash start, and a key switch 44 for switching the power on / off, management mode, and operation mode, in addition to selecting car wash contents and inputting car wash start, This is a guidance output of car washing start / end, precautions, operation procedures, etc. by voice.

  In the management mode that can be switched with the key switch 44, the operator inputs various data such as system data and car wash time settings to the car wash machine, confirms the operation of each part of the car wash machine, and displays the total number of car washes. Can be specified, brush de-icing measures can be specified, and car wash machine installation information can be registered in the memory 36, and is normally operated in an operation mode in which a car wash can be accepted and washed. Here, the installation information of the car wash machine refers to data on the area where the car wash machine is installed and the direction in which it is installed, and is registered by manual operation when the car wash machine is installed. It may be possible to automatically recognize the installation position.

Next, the car wash operation in this car wash machine will be described.
Here, the case where a water washing course is performed as a car washing course is illustrated. In the water washing course, the car is washed and dried while the car wash machine main body 1 makes one reciprocation. Brushing with watering is performed in one way and blower drying is performed in one way.

  When the operation panel 30 accepts the car wash (payment into the charge acceptance device 42 and selects the “water washing course” with the course key 39) and enters the start key 40, the speaker 43 “starts the car wash. Keep away from the car wash. The car wash machine main body 1 travels. When the main body 1 travels, vehicle shape data is created by the control unit 29, and brushing cleaning by a brush device is executed based on the vehicle shape data. The brushing cleaning is executed while the upper surface brush 7 is controlled to move up and down in accordance with the vehicle shape data and the side brushes 8 and 8 are controlled to be opened and closed in accordance with the vehicle shape data. When returning the main body 1, blower drying is performed by a blower nozzle. The blower drying is executed while raising and lowering the upper blower nozzle 9 in accordance with the vehicle shape data.

Next, brush deicing measures in this car wash machine will be described.
If “Brush de-icing” is set in the management mode, brush de-icing measures are executed in the severe cold season. Here, the severe cold season refers to a period in which the minimum temperature may be below the freezing point in the area where the car wash machine is installed (for example, the period from December to March in Nagano Prefecture), and is registered in the memory 36. Automatic setting based on machine installation information or manual input in management mode.

  As shown in FIG. 5, in the brush deicing measure, first, the outside air temperature sensor 31 detects the outside air temperature around the car wash machine body 1, and determines whether or not the detected outside air temperature has reached the freezing danger temperature T. (1). If the outside air temperature is higher than the freezing danger temperature T, it is determined that the brush is not frozen, and the process ends without performing the brush deicing measure. If the outside air temperature is lower than the freezing temperature T, the date and time information is read from the calendar function unit 37 (2), the installation information of the car wash machine registered in the memory 36 is read (3), and based on the acquired date and time information and the installation information To calculate the position of the sun (solar orientation and solar altitude) (4). Next, the wind speed sensor 32 detects the wind speed around the car wash machine body 1 and determines whether or not the detected wind speed has reached a predetermined value V (5). If the wind speed is less than the predetermined value V, the illuminance sensor 33 detects the brightness around the car wash body 1 and determines whether or not the detected illuminance reaches the predetermined value L (6). If the illuminance is greater than or equal to the predetermined value L in the process (6), it is determined that sunshine is obtained, and the sunshine ice melting mode is selected (7), and the wind speed is greater than or equal to the predetermined value V in the process (5) When the illuminance is less than the predetermined value L in (6), the normal ice melting mode is selected (8). In other words, under conditions where the outside air temperature is low, the sunshine deicing mode is selected when the conditions of weak wind and sunshine are met, and the normal deicing mode is selected when the wind is strong and the sun is hidden. become.

  In the sunshine deicing mode, the upper surface brush 7 is lowered from the standby position to the sunshine position in the car wash machine obtained from the solar position information, and the brush is defrosted by solar heat. When a predetermined time has elapsed, the upper surface brush 7 is returned to the standby position. In this mode, the side brushes 8 and 8 are closed from the standby position and the brush is defrosted by solar heat. The normal deicing mode is a mode in which the top brush 7 and the side brush 8 are rotated at the standby position and struck against the inner plate of the car wash machine main body 1 so as to pulverize the icing of the brush to defrost.

  As described above, the brush de-icing measures are set to the sunshine de-icing mode and the normal de-icing mode, and are selected according to the outside air temperature, wind speed, and illuminance around the car wash machine. In the sunshine deicing mode, since the brush is moved to a sunny position, the cold air blows into the car wash machine in a low temperature and strong wind condition, and it is difficult to obtain the deicing effect by solar heat. The wind speed condition of the process (5) is set. In addition, the illuminance condition of the process (6) in FIG. 5 is set because it is difficult to obtain a de-icing effect by solar heat even when the weather is bad.

Here, a car wash machine installed in Nagano Prefecture facing southeast will be described as a specific example with reference to FIG.
First, when the car wash machine is installed, in the management mode, the car wash machine installation information (here, installation area: Nagano Prefecture, installation direction: 135 ° (clockwise angle when 0 ° is north)) is stored in the memory 37. The controller 29 executes the brush de-icing measure shown in Fig. 5 and enters the sunshine de-icing mode on the condition that ambient information is detected that the outside air temperature is low, the wind is weak, and clear. The calendar function unit 37 outputs date and time information (here, 7:30 am on January 25) and car wash machine installation information. From this car wash machine installation information and date and time information, the morning of January 25 in Nagano Prefecture 7:30 Sun position information (altitude 5.75 ° azimuth 118.7 °) is calculated, and it is determined that there is sunshine in the car washer based on the sun position and the direction of installation of the car wash. Move the brush to the position.

  In this way, when the car washer is installed in the sun shining in the winter sun, the brush can be disassembled by solar heat by moving the brush from the standby position (near the car washer inner plate) to the sun. Since ice is promoted and it is not necessary to perform de-icing by watering or de-icing by heating, energy saving can be achieved. That is, as shown in FIG. 7A, the upper surface brush 7 is lowered from the standby position (dotted line) to the position where the sun hits, and the side brushes 8 and 8 are moved from the standby position (dotted line) to the date as shown in FIG. By closing to the hit position, sunlight is efficiently irradiated.

  Although the present invention has been described above, the configuration of the car wash machine and the car wash system are not limited to the above embodiments, and an illuminance sensor capable of detecting sunshine by direct sunlight is provided on the front of the car wash machine as a method of detecting sunshine. It is also possible to detect the incoming sunlight directly.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 8, first, the outside air temperature sensor 31 detects the outside air temperature around the car wash body 1, and determines whether or not the detected outside air temperature has reached the freezing danger temperature T (10). If the outside air temperature is higher than the freezing danger temperature T, it is determined that the brush is not frozen, and the process ends without performing the brush deicing measure. If the outside air temperature is lower than the freezing temperature T, the illuminance sensor 33 detects the presence or absence of direct sunlight on the car wash machine body 1, and whether or not the detected illuminance reaches a predetermined value L2 that is the illuminance of direct sunlight. (11). Next, the wind speed sensor 32 detects the wind speed around the car wash machine body 1 and determines whether or not the detected wind speed has reached a predetermined value V (12). If the wind speed is less than the predetermined value V, it is determined that the risk of icing due to the wind is low, and the sunshine defrosting mode is selected (13). When the illuminance is less than the predetermined value L2 in the process (11) and the process ( When the wind speed is equal to or higher than the predetermined value V in 12), the normal ice-melting mode is selected (14).

  In this way, the sunshine-ice-ice mode may be selected by directly detecting that sunshine by direct sunlight is obtained in the car wash machine.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Car wash machine body 7 Top surface brush 8 Side surface brush 29 Control part 30 Operation panel 31 Outside temperature sensor 32 Wind speed sensor 33 Illuminance sensor 36 Memory 37 Calendar clock

Claims (2)

In the car wash machine which is equipped with a car wash brush so that it can be freely attached to and detached from the car body in the car wash body formed in a gate shape, and wash the car body with the car wash brush while relatively moving the main body and the car,
Based on the surrounding information obtained from the surrounding detection means, surrounding detection means for detecting the surrounding information of the car wash machine, date output means for outputting the date information, installation registration means for inputting the installation information of the car wash machine, The necessity of ice is determined, the position of the sun is calculated based on the date information obtained from the date output means and the installation information obtained from the installation registration means, the ambient information obtained from the surrounding detection means and the calculated sun Control means for determining whether or not sunlight can be obtained in the car wash machine based on the position information, and executing the sunshine-ice-ice mode in which the car wash brush is moved to the sunlight position when the sunlight is obtained. A car wash machine characterized by comprising:
In the car wash machine which is equipped with a car wash brush so that it can be freely attached to and detached from the car body in the car wash body formed in a gate shape, and wash the car body with the car wash brush while relatively moving the main body and the car,
An outside air temperature detecting means for detecting an outside air temperature around the car wash machine, and a sunlight detecting means for detecting sunlight inserted into the car wash machine, the necessity of brush defrosting based on the outside air temperature obtained from the outside air temperature detecting means. Determining whether or not brush deicing is necessary, the sunlight detecting means determines whether or not sunlight can be obtained in the car wash machine, and if sunlight is obtained, the sunlight is lit at the sunlight position. A car wash machine comprising a control means for executing a sunshine-ice-ice mode in which a car wash brush is moved.

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