JP2527664B2 - Car wash method - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention includes a car wash main body which reciprocates across a vehicle to be washed, and at least a top brush whose both ends are supported by a pair of swing arms and which swings by contact with a vehicle body. The present invention relates to a car wash method for a car wash machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a car washing machine of this type is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), both ends thereof are supported by a pair of swing arms 5, 5'which are pivotally supported by the car wash machine body 1 traveling on the rails 2, 2 ', and swing by contact with the vehicle. A top brush 3 is provided. The top brush 3 is for brushing while moving so as to trace the vehicle body as the car wash machine body 1 travels. The swing arms 5 and 5'sway in opposite directions during forward and backward travels. Move. Further, the top brush 3 is rotated in the reverse direction with respect to the traveling direction of the main body 1 as shown in the figure, and the contact pressure between the brush and the vehicle body surface is increased to improve the cleaning effect by brushing.

Further, in this type of car wash machine, a blower nozzle 11 which is located in front of the car wash machine body 1 and blows air to the car body is provided, and the car body is dried at the end of the car wash.
Therefore, if it is attempted to complete the car wash while the main body 1 makes one reciprocation, the car body is washed by brushing as shown in FIG. 1A at the time of going forward, and the car body is dried by the blower nozzle 11 at the time of going backward. .

[0004]

By the way, in such a one-way car wash, as described above, the brushing can be performed only once during the traveling, and in many cases, the car cannot be completely cleaned if it is heavily soiled. Even if brushing is performed in a reciprocating manner, the top brush 3 is shaken in a direction opposite to the forward direction as shown in FIG. 1 (b), which impedes the drying by the blower nozzle 11. Therefore, in the past, a car that was extremely dirty was operated such that the main body 1 made two reciprocations and brushed twice or more, but it took a long time to wash the car and was inconvenient for urgent customers.

Further, in such a car washing machine, the top brush 3 is on the front side of the car washing machine body 1 (rearward with respect to the traveling direction) when going backward.
There is the inconvenience of splashing the washing water to the user or the customer by rocking to and brushing. Further, since the brushing position of the top brush 3 is greatly different between when the car wash machine body 1 is moving forward and when it is moving backward, it is necessary to install equipment for spraying cleaning water and the like used at the time of brushing at the front and rear. Was also complicated and expensive.

On the other hand, it is conceivable to improve the top brush 3 by swinging it in the same direction as when going forward (forward with respect to the traveling direction) when the main body 1 goes back and brushing.
However, in this case, at the time of going backward, the top brush 3 is made to act so as to project the swinging arms 5 and 5 ′ toward the vehicle body, and the top brush 3 is strongly pressed against the vehicle body as compared with the time of going forward, and There was a risk that the top brush 3 could not be raised smoothly in accordance with the running, and the vehicle body was damaged.

Therefore, the first object of the present invention is to provide a car wash method in which one reciprocating car wash carries out two times of brushing to leave no washing residue in a short time. A second object of the present invention is to make it possible to brush the top brush by swinging it backward at the same time as when going forward without damaging the vehicle body as described above. There is a point.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a brush device is installed in a traveling direction of a main body when the main body of the car wash machine moves from the stop position.
After brushing and washing the vehicle by rocking it backward, the brush device is moved forward in the direction
The first problem is solved by swinging the brush toward one side for brushing and operating the blower to dry the vehicle body by the blower nozzle.

Further, the swinging arm is used when the car wash machine is going forward.
Swinging backward with respect to the running direction of the main body, brushing by rotating the top brush in the reverse direction with respect to the running direction of the main body, and then running the swinging arm when the main body goes back.
The second problem is solved by swinging forward in the row direction and rotating the top brush in the rolling direction with respect to the running direction of the main body to perform brushing.

[0010]

EXAMPLES Examples will be described below. 2 and 3 are a front explanatory view and a side explanatory view, respectively, showing a main part configuration of the embodiment. 1 is a gate-shaped rail 2
・ The car wash machine running on 2'runs back and forth across the car stopped on rails 2'to wash and dry the car body.

3 is a top brush provided in the main body 1,
Both ends of the main body 1 are supported by a pair of swing arms 5, 5'which are rotatably supported by shafts 4, 4'on both sides of the main body 1 so that they can swing along the shape of a vehicle body to be washed. And is normally held in the upper standby position as shown. A motor 6 is fixed to one swing arm 5 and drives the brush 3 to rotate. Numerals 7 and 7'are weights fixed to the ends of the swing arms 5 and 5'opposite to the brush support side, which reduce the swing moment of the brush 3 and allow the brush 3 to swing smoothly by contact with the vehicle body. Be prepared to do so.

Reference numeral 8 is a top brush 3 via a transmission arm 9.
An air cylinder that moves up and down to give actions such as avoiding car wash obstacles. In addition, the transmission arm 9 is the swing arm 5.
It is fixed to the shaft 4 with a certain angle on the rear side with respect to 5 ', and is structured so that even if the air cylinder 8 is driven with the top brush 3 hanging down, the air can be swung up backward. Reference numeral 10 denotes a tilt sensor for giving rotation data of the shaft 4, which has a rotating body that is driven by the rotation of the shaft 4, and is composed of a so-called encoder that transmits a pulse each time the rotating body rotates by a certain angle. The tilt position of the arms 5 and 5'is detected.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a top nozzle provided on the top of the main body 1, which comprises a blower 12.12 'and a flexible duct 13.13'.
The link arm 14 is connected via the link arm 14 and can be moved up and down. Reference numeral 15 is an air cylinder for driving the top nozzle 11 up and down. Reference numeral 16 denotes a guide wheel attached to the tip portion of the top nozzle 11, which comes into contact with the vehicle body when the top nozzle 11 operates and rotates to maintain a necessary distance from the vehicle body, and an air valve 1 provided according to the contact pressure with the vehicle body.
7 is operated to move the air cylinder 15 up and down.

Reference numeral 18 is a motor for rotationally driving the wheels 19 of the main body 1. Reference numeral 20 denotes a reset position sensor which is provided at the lower portion of the main body 1 and senses and switches the projecting piece 21 provided at the rear end of the rail 2. The main body 1 uses the sensing position of the projecting piece 21 as the running start position. Reference numeral 22 denotes an operation panel provided on the front surface of the main body 1, which is provided with various input means such as selection input / charge of car wash work and insertion of a membership card.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view mainly showing an air pressure pipe and its control circuit in the air cylinder 8 of the embodiment.
Air pressure is appropriately introduced into the port of the air cylinder 8 from the air pressure source 30 through the switching valves 31 and 32 and the pressure adjusting units 33 and 34. The switching valve 31 is the atmosphere opening port 3
When the top brush 3 is used, the air cylinder 8 is opened to the atmosphere and the top brush 3 is lowered. The switching valve 32 appropriately switches the air pressure introduced to the air cylinder 8, and the air pressure P ₁ (6 to 7 kg / cm ^{2 in} this example) introduced via the pressure adjusting unit 33 is applied to the top brush 3
Used to forcibly raise it to its standby position,
On the other hand, the air pressure P ₂ (about 2 kg / cm ^{2 in} this example) introduced via the pressure adjusting unit 34 is a load when the top brush 3 is raised due to contact with the vehicle body, even if the top brush 3 cannot be raised. Used to reduce the

Therefore, the air pressure P ₁ is normally introduced into the air cylinder 8 through the pressure adjusting unit 33, and the top brush 3 is held at the upper standby position. When car washing is started, the switching valve 31 is switched, the air cylinder 8 is opened to the atmosphere, the top brush 3 is lowered, and the brushing when the main body 1 is going forward is performed in this atmosphere opened state. At the time of the subsequent return travel, the switching valves 31 and 32 are switched to introduce the air pressure P ₂ into the air cylinder 8.

35, 36, 37, 38, 39 are switching valves 3
1, 32, motors 6, blowers 12, 12 ', and drive circuits for switching valves (not shown) of the air cylinder 15 for the top nozzle, 40 are drive circuits 35, 36, 37
A control device that outputs signals to 38 and 39. The control device 40 includes a microcomputer including a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc., and according to the operation input on the operation panel 22,
It executes the car wash program registered in ROM,
The program operation is performed with reference to the detection signals from the sensors 10 and 20.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing a partial outline of the program registered in the ROM of the control device 38,
FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing the car wash operation of the embodiment, and the operation of the embodiment will be described below with reference to these drawings.

When the car wash is started in response to an operation input on the operation panel 22 and the forward process of the main body 1 is started (1), the switching valve 31 is switched to open the air cylinder 8 to the atmosphere to lower the top brush 3 and the motor. Drive 6 to brush the upper surface of the vehicle (2). At this time, the top brush 3 is rotated in the reverse direction with respect to the traveling direction of the main body 1 to increase the contact pressure with the vehicle body, as shown in FIG. 6 (a). When brushing on the way is completed and it is confirmed that the top brush droops in the tilt sensor 10,
(3), stop driving the motor 6 (4).

Subsequently, when the re-traveling process is started (5), the switching valve 31
・ By switching 32, the air pressure P ₂ is introduced into the air cylinder 8, the motor 6 is driven to start brushing (6), the blowers 12 and 12 'are further driven, and the energization of the air cylinder 15 is released. Then, the top nozzle 11 is lowered to start drying (7). At this time, the top brush 3
As shown in FIG. 6 (b), the brush is rotated in the same direction as when going forward, that is, in the rolling direction with respect to the traveling direction of the main body 1, and the resistance of the brush to the upper surface of the vehicle body is reduced.

If the top brush 3 swings in the direction opposite to that of the forward movement due to the fact that the top brush 3 is pushed by the body surface due to the backward movement, this is detected based on the signal from the tilt sensor 10 (8) and immediately. The motor 18 is stopped to stop the traveling of the main body 1, the motor 6 and the blowers 12 and 12 'are stopped, and an alarm is output from the operation panel 22 to inform the abnormality (9).

When the returning process is completed without any abnormality (10), the valve 32
Is switched to introduce air pressure P ₁ into the air cylinder 8 to raise the top brush 3 to the standby position, stop the motor 6, further stop the blowers 12 and 12 ', and return the top nozzle 11 to the standby position. Allow (11).

The operation of the top brush at the time of the backward movement of the above-mentioned operations will be described in more detail. Step (6)
When the air pressure P ₂ is introduced into the air cylinder 8 at
The oscillating arms 5 and 5 ′ are tilted to a position where the urging force of the air cylinder 8 to be raised and the gravitational moment of the top brush 3 are balanced, and when the top brush 3 comes into contact with the vehicle body in this state, the oscillating arm 5 In 5 ', since the turning load in the ascending direction is extremely reduced by the biasing of the air cylinder 8, and conversely, the turning load in the opposite direction is high, the top brush 3 is naturally lifted, resulting in shaking. Moving arm 5
5'rotates rearward of the main body 1 in the same direction as when going forward. Also,
Since the top brush 3 rotates in the rolling direction with respect to the traveling direction of the main body 1, the frictional force acting between the brush 3 and the vehicle body surface acts in the traveling direction of the main body 1, and the top brush 3 does not come into pressure contact with the vehicle body. It can move up and down smoothly.

In the embodiment described above, like the known device of this type, side brushes for cleaning the side surface of the vehicle body, and nozzles for spraying cleaning liquid and liquid materials such as detergent / wax to be used. In addition to the above-described one-way car wash, it is also possible to perform a two-way car wash having a two-way brushing as shown in FIG.

[0025]

As is apparent from the above description, claim 1
According to the invention of the invention, the top brush travels in the main body when traveling backward.
Since the brushing is performed by swinging forward with respect to the direction, a sufficient distance is secured between the brushing position of the top brush and the blower nozzle so that they do not interfere with each other, and brushing and drying are performed in parallel. Because you can
With two back and forth car washes, it is possible to brush twice, resulting in a car wash that leaves no washing residue in a short time.

Further, according to the invention of claim 2, when the car wash machine body goes back, the top brush is moved in the same direction as that of the forward movement (main body running).
Since the brushing is performed by swinging it forward (with respect to the row direction) , there is no inconvenience that the washing water is splashed on the user or the customer and the device is complicated and expensive. Further, when the main body goes back, the top brush is rotated in the rolling direction with respect to the traveling direction of the main body, the contact pressure with the vehicle body is reduced, smooth brushing along the upper surface of the vehicle body can be performed, and there is no risk of damaging the vehicle body.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a conventional car wash operation.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory front view showing a main part of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view illustrating a main part of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a pneumatic circuit and a control circuit of a main part of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a part of the program of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a car wash operation of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Car Wash Machine Main Body 3 Top Brush 5.5 ′ Swing Arm 6 Motor for Top Brush Rotation 8 Air Cylinder 11 Blower Nozzle 12/12 ′ Blower 40 Controller

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A car washer body reciprocating across a vehicle to be washed from a predetermined stop position , both ends of which are supported by a pair of swing arms and swung by contact with the upper surface of a vehicle body,
The brush device for brushing and cleaning the vehicle body and the main body are
Forward of the brush device to the vehicle when in the stop position
And a blower nozzle which blows air to the vehicle body to dry the blower provided in the main body at a time, in a car washing method including at least a brush device at the time of going from the stop position of the car washing machine body. The body running
After brushing and washing the vehicle by rocking it back to the direction , the brush device should be adjusted to
A car wash method characterized by swinging forward for brushing and operating a blower to dry the vehicle body with a blower nozzle. 2. A car washing method for a car washing machine, comprising: a car washing machine main body that reciprocates across a vehicle to be washed, and at least a top brush whose both ends are supported by a pair of swing arms and swings by contact with a vehicle body. , When the car wash machine goes forward , swing the swinging arm backwards with respect to the running direction of the body, rotate the top brush in the reverse direction with respect to the running direction of the body for brushing, and shake it when the body goes backward. A car wash method characterized by swinging a moving arm forward with respect to a running direction of a main body and rotating a top brush in a rolling direction with respect to a running direction of the main body to perform brushing.