JP2575588B2 - Automatic car wash method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic car washing method for washing a vehicle body without using a brush.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-18055 discloses a conventional technique for cleaning a vehicle body by jetting water instead of a rotating brush.
No. 1 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 3-220050. In this prior art, while moving a portal frame back and forth with respect to a car body to be washed, a lifting drum is moved up and down so that an upper nozzle is made to follow an outer surface of the car body at a constant interval, and the upper nozzle is moved right and left. , And sprays water, detergent, wax, or a cleaning liquid obtained by combining them. On the other hand, the side nozzle is moved up and down at a constant speed to spray the cleaning liquid on the side surface of the vehicle body.

The car wash operation includes spraying of detergent, washing with water (containing wax), washing with water, drying and the like, and various courses combining these are set. Make two round trips on the course. In each car wash operation, the upper nozzle, to work effectively,
The outer surface of the vehicle body is detected by a sensor so that the side nozzles and the like can always be arranged at an optimum position with respect to the vehicle body. As this sensor, a non-contact type such as an optical sensor is used instead of a contact type that may damage the vehicle body. The signal is transmitted to a drive system such as a nozzle, and is detected at each reciprocating movement of the portal frame.

[0004]

In the above prior art, the portal frame has to detect the vehicle body both forward and backward, and it is necessary to provide a sensor for each reciprocation, and a distance from the sensor to each nozzle is required. Distance, it is difficult to accurately detect the vehicle body. In addition, since the side nozzle is raised and lowered at a constant speed, when the height of the car wash portion of the vehicle body is high,
In some cases, insufficient supply of the cleaning liquid occurs, and uniform cleaning cannot be performed.

According to the present invention, vehicle information is detected in chronological order by vehicle detecting means arranged vertically long, and the vehicle type of the vehicle body is recognized only by going forward once through the gate-shaped frame. Or later based on its recognized vehicle type, the upper nozzle,
By moving the side nozzles and the like relative to the vehicle body and raising and lowering the side nozzles according to the height of the car wash portion of the vehicle body, moving the side nozzles up and down at a high speed when high, and at a low speed when low, the problems of the prior art. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic car washing method that can solve the problems.

[0006]

A concrete means for solving the problems in the present invention is a vehicle detecting means provided on the portal frame 3 while moving the portal frame 3 with respect to the vehicle body 2 to be washed. 4 detects the shape of the outer surface of the vehicle body 2, stores the information from the vehicle detecting means 4 in time series, and raises and lowers the elevating drum 6 based on the stored information, and moves the upper nozzle 8 to the outer surface of the vehicle body 2. And the upper nozzle 8 is moved to the left and right to eject the cleaning liquid,
On the other hand, this is an automatic car wash method in which the side nozzle 9 is moved up and down to eject the cleaning liquid to the side surface of the vehicle body 2. The vertically long vehicle detecting means 4 provided at the front part of the portal frame 3 detects a large number of vertical positions of the vehicle body 2 at one time, and detects the upper and lower positions as the portal frame 3 moves. The information is stored in time series to recognize the vehicle type, and the side nozzle 9 has a length corresponding to the vertical length of the car wash portion of the vehicle body 2 obtained by the information signal from the vehicle detection means 4.
Speed increases as the length increases, speed increases as the length decreases
It is to slow down and raise and lower .

[0007]

When the portal frame 3 moves forward and backward on the rails 23 by the traveling mechanism 22, the optical sensors 11 of the vehicle detecting means 4, which are arranged in a large number in the vertical direction in front of the gate type frame 3, move the vehicle body 2 to the end ( From the front). A large number of optical sensors 11 are
Is turned off where there is, and remains on where there is no body 2, and this is input to the storage unit A of the vehicle type recognition means 5 as external information, and the movement of the portal frame 3 causes By performing the sequential detection, the type of the vehicle body 2 is recognized, and the outer surface of the vehicle body 2 to be cleaned is detected.

After the vehicle detecting means 4 starts recognizing the vehicle type of the vehicle body 2, the processing section C of the vehicle type recognizing means 5 stores the storage information on the basis of the set information of the set information section B in which the set information of the car wash is programmed. The information is read from A, and output signals are sent to the portal frame 3, the lifting drum 6, the moving table 7, the side nozzle 9, the upper blower blowing means 10A, etc. to operate and control them.

When the height of the vehicle body 2 facing the side nozzle 9 to the roof changes and the height of the car wash portion of the vehicle body 2 obtained by the information signal from the vehicle detection means 4 increases, the side nozzle 9 The ascending and descending speed becomes high, and the cleaning liquid is sprayed uniformly over the entire length, and becomes low when it is low like a hood and a trunk lid.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5, an automatic car washing apparatus 1 has a portal frame 3, which has a gate shape having left and right sides and an upper portion connecting the left and right sides. All the devices necessary for car washing are mounted on the gate-shaped frame 3 so that the device can move relative to the vehicle.

The portal frame 3 can travel on rails 23 at a required speed by driving wheels 25 by a traveling mechanism 22 provided at the bottom on the left and right sides. The gate-shaped frame 3 has a vehicle detecting means 4 for detecting the outer surface of the vehicle body 2, an elevating drum 6 provided to be able to move up and down, a movable table 7 provided to be movable left and right on the elevating drum 6, and A cleaning upper nozzle 8 provided on the base 7, a pair of left and right cleaning side nozzles 9 provided on the left and right sides so as to be movable up and down, various driving devices, tanks, etc. are built in, and one side is operated on the front. Panels are provided.

The vehicle detecting means 4 has a number of optical sensors 11 arranged vertically. The light sensor 11 is provided with a light emitting device 11A on one of the left and right sides of the gate-shaped frame 3 and a light receiving device 11B on the other side, and detects the presence of the vehicle body 2 by utilizing the straightness of light. In FIGS. 1 and 6 to 8, the light sensor 11 has 24 light emitters 11 </ b> A arranged vertically and the light receiver 11 </ b> B changes from on to off when light is blocked by the vehicle body 2, and the light in the vertical direction The boundary between ON and OFF of the sensor 11 is the upper surface of the vehicle body 2, and the portal frame 3 travels with respect to the vehicle body 2, so that one light receiver 11 </ b> B
Changes from on to off over time, and the boundary between on and off in the time series of the optical sensor 11 is the front and rear surfaces of the vehicle body 2,
The up-down and time-series changes become the inclined surface of the vehicle body 2. FIG. 6 shows an example of reading the type of a passenger car, and FIG. 7 shows an example of reading the type of a truck.

The information from the optical sensor 11 is stored in the storage unit A of the computer 30 in time series. The computer 30 reads the information from the storage unit A based on the set information section B in which the set information of the car wash is programmed and the set information of the set information section B, and sends the control signal to each device of the automatic car wash apparatus 1. And a processing unit C for sending the vehicle type.

In FIGS. 1 to 5, 9 and 10, the lifting drum 6 is formed in a rectangular box shape, and the left and right ends thereof are drum lifting mechanisms 31 arranged in the left and right sides of the portal frame 3.
And is moved up and down by driving of a motor 33. Numerals 34U and 34D denote vertical sensors for setting the vertical range of the vertical drum 6. A moving table 7 is provided in the lifting drum 6 via a guide rail 35 so as to be movable in the left-right direction. Reference numeral 36 denotes a timing belt connected to the moving table 7, and together with the motor 37, constitutes a driving mechanism 15 of the moving table 7.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a pair of left and right sensors provided inside the lifting drum 6, which detects that the moving table 7 has moved, and immediately reverses the driving mechanism 15 or reverses after a certain time. That is, when reversing the moving base 7 at the position of the sensor 14, the moving range of the moving base 7 range J becomes as shown in FIG. 1,
When the movable base 7 is reversed by a predetermined distance from the position of the sensor 14, the movable range of the movable base 7 becomes a range K, and the movable distance of the movable base 7 can be set according to two types of vehicle widths.

The range of movement of the movable table 7 can be selected manually. However, as shown in FIG. 1 , a pair of right and left contact-type or non-contact type vehicle width sensors 39 is provided and automatically set. Preferably, the vehicle width is detected, and if the vehicle width is equal to or greater than a certain value, the movable table 7 is reciprocated in the range K.
By providing a plurality of left and right sensors 14 and 39, the moving distance of the upper nozzle 8 can be set to three or more types.

A motor 41 and a supporting case 42 are fixed to a supporting table 40 on the moving table 7, and the lower part of the supporting case 42 projects downward through a groove 38 formed in the elevating drum 6 to rotate the upper nozzle 8. It is movably supported. FIG.
12, the support case 42 includes upper and lower shafts 43, 4
4 are supported, and gears 45 and 46 fixed to both shafts 43 and 44
The upper shaft 43 is directly connected to the output shaft 41A of the motor 41, and the lower shaft 44 has the main body 12 of the upper nozzle 8 fixed thereto. Therefore, when the motor 41 is driven, the upper shaft 43 rotates, and the upper nozzle 8 rotates around the horizontal axis via the timing belt 47 and the lower shaft 44.

The upper nozzle 8 has one ejection fitting 13 protruding downward from the laterally oriented main body 12 and a hose connection fitting 48 that is diametrical to the ejection fitting 13. The ejection fitting 13 is shown in detail in FIG. Although not shown, the state can be changed between a state in which the detergent is sprayed and a state in which the water is spatulated and sprayed. The support table 40 is provided with three proximity switches 49, which can be operated by an operation piece 50 provided on the output shaft 41A. The proximity switch 49 controls the motor 41, and the upper nozzle 8 At three rotation positions.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the upper nozzle 8 can change the attitude of the ejection fitting 13 between the downward attitude E and the front and rear downward oblique attitudes F and G by setting the attitude. The proximity switch 49 performs a change in the attitude of the upper nozzle 8 by means of the motor 41 and the transmission means in the support case 42.

The hose connection fitting 48 is connected to an injection pump via a hose 52, an electromagnetic switching valve and the like, and the injection pump is connected to the detergent tank 16, the water tank 17, the wax tank 53 and the like (shown in FIGS. 1 and 4). Then, a cleaning liquid such as detergent, water and water containing wax is spouted from one upper nozzle 8 as appropriate. The moving table 7 is also provided with a drum collision preventing means 54. The drum collision preventing means 54 includes a beard-shaped contact piece 55 protruding forward and backward from the groove 38.
And a second sensor for detecting a vertical movement of a beard-shaped contact piece 57 protruding downward from the groove 38.
And a sensor 58.

The drum collision preventing means 54 is provided with a contact piece 55, when the elevating drum 6 is too close to the vehicle body 2 in the front-rear direction and the vertical direction due to the failure of the vehicle type recognition means 5.
57 is actuated by contact with the vehicle body 2 to detect that the vehicle is approaching too far and stop moving up and down the lifting drum 6 or running the portal frame 3. The drum collision prevention means 54 transmits detection information to the processing section C of the computer 30 as error detection means, and its operation is stored in the error storage section L as shown in FIG. Displayed as an error.

1 to 5, each of the left and right side nozzles 9 is divided into a detergent nozzle 9A and a water nozzle 9B, and both nozzles 9A and 9B are operated by a timing of a nozzle elevating mechanism 59 in the left and right sides of the portal frame 3. It is connected to a belt 60 and is raised and lowered by driving a motor 61. Reference numerals 62U and 62D denote upper and lower sensors for setting the maximum lifting range of the lifting drum 6.

The side nozzle 9 changes from a rising height P to a rising height Q in accordance with the height of the car wash portion of the vehicle body 2 by command control from the vehicle type recognizing means 5, and the washing liquid is supplied only to the portion requiring car wash. Supply, so that detergent and water are not wasted. Further, the elevation speed of the side nozzle 9 is variable, and the required time for one reciprocation is set to be substantially constant even if the elevation height changes. That is, the vehicle body 2 to which the side nozzle 9 faces
If the height to the upper surface of the side nozzle 9 is as low as the height P (the vertical length of the car wash portion is short), the vertical speed of the side nozzle 9 is low, and it is as high as the height Q (the vertical direction of the car wash portion). When the length in the direction is long, the vertical speed of the side nozzle 9 increases. Exchange
In other words, the side nozzle 9 is connected to the information signal from the vehicle detecting means 4.
Depending on the vertical length of the car wash part of the car body 2 obtained by
Speed increases as the length increases and the length decreases.
The speed is slowed down as it goes up and down.
As a result, even in the case of the rising height Q, the movement density of the side nozzles 9 in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body 2 becomes dense, and the vehicle body 2
The supply amount of the cleaning liquid over the entire length in the vertical direction becomes substantially uniform.
Note that the side nozzle 9 is driven not by a chain but by a timing belt 60 so that noise is not generated since the vertical speed of the side nozzle 9 is high.

The protruding groove 63 of the side nozzle 9 in the portal frame 3 opens forward rather than inward.
The side nozzle 9 has a bent base and a tip directed inward, so that water does not enter the portal frame 3 from the protruding groove 63 as much as possible. Each of the detergent nozzle 9A and the water nozzle 9B is connected to an injection pump via a hose, an electromagnetic switching valve, etc., and each injection pump is connected to the detergent tank 16 or the water tank 17, the wax tank 53, and the like. Detergent only, water nozzle 9B
Ejects water or waxed water. The detergent nozzle 9A and the water nozzle 9B may be upside down.

The detergent jet pump and the water jet pump 18 for the upper nozzle 8 and the side nozzle 9, the detergent tank 16,
The water tank 17 and the wax tank 53 are arranged in the left and right sides of the portal frame 3, and the water tank 17 is connected to an external water pipe via a hose. By arranging the water tank 17 in the portal frame 3, the distance from the water injection pump 18 to the upper nozzle 8 and the side nozzle 9 becomes extremely short, and the required water pressure is obtained as in the case of detergent or wax. But can be covered by a small pump and motor.

As shown in FIG. 2, the inner surfaces of the left and right sides of the portal frame 3 are used for maintenance and inspection of the various injection pumps and for replenishing various tanks with detergent, wax and the like. Door 19 is provided. By providing the doors 19 on the inner surfaces on the left and right sides of the portal frame 3, no space is required around the portal frame 3 for entering and exiting from the doors 19, and the installation space for the automatic car washing apparatus 1 can be reduced.

1 to 5 and 13, reference numeral 10 denotes a blower blowing means for drying the vehicle body 2, and an upper blower blowing means 10A.
And a pair of left and right horizontal blower blowing means 10B. A pair of left and right horizontal blower blowing means 10B is provided in the left and right sides of the gate-shaped frame 3 and the wind blowout ports are directed inward, and are fixed in position, but may be moved up and down. The upper blower blowing means 10A is a support member 67 in which the blower blowing body 24 having a pair of left and right wind blowing chambers 66 is formed of a plurality of rods.
The lifter 68 is connected to the lifter 68 via a blower drive mechanism 69 composed of a chain, a motor, and the like.
Fan 7 driven by blower motor 71 through
2 is connected. 73U and 73D are upper and lower sensors for setting the range of elevation of the blower ejection body 24.

Blower collision preventing means 74 is provided at the left and right central portions of the blower ejection member 24. As shown in FIG. 13, the blower collision preventing means 74 has a beard-shaped contact piece 77 protruding forward and backward on a shaft 76 pivotally supported by a bearing body 75.
And the operating piece 78 are provided, and the rotation of the operating piece 78 is detected by the proximity switch 79, and the contact piece 77 swings by contacting the vehicle body 2 to rotate the operating piece 78. By doing so, it is detected that the vehicle has approached the vehicle body 2 too much, and the lowering of the blower ejection body 24 or the traveling of the portal frame 3 is stopped.

The blower collision prevention means 74 also transmits detection information to the processing section C of the computer 30 as error detection means, and its operation is stored in the error storage section L and displayed as an error on the current error display section M. You. As the error detecting means, in addition to the drum collision preventing means 54 and the blower collision preventing means 74, detection of a car wash position defect of the vehicle body 2 detected by the vehicle type recognizing means 5, defective operation of each drive mechanism, defective operation of the injection pump, and the like. Is detected, transmitted to the processing unit C of the computer 30, stored in the error storage unit L, displayed as an error on the current error display unit M, and, if necessary, displayed on the past error display unit. N can display up to several previous errors.

The traveling mechanism 22, the drum lifting mechanism 31,
Inverters are used for driving devices such as the moving table driving mechanism 15, the nozzle attitude changing mechanism 51, and the blower driving mechanism 69,
A servo driver is used for the nozzle elevating mechanism 59. Next, a car washing method in the automatic car washing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.

The vehicle body 2 is stopped at a predetermined position of the car wash with respect to the portal frame 3, and a water washing / drying course, a detergent spraying / water washing (with wax) / drying course, a detergent spraying / water washing (with wax) on the operation panel. ) ・ Select a water washing / drying course and start car washing. When the gate-shaped frame 3 moves forward and backward on the rail 23 by the traveling mechanism 22, the optical sensor 11 of the vehicle detecting means 4 disposed at the front thereof detects the vehicle body 2 from the end (front), By inputting the information as external information to the storage unit A of the vehicle type recognition means 5 and detecting the entire length of the vehicle body 2 by moving the portal frame 3,
The model of the vehicle body 2 is recognized.

After the vehicle detecting means 4 starts recognizing the vehicle type of the vehicle body 2, the processing unit C of the vehicle type recognizing means 5 stores the storage information based on the set information of the set information unit B in which the set information of the car wash is programmed. The information is read from A, and an output signal is sent to the portal frame 3, the lifting drum 6, the moving table 7, the side nozzle 9, the blower ejection means 10 and the like to control them.

If the vehicle body 2 is out of the predetermined car wash stop position before or after, the vehicle type recognition by the vehicle detecting means 4 is not performed normally. Is stopped. When the detergent spraying / water washing (with wax) / water washing / drying course is selected, the detergent spraying process is performed at the first forward movement of the portal frame 3, and the water washing (waxing) process is performed at the first recovery movement. A water washing step is performed at the time of the second forward movement, and a drying step is performed at the time of the second recovery movement, and a cleaning liquid is selected according to each step.

As shown by the solid line in FIG. 14, the upper part of the detergent spraying process is performed by lowering the lifting drum 6 once and disposing the upper nozzle 8 at a constant distance from the vehicle body 2 as shown by the solid line in FIG. Then, the detergent is sprayed and sprayed so as to face the lower part of the end of the vehicle body 2. When the front surface of the vehicle body 2 is finished in this way, the upper nozzle 8 is changed to the downward posture E while the lifting drum 6 is raised,
Detergent on the windshield by changing to the front diagonal downward position F, on the roof by changing the downward diagonal position, on the rear glass by changing on the rear diagonal downward position G, on the trunk lid by changing the downward diagonal position, and on the rear bumper by changing to the rear diagonal downward position G. Spray.

The side detergent spraying process is performed substantially simultaneously with the upper detergent spraying. As shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 14, while the side nozzle 9 is moved up and down from the lower position, the detergent is sprayed from the detergent nozzle 9A. Is sprayed and sprayed evenly to the details of the cleaning surface on the side surface of the vehicle body 2. The height of the upper surface of the vehicle body 2 differs depending on each position in the front-rear direction, and is lower on the hood, higher on the roof, and halfway on the glass surface. Is slow, becomes fast at high places, becomes medium speed at halfway heights, and makes one reciprocation in a substantially constant time.

In the detergent spraying process, the detergent is sprayed to lift dirt attached to the surface of the vehicle body 2. Since the detergent is sprayed in the upper detergent spraying process, the nozzle is farther from the vehicle body 2 than in the cleaning process. After the detergent spraying step is completed, the upper cleaning step is performed while the portal frame 3 is moved back as shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG. The elevating drum 6 is once lowered to be disposed at a predetermined interval (a position closer to the detergent spraying step) with respect to the vehicle body 2, and the upper nozzle 8 is set to the rear obliquely downward posture G so as to face the lower end portion of the vehicle body 2. Then, the waxy water is spouted out, and a high water pressure jet with a spatula-shaped front and back is evenly sprayed down to the details of the cleaning surface.

As described above, in the same manner as in the detergent spraying process, water containing wax is jetted onto the entire upper surface and the front and rear surfaces of the vehicle body 2 while changing the attitude of the upper nozzle 8, and high-pressure water containing microparticles of wax is used. The dirt layer is scraped off, and at the same time, the wax is spread and adhered to the cleaning surface, resulting in gloss and high rust prevention effect. The side washing process is performed substantially simultaneously with the upper washing process, and water containing wax is ejected from a water nozzle 9B of the side nozzle 9. Also in this case, the moving speed of the side nozzle 9 changes in accordance with the height of the upper surface of the vehicle body 2 and makes one reciprocation in a substantially constant time.

Next, an upper water washing step and a side water washing step are performed from the front side of the vehicle body 2 in the second forward movement (solid line in FIG. 14). The upper water cleaning process and the side water cleaning process are substantially the same as the upper cleaning process and the side cleaning process, except that the direction of movement of the portal frame 3 is reversed and only water that does not contain wax is used. Finishing by washing off the detergent and wax with high water pressure.

In each cleaning step, even if there are projections such as a rearview mirror and an antenna, the cleaning is performed without winding like a brush or damaging the painted surface of the body, and the water pressure is adjusted by control from a computer. . Further, in the upper washing process and the upper water washing process, when the width of the vehicle body 2 is small, the moving distance of the movable base 7 is a short distance section to the sensor 14 by a signal from the operation panel. This is a long-distance section that moves over a certain distance.

The drying process is stopped when the gate-shaped frame 3 reaches the rearmost end of the vehicle body 2 after the rinsing, and automatically switched to the drying blower process.
A is actuated and blows air from the upper part of the vehicle body 2 while moving the blower ejector 24 up and down in the same manner as the upper nozzle 8 through the dotted line trajectory in FIG. While moving, water drops on the vehicle body 2 are evenly blown off and dried. Then, when the drying is completed to the lower part of the front of the vehicle body 2, the operation is stopped, and the blower ejector 24 rises to the uppermost part and stops.

When the water washing / drying course is selected, the portal frame 3 reciprocates once, and when the detergent spraying / water washing (with wax) / drying course is selected, the portal frame 3 is sprayed with the detergent. After the process is completed, the operation returns to the original position without any operation (indicated by a dashed line in FIG. 14), and the next one reciprocation performs water washing (with wax) and drying operation. During the spraying of detergent, washing with water (containing wax), washing with water, and drying, for some reason, the drum collision preventing means 54,
When the blower collision prevention means 74 and the like are activated, an error is detected, and the lifting and lowering of the lifting drum 6 or the traveling of the portal frame 3 is stopped, and the information is input to the processing section C as shown in FIG. An error is displayed on the display unit M. When it is desired to know the number of errors in the past, the error can be output from the error storage section L and displayed on the past current error display section N.

[0042]

According to the present invention described in detail above, during the first forward movement of the portal frame 3, the portal nozzle 3 is provided at the front of the portal frame 3 before the upper nozzle 8 and the side nozzle 9. The vertically long vehicle detecting means 4 detects a large number of positions in the vertical direction of the vehicle body 2 at a time, and stores the detected information of each of the upper and lower positions in time series with the movement of the portal frame 3 to recognize the vehicle type. The side nozzle 9 has a length corresponding to the vertical length of the car wash portion of the vehicle body 2 obtained by the information signal from the vehicle detection means 4.
Increase in speed as the length increases, and as the length decreases
The gate-shaped frame 3
By moving forward only, the vertical plane as well as the horizontal plane and the inclined plane of the vehicle body 2 can be accurately and quickly detected and stored to recognize the entire vehicle model. The upper nozzle 8, the side nozzle 9 and the like can be moved accurately with respect to the vehicle body based on the recognized vehicle type efficiently from the first forward movement of the vehicle body 2.
Even if the vertical length (height) of the car wash portion changes, the elevation speed of the side nozzle 9 changes, so that the supply amount of the cleaning liquid can be made substantially uniform, and uneven cleaning can be eliminated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line YY of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional right side view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional plan view.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of reading a vehicle type of a passenger car.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of reading a vehicle type of a truck.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of control.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing the internal structure of the lifting drum.

FIG. 10 is a sectional perspective view showing a moving table and an upper nozzle.

FIG. 11 is a sectional front view showing a nozzle attitude changing mechanism and a drum collision prevention unit.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of FIG.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional front view of the blower collision prevention means.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a car washing operation.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a car washing operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Automatic car-washing apparatus 2 Body 3 Gate frame 4 Car detection means 5 Car type recognition means 6 Elevating drum 7 Moving table 8 Upper nozzle 9 Side nozzle 10 Blower ejection means 11 Optical sensor 15 Moving table drive mechanism 31 Drum elevating mechanism 51 Nozzle attitude Change mechanism 59 Side nozzle elevating mechanism 69 Blower drive mechanism 30 Computer

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An outer shape of a vehicle body (2) is detected by a vehicle detecting means (4) provided on the portal frame (3) while moving the portal frame (3) with respect to the vehicle body (2) to be washed. The information from the vehicle detecting means (4) is stored in time series, and based on the stored information, the lifting drum (6) is raised and lowered to move the upper nozzle (8) to the vehicle body (2). The cleaning liquid is jetted by moving the upper nozzle (8) to the left and right at a fixed interval on the outer surface, and the cleaning liquid is jetted to the side of the vehicle body (2) by raising and lowering the side nozzle (9). An automatic car washing method for carrying out the method, wherein at the time of the first forward movement of the portal frame (3), the upper nozzle (8) and the side nozzle (9) are provided at the front of the portal frame (3). Vehicle detection means (4) provided vertically long
Detects a number of vertical positions of the vehicle body (2) at a time, and stores the detected information of each of the upper and lower positions in time series with the movement of the gate-shaped frame (3) to recognize the vehicle type. the section nozzle (9) in accordance with the vertical length of the car wash site of the vehicle body obtained by the information signal from the vehicle detection means (4) (2), the length
As the length increases, the speed increases, and as the length decreases,
An automatic car washing method characterized by slowing down and moving up and down .