JP3354237B2 - Car wash equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a car washing apparatus for brushing a front surface of a vehicle with a pair of left and right side brushes provided on a traveling frame while transferring the vehicle by a vehicle transfer means.

[0002]

Conventionally, the front of the vehicle during transport in a vehicle transfer means, said vehicle along a guide rail provided on the traveling frame
The traveling frame is caused to travel in the traveling direction of the vehicle by a pair of left and right side brushes provided so as to be able to move in both left and right directions.
Moving the pair of left and right side brushes while opening
2. Description of the Related Art A car wash device that brushes with a brush is known.

When a passenger type vehicle equipped with a fender pole on the front side is washed by such a car washing apparatus, a switch provided on an operation panel is operated to cause the side brush to perform an avoidance operation and not wash the front side. In this way, the fender pole was prevented from being damaged. In addition, when a one-box type vehicle with a high vehicle height is detected by the vehicle height detection means, the side brush performs an evasion operation so that the front surface is not washed, and the large mirror mounted on the front side is prevented from being damaged. I was

[0004]

However, the above-described method has a problem that an unwashed portion increases on the front of a vehicle equipped with a fender pole and a large mirror.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to sufficiently brush the front of a vehicle with a side brush while preventing damage to a fender pole and a large mirror.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 is provided by a vehicle transfer means.
In front of a pair of left and right side brush arranged to be opened move in the lateral direction of the vehicle along the guide rails provided on the run line frame of the vehicle, traveling direction of the vehicle the traveling frame
Move the pair of left and right side brushes while running in the direction
In a car wash device that brushes by moving it ,
Input means for the input for causing I rows avoidance operation to avoid the obstacle on the front of the vehicle to the side brush,
A speed-variable traveling drive unit that causes the traveling frame to travel , and the avoidance operation is performed based on an input to the input unit.
When performing the avoidance operation rather than when not performing the operation,
The traveling speed of the traveling frame in lathing is set to a predetermined value.
Characterized by comprising a control means for controlling the variable speed traveling drive means so as to increase only.

[0007] The invention described in claim 2, the front of the vehicle during transport, and provided to be opened move in the lateral direction of the vehicle along the guide rails provided on the run line frame horizontally in the vehicle transfer means With a pair of side brushes, the running frame is
While traveling in the traveling direction of the vehicle, the pair of left and right sides
In a car washing apparatus for brushing by opening a brush, a circuit for avoiding an obstacle in front of the vehicle.
Input means for the input for causing I rows避動operation on the side brush, and the variable speed traveling drive means for running the traveling frame, based on an input to said input means, said
When performing the avoidance operation rather than when not performing the avoidance operation
The front of the vehicle in the brushing and the size
Control means for controlling the variable speed traveling drive means so as to increase the distance from the brush .

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 6 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an overall plan view of a car washing apparatus, FIG. 2 is an overall side view of the car washing apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a line 3-3 in FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view, FIG. 4 is a view in the direction of arrow 4 in FIG. 3, and FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG.
Conveyor V that transports vehicle V so as to pass through P
C (vehicle transfer means) includes a transfer frame 1 provided in a pit dug on the floor. A drive shaft 2 is rotatably provided at one end of the transfer frame 1, and a pair of drive sprockets 3, 3 are fixed to the drive shaft 2. A driven shaft 4 is provided at the other end of the transfer frame 1, and a pair of driven sprockets 5 and 5 are fixed to the driven shaft 4. A pair of chains 6, 6 wound around the driving sprockets 3, 3 and the driven sprockets 5, 5;
Are provided with a plurality of pressing rollers 7 for pressing and moving the right front wheel of the vehicle V at equal intervals. The drive shaft 2 rotation speed is connected to the variable motor 8 by the inverter F _1. Therefore, by adjusting the rotational speed of the motor 8 in the inverter F _1, it is possible to control the moving speed of the vehicle V by the conveyor VC.

A gate-shaped traveling frame RF provided so as to straddle the conveyor VC is provided with a pair of driving wheels 10, 10 on a pair of traveling rails 9, 9 laid in parallel with the conveyor VC.
And it is supported so that it can run through a pair of idle wheels 11,11. Motors 12, 12 connected to the respective drive wheels 10, 10
(Variable speed travel drive means) is the rotation speed is variable by an inverter F _2, thus driving frame RF is reciprocally travels on the traveling rail 9,9 at any speed.

The traveling frame RF has support shafts 1 at both left and right ends.
A guide rail 14 pivotally supported by 3, 13 is provided,
A pair of left and right side brushes 15, 1
A pair of right and left carriages 16, 16 rotatably supporting 5 are supported so as to be able to approach and separate from each other. Each of the side brushes 15, 15 includes a spring 1 provided between a spring arm 17, 17 fixed to the support shaft 13, 13, and the traveling frame RF.
It is held in a vertical position by 8,18.

Each of the side brushes 15, 15 includes a carriage 16,
The motor 16 is driven to rotate by motors 19 and 19 provided in the motor 16.
Cylinders 20, 2 for moving the side brushes 15, 15 in the opening direction between the carriages 16, 16 and the traveling frame RF.
0 is provided, and bogies 16 and 16 have cylinder 2
Wires 22, 22, which suspend weights 21, 21, which move the side brushes 15, 15 in the closing direction when 0, 20 are inoperative, are connected.

A swing detection switch 23 provided in the vicinity of one spring arm 17 detects that the side brushes 15, 15 have swung a predetermined angle from the vertical position by contacting the front surface of the vehicle V. The guide rail 14 has a pair of opening detection switches 24, 24 for detecting that the side brushes 15, 15 have reached the open limit position, and the side brush 1
A pair of close detection switches 25, 25 are provided for detecting that 5, 5 have reached the closed end position. Further, in order to detect that the traveling frame RF is at the start position or the end position, a start position cam 27 and an end position cam 28 for operating a position detection switch 26 provided on the traveling frame RF are adjacent to one traveling rail 9. It is provided.

A control device 29 (control means) for controlling the car washing device includes an operation input switch 30 for selecting the transfer speed S ₁ of the conveyor VC in addition to the inverters F ₁ and F _2.
Is provided, and a fender pole avoiding switch 35 (input means) is provided which is pressed to wash a passenger car type vehicle V (see FIG. 2) equipped with the fender pole P. The traveling frame RF includes photoelectric switches 36A and 36B (input means) including a light emitter and a light receiver for discriminating the one-box type vehicle V (see FIG. 2) equipped with the large mirror M based on the vehicle height. The photoelectric switches 36A and 36B are connected to the control device 29.

In the drawing, reference numeral 31 denotes a top brush, reference numerals 32 and 32 denote a pair of left and right rocker brushes, reference numeral 33 denotes a top nozzle, and reference numerals 34 and 34 denote a pair of left and right side nozzles.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

When the vehicle V enters the car wash device in which all devices are in a standby state and stops, the gear is neutralized, the brake is released, and the vehicle is pushed and moved to a standby state, and the motor is driven by the motor 8 of the conveyor VC. One pressing roller 7 hits the rear surface of the right front wheel and pushes the vehicle V forward. As a result, the respective devices of the car washing device are sequentially operated to perform a predetermined car washing.

[0019] In FIG. 6, when the conveyor VC is transferred to the vehicle V to the left at a transport speed S ₁ corresponding to the input from the operation input switch 30, the side brush 15, 15 is swung by the contact of the front of the vehicle V Then, the shake detection switch 23 operates (see the position (a) in FIG. 5 and the position (A) in FIG. 6). Based on the output of the shake detection switch 23, the motors 12, 12
Is driven, and the traveling frame RF is moved from the start position by a speed S ₂ faster by α than the transfer speed S _{1 of the} conveyor VC.
At (S ₂ = S ₁ + α), the traveling starts, and at the same time, the timer T ₁ provided in the control device 29 starts counting.

When the count time of the timer T ₁ reaches a preset time t ₁ (the position (b) in FIG.
(B) refer), the running frame RF by the inverter F ₂
Both reduce the running speed S ₂ to generally the same as the transport speed S ₁ of the conveyor VC,閉限position the left and right side brush 15, 15 by operating the cylinder 20, 20 (shown in FIG. 5 (b) position) from The vehicle is moved toward the opening limit position (the position (c) in FIG. 5) to clean the front surface of the vehicle V.

When the side brushes 15, 15 reach the open limit position and the open detection switches 24, 24 are operated, after a lapse of a predetermined time, the side brushes 15, 15 are rotated in reverse to deactivate the cylinders 20, 20, and the traveling frame The side of the vehicle V is cleaned while returning the RF.

Therefore, the side brushes 15, 15 are
Running speed than transport speed S ₁ of the vehicle V between the (a) position of FIG. 5 which are inclined in contact with the front surface up to position (b) of FIG. 5 that the side brushes 15 and 15 begin to open, by the conveyor VC of since then outbound traveling frame RF by S _2, it is possible to posture change in the vertical position shown in FIG. 6 (B) from between the side brush 15, 15 is tilted position of FIG. 6 (a). As a result, when the side brushes 15, 15 move from the position (b) to the position (c) in FIG. 5, the surface pressures of the side brushes 15, 15 for cleaning the front surface of the vehicle V become appropriate, and The brush bristles are prevented from being caught on the front surface of the vehicle V. Thereby, the side brushes 15, 1
5 can reach the limit position without delay, so that the length of the traveling rails 9, 9 for guiding the traveling frame RF can be minimized, and the car wash device can be downsized.

Now, the vehicle V is a passenger type vehicle equipped with a fender pole P and the fender pole avoidance switch 35 is pressed, or the vehicle V is a one-box type vehicle equipped with a large mirror M. it is when it is detected photoelectric switch 36A, the 36B without reducing the running frame RF of the running speed S ₂ to generally the same as the transport speed S ₁ of the conveyor VC during the course of the time t _1, the running frame The traveling speed S ₃ of the traveling speed of RF is faster than the transport speed S ₁ of the conveyor VC by β.
(S ₃ = S ₁ + β). As a result, the side brushes 15, 15 gradually move away from the front surface of the vehicle V as they move in the opening direction, and the fender pole P or the large mirror M can be prevented from being damaged.

That is, the side brushes 15, 1 in FIG.
When 5 (b) to the running speed of the running frame RF when reaching the position lowered to S _1, while in contact with a constant surface pressure to the front side brush 15 and 15 of the vehicle V as previously described (d ) is moved in the direction of the direction of by the traveling speed of the traveling frame RF and S ₃ greater by β than the S _1, the side brush 15, 15 while gradually away from the front of the vehicle V (e) Will be moved to.

Note that the magnitude relationship between the value of α and the value of β is not particularly important. For example, α = β may be used.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In the second embodiment, the traveling speed S ₂ of the traveling frame RF is fixed at a speed higher by a predetermined value than the maximum speed of the transfer speed S ₁ of the conveyor VC determined by operating the operation input switch 30, The time t ₁ according to the transfer speed S ₁ of the conveyor VC (the time from when the shake detection switch 23 is activated to when the side brushes 15 start to open).
Is to change. Specifically, when the transport speed S ₁ of the conveyor VC is small the shortened time t ₁ for the difference between the running speed S ₂ of the running frame RF is large,
May be longer the time t ₁ for the difference between the running speed S ₂ of the running frame RF is small when the transport speed S ₁ of the conveyor VC is large.

At this time, whether the fender pole avoiding switch 35 is pressed or the photoelectric switches 36A, 36
If the vehicle V of the one-box type is detected by 6B, reducing the traveling speed S ₂ of the traveling frame RF up to substantially the same as the transport speed S ₁ of the conveyor VC after the longer t ₂ than the time t ₁ has elapsed . Thus, the vehicle V when the side brushes 15, 15 start moving in the opening direction
Fender pole P and large mirror M
Is slightly larger than the distance when it is not necessary to avoid the surface pressure of the side brushes 15, 15, and the fender pole P and the large mirror M can be prevented from being damaged.

That is, as shown in FIG.
5 and 15 move in the direction of (f) from a position farther from the front of the vehicle V than the position of (b), so that the side brushes 15, 1 move in the direction of (d) as compared with the normal case.
5 can be reduced. Thus, this second
According to this embodiment, the same operation and effect as those of the first embodiment can be obtained.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In the third embodiment, a rotary encoder is provided on the output shaft of one of the motors 12 for driving the traveling frame RF, and the output pulse of the rotary encoder is added when the traveling frame RF starts going forward from the start position. and by detecting the running position of the traveling frame RF, in which begins to open the side brush 15, 15 upon detection of a traveling position predetermined according to the transport speed S ₁ of the conveyor VC. Timer T ₁ is not necessary according to the third embodiment.

As a modification of the third embodiment, a rotary encoder is provided on the output shaft of the motor 8 of the conveyor VC,
The output pulse of the rotary encoder is added from the time when the shake detection switch 23 is operated, and the running frame RF is added.
, The side brushes 15 and 15 may start to be opened when a predetermined traveling position is detected according to the transfer speed S ₁ of the conveyor VC.

In the third embodiment and its modifications, if the fender pole avoiding switch 35 is pressed or the one-box type vehicle V is detected by the photoelectric switches 36A and 36B, the predetermined value is set. The traveling position (that is, the position of the traveling frame RF at which the side brushes 15 and 15 start to open) is shifted forward in the traveling direction, and the traveling frame R is shifted at the shifted traveling position.
The running speed S ₂ of F to approximately the same as the transport speed S ₁ of the conveyor VC decreases. Thereby, the side brushes 15, 1
5 will move in the direction of (f) in FIG.
The surface pressure of the side brushes 15, 15 can be reduced as compared with the normal case of moving in the direction (d), and the fender pole P and the large mirror M can be prevented from being damaged. Thus,
According to the third embodiment and its modification, the same operation and effect as those of the second embodiment can be obtained.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various design changes can be made.

For example, the car washing device of the present invention includes a polishing device for polishing a vehicle.

[0036]

As described above, according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, the vehicle being transferred by the vehicle transfer means is provided.
The front of the car along the guide rails provided on the traveling frame.
A pair of left and right side brackets that can be opened in both left and right directions
Use the lash to drive the traveling frame in the traveling direction of the vehicle.
Opening the pair of left and right side brushes from the
Obstacles on the front of the vehicle in a lashing car wash
The input of the avoidance operation to avoid the object to the input means to I line in side brush, side brush can be reduced surface pressure at the time of the blanking <br/> Rashingu the front of the vehicle, this surface
Due to the reduced pressure, the front surface of the vehicle can be brushed evenly while preventing damage to the fender pole and the large mirror.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall plan view of a car washing device.

FIG. 2 is an overall side view of the car washing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view in the direction of arrows in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of an operation.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

V vehicle VC conveyor (vehicle transfer means) RF traveling frame 12 motor (variable speed driving means) 14 guide rail 15 side brush 29 control device (control means) 35 fender pole avoidance switch (input means) 36A, 36B photoelectric switch (input) means)

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] The front surface of the 1. A vehicle during transport in a vehicle transfer means (VC) (V), in the lateral direction of the along the guide provided on the run line frame (RF) rails (14) the vehicle (V) Open in transfer <br/> rotatably so provided has a pair of left and right side brush (15), before
Traveling on the traveling frame (RF) in the traveling direction of the vehicle (V)
The pair of left and right side brushes (15)
Avoidance operation for avoiding obstacles in front of the vehicle (V) in a car wash device that brushes by moving the vehicle
An input means for the input for causing I line in the side brush (15) to (35,36A, 36B) and, variable speed traveling drive means (12) for running the traveling frame (RF), said input means ( 35, 36A, 36B), the avoidance operation is performed more than when the avoidance operation is not performed.
When performing, the running frame in the brushing
Control means (29) for controlling said variable speed driving means (12) so as to increase the running speed of the vehicle (RF) by a predetermined value (β) . 2. A vehicle front of the vehicle during transport in the transport means (VC) (V), in the lateral direction of the run line frame along said guide rails provided on the (RF) (14) the vehicle (V) Open in transfer <br/> rotatably so provided has a pair of left and right side brush (15), before
Traveling on the traveling frame (RF) in the traveling direction of the vehicle (V)
The pair of left and right side brushes (15)
Avoidance operation for avoiding obstacles in front of the vehicle (V) in a car wash device that brushes by moving the vehicle
An input means for the input for causing I line in the side brush (15) to (35,36A, 36B) and, variable speed traveling drive means (12) for running the traveling frame (RF), said input means ( 35, 36A, 36B), the avoidance operation is performed more than when the avoidance operation is not performed.
When performing, the vehicle (V) in the brushing
The distance between the front of the brush and the side brush (15) is increased.
And a control means (29) for controlling the variable speed driving means (12).