JP3464765B2 - Vehicle side lower processing unit - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle side surface lower portion processing apparatus for cleaning the lower side surface portion of a vehicle, such as cleaning and polishing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A swing arm oscillatably supported by a frame via a vertical support shaft, and a rocker brush as a processing body rotatably supported at the tip of the swing arm,
An air cylinder that swings the swing arm from the standby position to the forward position and a coil spring that returns and holds the swing arm to the standby position are provided, and the rocker brush is rotated when viewed from the front side of the vehicle being processed. A rocker brush device for a car wash machine has been conventionally known in which a lower part of a side surface of a vehicle is washed by attaching the swing arm so that an upper portion of a shaft is inclined with respect to a vertical line in a direction away from the vehicle. ,
For example, it is described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 52-63968.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, when the swing arm is in the forward position, the side surface of the brush is inclined downward at the lower part of the side surface of the vehicle by the inclination as described above with respect to the vertical line of the brush rotating shaft. Since it can be arranged substantially along the portion, the brush can be brought into proper contact with the portion.

However, while the brush rotation shaft is inclined as described above, the support shaft of the swing arm is arranged vertically, so that as the swing arm swings and approaches the standby position, the brush is rotated. The rotation axis is close to vertical when viewed from the front side of the vehicle being processed. Therefore, the rocker brush cannot be brought into contact with the downwardly inclined portion of the lower portion of the vehicle side surface substantially uniformly, and there is a problem that the processing efficiency for the lower portion of the vehicle side surface is reduced.

Further, in the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, in order to hold the swinging arm at the standby position, it is necessary to specially provide a returning mechanism having a coil spring, which causes a problem that the structure of the apparatus becomes complicated accordingly.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle side surface lower processing apparatus which can solve the above problems.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is such that a swing arm is swingably supported by a frame via a support shaft, and is rotated at the tip of the swing arm. In the vehicle lower side processing device, which is provided with a processing body supported so that the processing body is brought into contact with a lower side surface of the vehicle to perform processing of the lower side surface, the support shaft is
When viewed from the front side of the vehicle being processed, the upper portion of the support shaft is inclined with respect to the vertical line in a direction away from the vehicle, and the rotation axis of the processing body is substantially parallel to the support axis. To do.

According to a second aspect of the invention, in addition to the features of the first aspect of the invention, the swing arm is held at a predetermined standby position by gravity due to the inclination of the support shaft. To do.

In the present invention, the term "substantially parallel" may mean either parallel or nearly parallel.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below based on the embodiments of the present invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings, FIG. 1 is a front view of a car washing machine according to an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged view taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing the operation of the embodiment. It is a top view.

First, in FIGS. 1 and 2, a car washing machine is provided with a gate-type traveling frame 1 as a frame, and the traveling frame 1 has wheels 3 so that it can travel on a pair of left and right traveling rails 2, 2. , 3 supported. Although not shown, the wheels 3 and 3 are rotationally driven by a traveling motor. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the traveling motor is operated while the automobile V to be processed is stopped along the rails 2 and 2 at a predetermined position between the left and right traveling rails 2 and 2. Thus, the traveling frame 1 can travel back and forth in the front-rear direction while straddling the vehicle V.

A swing arm 5 is swingably supported on the left and right side portions 1a of the traveling frame 1 via a support shaft 4. In the illustrated example, the oscillating arm 5 has its base fixed to the lower end of the support shaft 4, and a brush rotation motor 6 as a rotation driving means directs the output shaft 7 downward at the tip of the oscillating arm 5. Installed. A rotary shaft 8 ₁ coaxially connected to the output shaft 7 is fixed, and a rocker brush 8 as a processing body is attached to the rotary shaft 8 ₁ . The rocker brush 8 can be rotationally driven by the operation of the motor 6.

The support shaft 4 is rotatably supported by a bearing b fixed to one side portion 1a of the traveling frame 1, and a driven sprocket 9 is coaxially fixed to the support shaft 4. Further, on one side 1a of the traveling frame 1, an electric motor 10 as a swing driving means is provided near one side of the support shaft 4, and an output shaft 10 _{1 of the} electric motor 10 parallel to the support shaft 4 is provided.
A drive sprocket 11 is fixed to the. And
The drive sprocket 11 and the driven sprocket 9 are
The chains 12 hung between them are interlockingly connected.

As shown in FIG. 1, the support shaft 4 is inclined at a predetermined angle α with respect to the vertical line S in the direction in which the upper portion of the support shaft 4 is separated from the car V when viewed from the front side of the car V being processed. are arranged Te, also the rotating shaft ₈₁ of the rocker brush 8 is parallel to the support shaft 4, thus also its axis of rotation _81, the rotating shaft ₈₁ as viewed from the front side of the vehicle V being processed The upper part of is inclined with respect to the vertical line S by a predetermined angle α in the direction away from the automobile V.

A stopper plate 16 is fixed to the base end of the swing arm 5, while a pair of stoppers 1 corresponding to the stopper plates 16 are provided on one side 1a of the traveling frame 1.
4, 15 are fixed. In particular, the first stopper 14 engages with the stopper plate 16 when the swing arm 5 swings forward to a predetermined forward position 5b extended to the side of the automobile V to be processed, and restricts further swinging. The second stopper 15 functions as a stopper for restricting the forward position, and the second stopper 15 engages with the stopper plate 16 when the swing arm 5 is swung backward to a predetermined standby position 5a retracted from the vehicle V to be processed. It functions as a standby position restriction stopper that restricts further swinging.

The electric motor 10 is a three-phase induction electric motor, and is of a standard used by applying 200 V of a commercial power source. A transformer 13 is connected to the electric motor 10 to apply a predetermined voltage lower than 200 V (80 V in the illustrated example). That is, when this three-phase induction motor is the application of the 200 volts and the output shaft 10 ₁ is restrained, while the motor 10 is overloaded is that burning, lower predetermined than 200 volts When a voltage is applied, the temperature rise is small even if the output shaft 10 ₁ is restricted, and the electric motor 10 does not burn out, that is, the required torque can be continuously output even when the output shaft 10 ₁ is restricted.

Therefore, in FIG. 2, 80 bolts (hereinafter, referred to as the swinging arm 5 in the direction of swinging the swinging arm 5 from the standby position 5a shown by the chain double-dashed line to the forward position 5b shown by the solid line with respect to the electric motor 10
When a predetermined forward voltage is applied, the swing arm 5 swings forward in the forward position 5b direction, and the rocker brush 8 can be guided along the lower portion of the side surface of the automobile V. Further, when 80 volts (hereinafter referred to as a predetermined backward movement voltage) for swinging the swing arm 5 from the forward position 5b shown by the solid line to the standby position 5a shown by the chain double-dashed line is applied, the swing arm 4 waits. It swings backward to the position 5a.

Further, when the voltage application to the electric motor 10 is stopped when the swing arm 5 is near the forward position 5b, the swing arm 5 is gravitationally caused by the tilt of the support shaft 4 to move the swing arm 5 to the standby position 5b.
swing to a. That is, as described above, the support shaft 4 of the swing arm 5 is arranged so that the upper portion of the support shaft 4 is inclined at a predetermined angle α with respect to the vertical line S in the direction away from the car V when viewed from the front side of the car V being processed. Therefore, the tip portion (free end portion) of the swing arm 5 and the rocker brush 8 supported by it are lower when the arm 5 is in the standby position 5a than when it is in the forward movement position 5b. Rocker brush 8 to position
The weight of the swing arm 5, the swing arm 5, the motor 6 and the like exerts a moment on the swing arm 5 to swing the swing arm 5 toward the standby position 5a, and the swing arm 5 swings to the standby position 5a by this moment. Are held in the same position.

The rocker brush 8 and its drive system described above are symmetrically arranged not only on one side 1a of the traveling frame 1 but also on the other side 1a.

Although not shown, the traveling frame 1 is provided with processing means such as a top brush for cleaning the upper surface of the vehicle and a side brush for cleaning the side surface of the vehicle, in addition to the rocker brush 8.

Further, the control panel provided on the traveling frame 1 includes
A control device 17 for controlling each processing means of the car wash machine is provided.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.

In FIG. 3, the traveling frame 1 is stopped at the start position at the left end of the traveling rails 2 and 2, and the vehicle V is stopped between the traveling rails 2 and 2 to start car washing.

When a start switch (not shown) is pressed, the processing means such as the top brush, the side brush, the rocker brush 8 provided in the car wash machine are controlled in accordance with the relative position between the automobile V and the traveling frame 1. However, the operation of the processing means other than the rocker brush 8 is similar to that of a conventional ordinary car wash machine, and therefore the description thereof is omitted. Next, only the operation of the rocker brush 8 will be specifically described.

That is, when the start switch is pressed,
Rotate the rocker brush 8 in the direction of arrow R shown in FIG.
Further, a predetermined forward voltage is applied to the electric motor 10 to swing the swing arm 5 forward from the standby position 5a to the forward position 5b, and then the traveling frame 1 is moved forward. When the rocker brush 8 comes to the 8a position and comes into contact with the front surface of the vehicle V by this traveling, the swing arm 5 causes the difference between the output torque of the electric motor 10 and the reaction force received by the rocker brush 8 from the front surface of the vehicle V. Until the output torque of the electric motor 10 and the reaction force of the rocker brush 8 received from the automobile V are balanced.
It swings backwards against the output of 0. Then, on the side surface of the automobile V, the swinging arm 5 is
The output of the electric motor 10 and the rocker brush 8 swing so as to balance with the reaction force received from the automobile V, whereby the rocker brush 8 follows the side face of the automobile V and cleans the side face.

When the rocker brush 8 passes the rear surface of the automobile V and reaches the forward stop position 8b, the traveling of the traveling frame 1 and the rotation of the rocker brush 8 are stopped, and the electric motor 10 is driven.
A predetermined backward voltage is applied to the swing arm 5 to swing backward to the standby position 5a.

When a switch (not shown) detects that the swing arm 5 has reached the standby position 5a, the traveling frame 1 is moved backward. When the traveling frame 1 reaches the start position, the backward traveling of the traveling frame 1 is stopped, and the application of electric power to the electric motor 10 is stopped.

By the way, the support shaft 4 of the swing arm 5 is
When viewed from the front side of the automobile V being processed, the upper portion of the support shaft 4 is inclined with respect to the vertical line S in the direction away from the automobile V, and the rotation shaft 8 ₁ of the rocker brush 8 is also parallel to the support shaft 4. Therefore, even if the swing arm 5 swings toward the standby position 5a for cleaning the vehicle side surface by the rocker brush 8, the rotation shaft 8 of the rocker brush 8 that follows and swings
_When viewed from the front side of the vehicle V being processed, ₁ can always be held in the same inclined posture. As a result, the swing arm 5
Irrespective of the rocking position of the rocker brush 8, the rocker brush 8 can be made to substantially follow the downwardly inclined portion of the vehicle side surface, and the brush 8 can be brought into substantially uniform contact with the inclined portion. Rocker brush 8 even when approaching standby position 5a
The bristles on the vehicle side can move obliquely upward to efficiently contact the downwardly inclined portion of the lower portion of the vehicle side surface, thereby enhancing the cleaning effect on the lower portion of the vehicle side surface.

Further, since the swing arm 5 is arranged to be held at the predetermined standby position 5a by gravity due to the above-mentioned inclination of the support shaft 4, a dedicated mechanism for returning and holding the arm 5 to the standby position 5a is provided. It does not need to be specially provided, which simplifies the structure of the device.

Further, since the swing arm 5 supporting the rocker brush 8 is swing-driven by the electric motor 10, the swing arm 5 is driven in the air pipe as in the case of driving the swing arm 5 by an air cylinder as in the conventional case. It is possible to avoid a situation in which the swing arm 5 does not swing normally due to a malfunction of the cylinder due to freezing of water in the compressed air or the like, and to wash the lower portion of the vehicle side surface with the rocker brush 8 without any trouble. You can Moreover, since the electric motor 10 does not require a long operation stroke unlike the air cylinder, it can be compactly stored in the narrow internal space of the traveling frame 1.

Further, even if the rotation shaft 8 ₁ of the rocker brush 8 is inclined in a predetermined direction with respect to the vertical line S, the support shaft 4 of the swing arm 5 is parallel to the rotation shaft 8 ₁ and the electric motor 10
Because it is parallel to the output shaft 10 ₁ is also the output shaft 10 ₁
Since the rotary shafts of the drive system from the shaft to the brush rotary shaft 8 ₁ are all in a parallel relationship, the structure of the drive system including the swing arm 5 can be simplified as much as possible, and the design, assembly, and maintenance thereof can be facilitated.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments and various embodiments can be made within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the vehicle (vehicle) to be processed is stopped and the frame 1 is run, but the present invention is a device in which the frame 1 and the vehicle are relatively movable in the front-rear direction. The present invention may be applied to a device in which the frame 1 is fixed and a vehicle (automobile) is run.

In the above embodiment, the device for cleaning the lower part of the side surface of the vehicle is shown. However, the present invention can be applied to a device for polishing the lower part of the side surface of the vehicle. Then, the polished body that polishes the lower portion of the side surface becomes the treated body.

Although the swing arm 5 is driven to swing by the three-phase induction motor 10 in the above-described embodiment, the swing arm is not limited to another type of motor (for example, a torque motor) in the present invention. ), And an actuator other than an electric motor (for example, an air cylinder) may be oscillated.

Further, in the above embodiment, the support shaft 4 of the swing arm 5 is shown to be parallel to the output shaft 10 ₁ of the electric motor 10. However, in the present invention, the support shaft 4 is set to the output shaft 10 _1.
You may arrange | position coaxially with.

[0037]

As described above, according to the invention of claim 1,
The support shaft of the swing arm that rotatably supports the processing body is inclined with respect to the vertical line in the direction in which the upper part of the supporting shaft is away from the vehicle when viewed from the front side of the vehicle being processed, Since the rotation shaft is substantially parallel to the support shaft, even if the swing arm swings toward the standby position, the rotation shaft of the processing body that swings following the swing arm is seen from the front side of the vehicle being processed. It is possible to maintain the same tilted posture at all times, so that the processing body can be brought into substantially even contact with the downwardly inclined portion of the vehicle lower side surface regardless of the swing position of the swing arm, and the processing efficiency for the vehicle lower side portion can be improved. Is improved.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the swing arm is held at a predetermined standby position by gravity due to the inclination of the support shaft, which contributes to simplification of the structure of the apparatus. You can

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a car wash machine according to an embodiment of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view taken along arrow 2-2 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view showing the operation of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

S ... Vertical line V ... Vehicle (automobile) 1 ... Frame (running frame) 4 ... Support shaft 5 ... Swing arm 5a ... Standby position 8 ... · processed (rocker brush) 8 ₁ ... rotary shaft

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60S 3/00-3/06

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A swing arm (5) swingably supported by a frame (1) via a support shaft (4), and a treatment rotatably supported by the tip of the swing arm (5). Body (8)
And a processing unit (8) for contacting the lower portion of the side surface of the vehicle (V) to perform processing of the lower portion of the side surface, wherein the support shaft (4) is When viewed from the front side of the vehicle (V), the upper portion of the support shaft (4) is inclined with respect to the vertical line (S) in the direction away from the vehicle (V), and the rotation axis ( 8 ₁ ) is a vehicle side surface lower part processing device characterized by being substantially parallel to the support shaft (4). 2. The swing arm (5) is held at a predetermined standby position (5a) by gravity due to the inclination of the support shaft (4). Vehicle side lower part processing device.