JP5030645B2 - Car wash equipment - Google Patents

Description

  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a car wash apparatus that detects the movement of a car during a car wash, among car wash apparatuses that perform a car wash by reciprocating a car wash body so as to straddle an automobile stopped at a regular car wash position.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a car wash device is known in which a car wash body moves back and forth so as to straddle an automobile stopped at a regular car wash position. Among such car washing devices, as shown in Patent Document 1, there is one that confirms that an automobile has stepped on a stop plate with a front tire, detects that it has stopped at a regular car washing position, and starts car washing. . In this car wash device, it is possible to detect that the automobile has moved by confirming that the front tire has moved away from the stop plate during the car wash. However, since it is necessary to dig a gap in order to install the stop plate, the installation work becomes large, and foreign substances are easily mixed in the frame of the stop plate, causing malfunctions and failures.
JP-A-7-81531

  Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to propose a car wash apparatus that can detect the movement of the automobile during the car wash and that eliminates malfunction and failure.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention sets a regular car wash position in front of a car wash machine body equipped with a washing treatment device, and straddles an automobile stopped so as to face the car wash machine body at the regular car wash position. In the car wash apparatus in which the car washer is moved in the front-rear direction and the car is washed while the driver is in the car, an area including a predetermined part of the car installed outside the car washer and stopped at the regular stop position is provided. A camera device for photographing, image processing means for detecting position information of a predetermined part of the vehicle from an image photographed by the camera device, and operation control of the car wash machine body based on the position information detected by the image processing means. and control means for performing, the control means detects the position information of the predetermined portion of the automobile has been stopped in the normal stop position before car wash execution, a change in the position information detected in the wash running Determining that vehicle has moved when the Flip proposes a car wash apparatus, characterized by an emergency stop car wash operation.

  In addition, an image storage means for storing an image photographed by the camera device is provided, and the control means, when determining that the automobile has moved during the car wash, photographed the automobile by the camera device and stored the image in the image storage means. Save to make it viewable.

  Further, it is desirable that the camera device is installed obliquely downward and the automobile is photographed from above.

  According to the invention of claim 1, the camera device is not mounted in the car wash machine main body, the camera device does not move with the movement of the car wash machine main body, and the camera device is arranged behind the automobile. As a result, it is no longer obstructed to photograph a predetermined part of the automobile by the closed side cleaning brush, so that the movement of the automobile can be detected during the car wash. Further, since the movement of the automobile during the car wash is not detected using the stop plate, malfunctions and failures can be eliminated. Furthermore, since the camera device is installed outside the car wash machine main body and away from the water spout of the car wash machine main body, the wash water is less likely to be applied to the camera device, and the detection performance does not deteriorate.

  According to the invention of claim 2, when the automobile moves during the car wash, the image taken by the camera device and stored in the image storage means is stored and can be viewed, so that the automobile and the car wash machine main body Can be used to investigate the cause of contact accidents.

  According to the invention of claim 3, since the camera device can photograph only the vehicle necessary for detecting the movement of the car being washed by photographing the car from above, minimizing the influence of ambient light. Can do.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the car wash place 1, and FIG. 2 is a side view showing the car wash place 1. First, the layout of the car wash 1 will be described. A car wash machine body 2 is formed in a gate shape so as to straddle the automobile 3. The car wash machine main body 2 reciprocates on the rail 8 by rotating the wheel 7 by the electric motor 6 capable of normal and reverse rotation. A rotary encoder 9 is directly connected to the rotating shaft of the electric motor 6 and can detect the moving distance and moving direction of the car wash machine body 2 by detecting the rotation speed and the rotation direction.

  Reference numeral 10 denotes a position sensor for detecting a reference position of the car wash machine, which is provided at the lower part of the car wash machine body 2 and senses and switches the dogs 11 and 12 which are fixedly projected and fixed on the rail 4 laying surface, thereby switching the car wash machine. The position of the main body 2 is detected. Here, the position where the dog 11 at the rear of the rail is sensed is the standby position of the car wash body 2, and the position where the dog 12 at the front of the rail is sensed is the forward limit position of the car wash machine 2. During the car wash standby, the car wash machine body 2 is stopped at the standby position at the rear end of the rail, and when the driver enters the car wash space 4 and stops at the regular car wash position 5, the car wash machine body 2 moves forward. And start the car wash. After the car wash is completed, the car wash machine main body 2 stops at the forward limit position at the rail front end. When the driver leaves the car 3 from the regular car wash position 5 in the car wash space 4, the car wash machine body 2 moves backward and returns to the standby position.

  The washing part W in the front part of the car wash machine body 2 is provided on the upper part of the car wash machine body 2 so as to be movable up and down, and rotates on the upper surface of the car 3 to wash it, and can move forward and backward in the car 3 direction. A side cleaning brush 14 that rotates and cleans surfaces other than the upper and lower surfaces of the automobile 3 and watering nozzles 15 and 16 that spray cleaning water on the automobile 3 are mounted. In addition, the drying section D at the rear of the car wash machine body 2 is provided with an upper surface drying nozzle 17 that can be moved up and down to dry the upper surface of the automobile 3 and a side surface drying nozzle that can be moved forward and backward in the direction of the automobile 3 to dry the side surface of the automobile 3. 18 are mounted.

  Reference numeral 19 denotes a vehicle-shaped sensor, which includes a light projector 19a in which a plurality of light projecting elements are arranged in the vertical direction, and a light receiver 19b in which a plurality of light receiving elements for receiving light from the light projecting elements are arranged corresponding to the light projecting elements. The vehicle-shaped sensor 19 scans the side surface of the automobile 3 in the vertical direction as the car wash machine body 2 moves forward, and shields the vehicle body from light. The upper surface shape of the automobile 3 is detected by distinguishing the emitted light beam from the light beam not shielded by the vehicle body. The upper surface cleaning brush 13 and the upper surface drying nozzle 17 move up and down based on the upper surface shape of the automobile 3 detected by the vehicle shape sensor 19.

  Reference numeral 20 denotes an automobile detection sensor that detects that the automobile 3 is stopped at the regular car wash position 5 in cooperation with the vehicle shape sensor 19, and receives a light projector 20a that projects a light beam and a light beam projected by the light projector 20a. It is composed of a light receiver 20b, and faces the car wash sensor 5 at a height that is shielded by the vehicle body so as to be adjacent to the vehicle shape sensor 19 before and after the vehicle 3 enters the regular car wash position 5. It is attached so as to jump out from the front of the machine body 2. The distance between the vehicle shape sensor 19 and the automobile detection sensor 20 is set so that the light beams projected by the projectors 19a and 20a do not interfere with each other and between the light beam projected by the projector 19a and the light beam projected by 20a. In order to allow the driver to fit the front end of the car 3, the driver has a certain amount of space. When the automobile 3 is stopped at the regular car wash position 5, the light beam projected by the projector 19a of the vehicle shape sensor 19 is not shielded by the vehicle body, and the light beam projected by the projector 20a of the vehicle detection sensor 20 is shielded by the vehicle body. The

  Next, description will be made regarding various devices arranged outside the car wash machine body 2. 21 is a reception unit, which is provided with an operation panel at a position where the driver can operate without getting out of the car 3, and selects a car wash course and pays for the selected car wash course. 22 is a circuit breaker that restricts entry into the car wash space 4 and opens when the reception unit 21 is operated and the car wash acceptance is completed. Reference numeral 24 denotes a video camera which is a camera device that captures an area including a license plate on the rear surface of the automobile 3 stopped at the regular car wash position 5, and is housed in a housing so as not to be affected by the external environment, so that it cannot be reached by human hands. Are attached to the upper end of a pole 23 installed at the same location as the circuit breaker 22 and fixed toward the rear surface of the automobile 3 obliquely downward so as not to be affected by ambient light. In this way, by attaching the camera device to the breaker installed in advance, it is not necessary to expand the installation space of the car wash device in order to install the camera device. Since the position where the license plate is attached to the rear surface of the automobile 3 varies depending on the vehicle type, the angle of view of the video camera 24 is widened so that it can correspond to various vehicle types and also can capture images after moving. ing. It is assumed that the video camera 24 is capable of capturing an image of up to 30 frames per second.

  Note that although a video camera capable of shooting a moving image is employed as the camera device, any camera can be used as long as the captured image can be left as digital data. For example, a digital camera capable of shooting only a still image may be used. The video camera 24 is installed on the pole 23 at a height that does not reach human hands. However, the video camera 24 may be embedded in the circuit breaker 22 in the horizontal direction so as to widen the shooting range. . Further, the subject of photographing is not limited to the license plate. For example, a rear window, a rear light, a rear tire, a rear end of a car, etc. may be taken. Furthermore, the installation location of the video camera 24 is not necessarily the same location as the breaker 22. For example, the video camera 24 may be installed on the side of the regular car wash position 5 and the rear end of the automobile 3 may be photographed from that side.

  Reference numeral 25 is a guide lamp as a guide means, which informs the driver that the automobile 3 has not reached the regular car wash position 5, and that the forward lamp 25 a urges the automobile 3 to move forward, and that the automobile 3 has entered the regular car wash position 5. , A stop lamp 25b that prompts the vehicle 3 to stop, and a reverse lamp 25c that informs the driver that the vehicle 3 has gone too far from the regular car wash position 5 and prompts the vehicle 3 to move backward. The guidance is switched according to the vehicle detection state of the sensor 19 and the vehicle detection sensor 20. The guide lamp 25 looks from the driver's seat as shown in FIG. 3, and displays a corresponding guide below each lamp so that the driver can understand the correspondence between the lamp and the guide.

  Next, the relationship between the controller 26 for controlling the operation of the car wash device and various devices will be described with reference to FIG. The arrow indicates the direction of the signal. The control unit 26 is photographed by the CPU 26a which is a control means for executing the control program, the RAM 26b for temporarily storing data necessary for executing the control program, the ROM 26c for storing the control program, and the video camera 24. An image storage unit 26d that is a storage unit that stores an image, an image processing unit 26e that is an image processing unit that detects the position of a license plate from the stored image, and a memory card 26f that is a detachable external storage device Is done. The control unit 26 controls the movement of the car wash machine body 2, the up and down movement of the upper surface cleaning brush 13 and the upper surface drying nozzle 17, the opening and closing of the side surface cleaning brush 14 and the side surface drying nozzle 18, and the watering nozzles 15 and 16. Car wash corresponding to the car wash course selected in 21 is performed. Further, the control unit 26 detects the position of the license plate from the image captured by the video camera 24 by the image processing unit 26e, and detects the movement of the automobile 3 based on this position during the car wash.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing how the movement of the vehicle during the car wash is detected. S3 and S7 are license plate position detection processing performed by the image processing unit 26e, and detect the position of the license plate from the image taken by the video camera 24. Furthermore, it is possible to detect the movement of the car during the car wash. S10 is an image saving process for saving an image shot by the video camera 24 and stored in the image storage unit 26d. S11 is an image erasing process for erasing an image taken by the video camera 24 and stored in the image storage unit 26d.

  In the license plate position detection process (S3, S7), the image processing unit 26e detects the position of the license plate by the pattern matching method from the image stored in the image storage unit 26d as shown in the flowchart of FIG. Specifically, first, a differential filter is applied to the image to extract a pixel having a remarkable luminance difference from the vicinity as a feature point (S12), and a line segment is formed by connecting adjacent feature points (S13). Among the quadrilaterals formed in minutes, a quadrilateral that matches the area, aspect ratio, etc. of the license plate in the pre-measured image is extracted as a license plate (S14), and the coordinates of the upper left corner of this license plate are calculated. (S15).

  The image storage process (S10) is performed when the movement of the automobile 3 is detected during the car wash, and when the automobile 3 is stopped at the regular car wash position (S1), the photographing is started (S2). The image stored in 26d is stored in the memory card 26f. In the image erasing process (S11), when the movement of the automobile 3 is not detected until the end of the car wash (S5), shooting is started when the automobile 3 stops at the regular car wash position (S1) (S2). Then, the image stored in the image storage unit 26d until then is deleted. By doing so, when the car 3 moves during the car wash and collides with the cleaning device of the car wash machine body 2 and an accident occurs that damages the car wash machine body 2 and the car 3, it is stored in the memory card 26f. The situation of the accident can be grasped in detail by viewing the image later on another terminal. Although a memory card is used as the external storage device, for example, a disk medium such as a hard disk or a DVD may be used, or image data may be transmitted to another personal computer via a network.

  The operation of the embodiment configured as described above will be described. FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the automobile 3 is guided to the regular car wash position 5 by the guide lamp 25. The driver presses the car wash start button after accepting a car wash such as selecting a car wash course at the reception unit 21. The control unit 26 determines that the car wash start button has been pressed, raises the barrier 22 to permit entry into the car wash space 4, and lights the forward lamp 25a to prompt the driver to advance the automobile 3. When the driver confirms that the circuit breaker 22 is raised and the forward lamp 25a is lit, the driver advances the automobile 3 and enters the regular car wash position 5 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6A, when the vehicle shape sensor 19 and the automobile detection sensor 20 are in a light-transmitting state, that is, in a state where the vehicle body is not detected, the forward lamp 25a remains lit. When the automobile 3 moves forward as shown in FIG. 6B, the automobile detection sensor 20 enters a light shielding state. Then, the control unit 26 turns off the forward lamp 25a and turns on the stop lamp 25b to prompt the driver to stop the automobile 3. The driver confirms that the stop lamp 25b is lit and stops the automobile 3. The driver will get a car wash while in the car.

  In this way, when the automobile 3 stops at the regular car wash position 5, the control unit 26 confirms that the stop state has continued for a certain period of time, determines that the automobile 3 has stopped at the regular car wash position (S1), and the video camera 24. (S2), the image processing unit 26e performs the license plate position detection process (S3). A reference image G photographed by the video camera at this time is shown in FIG. The position of the license plate detected from this image is (x0, y0). Then, the control unit 26 drives the car wash machine body 2 to start car wash (S4).

  When the car wash is started, the control unit 26 starts to advance the car wash machine body 2 toward the automobile 3, detects the upper surface shape of the automobile 3 with the preceding vehicle shape sensor 19, and detects the upper surface washing brush 13 along the detected upper surface shape. And the automobile 3 is cleaned by controlling the side cleaning brush 14 by the control unit 26. During this time, the control unit 26 performs the license plate position detection process (S7) by the image processing unit 26e every other second (S6), and the number plate position detected from the reference image G is detected. The movement of the automobile 3 is detected by comparing the position (S8). In S8, based on the position of the license plate, the actual distance from the video camera 24 to the license plate is calculated by a three-dimensional recognition method, and even if the movement of the automobile 3 is detected by comparing the calculated distances. Good.

  Next, how the movement of the automobile 3 is detected will be described. As shown in FIG. 8A, when the car wash machine body 2 moves forward, it approaches the front of the vehicle body with the side cleaning brush 14 closed. At this time, the driver may move forward so as to bring the vehicle 3 into contact with the front side cleaning brush 14 that is not approaching. When the automobile 3 moves forward as shown in FIG. 8B, an image as shown in FIG. A dotted line indicates the automobile 3 in the reference image G. As a result of detecting the position of the license plate from this image, the position of the license plate is (x1, y1), and the image processing unit 26e is located at the upper right as compared with the position of the license plate detected from the reference image G in FIG. positioned.

  In addition, the driver may move backward because he / she fears that the approaching side cleaning brush 14 collides with the automobile 3. When the automobile 3 moves backward as shown in FIG. 8C, an image as shown in FIG. A dotted line indicates the automobile 3 in the reference image G. As a result of detecting the position of the license plate from this image, the position of the license plate is (x2, y2), which is lower left than the position of the license plate detected by the image processing unit 26e from the reference image G in FIG. positioned.

  Thus, when the position of the detected license plate is different from the position of the license plate detected from the reference image G, the control unit 26 determines that the automobile 3 has moved. When the movement of the automobile 3 is detected during the car wash, the control unit 26 urgently stops the car wash machine body 2 (S9) and performs the image storage process (S10). Conversely, when the car wash is completed without detecting the movement of the automobile 3 during the car wash (S5), the control unit 26 performs the image erasing process (S11).

  In addition, when the movement of the automobile 3 is detected during the car wash, the image taken by the video camera 24 is stored in the memory card 26f. However, when the car wash machine body 2 is urgently stopped for some other reason. The captured image may be saved. Thereby, the situation at the time of emergency stop can be grasped in detail. Further, the reference image G and the image after the completion of the car wash may be stored even when the car wash is completed normally. As a result, even if there is a problem in which the customer has been accused of having an accident even though no accident has actually occurred, the stored image can be used as evidence that the accident has not occurred. Can be submitted to.

  In the stage where the side cleaning brush 14 cleans the rear surface of the automobile 3, even if the automobile 3 moves forward from the regular car wash position 5, the license plate is hidden by the side cleaning brush 14, and the image taken by the video camera 24 is used. Since the position of the license plate cannot be detected, the movement of the automobile 3 cannot be detected. However, as described above, the movement of the automobile 3 during the car wash usually occurs when the side washing brush 14 approaches from the front of the automobile 3 or immediately after the automobile 3 is stopped at the regular car wash position 5. It is rare for the driver to move the automobile 3 while the rear surface of the automobile 3 is being cleaned with the brush 14. Therefore, the vehicle shape sensor 19 recognizes the upper surface shape of the automobile 3, the rotary encoder 9 detects the travel distance from the standby position, and by calculating backward from the positional relationship between the vehicle shape sensor and the side surface cleaning brush in the car wash machine, When it is detected that the rear surface of the automobile 3 is being cleaned by the side cleaning brush 14, the movement of the automobile 3 is not detected.

  As shown in FIG. 9, apart from the video camera 24, a pole 27 is placed on the front guide lamp 25 of the automobile 3 stopped at the regular car wash position 5, and a video camera 28 is attached to the upper end of the pole 27. When 3 stops at the regular car wash position 5, an area including the license plate on the front surface of the automobile 3 is photographed by the video camera 28 as a reference image G ', and the side cleaning brush 14 cleans the rear surface of the automobile 3. While the movement of the automobile 3 is not detected using the image photographed by the video camera 24, the image is photographed by the video camera 28. From the position of the license plate detected from the photographed image and the reference image G ′ The movement of the automobile 3 may be detected by comparing the detected position of the license plate.

  As other uses using the video cameras 24 and 28, when the automobile 3 is guided to the regular car wash position 5, the vehicle 3 is guided to the regular car wash position 5 by a notification means such as voice guidance based on the photographed image. The position of protrusions such as side poles, antennas, taxi lamps, rear mirrors, etc. are detected based on the captured images, and the washing processing device of the car wash machine body 2 is controlled so as not to come into contact with the protrusions during car washing. It is possible to do.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the specific embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the present invention can be changed even if there is a change without departing from the gist of the present invention. include.

1 is a plan view showing a car wash 1; 1 is a side view showing a car wash 1; FIG. 6 is a front view showing a guide lamp 25. It is a block diagram which shows the relationship between the control part 26 and various apparatuses. It is a flowchart figure which shows the operation | movement which performs the movement detection of the motor vehicle 3 during a car wash. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the motor vehicle 3 is guided to the regular car wash position 5 with the guide lamp 25. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the image image | photographed with the video camera. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the movement detection of the motor vehicle 3 during a car wash is performed. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the movement detection of the motor vehicle 3 is performed when the rear surface of the motor vehicle 3 is cleaned with the side surface cleaning brush 14.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Car wash place 2 Car wash machine body 3 Automobile 4 Car wash space 5 Regular car wash position 6 Electric motor 7 Wheel 8 Rail 9 Rotary encoder 10 Position sensor 11 Dog 12 Dog 13 Top surface washing brush 14 Side washing brush 15 Water spray nozzle 16 Water spray nozzle 17 Top surface dry nozzle DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 18 Side surface drying nozzle 19 Car shape sensor 19a Light projector 19b Light receiver 20 Car detection sensor 20a Light projector 20b Light receiver 21 Reception unit 22 Blocker 23 Pole 24 Video camera 25 Guide lamp 25a Forward lamp 25b Stop lamp 25c Reverse lamp 26 Control part 26a CPU
26b RAM
26c ROM
26d Image storage unit 26e Image processing unit 26f Memory card 27 Pole 28 Video camera

Claims (3)

A normal car wash position is set in front of the car wash machine body equipped with the washing treatment device, and the car wash machine body moves in the front-rear direction so as to straddle the car that has stopped so as to face the car wash machine main body at the regular car wash position. However, in a car wash device in which a driver performs a car wash while getting in a car,
A camera device that is installed outside the car wash machine body and captures an area including a predetermined portion of the automobile that has stopped at the regular stop position, and image processing that detects position information of the predetermined portion of the automobile from an image captured by the camera device Means and control means for controlling the operation of the car wash machine body based on the position information detected by the image processing means,
The control means detects position information of a predetermined part of the automobile stopped at the regular stop position before executing the car wash , and determines that the automobile has moved when the position information detected during the car wash is changed. And a car wash device for emergency stop of the car wash operation. The car wash apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising image storage means for storing an image photographed by the camera device,
When it is determined that the vehicle has moved during the car wash, the control unit captures the vehicle with the camera device and stores the image stored in the image storage unit, thereby enabling browsing. Car wash equipment. The car wash apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the camera device is installed obliquely downward, and photographs a car from above.

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