JP5873642B2 - Car wash machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a car wash machine in which the degree of contact with a car body is monitored by the current value of a brush motor when the car body is brushed with a car wash brush.

  In such a car wash machine, control is performed to bring the brush into and out of the vehicle body so that the current value of the brush motor that rotationally drives the car wash brush is maintained between the set upper limit current threshold value and the lower limit current threshold value. Yes. The current threshold value is adjusted before the start of the car wash in order to cope with individual differences and aging of the brush motor, and is set based on the idling current value when the car wash brush is idled. (For example, Patent Document 1)

  By the way, recent car wash machines tend to expand the size of vehicles that can be washed so that all types of vehicles can be washed. For this reason, when washing a vehicle that is close to the car washable range, the car wash brush rotates near the standby position, and the brush hair is a pipe-like contact member for draining as shown in the car wash machine inner plate or Patent Document 2. There was a case where it touched.

  If the brush contacts other than the vehicle body, it cannot be determined whether the increase in the brush current value is due to contact with the vehicle body or due to contact with other than the vehicle body, and the brush contact / separation cannot be controlled. was there.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-6936 Utility Model Registration No. 2521892

 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to reliably determine the contact between a brush and a vehicle body in a car wash machine that controls the contact and separation of the brush based on the current value of the brush motor.

In order to solve such problems, the present invention provides a car wash machine that controls the contact and separation of a brush by the current value of the brush motor, and the brush motor is rotated at a standby position where the car wash brush contacts a contact member other than the vehicle body. A first current threshold value is set from the current value at the time, and a second current threshold value is set from the current value when the brush motor is rotated at an idle position where the car wash brush does not contact the contact member other than the vehicle body. The brush moving means is controlled by switching the reference threshold value for determining contact with the vehicle body according to the moving position.

  The present invention is configured as described above, and the reference value for determining the contact state between the brush and the vehicle body is switched according to the brush position or the vehicle body cleaning position, so that the contact between the brush and the vehicle body is reliably determined. can do.

It is a front view which shows the car wash machine of this invention. It is a side view of the same apparatus. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the upper surface washing brush. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the side surface cleaning brush 6. *. It is a block diagram which shows the control system of the apparatus. It is a flowchart figure which shows threshold value setting operation | movement. It is explanatory drawing which shows the control data of the upper surface washing brush. It is the graph which showed the electric current change by the position of the upper surface washing brush. It is the graph which showed the electric current change for every vehicle body part. It is explanatory drawing which shows operation | movement of the upper surface washing brush.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view showing a car wash machine of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view thereof.
Reference numeral 1 denotes a main body frame which is formed in a gate shape so as to straddle the car body, and is driven to reciprocate along the rails 3 and 3 by rotationally driving the wheels 2 and 2 by the traveling motors 4 and 4 capable of rotating forward and backward. . Reference numeral 5 denotes an upper surface cleaning brush which moves up and down along the lifting rails provided on the legs of the main body frame 1 and mainly brushes the upper surface of the automobile. Numerals 6 and 6 are side cleaning brushes that open and close along a traveling rail provided in the upper width direction of the main body frame 1 and mainly brush the front and rear surfaces and side surfaces of the automobile. Reference numeral 7 denotes a travel limit switch, which is provided at the lower end of the leg of the main body frame 1 and detects the forward and reverse limit positions of the main body frame 1 by contacting dogs 3R and 3F installed near the front and rear ends of the rail 3. To do. Here, the travel rear end position is detected when the travel limit switch 7 contacts the dog 3R, and the travel front end position is detected when the travel limit switch 7 contacts the dog 3F.

  8a and 8b are electrical equipment boxes, which are attached to the front surface of the leg portion of the main body frame 1 as a pair of left and right, and provided with an operation panel 9 for receiving a car wash on the front surface of the electrical equipment boxes 8a and 8b located on the right side in front view. 10 and 11 are photoelectric switches, each of which arranges a light emitting portion and a light receiving portion facing each other, and forms a light axis inclined by arranging the light receiving portion at a position higher than the light emitting portion. / Detects the presence or absence of a vehicle body by shading, and is installed at a predetermined distance in the depth direction on the inner surfaces of the electrical boxes 8a and 8b facing each other.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing the structure of the upper surface cleaning brush 5.
The upper surface cleaning brush 5 is configured to move up and down on elevating rails 14L and 14R suspended in the car wash body 1 by carriers 13L and 13R directly connected to both ends of the brush shaft 12, and is fixed to one carrier 13R. It is driven forward and reverse by the brush motor 15. The carriers 13L and 13R include a chain 16 that connects the upper end and the lower end in an endless manner, sprockets 17U and 17D around which the chain 16 is suspended, a rotating shaft 18 that connects the left and right upper sprockets 17U, and the rotating shaft. The elevator 18 is moved up and down by a lifting device including a lifting motor 19 that rotates forward and backward 18 and a lifting encoder 20 connected to the lifting motor 19. 21U and 21D are elevation limit switches, which are switched by contact with the carrier 13L to detect that the upper surface cleaning brush 5 is in the ascent limit position and the descent limit position. Reference numeral 22 denotes a pipe-shaped abutting member which is attached to the main body frame 1 so that the bristles of the upper surface cleaning brush 5 come into contact with the upper surface cleaning brush 5 when the upper surface cleaning brush 5 rotates at the upper limit position (standby position) detected by the elevation limit switch 21U. It is attached.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the structure of the side cleaning brush 6.
The side cleaning brush 6 is configured to be opened and closed along an open / close rail 25 horizontally mounted on the rear upper part in the car wash machine body 1 by carriers 24L and 24R directly connected to the upper end of the brush shaft 23, and a brush motor 26.・ Directly and reversely driven by 26. The carriers 24L and 24R include a chain 27 that connects the right end and the left end in an endless manner, sprockets 28L and 28R around which the chain 27 is suspended, an opening / closing motor 29 that rotates one of the sprockets 28L and 28R forward and backward, and the opening and closing It is opened and closed by an opening / closing device comprising an opening / closing encoder 30 connected to a motor 29. 31L and 31R are open switches, which are switched by contact of the carriers 24L and 24R to detect that the side cleaning brushes 6 and 6 are in the open position. Reference numeral 32 denotes a pipe-like contact member, so that the brush hairs of the side surface cleaning brushes 6 and 6 come into contact when the side surface cleaning brushes 6 and 6 are rotated at the open position (standby position) detected by the open switches 31L and 31R. It is attached to the main body frame 1.

  The car wash machine having such a configuration is mainly used for washing large vehicles such as trucks and buses. With the main body frame 1 in the standby position, the vehicle to be cleaned is entered to the stop position provided by the photoelectric switches 10 and 11, and after starting an arbitrary car wash program on the operation panel 9, the main body frame 1 is The vehicle body is brushed and cleaned by the cleaning brushes 5, 6, 6 while spraying the cleaning water from the watering nozzles. After the car wash is finished, the upper surface cleaning brush 5 is in the standby position at the upper limit position and the side surface cleaning brushes 6 and 6 are in the standby position. By rotating the brush at this standby position, The brush can be drained and de-iced.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a control system of the present invention.
Reference numeral 33 denotes a car wash control unit, which is a main body travel motor 4 of the main body frame 4, a travel limit switch 7, an operation panel 9, photoelectric switches 10 and 11, a brush motor 15 of the upper surface cleaning brush 5, a lift motor 19, a lift encoder 20, a lift limit. The switches 21U and 21D, the brush motor 26 of the side surface cleaning brushes 6 and 6, the opening and closing motor 29, the opening and closing encoder 30, the opening switches 31L and 31R, and the outside air temperature sensor 34 are connected. The operation panel 9 is provided with a car wash course key 35, a car wash start key 36, and a car wash stop key 37, so that a car wash configuration in accordance with the customer's wishes can be set.

  The car wash control unit 33 includes a travel position detection unit 38 that detects the travel position of the main body frame 1, a current detection unit 39 that detects the current value of the upper surface cleaning brush motor 15, and an elevation that detects the elevation position of the upper surface cleaning brush 5. A position detector 40, a lift controller 41 that controls the lift motor 19, a current detector 42 that detects the current value of the side cleaning brush motor 25, and an open / close position detector 43 that detects the open / close position of the side cleaning brush 6. An open / close control unit 44 that controls the open / close motor 29, a data creation unit 45 that creates reference data for the elevation control unit 41 and the open / close control unit 44, and a data storage unit that stores various data created by the data creation unit 45 46 and a freeze prevention control unit 47.

  The travel position detector 38 counts the drive time of the main body travel motor 4, estimates the movement position of the main body frame 1 from the travel limit position detected by the travel limit switch 7, and the elevation controller 41 and the opening / closing controller 44. And output to the data creation unit 45.

The current cleaning unit 39 of the upper surface cleaning brush detects the current value of the brush motor 15 of the upper surface cleaning brush 5 and outputs it to the elevation control unit 41 and the data creation unit 45.
The lift position detector 40 counts the pulse signal of the lift encoder 20, detects the movement position of the upper surface cleaning brush 5 from the lift limit position detected by the lift limit switches 21U and 21D, and moves the lift control section 41 and data. To the unit 45.

  The raising / lowering control unit 41 receives the upper limit current threshold AHi and the lower limit current from the data storage unit 46 according to the running position of the main body frame 1 and the raising / lowering position of the upper surface cleaning brush 5 input from the running position detection unit 38 and the raising / lowering position detection unit 40. The raising / lowering motor 19 is controlled such that the threshold value ALo is called and the current value As of the brush motor 15 input from the current detector 39 of the upper surface cleaning brush is between the upper limit current threshold AHi and the lower limit current threshold ALo. That is, when the detected current value As is larger than the upper limit current threshold AHi (As> AHi), it is determined that the contact pressure to the vehicle body is strong, the brush is moved away from the vehicle body, and the detected current value As is the lower limit current. When it is smaller than the threshold value ALo (As <AHi), it is determined that the contact with the vehicle body is weak, and the lifting motor 19 is controlled so as to move the brush in the direction approaching the vehicle body.

  The side cleaning brush current detection unit 42 detects the current value of the brush motor 26 of the side cleaning brushes 6 and 6 and outputs the detected current value to the open / close control unit 44 and the data creation unit 45. The open / close position detector 43 counts the pulse signal of the open / close encoder 30 and detects the movement position of the side cleaning brushes 6 and 6 from the open position detected by the open switches 31L and 31R to detect the open / close controller 44 and data creation. To the unit 45.

  The open / close control unit 44 receives the upper limit current threshold AHi from the data storage unit 44 according to the travel position of the main body frame 1 and the open / close position of the side surface cleaning brushes 6 and 6 input from the travel position detection unit 38 and the open / close position detection unit 42. The lower limit current threshold ALo is called, and the open / close motor 29 is controlled such that the current value As of the brush motor 26 input from the side surface cleaning brush current detection unit 41 is between the upper limit current threshold AHi and the lower limit current threshold ALo. That is, when the detected current value As is larger than the upper limit current threshold AHi (As> AHi), it is determined that the contact pressure to the vehicle body is strong, the brush is moved away from the vehicle body, and the detected current value As is the lower limit current. When it is smaller than the threshold value ALo (As <AHi), it is determined that the contact with the vehicle body is weak, and the open / close motor 29 is controlled so as to move the brush in the direction approaching the vehicle body.

  The data creation unit 45 is based on inputs from the travel position detection unit 38, current detection units 39 and 42, the lift position detection unit 40, and the open / close position detection unit 43, and an upper limit current threshold value for determining the contact state between the brush and the vehicle body. AHi and the lower limit current threshold ALo are set. The data storage unit 46 stores the upper limit current threshold value AHi and the lower limit current threshold value ALo created by the data creation unit 45 in a table for each position of each cleaning brush.

  With such a configuration, when performing the brushing cleaning with the upper surface cleaning brush 5 and the side surface cleaning brush 6, the upper surface cleaning brush is set so as to be between the upper limit current threshold AHi and the lower limit current threshold ALo stored in the data storage unit 46. Brushing cleaning is executed by raising and lowering 5 and opening and closing the side surface cleaning brush 6.

Next, a data creation procedure in the data creation unit 45 will be described.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation for setting a current threshold, and FIG. 7 shows a current threshold data table to be created. This setting operation is performed for all the brushes every time the car is washed in consideration of the aging of the brush. Here, the setting operation of the upper surface cleaning brush 5 will be described.

  First, the upper surface cleaning brush 5 is rotated at the standby position HP (position where the brush bristles contact the pipe contact member 22) to detect the current value A1 (1), and a predetermined offset with respect to the detected current value A1. The values H and L are added to set an upper limit current threshold A1Hi (= A1 + H) and a lower limit current threshold A1Lo (= A1 + L) (2). Next, the upper surface cleaning brush 5 is moved to the idling position KP (a position where the brush bristles do not contact the pipe contact member 22), and the brush is rotated at that position to detect the current value A2 (3). Predetermined offset values H and L are added to the current value A2 to set an upper limit current threshold A2Hi (= A2 + H) and a lower limit current threshold A2Lo (= A2 + L) (4). Thereafter, the upper limit current thresholds A1aHi and A2aHi for cleaning the upper surface of the cabin are multiplied by the preset correction values a and b for each body part to be cleaned (here, the upper surface of the cabin and the upper surface of the box), and the lower limit current threshold value. The upper limit current thresholds A1bHi and A2bHi and the lower limit current thresholds A1bLo and A2bLo for cleaning A1aLo and A2aLo and the box upper surface are calculated (5), stored in the data storage unit 46 (6) and the setting operation is completed. .

Here, the reason why the upper limit current threshold and the lower limit current threshold at the standby position HP are set in the processes (1) and (2) is as follows.
In other words, as a recent car wash situation, there is a tendency to expand the size of vehicles that can be washed so that all types of vehicles can be washed, but the basic size of a car wash machine cannot be changed. When doing so, the brush hair may come into contact with the contact member 22 at the standby position HP. When the brush 5 comes into contact with the contact member 22, the current value increases. Therefore, the upper limit current threshold value AHi and the lower limit current threshold value ALo set based on the brush current value at the idling position KP There has been a problem that it is impossible to accurately determine the contact state. Therefore, the brush current value at the idling position KP and the brush current value at the standby position HP are detected, and the upper limit current threshold AHi and the lower limit current threshold ALo are set and stored in the data storage unit 46, respectively.

FIG. 8 is a graph showing current change characteristics depending on the brush position.
As shown in the drawing, at the standby position HP, the brush 5 comes into contact with the contact member 22 and the current value increases. When the brush 5 moves away from the contact member 22, the current value decreases proportionally. 5 is the idling current value at the idling position KP. For this reason, when the movement position of the brush 5 detected by the encoder is in the first cleaning region S1 near the standby position, the brush is moved at the upper limit current threshold value / lower limit current threshold value based on the brush current value A1 of the standby position HP. When the brush movement position is in the second cleaning region S2 near the idling position, the brush movement is controlled by the upper limit current threshold and the lower limit current threshold based on the brush current value A2 at the idling position KP.

Further, there are the following reasons for correcting the upper limit current threshold and the lower limit current threshold with the correction value C for each body part to be cleaned.
That is, since the width dimension and the height dimension are different between the cabin part and the box part in the truck type vehicle, a difference occurs in the contact area with the brush. In addition, since there is a difference in strength between the cabin and the box, the contact pressure of the brush cannot be made the same. Therefore, the upper limit current threshold and the lower limit current threshold are corrected by the correction values a and b set for each vehicle body part and stored in the data storage unit 46.

FIG. 9 is a graph showing a current change characteristic for each body part.
As shown in the figure, when cleaning the cabin upper surface, the contact area with the brush is small, and the amount of current increase with respect to the contact distance of the brush is small. On the other hand, when cleaning the upper surface of the box body, the contact area with the brush is large, and the amount of current increase with respect to the contact distance of the brush is large. Further, since the upper surface of the box body is stronger than the upper surface of the cabin, the brush can be further brought into contact with the upper surface of the box body with respect to the contact distance of the brush. As a result, the current change rate when the brush is brought into contact with the upper surface of the cabin from the contact distance P1 to the contact distance P2 is set as the correction value a, and the brush is contacted with the contact distance P2 from the contact distance P1 ′ to the upper surface of the box. The rate of change in current when the contact is made to 'is stored in the data storage unit 46 as the correction value b.

  In this way, the upper and lower thresholds are set for each brush position and body part, and the data shown in FIG. 7 is given. In FIG. 7, for the sake of convenience, all the data are expressed as different numerical values, but they may be the same numerical values.

Next, the car wash operation of the car wash machine of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
The main body frame 1 is in a waiting state for entering a vehicle to be washed at a standby position where the travel position switch 7 contacts the dog 3a. When the vehicle enters the vehicle, the front photoelectric switch 10 of the photoelectric switches 10 and 11 provided between the electrical boxes 8a and 8b on the front surface of the main body frame 1 is shielded and the rear photoelectric switch 11 is transparent. Then, it is determined that the vehicle is at a stop position, and a stop is urged. In this way, when the vehicle is stopped at the regular stop position, the car wash acceptance at the operation panel 9 is permitted, the selection operation is performed with each key, and then the car wash starts when the car wash start key 34 is input.

  When the car wash starts, the above-described current threshold setting operation is performed, and then the upper surface cleaning brush 5 is first lowered to the cabin upper surface position, and the main body frame 1 is advanced while the brush 5 is rotated forward. When it is detected by the current value of the brush motor 15 that the upper surface cleaning brush 5 is in contact with the upper surface of the cabin of the track T, the lifting motor 19 is controlled to perform the brushing cleaning of the upper surface of the cabin while the main body frame 1 is moved forward. At this time, when the elevation position of the upper surface cleaning brush 5 detected by the elevation position detection unit 40 is in the first cleaning region S1 in contact with the contact member 22, "cabin upper surface-first cleaning region P1" shown in FIG. When the elevating motor 19 is controlled to be in the range of the lower limit current threshold value A1aLo to the upper limit current threshold value A1aHi and is in the second cleaning region S2, the lower limit current threshold value A2aLo of the “cabinet upper surface−second cleaning region P2” The elevating motor 19 is controlled to be in the range of the upper limit current threshold A2aHi. Here, since the upper surface cleaning brush 5 is in the second cleaning region S2 that does not contact the contact member 22 on the upper surface of the cabin, the lifting motor 19 is controlled to be in the range of the lower limit current threshold A2aLo to the upper limit current threshold A2aHi.

  When the cabin top surface cleaning is completed, the lifting motor 19 is controlled to perform the brushing cleaning of the box top surface. At this time, when the elevation position of the upper surface cleaning brush 5 detected by the elevation position detection unit 40 is in the first cleaning region S1 in contact with the abutting member 22, "the box body upper surface-first cleaning region" shown in FIG. When the elevating motor 19 is controlled so as to be in the range of the lower limit current threshold value A1bLo to the upper limit current threshold value A1bHi of “P1” and is in the second cleaning region S2, the lower limit current threshold value of “box upper surface−second cleaning region P2” The elevating motor 19 is controlled to be in the range of A2bLo to the upper limit current threshold A2bHi. Here, since the upper surface cleaning brush 5 is in the first cleaning region S2 in contact with the contact member 22 on the upper surface of the box body, the lifting motor 19 is controlled to be in the range of the lower limit current threshold value A1bLo to the upper limit current threshold value A1bHi. .

  When the main body frame 1 moves forward and the upper surface cleaning brush 5 reaches the rear end of the track detected by the photoelectric switches 11 and 12, the brush 5 is raised while the main body frame 1 is advanced, and when the brush 5 reaches the upper limit position, The traveling of the main body frame 1 is stopped and the car washing is finished. The boundary position between the cabin and the box set here is stored in advance based on a general track shape, and is position-controlled by the driving time of each traveling motor 4 and lifting motor 19.

  The present invention is configured as described above, and the reference value for determining the contact state between the brush and the vehicle body is switched according to the brush position and the vehicle body washing position. Even if there is a situation in which the vehicle body cleaning is performed in a state in which the contact member is provided and in contact with the contact member, the brush can be applied to the vehicle body with an appropriate brush pressure. Such a configuration can be effectively applied not only to a large car wash machine for washing a truck, but also to a general gate type car wash machine that can wash a light car to a large car. Although explanation is omitted, a side cleaning brush or a rocker brush can be used in the same manner.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body frame 4 Traveling motor 5 Upper surface washing brush 6. 6 Side washing brush 9 Operation panel 15 Brush motor 19 Lifting motor 20 Lifting encoder 25 Brush motor 28 Opening / closing motor 30 Opening / closing encoder 33 Car wash control part 34 Outside temperature sensor 38 Traveling position detection part 39 Current detector (upper surface cleaning brush)
40 Lifting Position Detection Unit 41 Lifting Control Unit 42 Current Detection Unit (Side Cleaning Brush)
43 Open / Close Position Detection Unit 44 Open / Close Control Unit 45 Data Creation Unit 46 Data Storage Unit 47 Freezing Prevention Control Unit

Claims (1)

The car wash machine and the car move relative to each other, and the car wash brush provided in the car wash machine body moves to the vehicle body surface along with the movement.
Brush moving means for contacting / separating the car wash brush with the vehicle body, moving position detecting means for detecting a moving position of the car wash brush, a brush motor for rotating the car wash brush, and current value detection for detecting a current value of the brush motor A car wash machine comprising: a control means for controlling the brush moving means so that the brush motor current value falls within a predetermined range;
Said control means sets the first current threshold from the current value when the car wash brushes rotates the brush motor at the standby position in contact with the contact member other than the vehicle, car wash brushes into contact members other than the vehicle body The second current threshold value is set from the current value when the brush motor is rotated at the idle position where it does not contact, and the brush moving means is controlled by switching the reference threshold value for determining contact with the vehicle body according to the moving position of the car wash brush. Car wash machine characterized by that.

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