JPH01190566A - Method and apparatus for washing body of automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To avoid interference of both brushes by washing the lower portion of the front of a car body by lower side brushes during the first forwarding movement of a portal frame, then once returning the portal frame, and operating an upper surface brush to wash the upper portion of the front end of the car body at the time of moving forward again. CONSTITUTION:A car body washing apparatus has an upper surface brush 7 for washing the upper surface of a car body, which is provided in such a manner as to elevate on a portal frame 1 capable of freely reciprocating and a pair of right and left lower side brushes 53 for washing the lower side brushes 53 for washing the lower sides of the car body, which can be close to and separate from each other. In this case, at the time of washing a car body, first the portal frame 1 is moved forward to a designated position, with only the lower side brushes 53 worked on the car body to wash the lower portion of the front end of the car body. After that, the portal frame 1 is once returned. Secondly, the portal frame 1 is again moved forward, with only the upper surface brush worked on the car body to wash the upper portion of the front end of the car body, and the lower side brushes 53 are controlled to work on the car body at a point of time the upper surface brush 7 is raised to a designated height.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A0 Object of the Invention (1) Industrial Application Field The present invention relates to the cleaning of automobile bodies, and in particular to the cleaning of automobile bodies using an upper surface brush and lower side brushes attached to a gate-shaped traveling frame. The present invention relates to a cleaning method and apparatus.

(2) Conventional technology Conventionally, a device was developed in 1983 as a device for cleaning the body of an automobile by attaching a rotating brush to a gate-shaped traveling frame.
Those described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 63968 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-34917 are known.

As shown in FIG.
It has an upper brush 102 supported vertically movably, and a pair of opening/closing arms 1 at the bottom of the upper brush 102.
The lower side brushes 104 and 104 are supported by 03 and 103 so as to be able to approach and separate from each other, and the gate-shaped traveling frame 100 is made to travel along the longitudinal direction of a stopped vehicle while rotating these brushes. The vehicle body is now cleaned.

(3) Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the conventional car body cleaning device, the lower side brush is arranged below the upper brush, so interference between the swinging arm of the upper brush and the opening/closing arm of the lower side brush is prevented. To avoid this, there were restrictions on the lowering position of the top brush. However, in recent years, some passenger cars have been designed with the tip of the bonnet significantly lowered in order to reduce air resistance and ensure tire ground pressure when driving at high speeds.
There was a problem in that the upper brush could not effectively act on the tip of the bonnet.

The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and it is possible to avoid interference between the top brush and the lower side brush, and to make the top brush effectively act on areas with low ground clearance, such as the tip of a bonnet. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for washing an automobile body.

B0 Structure of the Invention (1) Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the method for cleaning an automobile body of the present invention includes a gate-shaped traveling frame and a movable upper surface brush for cleaning the upper surface of the vehicle body. , a car body cleaning method in which left and right lower side brushes that can be approached and separated from each other are installed to wash the lower side surfaces of the car body, and the lower side brushes are washed by causing both brushes to act on the car body while the gate-shaped traveling frame is traveling. After cleaning the lower front end of the car body by moving the gate type traveling frame back and forth to a predetermined position while applying a chisel to the car body, let the gate type traveling frame go back once, and then move the gate type traveling frame back and forth while applying only the top brush to the car body. The automobile of the present invention is characterized in that the mold traveling frame is moved back and forth to clean the upper front end of the vehicle body, and when the upper surface brush has risen to a predetermined height along the vehicle body, the lower side brush is further applied to the vehicle body. The car body cleaning device consists of an upper brush that is supported so as to be able to rise and fall through a swinging arm that is pivotally supported on a gate-shaped traveling frame, and an opening/closing arm that is supported on the tips of opening and closing arms that are pivotally supported on vertical shafts provided on both left and right sides of the frame. In the vehicle body cleaning device having a pair of left and right lower side brushes, the traveling frame is provided with a detection device for detecting the lowered position of the upper brush, and the lower side brushes are moved to a separated position based on an output signal of the detection device. It is characterized by holding.

(2) Function The method and apparatus for washing an automobile body of the present invention having the above-described configuration holds the upper brush in the raised position and moves the left and right lower side brushes closer to each other to move the gate-shaped traveling frame back and forth. . When the gate-shaped traveling frame has moved back and forth to a predetermined position and the cleaning of the lower front end of the vehicle body by the lower side brush has been completed, the gate-shaped traveling frame is temporarily moved back. Subsequently, when the upper brush is lowered, the detection device detects this and holds the left and right lower side brushes in the separated position. In this state, the concave traveling frame is moved back and forth to clean the upper front end of the vehicle body with the upper brush, and when the detection device detects that the upper brush has risen to a predetermined height along the vehicle body, the left and right lower side brushes move closer. The vehicle body is cleaned using both the top brush and the lower side brush.

(3) Embodiment An embodiment of the method and apparatus for cleaning an automobile body according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view of the device, FIG. 2 is a side view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the lower side brush.

As shown in Fig. 1.2, a pair of left and right support shafts 2.2 are rotatably supported at the center of both measuring sections of the gate-shaped traveling frame 1, and a sprocket 3. A pair of support arms 4.4 to which .3 is fixed are rotatably supported. A swing shaft 6, 6 fixed to the middle part of a pair of swing arms 5.5 is rotatably supported at the tip of each support arm 4, 4, and the top surface Both ends of a brush support shaft 8 to which a brush 7 is fixed are rotatably supported.

A balance weight 9 is fixed to the upper end of one of the swinging arms 5, and a motor 10 with a reduction gear that also serves as a balance weight is fixed to the upper end of the other swinging arm 5. The sprocket 11 fixed to the output shaft of the motor 10 with a speed reducer and the sprocket 12 fixed to the brush support shaft 8 are connected by a chino 13, so that the upper brush 7
It is designed to rotate.

Sprocket 14 fixed to the outer end of the swing shafts 6, 6
．． 14 and a sprocket 15:15 with the same number of teeth fixed between the support shafts 2, 2 are connected by a chino 16.16, and a cylinder arm 17 fixed to the outer end of one support shaft 2 has a gate. A cylinder 19, one end of which is pivotally supported, is connected to the other end of the cylinder 19. Therefore, as shown in FIG. is transmitted to rotate the swinging arm 5 so that the upper brush 7 is positioned upward. Further, when the cylinder 19 is made inactive, the upper brush 7 swings downward due to its own weight. At this time, the stopper arm 18 fixed to the opposite side of the cylinder arm 17 of the support shaft 2 comes into contact with the stoppers 20 and 21 provided on the gate-shaped traveling frame 1, so that the vertical swing range of the swing arm 5 is is restricted.

Furthermore, a mounting plate 2 having a magnet 22 is attached to the other support shaft 2.
3 is fixed, and the reed switch 24 provided on the concave traveling frame 1 detects when the upper brush 7 reaches the upper limit position. Furthermore, this support shaft 2
The outer end of the swing arm 5 is connected to a rotary encoder 25 that detects the rotation angle of the swing arm 5. This rotary encoder 25 and the reed switch 24 constitute a swing angle detection device, and the upper limit of the swing arm 5 is It is designed to detect the rotation angle from the position.

Sprockets 27 and 27 are fixed to both ends of a synchronized shaft 260 which is rotatably supported on the upper part of the gate-shaped traveling frame 1, and these sprockets 27 and 27 are connected to the swing arm via endless chinos 2B and 28. 4.4 and is connected to the sprocket 3.3 which is integral with the sprocket 3.3. A sprocket 29 fixed to one end of the synchronized shaft 26 is connected via a chain 31 to a sprocket 30 of a motor 32 with a self-braking worm reducer provided on the gate-shaped traveling frame 1. Therefore, by driving the motor 32 with a speed reducer, the tuned shaft 26 is rotated, and the pair of support arms 4.4 connected to the tuned shaft 26 are rotated in synchronization with each other. At this time, due to the action of the magnet 33 of the mounting plate 34 fixed to the outer end of the tuning shaft 26 and the three reed switches 35A, 35B, and 35C arranged on the gate-shaped traveling frame 1, the swinging shown in FIG. Lower limit position (6a), intermediate position (6b) of shaft 6
The L upper limit position (6C) is detected.

As shown in FIG. 2.3, a pair of left and right lower side brush devices are provided on both sides of the gate-shaped traveling frame 1, respectively. Since these pair of lower side brush devices have the same structure, only one of them will be described.

An opening/closing arm 52 is fixed to a vertical shaft 51 rotatably supported on the side of the concave traveling frame 1, and a lower side brush support shaft 54 to which a lower side brush 53 is fixed to the tip of the opening/closing arm 52 rotates. It is freely supported. A motor 55 with a reducer is fixed to the upper part of the opening/closing arm 52, and a sprocket 56 is fixed to the output shaft of the motor 55 with a reducer.
By connecting the sprocket 57 fixed to the brush support shaft 54 via a chino 58, the lower side brush 53 is rotationally driven. A cylinder arm 59 and a spring arm 60 are fixed to the vertical shaft 51, and a cylinder 61 whose one end is pivotally supported by the gate-shaped traveling frame 1 is connected to the cylinder arm 59. Further, a spring 62 whose one end is supported by the gate-shaped traveling frame 1 is connected to the spring arm 60.

Therefore, when the cylinder 61 is operated, the lower side brush 5
3 moves away to the retreat position (53a) shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. Further, when the cylinder 61 becomes inactive, the left and right lower side brushes 53 are moved closer to each other by the elastic force of the spring 62 to the forward position (53b) shown by the solid line, so that they can be brought along the lower side of the automobile.

The positional relationship between the upper surface brush device and the lower side brush device described above is such that when the swing shaft 6 of the upper surface brush 7 is above the intermediate position (6b), even if the lower side brush 53 moves closer, the lower side brush device There is no interference between the members of the upper brush device and the members of the upper brush device, and when the lower side brush 53 of the lower side brush device is in the (53a) position, even if the swing shaft 6 is lowered to the lower limit position (6a). The structure is such that the members of the re-equipment do not collide.

A side brush device is provided at the rear of the concave traveling frame 1. This side brush device includes a guide rail 7 supported on a gate-shaped traveling frame 1 so as to be able to swing around a shaft 70.
A side brush 40 driven by a motor 73 is rotatably supported on the carts 72.

The above-mentioned gate-shaped traveling frame 1 further includes a side drying nozzle 41.
, a top drying nozzle 42, and a traveling drive device 36.
Drive wheel 37° 37 and idler wheel 38, 3 rotated by
8, it is possible to reciprocate on the traveling rails 39, 39.

Next, the operation of one embodiment of the method and apparatus for cleaning an automobile body according to the present invention having the above-mentioned configuration will be explained based on FIGS. 4 to 7.

In FIG. 4.5, the concave traveling frame 1 is stopped at the starting position S at the left end of the traveling rail 39, and the upper brush 7
The swing shaft 6 is set at the intermediate position 6b, the upper brush 7 is set at the left upper limit position, and the lower side brush 53 and the side brush 40 are kept spaced apart from each other.

When the cleaning process begins, the lower side brushes 53, 53 and the side brushes 40, 40 are rotated and moved inwardly. When the portal traveling frame 1 is moved to the right after the side brushes 40 reach the inner eye, the lower side brushes 53, 53 perform brushing cleaning along the side shape of the automobile (2). When the side brushes 40.40 reach the position shown in (40a) behind the lower side brushes 53.53 and come into contact with the front of the automobile V, the forward movement of the gate-shaped traveling frame 1 is stopped, and the side brushes 40.40 are rotated in the reverse direction. At the same time, the lower side brush 53.5 is moved outwardly.
3 is also moved outward.

When the side brushes 40, 40 and the lower side brushes 53, 53 reach their outer limits, the rotation of both brushes 40, 40, 53, 53 is stopped and the portal traveling frame 1 is returned to the starting position. During the outgoing movement, the distance traveled by the gate-shaped traveling frame 1 from the start position until the side brushes 40, 40 come into contact with the front of the vehicle and stop is measured by a timer or a rotary encoder connected to the drive wheel 37. .

As shown in Fig. 6.7, when the portal traveling frame 1 returns to the start position S, the upper brush 7 is rotated, and the swing shaft 6 is rotated clockwise from the intermediate position (6b) to the lower limit. ! (6a), the cylinder 19 is deactivated, the upper brush 7 is set at the lower limit position, and the gate-shaped traveling frame 1 is moved back and forth again. When the upper brush 7 reaches the (7a) position and the swing angle detection device detects that the swing arm 5 swings to the preset angle, the swing shaft 6 moves from the lower limit position (6a) to the intermediate position! Rotate counterclockwise to (6b).

When the reed switch 35B detects that the swing shaft 6 has rotated to the intermediate position (6b), the lower side brush 5
3. 53 is rotated and moved inward to perform plastic cleaning along the shape of the lower side surface of the automobile V. In this way, the swing shaft 6 is moved to the intermediate position (
6b), brushing cleaning is performed by the upper brush 7 and the lower side brush 53°53. When the gate-shaped traveling frame 1 exceeds the above-mentioned outgoing distance during this re-going, the side brushes 40, 40, in addition to the above-mentioned brushes 7, 53, 53, are rotated in the opposite direction and moved closer inward. ■Wash the plastic along the sides of the car. When the side brush 40.40 leaves the car and reaches the inner eye, it stops moving again, and the side brush 40,40
, the lower side brushes 53.53 are moved outwardly, the upper brush 7 is raised to the upper limit position (6C), and the rotation of each brush 40, 40, 53, 53.7 is stopped.

Although the embodiments of the method and apparatus for cleaning an automobile body according to the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various small design changes can be made.

For example, instead of detecting the lowered position of the upper brush by detecting the vertical position of the swing shaft, it is also possible to directly detect the position of the upper brush.

Further, instead of supporting the swing arm at the tip of a support arm rotatably supported on the portal-shaped traveling frame, it is also possible to directly support the swinging arm on the portal-shaped traveling frame.

C0 Effects of the Invention According to the above-mentioned method and apparatus for cleaning an automobile body of the present invention, when cleaning the front end of the vehicle body, only the lower side brushes are activated by the first movement of the gate-shaped traveling frame to clean the vehicle body. Clean the lower front end of the

Then, when the gate-shaped traveling frame goes back once and then goes back, if the lowering of the upper brush is detected, the lower side brushes are held in the separated position, and only the upper brush is operated to move the upper part of the front end of the vehicle body. I try to wash it. therefore,
The top brush and lower side brush work simultaneously, preventing the two brushes from interfering with each other, making it possible to perform plush cleaning with the top brush working reliably, even on cars with a low front body height. becomes.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of the method and apparatus for cleaning an automobile body according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of the same, FIG. 3 is a plan view of the same, and FIGS. 4 to 7 are explanatory diagrams of the cleaning process. FIG. 8 is a schematic front view of a conventional device. 1... Gate-shaped traveling frame, 5... Swinging arm, 7...
Top brush, 33...Magnet, 35A, 35B, 35C
... Reed switch, 37... Drive wheel, 40...
Side brush, 51... Vertical axis, 52... Opening/closing arm, 53
・・・Lower side brush

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] [1] A gate-type traveling frame (1) includes an upper surface brush (7) that can be raised and lowered to clean the upper surface of the vehicle body, and left and right lower side brushes (53) that can be moved toward and away from each other to clean the lower side surfaces of the vehicle body. , 5
3), and the lower side brushes (53, 53) are mounted on the vehicle body, and the lower side brushes (53, 53) are attached to the lower side brushes (53, 53). After cleaning the lower front end of the vehicle body by moving the gate type traveling frame (1) back and forth to a predetermined position while applying a chisel to the vehicle body, the gate type traveling frame (1)
go back once, and then move the gate-shaped traveling frame (1) again while applying only the top brush (7) to the car body to clean the upper front end of the car body, and the top brush (7) moves along the car body. When the height reaches the specified height, the lower side brush (5
3, 53) is applied to the vehicle body. [2] The vehicle body according to item [1], wherein the traveling time of the gantry-shaped traveling frame (1) from the start position is measured by a timer, and the gantry-shaped traveling frame (1) is once made to go back after a predetermined period of time has elapsed. Cleaning method. [3] The travel distance from the start position is measured by the rotary encoder installed on the drive wheel (37) of the gantry-shaped traveling frame (1), and after traveling a predetermined distance, the gantry-shaped traveling frame (1)
) The method for washing a car body according to item 1, wherein the car body is washed once. [4] Swing arm (5,
5), and vertical shafts (51, 5) provided on both left and right sides of the frame (1).
In the automobile body cleaning device, the vehicle body cleaning device has a pair of left and right lower side brushes (53, 53) supported at the tips of opening/closing arms (52, 52) that are pivotally supported on the traveling frame (1). 7) A vehicle body cleaning device for an automobile, characterized in that a detection device is provided to detect the lowered position of the device, and the lower side brushes (53, 53) are held at a separated position based on an output signal of the detection device. [5] The detection device is a vertical position detection device (33, 35A, 35B, 35C) of the swing shaft (6) of the swing arm (5),
The vehicle body cleaning device for an automobile according to item [4].