JPH01190567A - Method for washing body of automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To avoid interference of both brushes and to improve washing efficiency by washing the front of a bar body by operation of side brushes, once returning a portal frame, and then washing the upper surface of the front of the car body by operation of an upper surface brush at the time of moving forward again. CONSTITUTION:A car body washing apparatus has a pair of right and left side brushes 40, 40 for washing the front and rear surfaces and sides of a car body, which are provided on a portal frame 1 capable of freely reciprocating in such a manner as to be close to and separate from each other and an upper surface brush 7 for washing the upper surface of the car body. In this case, at the time of washing a car body, first the portal frame 1 is moved forward to wash the front of the car body by operation of the side brushes 40, and then the portal frame 1 is once returned. Secondly, the portal frame 1 is again moved forward to wash the upper surface of the front portion of the car body by operation of the upper surface brush 7, and after the portal frame 1 reaches a designated position, both side brushes 7, 40 are operated to continuously wash the whole of the car body.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] A8 Purpose of the Invention (1) Industrial Field of Application The present invention relates to cleaning the body of an automobile, and in particular, uses an upper surface brush attached to a gate-shaped traveling frame and a pair of left and right side brushes. , relates to a method for cleaning an automobile body.

(2) Conventional technology A gate-shaped traveling frame in which a pair of left and right side brushes capable of cleaning the front, rear, and side surfaces of the vehicle body can be approached and separated from each other, and an upper surface brush capable of cleaning the top surface of the vehicle body can be raised and lowered. A method of cleaning a vehicle body in which the brushes are operated to clean the vehicle body while running the brush in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body is conventionally known.

(3) Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the cleaning device used in the above-mentioned conventional method, since the top brush is disposed relatively close to the side brushes, the left and right brushes are disposed relatively close to the side brushes. The side brushes approach each other to clean the front surface of the car body, and the top brushes descend to the lowest position and swing toward the side brushes to wash the front top surface of the car body (this swing is based on the contact pressure with the car body surface). ), there is a risk that the amount of mutual interference between the top brush and the side brushes will increase, reducing the cleaning effectiveness of these brushes.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for washing an automobile body which does not require the above-mentioned familiarity and has a high cleaning effect.

B1 Structure of the Invention (1) Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a pair of left and right side brushes capable of cleaning the front, rear and side surfaces of a vehicle body, which can be moved close to and separated from each other. In a car body cleaning method, the vehicle body is washed by activating each of the brushes while running a gate-shaped traveling frame in the front and back direction of the car body, each of which has upper brushes capable of washing the upper surface of the car body that can be raised and lowered. , move the gate type traveling frame back and forth to a predetermined position with the top brush held in the non-operating position, wash the front of the vehicle body by operating the side brushes, then move the gate type traveling frame back once, and then deactivate the side brush. The gantry traveling frame is moved back and forth while being held in the operating position, and the front upper surface of the vehicle body is cleaned by the operation of the top brush, and by the time the gantry traveling frame reaches the predetermined position, the top brush and side brush are The brush is moved a predetermined distance to the side away from the gate, and after the gate-shaped traveling frame reaches the predetermined position, both the top brush and the side brush are operated.

(2) Operation While the gate-type traveling frame moves forward and reaches the predetermined position for the first time, the upper brush is inactive and only the side brushes are operated to clean the front surface of the vehicle body. Further, after the gate-shaped traveling frame once goes back, the side brushes are stopped and only the top brush is operated to clean the front upper surface of the vehicle body until it goes back and reaches the predetermined position again. After the portal traveling frame reaches the predetermined position again, both the top brush and the side brushes operate, but by that time, the top brush has already moved a predetermined amount to the side away from the side brushes. Therefore, mutual interference between the top brush and the side brushes can be reduced in the above cleaning process.

(3) Embodiment Hereinafter, an embodiment of the method of washing an automobile body according to the present invention and the washing device for carrying out the method will be described with reference to the drawings.

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

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a pair of left and right support shafts 2.2 are rotatably supported at the center of both measuring parts of the gate-shaped traveling frame l, and a sprocket 3 is attached to the support shafts 2.2. A pair of support arms 4, 4 to which .3 is fixed are rotatably supported. A swinging shaft 6.6 fixed to the middle part of a pair of swinging arms 5.5 is rotatably supported at the tip of each support arm 4,4. 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.

Subrocket) 14 fixed to the outer end of the swing shaft 6.6
．． 14 and a sprocket 15.15 with the same number of teeth fixed in the middle of the support shaft 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 concave shape. One end of a cylinder 19 is pivotally supported on the traveling frame 1, and the other end thereof is connected. 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 concave traveling frame 1, thereby limiting the vertical swing range of the swing arm 5. It 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 gate-shaped 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 27.27 are fixed to both ends of a synchronized shaft 26 rotatably supported on the upper part of the concave traveling frame 1, and these sprockets 27. 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) of shaft 6, intermediate position (6
b), the upper limit position (6C) is detected.

A side brush device is provided at the rear of the gate-shaped traveling frame l. 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.
It has a pair of left and right carts 72 that can be moved toward and away from each other above the brush 1, and a pair of left and right side brushes 40 driven by a motor 73 are rotatably supported on these carts 72.

The positional relationship between the top brush device and the side brush devices is such that when the swing shaft 6 of the top brush 7 is above the intermediate position 6b, the left and right side brushes 40 move closer to each other to clean the front or side surfaces of the vehicle body. Even if the left and right side brushes 40 are at the outermost positions farthest apart from each other (positions indicated by chain lines in FIG. 1), the upper surface The swing shaft 6 is moved to the lower limit 1 in order to clean the front upper surface of the vehicle body with the brush 7.
Even when descending to f6a, the side brush 40 and the upper brush 7 are configured so that the amount of mutual interference is zero or slight, so in those states, each brush 40
, 7, there is no risk that the smooth operation of the other brushes will be disturbed.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 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 below.

An opening/closing arm 52 is fixed to a vertical shaft 51 that is rotatably supported on the side of the gate-shaped traveling frame 1, and a lower side brush support shaft 54 to which a lower side brush 53 is fixed is attached to the tip of this opening/closing arm 52. It is rotatably 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 concave 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 retracted position (53a), the swing shaft 6
The structure is such that the members of the resetting device do not collide even if the device is lowered to the lower limit position (6a).

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
B allows it to travel back and forth on the travel rails 39.39.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained based on FIGS. 4 to 7.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, the gate-shaped 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 side brushes 40.40 are rotated and moved closer inward. 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. The lower side brushes 53, 53 are also moved outwardly to clean the front surface of the vehicle body. When the side brushes 40.40 and lower side brushes 53.53 reach their outer limits, the rotation of both brushes 40, 40.53.53 is stopped and the gate-shaped traveling frame 1 is returned to the starting position. Note that a well-known detection device (not shown) detects that the side brush 40 has reached the inner or outer limits or has come into contact with the front surface of the vehicle body. Further, during the forward movement, the distance traveled by the concave 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 wheels 37. .

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 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 position. (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 made to move again. Due to the contact pressure of the upper brush 7 with the upper surface of the vehicle body (7a
) position and the swing angle detection device detects that the swing arm 5 swings toward the side brush 40 at a preset angle, the swing shaft 6 is moved from the lower limit position (6a) to the intermediate position IF.
(6b) in a counterclockwise direction, that is, in a direction away from the side brush 40. Then, the swing shaft 6 is at the intermediate position (6
When the reed switch 35B detects the rotation in b), the lower side brushes 53, 53 are rotated and moved inward, thereby cleaning the lower side of the automobile V by brushing it along the shape of the side surface. In this way,
After the swing shaft 6 is rotated to the intermediate position (6b), brushing cleaning is performed by the upper surface brush 7 and lower side brushes 53, 53. During this re-going, if the gate-shaped traveling frame l exceeds the above-mentioned going distance, both the brushes 7.53.
In addition to step 53, the side brushes 40 and 40 are further rotated in the opposite direction and moved inward to perform plush cleaning along the sides of the automobile V. Furthermore, this side brush 4
0, the swing shaft 6 is already at the intermediate position (6b
), the amount of mutual interference between the upper brush 7 and the side brush 40 is small. When the side brushes 40, 40 leave the car and reach the inner eye, they stop moving again, move the side brushes 40, 40 and the lower side brushes 53, 53 outward, and move the upper brush 7 to the upper limit position (6C). ) to stop the rotation of each brush 40, 40, 53, 53.7.

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 As described above, according to the present invention, after the gate type traveling frame is moved back and forth to a predetermined position while the top brush is held in the non-operating position and the front side of the vehicle body is cleaned by the operation of the side brushes,
The gantry traveling frame is made to go back once, and then the gantry traveling frame is made to go back with the side brushes held in the non-operating position to clean the front upper surface of the vehicle body by the operation of the upper brushes, and the gantry traveling frame is The top brush is moved a predetermined amount to the side away from the side brushes until the frame reaches the predetermined position, and after the portal traveling frame reaches the predetermined position, both the top brush and the side brushes are operated. Therefore, in the initial stage of cleaning, the side brushes wash the front of the car body, and the top brush washes the front top of the car body in sequence, thereby avoiding mutual interference between the two brushes as much as possible. Before operating the brushes at the same time, turn the upper brush
The brush can be moved a predetermined amount to the side away from the side brush, and as a result, the amount of mutual interference between the two brushes can be reduced as much as possible, and the cleaning effect of the two brushes can be greatly enhanced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of the cleaning device used in the car body cleaning method according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of the same, and FIG.
The figure is a plan view of the same, and FIGS. 4 to 7 are explanatory diagrams of the cleaning process. l... Concave running frame, 5... Rocking arm, 7...
Top brush, 33...Magnet, 35A, 35B, 35C
... Reed switch, 37... Drive wheel, 40...
side brush

Claims (1)

[Claims] A gate-shaped traveling frame in which a pair of left and right side brushes (40) capable of cleaning the front, rear and side surfaces of the vehicle body can be approached and separated from each other, and an upper surface brush (7) capable of cleaning the top surface of the vehicle body can be raised and lowered. In the car body cleaning method, the top brush (7) is held in a non-operating position, in which the brushes (7, 40) are operated to wash the car body while the brush (1) is run in the longitudinal direction of the car body. Move the gate-shaped traveling frame (1) back and forth to the specified position while holding the side brush (
After cleaning the front of the vehicle body by operating the side brushes (40), the gate-shaped traveling frame (1) is made to go back once, and then the side brushes (40) are operated.
While holding the gate type traveling frame (1) in the inoperative position,
) is retraveled to clean the front upper surface of the vehicle body by operating the upper brush (7), and the gate-shaped traveling frame (1
) until the upper brush (7) reaches the predetermined position,
Move it a predetermined amount to the side that escapes from the side brush (40),
The method for washing an automobile body is characterized in that both the top brush (7) and the side brushes (40) are operated after the gate-shaped traveling frame (1) reaches the predetermined position.