JPH0146338B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a car wash machine, in particular, a side part of a gate-shaped frame that can reciprocate in the front and back direction across a vehicle.
A guide rail extending in the vertical direction is provided, and a support device that can move up and down along the guide rail supports a top brush device for brushing and cleaning the top surface of the vehicle body, and this top brush device brushes the top surface of the vehicle body as the traveling frame travels. The present invention relates to a safety device for a car wash machine in which an elevating device is provided between the frame and the supporting device to drive the supporting device up and down so as to move along the frame.

In such car wash machines, when the top brush device moves along the top surface of the car body as the running frame moves during the car wash process, the contact pressure may increase due to the shape of the top surface of the car body, etc. If the contact pressure increases excessively, there is a risk that both the top brush device and the vehicle body surface will be damaged.

The present invention was proposed in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a safety device for a car wash machine that can solve the above problem. In order to achieve this objective, according to the present invention, a guide rail extending in the vertical direction is provided on the side of a gate-shaped frame that can move back and forth in the front and rear directions astride the vehicle, and the user can move up and down along this guide rail. The support device supports a top brush device for brushing and cleaning the top surface of the vehicle body, and a lifting device capable of driving the support device up and down so that the top brush device moves along the top surface of the vehicle body as the portal frame travels. In the car wash machine provided between the frame and the support device, the support device has an upper end connected to the lifting device and a lower end connected to the top brush device, and an upper guide that can roll on the guide rail. a movable trolley with a roller rotatably supported on the upper part;
A swinging arm is pivotally connected to the movable carriage and rotatably supports a lower guide roller that can roll on the guide rail; and a neutral spring that resiliently holds the cart at a predetermined swinging neutral position, and a neutral spring is provided between the movable cart and the swinging arm when the cart swings by a predetermined angle or more from the swinging neutral position around the upper guide rail. A switch mechanism is provided that can stop the frame from running.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Reference numeral 1 denotes a frame formed in a gate shape so that a vehicle can pass through the frame. , 3, and is configured to travel back and forth on the rails 2, 2 by driving a driving motor (not shown).

Guide rails 4, 4 are fixed perpendicularly to opposite sides of the frame 1, and movable carts 6, 6 that rotatably support a brush support shaft 5 have flanges on both sides of the guide rails 4, 4. The carriages 6, 6 are provided so as to be movable up and down via upper and lower guide rollers 7, 8, and the movable carts 6, 6 are moved up and down along guide rails 4, 4 by a lifting device 9, which will be described below.

One end of a chain 11 is tied to the upper edge of each movable cart 6, 6, and the other end is connected to the upper end of a heavy sleeper 14 by suspending first and second pulleys 12, 13 which are pivotally supported on the upper part of the frame 1. At the upper and lower ends of the heavy sleeper 14, as clearly shown in FIG. An elevating chain 18 is connected to a chain wheel 17 that is pivotally supported at the top of the movable cart 6, and the total weight of the supporting members such as the top brush 30, which will be described later, is The sum and the weight of the left and right heavy sleepers 14, 14 are almost balanced.

A driven sprocket 2 is attached to one end of the rotating shaft 15.
1 is fixed, and this driven sprocket 21 is interlocked with a driving sprocket 24 fixed to the output shaft of a brush moving motor 23 via a transmission chain 22.
The rotation shaft 15 is rotated in one direction by the normal rotation drive of the motor 23, the heavy sleepers 14, 14 are raised via the lifting chains 18, 18, the movable carts 6, 6 are lowered, and the motor 23 is rotated in the reverse direction. When driven, the movable carts 6, 6 are raised.

Next, referring to FIGS. 3 to 5, the movable carts 6, 6
To explain the mounting structure of the movable trolleys 6 to the guide rails 4, 4, each movable trolley 6 is supported so as to be able to swing in the moving direction of the frame 1 with the upper guide roller 7 as a fulcrum. The upper guide roller 7 is pivotally supported 7a, and the lower guide roller 8 is pivotally supported at the tip of the swinging arm 25 which is pivotally connected 25a to the lower part of the swing arm 25. Above these, the lower guide roller 7, 8 is adapted to be able to roll vertically along a pair of guide rails 4 fixed perpendicularly to the sides of the frame 1. Further, a neutral spring 26 is stretched between the tip of each swinging arm 25 and the upper part of each movable trolley 6, and the neutral spring 26 allows each movable trolley 6 to pivot between the trolley 6 and the swinging arm 25. 25a and the pivot points 7a and 8a of both guide rollers 7 and 8 are biased and held at a swinging neutral position (FIG. 4) in which they are aligned in a straight line.

A limit switch 27 is provided at one end of the swinging side of the movable carts 6, 6, and the limit switch 27 causes the movable cart 6 to move around the pivot point 7a of the upper guide roller 7 against the set load of the neutral spring 26. When the swinging arm 2 swings more than a certain angle in the moving direction of the frame 1 from the swinging neutral position perpendicular to the
5 is actuated by an actuator 28 protruding from the base end of the frame 1 to stop all operations of the brush moving motor 23, a brush drive motor 29 (described later), and a driving motor (not shown) of the frame 1. It's summery.

A brush drive motor 2 is installed on one side of the movable carts 6, 6.
9 is provided, and the operation of this motor 29 rotationally drives the brush support shaft 5 rotatably supported between the movable carts 6 and 6 through a transmission mechanism (not shown), and the brush support shaft 5 fixed thereto is used for cleaning the upper surface of the car body. The top brush 30 for use can be rotated.

The operation of the brush moving motor 23 is controlled by a torque detector (not shown) that detects the rotational torque of the brush drive motor 29. It is configured to detect electric power and control the brush moving motor 23 in forward and reverse directions, and as shown in FIG. /h) In the following cases, switch the operation switching circuit to the A side and drive the brush moving motor 23 in normal rotation to lower the top brush 30, and if the rotational torque of the brush drive motor 29 does not recover to the set range at this time, The top brush 30 is then lowered to the lower limit position, and a lower limit switch (not shown) is turned on to operate the driving motor (not shown) and stop the brush moving motor 23.
Also, the rotational torque of the brush drive motor 29 is within the set range (for example, the power consumption of the motor 29 is 341 to 490W/
h), the operation of the brush moving motor 23 is stopped by the torque detector, the driving prime mover is continuously driven, the frame 1 continues to travel, and the rotational torque of the brush driving motor 29 is set. When the power consumption of the motor 29 exceeds the range (for example, the power consumption of the motor 29 is 490 W/h), the brush moving motor 23 is driven in reverse by the torque detector to raise the top brush 30, and the driving motor is continuously driven to move the frame 1. Continue running and switch the operation switching circuit to the B side. At this time, when the rotational torque of the brush drive motor 29 increases beyond the set range and exceeds a predetermined maximum value (for example, the power consumption of the motor 29 is 560 W/h), the brush moving motor 23, the brush drive motor 29, and It is designed to stop all operation of the driving motor.

Next, the operation of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

Now, when a start button (not shown) of the car wash device is pressed, the brush drive motor 29 is started and the top brush 30 is rotationally driven. At this time, the top brush 30 is held at the upper limit position (FIG. 7A) and idles, and its rotational torque is lower than the set range, so the brush drive motor 23 is driven in the normal rotation to drive the movable carts 6, 6. The top brush 30 is lowered along the guide rails 4, 4, thereby also moving the top brush 30 supported between the movable carts 6, 6 downward. When the top brush 30 reaches the lower limit position (FIG. 7B), the lower limit switch (not shown) is activated, the brush moving motor 23 is deactivated, and the driving motor (not shown) is driven, and the frame 1 is stopped at the car wash position. Then, the vehicle V starts traveling.

When the frame 1 moves forward and reaches the front end of the vehicle V (FIG. 7C), the top brush 30 comes into contact with the front end of the vehicle body, and its surface pressure, that is, rotational torque increases.
When this increases beyond a preset range, the brush moving motor 23 is driven in reverse by a torque detector (not shown) to raise the top brush 30, and when the rotational torque decreases to the set range, the brush moving motor 23 is driven in reverse. The top brush 30 stops rising and is held in that position (Fig. 7D), and in this state, as the frame 1 moves forward, it cleans the bonnet surface B at the front of the vehicle body (Fig. 7D).
Figure E).

When the top brush 30 reaches the front window surface F of the vehicle body (FIG. 7 F), the surface pressure, that is, the rotational torque exceeds the set range and the brush moving motor 23
is reversely driven by a torque detector to raise the top brush 30. When the rotational torque of the top brush 30 drops to the set range due to the rise of the top brush 30,
The torque detector deactivates the brush moving motor 23 and stops the top brush 30 from rising, and thereafter the top brush 30 cleans the front window surface F while repeating rising and stopping.

When the top brush 30 finishes cleaning the front window surface F and reaches the roof surface R (FIG. 7G),
The surface pressure of the top brush 30, that is, the rotational torque is within the set range, and the top brush 30 cleans the roof surface R while being maintained at a constant height (7th
Figure H).

Subsequently, when the top brush 30 reaches the rear end of the roof surface R (Fig. 7 I), the rotational torque of the top brush 30 decreases below the set range, and the brush moving motor 23 is rotated in the normal direction by the operation of the torque detector. The top brush 30 is lowered. top brush 3
When the rotational torque rises to the set range due to the lowering of the top brush 30, the brush moving motor 23 is deactivated and the top brush 30 stops lowering. Thereafter, the top brush 30 cleans the rear window surface W while repeating lowering and stopping.

When the top brush 30 finishes cleaning the rear window surface W and reaches the trunk lid surface T (FIG. 7J), the rotational torque of the top brush 30 increases beyond the set range, and the brush moving motor 23 is activated by the operation of the torque detector. Top brush 3 is driven in reverse
0, and when the rotational torque decreases to the set range, the brush moving motor 23 becomes inactive and stops raising the top brush 30. From then on, the top brush 30 remains at a constant height and moves toward the trunk lid surface T. (Fig. 7 K).

When the top brush 30 separates from the rear end of the vehicle V (FIG. 7L), the rotational torque of the top brush 30 decreases below the set range, and the brush moving motor 23 is driven to rotate in the normal direction by the action of the torque detector. Lower 30. When the top brush 30 has descended to the lower limit position (M in Fig. 7),
A lower limit switch (not shown) is activated to deactivate the brush moving motor 23 and the driving motor (not shown) to stop the forward movement of the frame 1, and a timer (not shown) is activated. The moving motor 23 is reversed again to raise the top brush 30. When the top brush 30 reaches the upper limit position (FIG. 7N), an upper limit switch (not shown) is activated to disable the brush moving motor 23 and drive the driving motor (not shown) in reverse to move the frame 1. Return to the starting position and complete the cleaning process.

In the above cleaning process, the bonnet surface B, roof surface R, trunk lid surface T, etc. of the vehicle V are described as being substantially flat surfaces for convenience, but if these surfaces are slanted or have protruding objects such as taxi marking lights or ski carriers, If the top brush 30 is equipped with a torque detector, the top brush 30
Of course, cleaning can be carried out while raising and lowering the machine.

Incidentally, since the traveling speed of the frame 1 and the vertical speed of the movable carts 6, 6 are normally set to be substantially constant during car washing, the top brush 30 may not be able to accurately follow the top surface of the vehicle body depending on the shape of the top surface of the vehicle body.
In this case, when the surface pressure of the top brush 30 increases more than a predetermined value, each movable carriage 6 moves toward the upper guide roller 7.
The top brush 30 is swung in the direction of movement of the frame 1 using the shaft support 7a as a fulcrum, thereby reducing the surface pressure of the top brush 30 to an appropriate value, whereby the surface pressure of the top brush 30 is always maintained substantially constant.

Also, when cleaning the top of the car body, temporarily use the top brush 30.
If the top brush 30 comes into contact with special parts protruding from the top of the vehicle and becomes impossible to clean, remove the top brush 30.
Since the rotational torque exceeds the set range and becomes larger than the set load of the neutral spring 26, the swing arm 25 rotates around the lower guide roller 8 from the vertical position by more than a predetermined angle as the movable cart 6 swings. The limit switch 27 is actuated by an actuator 28 protruding from the swing arm 25 to stop all operations of the brush moving motor 23, the brush drive motor 29, and the driving motor, thereby ensuring the safety of the device. It's getting old.

In the above embodiment, the top brush 30, the brush support shaft 5, and the brush drive motor 29 cooperate with each other to operate the top brush device B of the present invention, as well as the movable cart 6, the swinging arm 25, and the upper and lower guide rollers 7, 8. The neutral spring 26 and the neutral spring 26 cooperate with each other to constitute the support device S of the present invention, and the limit switch 27 and the actuator 28 cooperate with each other to constitute the switch mechanism Sw of the present invention.

As described above, according to the present invention, a guide rail extending in the vertical direction is provided on the side of a gate-shaped frame that can reciprocate in the front-rear direction while straddling the vehicle, and a support device that can move up and down along the guide rail. The frame includes a lifting device that supports a top brush device for brushing the top surface of the vehicle body and drives the support device up and down so that the top brush device moves along the top surface of the vehicle body as the traveling frame travels. In the car wash machine, the support device is connected at its upper end to the lifting device and at its lower end to the top brush device, and has an upper guide rail that can roll on the guide rail connected to the upper end. a movable trolley rotatably supported on the movable trolley; a swinging arm pivotally connected to the movable trolley and rotatably supporting a lower guide roller that can roll on the guide rail; and a neutral spring stretched between the arm and the movable carriage to elastically hold the carriage at a predetermined swinging neutral position,
A switch mechanism is provided between the movable cart and the swing arm, which can stop the movement of the frame when the cart swings around the upper guide roller from the swinging neutral position by a predetermined angle or more. When the device moves along the top surface of the vehicle body as the traveling frame travels, if the contact pressure increases due to the shape of the top surface of the vehicle body, etc., the top brush device will move against the biasing force of the neutral spring and move along the top brush device. The frame can be oscillated, and when the amount of oscillation exceeds a certain amount, the switch mechanism is activated and the movement of the frame is automatically stopped.As a result, the contact pressure increases excessively and the top brush device And damage to the vehicle body surface can be reliably prevented. Moreover, the neutral spring can also function as a buffer spring when the top brush device comes into forceful contact with the vehicle body surface.
It is possible to reduce the impact that the traveling frame receives upon contact, and when the top brush device is not activated, the biasing force of the neutral spring prevents the movable trolley and therefore the top brush device from swinging uncontrollably. It can be suppressed. Furthermore, since the movable cart of the support device can always swing smoothly regardless of the vertical position of the support device, the automatic stop mechanism of the frame can be operated without any problem in any vertical position of the top brush device. .

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawing shows one embodiment of the device of the present invention.
Figure 1 is a schematic front view of the vehicle, Figure 2 is a side view of its main parts, Figure 3 is a partial enlarged cross-sectional view showing how the moving trolley is attached to the guide rail, and Figures 4 and 5 are each showing the moving trolley. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the operating order of the device of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is an action diagram showing the operating state of the top brush device during cleaning. . B...Top brush device, S...Support device,
Sw...Switch mechanism, V...Vehicle, 1...Frame, 4...Guide rail, 6...Moving trolley,
7, 8... Upper and lower guide rollers, 7a, 8a...
... Pivotal support, 9 ... Lifting device, 25 ... Swinging arm, 25
a... Pivotal connection, 26... Neutral spring.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A guide rail 4 extending in the vertical direction is provided on the side of a gate-shaped frame 1 that can reciprocate in the longitudinal direction across the vehicle, and the upper surface of the vehicle body is attached to a support device S that can move up and down along the guide rail 4. A lifting device 9 is attached to the frame 1 and is capable of supporting a top brush device B for brushing and cleaning and driving the support device S up and down so that the top brush device B moves along the upper surface of the vehicle body as the traveling frame 1 travels. and a support device S, the support device S has an upper end connected to the lifting device 9 and a lower end connected to the top brush device B, and rolls on the guide rail 4. A movable trolley 6 has an upper guide roller 7 pivotably supported on the upper part thereof, and a lower guide roller 8 which is pivotably connected to the movable trolley 6 and can roll on the guide rail 4 is rotated. It includes a swinging arm 25 that is pivotably supported 8a, and a neutral spring 26 that is stretched between the swinging arm 25 and the movable trolley 6 to resiliently hold the trolley 6 at a predetermined swinging neutral position,
A switch mechanism Sw is provided between the movable cart 6 and the swinging arm 25, which can stop the movement of the frame 1 when the cart 6 swings around the upper guide roller 7 from the swinging neutral position by a predetermined angle or more. A safety device for a car wash machine, which is characterized by: