JPH0437356B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a gate-type car wash machine, and more specifically, it washes a car using a rotating brush, and blows air onto the car body from a drying nozzle to remove water droplets that have adhered to the car body after washing. This relates to a gate-type car wash machine that blows dry air.

[Prior art] A gate-type car wash machine uses a rotating brush to wash a car, and then blows air from a drying nozzle onto the car body to blow off any residual washing water droplets that remain on the car body and dry the car. Already known.

By the way, in this type of conventional gate-type car wash machine, the opening of the drying nozzle's outlet is provided facing almost vertically downward, and moreover, it is located close to a protrusion such as a side mirror protruding from the car body surface. In order to avoid collision between the drying nozzle and the vehicle body, a certain distance is preset between the lowering point of the drying nozzle and the vehicle body. Therefore, the air is blown at a certain distance, and the cleaning water droplets that remain on the car body are scattered and blown away in all directions, so they do not re-adhere to the dry car body. Furthermore, since there is a gap between the drying nozzle and the car body, the force of blowing away the cleaning water droplets is relatively weakened by the time the air reaches the car body, making it difficult to carry out the drying process efficiently. There were some drawbacks that I couldn't overcome.

[Problems to be Solved] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a gate-type car wash that can blow away professional water droplets that have adhered to a car body during drying work in the direction of the car body that is about to be dried, thereby effectively drying the car body. We are here to provide you with a machine.

[Means for Solving the Problem] According to the present invention, in a gate-type car wash machine that washes a car using a rotating brush and dries the car body by blowing air onto the car body from a drying nozzle to blow off water droplets that adhere to the car body after washing, the drying nozzle A plate made of a soft material is swingably provided on the rear end side in the direction of movement of the nozzle at the opening edge of the main body, and near the opening edge in the main body controls the blowing direction of air. A wind direction control blade is provided, and an angle changing device is provided to control the wind direction control blade.

[Description of Effects] Therefore, the drying air is sent in the moving direction of the main body of the nozzle by the wind direction control vanes and the plate. Therefore, the blown water droplets are always sent in the direction of drying, so that the water droplets do not re-adhere to already dry parts of the vehicle body. Therefore, it is not necessary to manually wipe off residual water droplets after the drying process, and furthermore, the drying efficiency can be significantly improved, and the efficiency of the drying work can be improved.

In particular, according to the present invention, the wind direction control blades are controlled by the angle changing device, so that the outflow direction of the air reliably flows in the moving direction of the nozzle. Therefore, substantially drying air flows suitably along the surface of the vehicle body and no residual water droplets are formed.

[Examples] Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Figures 1 and 2 show an example of the overall configuration of a gate-type car wash machine in which the present invention is implemented, in which air is blown onto a vehicle body (not shown) in a gate-type frame 1 to spray cleaning water droplets. A top nozzle 2 and a side nozzle 3 are drying nozzles for spraying and drying, and a washing water nozzle 4 is used for spraying washing water (or water mixed with detergent) or finishing wax for washing the car body. A top brush 5 that brushes the roof of the vehicle, a rocker brush 6 that primarily brushes around the tires of the vehicle and the bottom of the doors, a side brush 7 that primarily brushes the front, rear, and side surfaces of the vehicle, and a vehicle height sensor that detects the vehicle height. 10 are provided. As the vehicle height sensor 10, various types such as an ultrasonic type, an optical electromagnetic wave type, or a contact type can be used.

The frame body 1 is provided with an operation switch 8, and by turning on the operation switch 8, the frame body 1 travels back and forth on the rails 9 based on a preset program, and during that time it is mounted on a vehicle. Predetermined cleaning work is to be performed.

The top nozzle 2 is attached to the front part of the frame body 1 via a parallel link 11, and is raised and lowered by a lifting mechanism 12 that operates based on a detection signal from a vehicle height sensor 10. During the drying process, the top nozzle 2 serves as an air outlet. 1
7 is positioned at a constant distance from the surface of the vehicle body.

Note that the height of the top nozzle 2 is the same as that of the parallel link 1.
It is detected by a rotary encoder 13 that is linked to the rotary encoder 1 and fed back to the elevating mechanism 12.

The top nozzle 2 includes a main body 16 and a plate 17 serving as an air outlet. It is connected to a blower (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 3, the plate member 17 serving as an air outlet in the top nozzle 2 is formed of a flexible member made of, for example, soft rubber. The opening edge of the main body 16 of the top nozzle 2 is marked in the direction of movement (indicated by an arrow).
A plate is swingably provided on the rear end side. That is, this plate body 17 is made of soft rubber or the like,
Opening edge 19 located on the opposite side to the arrow direction shown in the figure
It is attached by means of a pivot means 20 or suitable attachment means. Wind direction control blades 21 are disposed within the main body 16, so that the direction of air blowing can be more reliably controlled via the degree changing device 22. In other words, the presence of the wind direction control blades 21 forcibly restricts the blowing direction of air in the direction of the car body C before entering the drying process, and prevents the air blown onto the car body C from scattering in all directions. Therefore, it is possible to effectively prevent cleaning water droplets from re-adhering to the vehicle body C after the drying process. Note that the tip of the side nozzle 3 is also formed of a flexible member.

Therefore, during operation, when blowing air onto the car body C with the top nozzle 2 in the drying process, the plate body 17 following the main body part 16 can be brought close to the car body C, and the plate body 17 Since it is formed using a flexible member such as soft rubber, even if it comes into contact with a protrusion such as a side mirror protruding from the vehicle body C, it can flexibly flex according to the shape of the protrusion. Therefore, the dry layer process can be smoothly completed while moving the nozzle without damaging these protrusions.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the following excellent effects are achieved.

(1) Drying air can be reliably blown out in the direction of movement of the nozzle using the plate and wind direction control blades.

(2) Water droplets do not scatter toward the vehicle body that has already undergone the drying process, and there is no need for subsequent wiping work.

(3) By moving the wind direction control blades to the appropriate position in advance, drying work can be performed appropriately according to the shape of the car body.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show embodiments of the present invention.
The figure is a schematic overall perspective view, and Figure 2 is a schematic side view showing the arrangement of various devices in the frame shown in Figure 1.
FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway side view showing the structure of the tip of the top nozzle as a dry air outlet. 2...Top nozzle, 14...Support, 16
...Body part, 17...Plate body, 19...Opening edge,
20... Pivoting means, 21... Wind direction control blade, 22
...Angle change device, C...Car body.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a gate-type car wash machine that washes a car with a rotating brush and then blows air from a drying nozzle onto the car body to blow off the water droplets that have adhered to the car body and dry it, the nozzle is A plate made of a soft material is swingably provided on the rear end side in the direction of movement of the main body, and wind direction control vanes for controlling the direction of air blowing are provided near the opening edge in the main body. A gate-type car wash machine characterized by being equipped with a controlling angle changing device.