JPH0472741B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] A. Object of the Invention (1) Industrial Application Field The present invention relates to a brush device for washing the upper surface of a car body in a car wash machine installed at a gas station, etc., and particularly relates to a brush device for washing the top surface of a car body in a car wash machine installed at a gas station, etc. Accordingly, the present invention relates to a brush device for washing the upper surface of a vehicle body having an upper surface brush rotatably supported at the tip of a swinging arm.

(2) Prior Art A brush device for washing the upper surface of a car body in a conventional car wash machine will be explained with reference to FIG. In the figure, X ₁ is the front and X ₂ is the rear.

Straddling the car V in its front and back direction (X ₁ - X ₂ direction)
A swinging arm 03, which has an upper surface brush 02 for washing the upper surface of the vehicle body rotatably supported at its tip, is fixed to the swinging arm 03 so as to be able to swing back and forth. A cylinder device 05 is supported via a pivot shaft 04 provided, and is provided between the swinging arm 03 and the gate-shaped traveling frame 01, which can swing the swinging arm 03 when it is expanded or contracted. There is. This cylinder device 05 swingably supports the upper surface brush 02 at a hanging position Pa hanging below the pivot shaft 04 when the cylinder device 05 is not in operation. and,
When the cylinder device 05 is extended when the upper surface brush 02 is in the hanging position Pa, the upper surface brush 02
rises to the first rising position _P1 .

Further, the gate-shaped traveling frame 01 is provided with a pair of left and right side brushes 06 for washing the side surfaces of the automobile V, and an upper nozzle 07 for blowing air onto the upper surface of the automobile V to dry the upper surface. It is set up.

A car wash machine U is constituted by the above-mentioned components 01 to 07.

Next, a description will be given of the operation when the car wash machine U is used to wash the automobile V during the outbound trip and to dry the automobile V during the return trip, for example.

When traveling, the cylinder device 05 is held in a non-operating state, and while the upper brush 02 is rotated in the _R1 direction, the car wash U located at the left end in FIG. 3 is moved backward (in the direction of the arrow _X2 ). let When the cylinder device 05 is in the non-operating state, the upper surface brush 02 is swingably hanging down, so that it brushes the upper surface of the automobile V while swinging as shown in FIG. 3 a, b, c, and d. Then, wash the car V.

During the go-around, the upper brush 02 is raised to the first raised position P ₁ above the vehicle V so that the air blown from the upper nozzle 07 reaches the upper surface of the vehicle V, and then the upper brush 02 is moved to the car wash U. Move forward (X ₁ direction).

(3) Problems to be Solved by the Invention Incidentally, when the cylinder device 05 is extended when the upper brush 02 is raised from the hanging position Pa to the first lifting position _P1 , the upper brush 02 is moved directly below the pivot shaft 04. If the upper brush does not exceed a predetermined swing turning position Pb that is deviated by a predetermined amount rearward than the hanging position Pa (in this position, the pivot 04 is on the extended axis of the cylinder device 05 in FIG. 02 swings forward and rises towards the first rising position _P1 .

However, due to strong winds or because the upper brush 02 has recently separated from the rear end of the automobile V, the upper brush 02 is oscillating and is at the oscillating turning position.
When the cylinder device 05 is extended when it is located behind Pb, the upper brush 02 swings counterclockwise in FIG. 5 to a second raised position opposite to the desired first raised position _P1 . There is a risk that it will move to _P2 . In this case, the upper brush 02 prevents the drying air blown from the upper nozzle 07 from reaching the upper surface of the vehicle V.

This inconvenience is caused by the fact that even though the upper brush 02 hanging down freely is in a state where it can swing beyond the swing turning position Pb, the position of the upper brush 02 is not confirmed. This occurs because 05 is activated.

The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and
When the cylinder device for swinging the upper brush is operated with the upper brush hanging down, the upper brush is always raised in a predetermined direction, which causes the brush to rise in the opposite direction. To provide a brush device for washing the upper surface of a car body in a car wash machine, which can reliably prevent the occurrence of troubles.

B. Structure of the Invention (1) Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a gate-shaped traveling frame that can move back and forth in the front and rear directions of the vehicle, and has an upper brush rotatably driven at the tip thereof. The swinging arm is supported via a pivot so that it can swing back and forth, and the swinging arm is provided between the swinging arm and the gate-shaped traveling frame so that it can freely swing back and forth when the swinging arm is not in operation. A cylinder device is provided, and when the cylinder device is actuated in one direction, if the upper brush is in the vicinity of the hanging position directly below the pivot, the swinging arm is moved to raise the upper brush toward a predetermined raised position. The tip of the swinging arm is swung in one direction in the front-back direction, and if the upper brush is at a position beyond the swing turning position where the upper brush is deviated from the hanging position by a predetermined amount in the other direction in the back-and-forth direction, the tip of the swinging arm is moved in the other direction in the back-and-forth direction. A swinging brush device for washing the upper surface of a car body in a car wash machine includes a swing position detection member capable of detecting whether or not the top brush has exceeded the swing turning position; and a control device that operates the cylinder device in the one direction if the swing position detection member detects that the upper surface brush does not exceed the swing turning position when the brush is raised toward the raised position. It is characterized by

(2) Effect According to the above configuration, when the upper brush is raised from a hanging state toward a predetermined raised position, the swing position detection member confirms that the upper brush does not exceed the swing turning position. If the upper brush is rocking back and forth due to strong winds or because it has recently left the end of the vehicle, the cylinder device can be started to operate.
The cylinder device is deactivated while the brush exceeds the swing turning position, and can be activated as soon as the brush no longer exceeds the swing turning position. As a result, when the cylinder device is operated, the upper brush can always be raised toward the predetermined raised position.

(3) Embodiment Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. In addition, in the figure, the X ₁ direction is the front, and the X ₂ direction is the front.
Let's say the direction is backward, the _Y1 direction is leftward, and the _Y2 direction is rightward.

The car wash machine 1 includes a gate-shaped running frame 2 that straddles a car (not shown), and a pair of front and rear wheels 3 provided on the gate-shaped running frame 2 are mounted on a pair of left and right running rails 4 that extend along the front-rear direction of the car. will be placed on. The gate-shaped traveling frame 2 is provided with a traveling drive device M ₁ capable of driving one wheel 3, and this traveling drive device M ₁
Due to _the operation _of
It is possible to drive.

The gate-shaped traveling frame 2 is provided with a rotating brush device B, a drying device D, and a control panel C that controls the operation of these devices B and D. The rotating brush device B has a top brush 5 and a pair of left and right side brushes. 6.

The upper brush 5 is rotated in the front-rear direction (X _{1 -} ) is swingably supported. The pivot shaft 7 is fixed to each intermediate portion of both swing arms A, and the support shaft 5a of the upper brush 5 is rotatably supported at each line end thereof. A prime mover _M2 is provided at the base end of one (right) swinging arm A, and its output is transmitted via a winding transmission mechanism (not shown) provided inside the one swinging arm A. and is transmitted to the support shaft 5a. A balance weight W is fixed to the base end (top end in FIG. 2) of the other (left) swinging arm A, and a pivot 7 connected to the other (left) swinging arm A is fixed to the base end (upper end in FIG. 2). An arm 8 is fixed to the outer end, and a pivot connecting pin 12 that projects outward is fixed to the tip of the arm 8. This pivot connection pin 12 has an air cylinder 1 pivotably supported 9 on the gate-shaped traveling frame 2.
The tips of the piston rods 11 of 0 are pivotally connected. When the air cylinder 10 is extended, if the upper brush 5 is in the vicinity of the hanging position Pa directly below the pivot shaft 7 as shown by the solid line in FIG. 1, the tip of the swinging arm A is forced to swing clockwise in FIG. As a result, the upper brush 5 is finally swingably held at the first raised position P ₁ (see FIG. 1). Also, the top brush 5
is behind the swing turning position Pb which is displaced by a predetermined amount backward from the hanging position Pa (at this position, the axis l of the air cylinder 10 and that of the arm 8 are aligned in a straight line), That is, the pivot connecting pin 12 between the piston rod 11 and the arm 8
is behind the consideration point, the air cylinder 10 is extended to swing backward, and the upper brush 5 eventually reaches the second raised position P ₂ (the first (see figure). In this way, the air cylinder 10 and the arm 8 cooperate with each other to constitute the cylinder device 13 of the present invention, and its operation is controlled by a control panel C, which will be described later. Although not shown, the axis 7
Alternatively, a suitable swing regulating means is provided between the swing arm A and the traveling frame 2 so that the upper brush 5 does not swing above the respective raised positions P ₁ and P ₂ .

The weight of the balance weight W is set so that when the air cylinder 10 is in an inoperative state, the upper brush 5 hangs down due to its own weight and is held at the hanging position Pa, thereby freeing the piston rod 11. When the air cylinder 10 is not in operation, the upper brush 5 can appropriately swing back and forth depending on the shape of the upper surface when it receives contact pressure with the upper surface of the vehicle body.

A cam 15 is fixed to one (right) pivot shaft 7, and a limit switch LS is provided on the gate-shaped traveling frame 2 in correspondence with this cam 15. The limit switch LS engages with the large-diameter arcuate surface 15a of the cam 15 only when the upper brush 5 is behind the swing turning position Pb, becomes activated, and sends a detection signal to the control device 14 described below. In this way, the switch LS and the cam 15 cooperate with each other to constitute the swing position detection member S of the present invention.

The control panel C is used when cleaning or drying various types of automobiles, such as ordinary automobiles, automobiles with protrusions such as rectifying plates on the rear upper surface of the vehicle body, or automobiles with a high vehicle height and a substantially vertical rear surface. a control device 14 that controls the operation of the cylinder device 13 to move the upper brush 5 to a predetermined raised position;
A switch Sw, etc., which can selectively switch the operation mode of the control device 14 is provided.

Further, the drying device D includes an upper surface nozzle D ₁ arranged downward at the upper rear side of the gate-shaped traveling frame 2, and side nozzles D ₂ arranged on both left and right sides.
And the top nozzle D ₁ and the side nozzle D ₂
Air for drying the car body is blown out from there.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained.

First, an example will be described in which the surface of a car is brushed both when the car wash machine 1 goes out and when it goes back, and then an example in which the car is brushed when it goes out and dried when it goes back will be explained.

As shown by the solid line in FIG. 3, the forward position (third
With the gate type traveling frame 2 located at the left end position in the figure), the air cylinder 10 being inactive (free), and the upper brush 5 lowered to the hanging position Pa, the prime mover M ₂ is driven to move the upper brush 5. The frame ₂ is rotated counterclockwise, and the traveling drive device M1 is further driven to cause the traveling frame 2 to travel rearward (in the _X2 direction). Thereby, the upper surface brush 5 can brush the upper surface of the vehicle V while swinging forward of the gate-shaped traveling frame 2 according to the shape of the upper surface of the vehicle V. When the gantry traveling frame 2 further travels and the upper brush 5 separates from the vehicle body surface, the upper brush 5 is held at the hanging position Pa by its own weight, and the gantry traveling frame 2 moves to the rear end position (the right end position in Fig. 3). reach and stop.

Next, while holding the upper brush 5 in the hanging position Pa, the prime mover M ₂ is reversed to rotate the upper brush 5 clockwise, and the travel drive device M ₁ is reversely driven to drive the portal travel frame 2 forward. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the upper brush 5 swings toward the rear of the gate-shaped traveling frame 2 according to the upper surface shape of the automobile V.
The top surface of the automobile V can be brushed.
When the gantry traveling frame 2 further travels and the upper brush 5 separates from the vehicle body surface, the upper brush 5 is held at the hanging position Pa again by its own weight, and the gantry traveling frame 2 returns to the front end position (the left end position in Fig. 3). The brushing process is completed.

Next, an example will be described in which the upper surface of the vehicle V is brushed when going out and the vehicle is dried when going back.

The movement of the gate-shaped traveling frame 2 is the same as described above.

When drying the vehicle body during the go-around trip, a switch on the control panel C is operated to select the vehicle body drying mode. Then, the limit switch
The air cylinder 10 extends only when LS is not engaged with the large-diameter circular arc surface 15a of the cam 15 (that is, when the upper brush 5 has not exceeded the swing turning position Pb). At this time, the upper brush 5 swings clockwise around the pivot shaft 7 and is held at a predetermined first raised position _P1 . With the upper brush 5 held at this first raised position _P1 ,
The car washer 1 is driven back while blowing out air from the top nozzle D ₁ and the side nozzle D ₂ .

According to the embodiment described above, when the upper brush 5 is raised to the predetermined first raised position _P1 , it is possible to detect that the upper brush 5 has swung to a position beyond the swing turning position Pb. The control device 14 is configured to cause the air cylinder 10 of the cylinder device 13 to extend when the position of the upper brush 5 detected by the swing position detection member S has not reached the swing turning position Pb. Therefore, when the air cylinder 10 is extended, the swing arm A
The tip thereof reliably swings in a predetermined direction in the longitudinal direction (forward in this embodiment), and at this time, the upper brush 5 is moved to a predetermined first raised position _P1 that does not interfere with the upper nozzle _D1 . You can definitely raise it.

In this case, the upper brush does not prevent the drying air blown from the upper nozzle from reaching the upper surface of the vehicle V.

Although the embodiments of the brush device for washing the upper surface of a car body in a car wash machine according to the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and the present invention may deviate from the scope of the claims. It is possible to make various minor design changes without having to do so.

For example, instead of configuring the limit switch Ls to operate only when the upper brush 5 is behind the swing turning position Pb, the limit switch Ls is activated only when the upper brush 5 is ahead of the swing turning position Pb. It is also possible to configure it to do so.

C Effect of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a swing position detection member that can detect whether the top brush has exceeded the swing rotation position, and a swing position detection member that can detect whether the top brush has exceeded the swing rotation position, and a swing position detection member that can move the top brush from a hanging state to a predetermined raised position. When the top brush is raised, if the swing position detection member detects that the top brush has not exceeded the swing rotation position, the control device operates the cylinder device in one direction. When raising toward the raised position, the operation of the cylinder device can be started after confirming with the swing position detection member that the top brush has not exceeded the swing turning position. Even if the brush swings back and forth due to strong winds or because it has recently left the end of the vehicle, the cylinder device should be operated immediately after waiting until the upper brush does not exceed the swing turning position. Therefore, the upper brush can be raised toward the predetermined raised position as quickly and reliably as possible, thereby improving the processing efficiency of the car wash machine. It is possible to prevent troubles caused by rising in the opposite direction.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 4 show a first embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional side view, FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of main parts, and FIGS. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional example. A...Swinging arm, _D1 ...Top nozzle, _P1 ...First raised position, Pa...Drooping position, Pb...Swinging turning position, S...Swinging position detection member, V...Car ,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Car wash machine, 2...Gate type running frame, 5...Top surface brush, 7...Pivot, 13...Cylinder device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A swinging arm A having an upper brush 5 rotatably supported at its tip is mounted on a gate-shaped running frame 1 capable of reciprocating in the front-rear direction while straddling the automobile V, via a pivot 7 so as to be able to swing in the back-and-forth direction. The swing arm A is supported between the swing arm A and the portal traveling frame 2 when the swing arm A is not in operation.
A cylinder device 13 is provided that allows free back-and-forth rocking, and when the cylinder device 13 is operated in one direction, the upper brush 5 is placed in a hanging position directly below the pivot shaft 7.
If it is near Pa, move the upper brush 5 to the specified raised position.
The tip of the swinging arm A is swung in one direction in the front and back direction in order to raise it toward _P1 , and the top brush 5
In a car wash machine, the tip of the swinging arm A is swung in the other direction in the front and back direction when the swing arm A is at a position beyond the swing turning position Pb which is deviated from the hanging position Pa by a predetermined amount in the other direction in the front and rear directions. In the brush device for car washing on the upper surface of a vehicle body, the upper surface brush 5 is in the swing turning position.
A swinging position detection member S capable of detecting whether or not Pb has been exceeded, and a swinging position detecting member S that can detect whether or not the swinging position _Pb has been exceeded, and a control device 14 for operating the cylinder device 13 in the one direction when the swing position detection member S detects that the swing position detection member S does not exceed the above-mentioned swing position.