JPH05112212A - Car washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a car washing machine which can wash a car with large height and which can suppress the size of the machine body to the conventional magnitude. CONSTITUTION:A top brush 3 is rotated by a motor 34 through sprockets 35, 36 and an endless rotor 37, and an air cylinder 26 is operated to rotate a left and a right arm 31, 41, which elevates and sinks the top brush 3, and simultaneous drive of air cylinders 30, 41 causes a left and a right movable frame 24, 38 to rotate the same angle round shafts 28, 39 and rise, whereby the levels of shafts 23, 33 of left and right arms 21, 31 are heightened, and as a result, the level of the whole mechanism of top brush 3 is heightened. This enables to judge the car type from the height of the car 9, adjust the level of the whole mechanism of top brush, and to wash even the oversurface of a large sized car, wherein the size of the body of washing machine can remain as conventional because the strokes of the too brush 3 are not extended.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a car wash machine installed in a gas station and used for washing a car.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The construction of a conventional general car washing machine will be described with reference to FIGS. The gate-type car washer body 1 has a pair of left and right side brushes 2 for cleaning the front and rear surfaces and side surfaces of the vehicle 9 for cleaning and waxing the vehicle 9.
The top brush 3 for cleaning the upper surface of the vehicle, a pair of left and right rocker brushes 4 for cleaning the rocker part of the vehicle 9, various arches of detergent, water, etc. are incorporated, and the side surface of the vehicle 9 for further drying. A pair of left and right side nozzles 5 for ejecting wind to the vehicle, a vertically movable top nozzle 6 for ejecting wind to the upper surface of the vehicle 9, and a pair of left and right blower devices 7 for communicating the air to both nozzles 5 and 6 at the same time are incorporated. Has been.
Each of the blower devices 7 is operated by a motor 8 that rotates at a constant speed. Further, a sonic sensor 11 for detecting the vehicle height of the vehicle 9 is incorporated in the upper front portion of the car wash machine body 1.

In such a conventional car wash machine, the car wash main body 1 is first driven in the car wash stroke, the vehicle type of the vehicle 9 is determined by the vehicle height of the vehicle 9 detected by the sonic sensor 11, and according to the vehicle type, Detergent or water is sprayed, the brushes 2, 3 and 4 are driven to wash the vehicle 9, and the vehicle 9 that has been subjected to the intended car wash is caused to go backward in the car wash machine 1 in the drying process. Air is blown from the nozzles 5 and 6 toward the vehicle 9 to dry the water drops after the car wash.

As shown in FIG. 6, the top brush 3 is rotated around a fulcrum A with a constant stroke L to move up and down to clean the upper surface of the vehicle 9. Further, the operation of the car wash machine is configured to be performed by an operation surface (panel) 10 provided on the front surface of the car wash machine body 1.

[0005]

However, in the conventional car wash machine, when the vehicle 9 to be washed is a large vehicle such as a wagon, the stroke L of the top brush 3 is constant as shown in FIG. Moreover, since the rotation angle Θ around the fulcrum A is constant, it does not rise to the upper surface of the vehicle 9, and in the case of a large vehicle, there is a problem that the upper surface of the vehicle 9 cannot be washed.
Further, if the stroke L of the top brush 3 is lengthened, the width of the car wash machine body 1 in the traveling direction (front-back direction) indicated by the arrow B becomes long, the car wash machine body 1 itself becomes large, and a wide installation place is required. There was a problem.

The present invention solves the above problems,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a car wash machine capable of cleaning a vehicle having a high vehicle height and suppressing the size of the car wash machine body to the original size.

[0007]

In order to solve the above problems, a car washing machine of the present invention is provided with a brush that is horizontally supported by the tips of a pair of arms and that is raised and lowered by the rotation of the arms to wash the upper surface of the vehicle. Further, the car wash main body is provided with a vehicle height detecting means for detecting the vehicle height of the vehicle and an operating means for rotating the support shafts of the pair of arms. When the vehicle of the vehicle type is detected, a control means for driving the actuating means to rotate the support shaft of the arm upward is provided.

[0008]

With the above structure, when a vehicle of a vehicle type having a predetermined height or higher is detected by the detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means, the actuating means is driven to rotate the support shaft of the arm upward, whereby the arm itself is moved. As a result, the brush upper and lower limit positions rise. Therefore, the upper surface of such a vehicle can be washed and can be realized without extending the stroke of the brush. Therefore, the size of the car wash machine can be maintained as it is.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The same configurations as those of the conventional example shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 are designated by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a main portion of a top brush mechanism of a car wash machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line BB of FIG. Is. The top brush mechanism of the present invention is capable of moving up and down the entire mechanism of the conventional top brush 3.

A balancer 22 that balances the top brush 3 is attached to a left arm 21 that rotatably supports the left end of the top brush 3, and the left arm 21 is fixed to a support shaft 23. Rotate. The support shaft 23 is supported by bearings 25 provided on the movable frame 24, and is rotated by the rotation of an arm 27 fixed to the support shaft 23 by driving an air cylinder 26 installed at the lower end of the movable frame 24. To do. Further, the movable frame 24 is rotatably installed at its upper part by a support shaft 28 and its bearing 29, and its rotation is
It is performed by the air cylinder 30. The rotation of the movable frame 24 is restricted by the stoppers 42 and 43.

The right arm 31 that supports the right end of the top brush 3 has a balancer that balances the top brush 3.
32 is attached, the right arm 31 is fixed to the support shaft 33, and rotates about the support shaft 33. The right arm 31 is provided with a motor as a rotating means for rotating the top brush 3.
34, a sprocket 35 connected to the shaft of the motor 34, a sprocket 36 to which the shaft of the top brush 3 is fixed, and an endless rotating body 37 connecting the sprocket 35, 36. Further, the support shaft 33 is supported by a bearing 39 provided on a movable frame 38, and the movable frame 38 is rotatably installed by a support shaft 54 and its bearing 40 at an upper portion thereof,
The rotation is performed by an air cylinder 41 having the same stroke as the air cylinder 30. The rotation of the movable frame 38 is restricted by the stoppers 44 and 45.

The center of the support shaft 23 and the support shaft 33 are located on the same line, and the center of the support shaft 28 and the support shaft 54 are located on the same line. Is held horizontally.

By the mechanism of the top brush 3, the motor is
The top brush 3 is rotated by the drive of 34 through the sprockets 35, 36 and the endless rotating body 37, and the left and right arms 31, 41 are rotated by the drive of the air cylinder 26, and the top brush 3 is moved up and down. When the cylinders 30 and 41 are driven simultaneously, the left and right movable frames 24 and 38 rotate about the support shafts 28 and 39 at the same angle and move up, so that the height positions of the support shafts 23 and 33 of the left and right arms 21 and 31 are increased. Rises, and as a result, the top brush 3 rises in height h as shown in FIGS.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the control system of the car wash machine in one embodiment of the present invention. The control system of the car wash machine is large and built in the car wash machine body 1, and the input interface section
46, an output interface unit 47, a control unit 50 including a microcomputer having a memory unit 48 storing data and programs, and a control control unit 49, an operation panel
10, a sensor system 51 including a sonic sensor 11, a traveling motor (traveling drive device) 52 for traveling in the car wash machine body 1
And a drive system 53 including the mechanism of the top brush 3 and the like, and the control device 50 starts up from the operation panel 10.
An operation signal such as stop and a detection signal of the sensor system 51 are input and stored, and the drive system 53 is controlled according to the operation signal to control the operation of the entire car wash machine body 1.

A control method of the top brush 3 when the water washing course is selected by the control device 50 will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, when a car wash course is set on the operation panel 10 (step-1), the car wash course is stored according to this selection (step-2), and then a car wash start operation signal is input from the operation panel 10. Then, (step-3), first, the traveling motor 52 is driven to move the car wash machine body 1 forward (step-4). Then, it is determined whether the vehicle type of the vehicle 9 to be washed is a large vehicle such as a wagon vehicle having a high vehicle height based on the vehicle height detection signal first input from the sonic sensor 11 (step-5). In this case, the air cylinders 30 and 41 of the top brush 3 are driven to raise the height of the top brush 3 by the height h as described above (step-6). Next, the motor 34 of the top brush 3
To rotate the top brush 3 (step-7),
The vehicle 9 is then responsive to the vehicle height detection signal from the sonic sensor 11.
The air cylinder 26 is driven so that the center of the top brush 3 is located at a constant height above the upper surface of the left and right arms 21,
31 is rotated to clean the upper surface of the vehicle 9 (step-
8). Then, in this state, when the car wash machine body 1 travels to the end position (step-9), the traveling motor 52 is stopped (step-10), and the driving of the motor 34 of the top brush 3 is stopped (step-11). The air cylinder 26 is driven to rotate the left and right arms 21 and 31 to raise the center of the top brush 3 to the highest position (step-12), and the air cylinders 30 and 41 of the top brush 3 are driven to drive the top brush. The height of 3 is lowered by the height h to return to the original height (step -13), and the cleaning is completed. After that, drive the traveling motor 52 and the car wash machine body 1
And the nozzles 5 and 6 according to the vehicle height detection signal from the sonic sensor 11 stored when the car wash machine body 1 moves forward.
Is driven to inject wind into the vehicle 9 to dry the vehicle 9.

By the above operation, when the car wash machine body 1 is washed with water, the vehicle type is determined according to the height of the vehicle 9,
The height of the entire mechanism of the top brush 3 can be selected, so that the upper surface of a large vehicle such as a wagon vehicle can be washed, and the movable frames 24 and 38 are rotated by the air cylinders 30 and 41 to stop the stopper 43, The rigidity of the mechanism of the top brush 3 can be maintained by pressing it against 44 and fixing it.
Can be raised and lowered stably. Furthermore, since it can be realized without extending the stroke of the top brush 3,
The size of the car wash machine body 1 can be realized as it is.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a vehicle of a vehicle type having a predetermined height or higher is detected by the detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means, the actuating means is driven to move the support shaft of the arm upward. By rotating to raise the arm itself and raising the upper and lower limit position of the brush, the upper surface of a large vehicle such as a wagon can be washed, and since the stroke of the brush is not extended, the car wash machine body The size of can be realized as it is, and the installation space can be reduced to the original size.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a main part of a top brush mechanism of a car wash machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view on arrow AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line BB of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control system of the car wash machine in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a cleaning process of the control device of the car wash machine.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the car wash machine.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the car wash machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Car wash main body 3 Top brush 9 Vehicle 11 Sonic sensor (vehicle height detection means) 21, 31 Arm 23, 28, 33, 39 Support shaft 24, 38 Movable frame 26 (for arm rotation) Air cylinder 30, 41 (Movable frame) Air cylinder 34 Motor 47 Control unit 48 Travel motor

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pair of arms are horizontally supported at the tips of the arms,
Vehicle height detection means for detecting the vehicle height of the vehicle, and actuation means for rotating the spindles of the pair of arms, in a car wash main body equipped with a brush for raising and lowering by rotation of the arm and cleaning the upper surface of the vehicle. And a control means for driving the actuating means to rotate the support shaft of the arm upward when the vehicle of a vehicle type having a predetermined height or higher is detected by the detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means. A characteristic car wash machine.