JPH0776266A - Automatic polisher for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the glazing effect on the coated surface of a vehicle by using a rotary buff. CONSTITUTION:An automatic polisher for glazing by polishing the surface of a car body has a number of fiber bundles 52 planted on the peripheral surface of a rotary body positioned at the center of a rotary buff. In the manufacture of the fiber bundle 52, a single fiber bundle is formed by binding 120 pieces of the fine polypropylene fiber having a thickness of 11 denier, applying the twist of 18 times of revolution per meter, and carrying out heat treatment, and then a specific number of bundles are joined to form the composite fiber bundle so that the diameter becomes about 3mm when firmly bound, and then the composite fiber bundle is allowed to fray through the heat treatment, and formed to a spiral shape in one revolution twist per winding.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle auto polisher for polishing a painted surface of a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, it is known, for example, from Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-48252 to polish a painted surface of a vehicle coated with wax with a car washing brush of a car washing machine.

[0003]

By the way, as a car wash brush of a conventional car wash machine, a rotary brush in which synthetic resin fibers having a thickness of 4000 to 5000 denier are planted on a rotary body is used.

However, when such a synthetic resin fiber having a large fiber diameter is used, the fiber is difficult to fit to the vehicle body surface, and the polishing is rough, so that there is a problem that a sufficient polishing effect cannot be obtained.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an auto polisher for a vehicle capable of obtaining a sufficient polishing effect.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is an auto polisher for a vehicle having a rotary buff for polishing a painted surface of a vehicle to polish the surface, the rotary buff being It is characterized in that thin fibers are planted on a rotating body.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, an automatic polisher for a vehicle is provided with a gate type frame 1 that straddles the vehicle (not shown), and a pair of front and rear wheels 2, ... Rails 3 and 3 extending along the front-rear direction
It is placed on top. The pair of wheels 2 and 2 on the front side are rotationally driven by motors 4 and 4, whereby the portal frame 1 is self-propelled along the front-rear direction of the vehicle.

The gate-shaped frame 1 is provided with a vertically movable top buff 5 for polishing the upper surface of the vehicle, and a pair of left and right side buffs 6, 6 that can be opened and closed for polishing the front and rear surfaces and the left and right side surfaces of the vehicle. . The top buff 5 is supported on the horizontal shafts 7, 7 rotatably supported by the gate frame 1 through a pair of left and right swing arms 8, 8 and is provided at the upper end of one swing arm 8. It is connected to a motor 9 by a transmission mechanism provided in the swing arm 8 and is driven to rotate. An end of an arm 10 fixed to a horizontal shaft 7 that supports the one swing arm 8 is connected to a cylinder 11 supported by the gate frame 1. By operating the cylinder 11, the top buff 5 is moved to an upper storage position. By being held by 5A and deactivating the cylinder 11, the top buff 5 hangs from its upper storage position 5A by its own weight and follows the upper surface of the vehicle body of the vehicle. At this time, the weight 12 provided on the upper end of the other swing arm 8 adjusts the surface pressure at which the top buff 5 comes into contact with the upper surface of the vehicle body to an appropriate level.

Rotating shafts 13 and 1 of the pair of side buffs 6 and 6.
3 is supported by holding cylinders 14 that extend vertically,
Moving frames 15, 15 to which the holding cylinders 14, 14 are fixed
Are rotatably supported along guide rails 17 rotatably supported on the gate-shaped frame 1 by swinging shafts 16 provided at both ends. Rotation axis 1 of side buffs 6 and 6
3 and 13 are motors 18 attached to the moving frames 15 and 15,
It is rotationally driven by 18. Swing shaft 1 of guide rail 17
Springs 20 are contracted between the upper ends of the levers 19 fixed to both ends of the guides 16 and 16, and the gate frame 1, and the guide rails 17 are biased to the neutral position by the springs 20. Thus, the side buffs 6 and 6 are held in the vertical posture in the normal state. When an external force is applied to the side buffs 6 and 6, the side buffs 6 and 6 together with the movable frames 15 and 15 and the guide rails 17 move the swing shaft 1
6 and 16 are swung in the traveling direction of the gate frame 1.
At that time, the swinging of the side buffs 6, 6 causes the levers 19, 1 to move.
9 is detected by a shake switch 21 as an end detecting means arranged in the vicinity of 9.

As is apparent from FIG. 3, the other end of the first link 22, which has one end pivotally supported by the portal frame 1, is connected to the moving frame 15 through the second link 23, and the first frame A cylinder 24 is provided between the link 22 and the portal frame 1.
Is provided, and the moving frame 15 is connected at one end to the other end of a wire 26 that suspends the weight 25. Therefore, when the cylinder 24 is operated, the left and right moving frames 15 move outward so as to be separated from each other together with the side buffs 6, and when the cylinder 24 is deactivated, the side buffs 6 act on the weights 25 due to the gravity of the vehicle. Move inward to follow the sides. As is clear from FIG. 2, the guide rail 17 is provided with open limit switches 27, 27 for detecting the open positions of both side buffs 6, 6 and close limit switches 28, 28 for detecting the closed positions. .

Further, the pair of lift rails 50, 50 provided on the left and right of the gate-shaped frame 1 are provided with jet nozzles which are long in the width direction of the vehicle, and the top nozzle 3 for drying the upper surface of the vehicle.
1 is provided so that it can be raised and lowered. The top nozzle 31 has a fan 51 equipped with a motor driven through an inverter.
Are connected. Further, side nozzles 32, 32 for drying the side surface of the vehicle are provided on the left and right sides of the gate-shaped frame 1. The side nozzles 32, 32 are provided with the fan 4
9, 49 are connected.

Fiber bundles 52 shown in FIG. 4 are planted on the pipes 5P, 6P and 6P as the rotating bodies of the top buff 5 and the side buffs 6 and 6. The fiber bundle 52 is made of a synthetic resin such as polypropylene and has a thickness of 5 to 50 denier and a flexible and thin circular cross section. A bundle of 50 to 200 fibers is used to make 5 to 100 revolutions per 1 m. 20 to 1 per m in a composite fiber bundle in which a predetermined number is bundled so that the diameter becomes about 3 mm when the single fiber bundle is tightly bundled by twisting and twisting. After twisting 100 turns, heat treatment is applied to twist it, and it is loosened by an appropriate method to have a diameter D ₁ of about 8 to 10 mm as shown in FIG. This fiber bundle 52 is cut to a length of 600 to 900 mm, folded in the middle into two, and the bent side is fixed to the pipe 5P or pipes 6P and 6P to have a diameter of 700 to 1050 mm.
The rotation buffs of 5, 6, and 6.

Instead of twisting the composite fiber bundle as shown in FIG. 4, when it is loosened, the diameter D ₁ is about 8 to 10 as shown in FIG.
mm, and the outer diameter D ₂ may be twisted and heat-treated so as to have a spiral shape of about 20 mm. At this time, one or more turns of twist may be applied per one turn of the spiral, or a twist as shown in FIG. 4 may be twisted into a spiral shape as shown in FIG.

A preferred embodiment of the fiber bundle 52 is 11
120 polypropylene fibers with a circular cross section of denier are bundled together and twisted at a rate of 18 rotations per 1 m to make a single fiber bundle that is heat-treated to bundle a specified number so that the diameter is about 3 mm when tightly bundled And, the shape when heat-treated and loosened is a spiral shape of one rotation twist per one roll. When the fiber bundle 52 is used to polish the vehicle a plurality of times, 50 to 50
The spiral in the range of 100 mm is released, and the state shown in FIG. 5 changes to the state shown in FIG.

Further, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-23305, about 70 mm on the side where the fiber bundle 52 is attached to the pipes 4P, 5P, 5P may be made of a flexible pipe material. At this time, instead of fixing the fiber bundle 52 and the pipe material with a thread, the outer circumference of the fiber bundle 52 is covered with a heat-shrinkable Hishi tube (product name), and the Hishi tube is fixed by shrinking it with hot water. Is also good.

Further, the composite fiber bundle before being formed as shown in FIG. 4 or 5 may be directly fixed to the pipes 4P, 5P, 5P, or may be fixed via the pipe material as described above.

The cross-sectional shape of the fiber is not limited to a circular shape,
For example, a star shape may be used.

Since the fiber bundle 52 is only subjected to the twisting heat treatment, the composite fiber bundle is appropriately loosened to form a gap between the fibers, and the fiber bundle 52 itself becomes soft to improve the impact absorbing performance.

Returning to FIG. 1, in the upper part of the gate type frame 1,
A partition plate 53 is attached that contacts the top buff 5 when it is rotated at the storage position 5A, and a pretreatment agent or a wax agent described below is scattered between the top buff 5 and the top nozzle 31 toward the top buff 5 side. Waterproof board 5 to prevent
4 is attached. Further, in the gate-shaped frame 1, an upper pipe 55 having a nozzle for directing the top buff 5 in the storage position 5A and a pair of left and right side pipes 56, 56 having nozzles for directing the side buffs 6, 6 in the open position.
Further, the lower treatment agent pipes 57, 58, 58 and the wax pipes 59, 60, 60 having nozzles provided on the front side of the top nozzle 31 and directed to the vehicle are attached.

Reference numeral 61 is a control panel in which a control device 62 of the present device is housed. On the surface of the control panel 61, a polish switch 63, a rotary buff cleaning switch 64, and a top buff 5
And a selection switch 65 for selecting only the cleaning of the side buffs 6 and 6 and the simultaneous cleaning of the top buff 5 and the side buffs 6 and 6.

Next, the piping system of the auto polisher is shown in FIG.
It will be described based on.

The upper pipe 55 includes an ejector 66 and a solenoid valve 6.
7, the side pipes 56, 56 via the ejector 68 and the solenoid valve 69, the lower treatment agent pipes 57, 58, 58 via the ejector 70 and the solenoid valve 71, and the wax pipe 5
9, 60 and 60 are connected to a water pump P via a cheese 72, an ejector 73 and a solenoid valve 74. Cheese 72
The other is connected to the air source A via the solenoid valve 75, and the water pipe 76 is connected to the air source A via the solenoid valve 77. The ejectors 66 and 68 are tanks T ₁ that store the buff cleaning agent via electromagnetic valves 78 and 79, respectively.
The ejector 70 is connected to the tank T ₂ for storing the pretreatment agent via the electromagnetic valve 80, and the ejector 73 is connected to the tank T ₃ for storing the wax agent.

A cationic surfactant or an aqueous solution containing a cationic surfactant and a wax is used as the pretreatment agent, and an aqueous solution containing an anionic surfactant and a wax is used as the wax agent. To be

Next, the operation of the vehicle auto polisher having the above-mentioned structure will be described.

First, the polishing step will be described mainly with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.

Prior to the glazing of the vehicle, the rails 3, 3 are washed manually or by a car washing machine installed elsewhere.
When the vehicle is stopped during the period and the polish switch 63 is pressed,
The polishing process shown in FIG. 8 and below is carried out. Pretreatment agent applying step (first forward) The top buff 5 is stored in the upper storage position 5A to stop the rotation, and the side pumps 6 and 6 are opened to stop the rotation, and the water pump P is operated. The solenoid valves 71, 80 are opened to inject the lower treatment agent from the lower treatment agent pipes 57, 58, 58, and the portal frame 1 is first forwarded from the left end shown in FIG. Is applied to the vehicle body surface. At this time, the fan 51 is operated at low speed to operate the top nozzle 3
Air is sprayed from 1 to form an air curtain to prevent the pretreatment agent from scattering toward the rotating buffs 5, 6, and 6.

When the gate frame 1 reaches the right end, the solenoid valves 71 and 80 are closed to stop the forward movement. First Drying Step (First Return) The fan 49 is operated and the fan 51 is operated at a high speed, and the gate frame 1 is first moved from the right end to the left while the top nozzle 31 is placed along the upper surface of the vehicle body. Dry the vehicle body surface. When the portal frame 1 reaches the left end, the fan 49 is deactivated and the fan 51 is rotated at a low speed to stop the backward movement. Wax agent application step (second forward) The solenoid valves 74 and 75 are opened to cause the wax agent to be jetted together with air through the wax pipes 59, 60 and 60, and the gate-shaped frame 1 is forwarded from the left end to the right. While applying the wax agent to the vehicle body surface. At this time, the air curtain also prevents the wax agent from scattering toward the rotating buffs 5, 6, and 6.

When the gate-shaped frame 1 reaches the right end, the forward movement is stopped and the solenoid valve 74 is closed. As a result, the water and the wax agent in the wax pipes 59, 60, 60 are discharged by the air, and the water and the wax agent are prevented from dripping from the nozzle to the vehicle body surface in a later step. After a few seconds, the solenoid valve 75 is closed. Rinsing step (second return) The solenoid valve 71 is opened to clean water, and the cleansing agent piping 57, 5 is used.
The excess wax agent on the vehicle body surface is rinsed away by jetting from 8 and 58 while moving the gate-shaped frame 1 from the right end to the second backward movement. At this time also, the air curtain is formed.

When the gate-shaped frame 1 reaches the left end, the backward movement is stopped, the water pump P is stopped, and the solenoid valve 77 is opened.
As a result, the water in the lower treatment agent pipes 57, 58, 58 is discharged by air. After a few seconds, the solenoid valves 71 and 77 are closed. Second Drying Step (Third Reciprocating Reciprocation) The fan 49 is operated and the fan 51 is operated at high speed to move the top nozzle 31 along the upper surface of the vehicle body while the gate-shaped frame 1 is moved from the left end to the right third path. , When it reaches the right end, it is made to go back to the third stage and the surface of the vehicle body is dried. When the gate-shaped frame 1 reaches the left end, the return is stopped and the fan 4
Disable 9,51.

When water drops on the vehicle body surface are removed and dried in this drying step, the wax component contained in the wax agent remains on the vehicle body surface as white deposits. Polishing process (fourth reciprocating movement) While rotating the top buff 5 and the side buffs 6 and 6, the gate-shaped frame 1 is moved from the left end to the fourth movement, the top buff 5
Polish the upper surface of the car body with side buffs 6,6
Polish the front, side and rear of the car. When the gate-shaped frame 1 reaches the right end, go back to the 4th position and top buff 5
Polish the upper surface of the car body with side buffs 6,6
Polish the rear, side and front of the car.

When the top buff 5 and the side buffs 6 and 6 are rotated at about 180 rpm, which is faster than the normal rotation speed of about 130 rpm for washing, the polishing effect can be improved. Further, by changing the rotation direction of each of the rotary buffs 5, 6, 6 between the fourth traveling time and the fourth returning movement, the polishing effect can be improved.

By this polishing step, the wax component remaining in the drying step can be evenly spread and adhered to the painted surface of the vehicle to obtain good gloss. Also, the fiber bundle 5
Since No. 2 is twisted, it does not make a linear line contact with the painted surface, but makes a contact like a surface contact with a predetermined width, so that better gloss can be obtained. Further, by twisting the fiber bundle 52, it is possible to prevent the thin fibers from being entangled in a cotton shape so as not to spread radially and to make polishing impossible.

By using thin fibers for the fiber bundle 52, the fibers themselves absorb the impact when they hit the surface of the vehicle body, and the coated surface is not scratched by the contact of the fibers. Furthermore, since fine fibers are used, the number of fibers is increased and the polishing is denser, so that the polishing effect can be improved.

Next, the cleaning process of the rotary buffs 5, 6, 6 will be described.

When the top buff 5 and the side buffs 6 and 6 are soiled, the selection switch 65 selects either washing of the top buff 5, washing of the side buffs 6 or 6 or simultaneous washing of both, and when the rotary buff washing switch 64 is pressed, The following buff cleaning process is executed. Detergent application process Rotate the top buff 5 to the retracted position 5A and the side buffs 6 and 6 to the open position to operate the water pump P to operate the solenoid valve 6
The valves 7, 69, 78, 79 are opened, and the buff cleaning agent is applied to the rotary buffs 5, 6, 6 through the upper pipe 55 and the side pipes 56, 56. At this time, the top buff 5 hits the partition plate 53, and the side buff 6 hits the gate-shaped frame 1 at the position 6A shown in FIG. Further, the rotation directions of the rotation buffs 5, 6, 6 are changed to forward rotation and reverse rotation a plurality of times, respectively. After performing this step for a predetermined time, the process proceeds to the next buff rinsing step. Buff rinsing process The solenoid valves 78 and 79 are closed, and fresh water is injected from the upper pipe 55 and the side pipes 56 and 56 to the rotary buffs 5, 6 and 6,
Rinse buff cleaner with dirt. Also at this time, the rotations of the rotation buffs 5, 6, 6 are changed to forward rotation and reverse rotation a plurality of times, respectively. After performing this step for a predetermined time, the water pump P is deactivated and the solenoid valve 69 is closed.
7 is opened and the water in the upper pipe 55 is discharged by air. After a few seconds, the solenoid valves 67 and 77 are closed, and the process proceeds to the next buff drying step. Buff Drying Step The rotation of the rotary buffs 5, 6, 6 is continued for a predetermined time to drain and dry, and then the rotation of the rotary buffs 5, 6, 6 is stopped.

When only the top buff 5 is selected by the selection switch 65, the application of the cleaning agent to the side buffs 6 and 6 is omitted, and when only the side buffs 6 and 6 are selected, the application of the cleaning agent to the top buff 5 is omitted. .

Of the above-mentioned polishing steps, the steps of applying the pretreatment agent, applying the wax agent, rinsing, and drying may be carried out by another car washing machine, and only the polishing step may be carried out by the auto polisher.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, the fibers having a small diameter are used for the rotary buff for polishing, so that the fibers are well adapted to the vehicle body surface and the polishing eyes are dense. It is possible to obtain a sufficient polishing effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

[Figure 1] Overall side view of the auto polisher

FIG. 2 is a two-direction arrow view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partial three-direction arrow view of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of a fiber bundle.

FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged view of another fiber bundle.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a piping system of an auto polisher.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of operation

FIG. 8 is a table showing processing contents in each process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 Top buff (rotating buff) 5P pipe (rotating body) 6 Side buff (rotating buff) 6P pipe (rotating body)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An auto polisher for a vehicle, comprising: a rotating buff (5, 6) for polishing a coated surface of the vehicle to polish the surface, wherein the rotating buff (5, 6) comprises a fine fiber rotating body. (5P,
6P) is an auto polisher for a vehicle, which is formed by planting hair.