JPH11198774A - Gantry type ar washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a gantry type car washing machine for securely detecting the upper surface of a car with less number of sensors by preventing the influence by light beams from adjacent light emitters. SOLUTION: A gantry type car washing machine is structured so that a photoelectric sensor comprising several light emitters T1, T2,... and light receivers R1, R2,... is installed on leg bodies 4 of a car washing machine main body 1 at positions across a car, and the car washing machine main body 1 is moved relation to the car so as to liftably control the washing device according to the output from the photoelectric sensors. The light emitters T1, T2,... are arranged on one leg body at equal intervals, and the light receivers R1, R2... which receive light beams output from the light emitters T1, T2,... are installed on the other leg body 4 at the upper and lower positions opposed to the light emitters T1, T2,... so as to groups two pieces of the light emitters T1, T2,... alternately for alternate light emission.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portal type car washer for detecting the height of a car by means of a photoelectric sensor and controlling the elevation of the washing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a car washer body is relatively moved with respect to a car, and a top surface of the car is detected and a cleaning device such as a top brush is lifted and lowered. A plurality of photoelectric sensors composed of a light emitter and a light receiver are arranged on the legs of the car wash body. For example, JP-A-7-16502
As disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6 (1994), since the light beam of the photoelectric sensor passes through the side glass of the vehicle and cannot reliably detect the roof position of the vehicle, the optical axis connecting the light emitter and the light receiver is inclined with respect to the horizontal line. In some cases, the projected area is increased.

[0003]

However, the photoelectric sensor has a light emitting device on one side of the leg and a light receiving device on the other side of the leg, and narrows the vertical pitch of the photoelectric sensor to prevent detection leakage. doing. For this reason, there has been a problem that two light receivers simultaneously receive light rays from a certain light emitting device, and a cleaning device such as a top brush contacts the upper surface of the vehicle to damage the vehicle. In addition, there is a problem that a plurality of photoelectric sensors are required to improve detection accuracy, which increases costs.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to prevent the influence of light rays from adjacent light-emitting devices and to surely use a small number of sensors to reliably mount the upper surface of a vehicle. It is an object of the present invention to provide a portal type car washer for detecting a vehicle.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve such a problem, the present invention provides a photoelectric sensor comprising a plurality of light emitters and a light receiver at a position opposite to a leg of a car washer body with a car interposed therebetween. Provided, in a portal type car wash machine in which the car wash machine body is relatively moved with respect to the car and the washing device is controlled to be able to move up and down based on the output of the photoelectric sensor, light emitters are arranged at equal intervals on one leg, A light receiver for receiving a light beam from the light emitting device is provided above and below the other leg opposite to the light emitting device, and the light emitting devices are grouped one by one and emit light alternately.

Therefore, according to the present invention, since the photodetector can be shared, it is possible to contribute to the cost reduction of the car washer itself, and it is possible to obtain the same detection accuracy as when the photoelectric sensors are provided in pairs.
Further, since the adjacent light emitting devices do not emit light, erroneous detection can be prevented.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view showing an arrangement of a car sensor of the portal type car washer of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view showing a configuration of the portal type car wash of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of vehicle height detection, and FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory diagram of the portal type car washer of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, the car wash machine body 1 is provided so as to reciprocate on rails laid on a site, and the car wash machine body 1 has an inner surface opened and a beam portion. Inside 2 is a top brush 3 for cleaning the upper surface of the car as a cleaning device.
Are provided on the leg 4 so that the support shafts 5 provided at both ends of the top brush 3 can be moved up and down along a guide 6 by an elevating motor 7. Further, a side brush 8 for cleaning the side of the car, a water,
A washing nozzle 9 for injecting a washing liquid such as shampoo, wax or the like, and a car sensor 10 for detecting a car shape are provided.

The car sensor 10 includes light emitters T1, T2, T3,
T4, T5 and photodetectors R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R
6 is used, and one of the legs 5
Are arranged at equal intervals in the vertical direction, and the light emitters T1, T2,... Are arranged at the upper and lower positions of the other leg opposite to the light emitters T1, T2,. , Which receive light rays from the light source R1, R2,.
The light rays from 1 are received by the light receivers R1 and R2, the light rays from the light emitter T2 are received by the light receivers R2 and R3, the light rays from the light emitter T3 are received by the light receivers R3 and R4, and the light rays from the light emitter T4 are received by the light receivers R4 and R4.
5, and the light from the light emitter T5 is arranged to be received by the light receivers R5 and R6. Light emitters T1, T3, T
5 and the light emitters T2 and T4 emit light alternately, and the light receiver R2,
R3, R4, and R5 are shared.

A running wheel 11 is provided at a lower portion of the leg 4,
One running wheel 11 is rotated by a moving motor (not shown), and the other running wheel 11 is engaged with an encoder 12 that outputs a pulse signal every unit angle rotation to detect the running position of the car wash machine body 1. doing. Reference numeral 13 in the figure is a keyboard for outputting the setting of the car wash contents and the start of the car wash.

A start signal from the keyboard 13, a vehicle height signal from the vehicle sensor 10, and a pulse signal from the encoder 12 are input to the control device 21. The control device 21 moves up and down the support shaft 5 of the top brush 3 based on the vehicle height signal and the pulse signal from the horizontal distance between the vehicle sensor 10 and the top brush 3 stored in the storage means 22 in advance. Output a lifting signal. Further, it outputs a drive signal to the cleaning nozzle 9, the top brush 3 and the side brush 8 based on a start signal from the keyboard 13.

Next, the operation of detecting the vehicle height will be described. First, the car is stopped at a predetermined position with respect to the car washer body 1, and when the car wash content is selected in the keyboard 13 and the start switch is pressed (ST1 in FIG. 4), the car washer body 1 is driven forward. With the movement of the car washer body 1, the control device 21
2 based on the pulse signal output from FIG.
2), light beams from the light emitters T1, T3, T5 (ST in FIG. 4)
3) are received by the light receivers R1,..., R6 (S in FIG. 4).
T4), the light receiver R whose light beam is blocked together with the pulse signal
, R6 are stored (ST5 in FIG. 4). Then, a pulse signal is output with the movement of the car washer body 1 (ST6 in FIG. 4), and the light receivers R1,..., R6 receive light beams (ST7 in FIG. 4) from the light emitters T2 and T4 (FIG. 4). 4 ST8), and store the photodetectors R2,..., R5 whose light beams are shielded together with the pulse signals (ST in FIG. 4).
8). Thus, the light emitters T1, T3, T5 and the light emitter T
2. T4 alternately outputs light rays, for example, every 10 ms. When the car wash machine body 1 moves further, the light receiver R1 receives the light beam from the light emitter T1 (ST10 in FIG. 4), and the light receiver R1 receives the light beam even after a lapse of a predetermined time t1 (ST11 in FIG. 4). If it has been (ST12 in FIG. 4), it is determined that the rear end of the vehicle has been detected, and the operation of detecting the vehicle height ends.

Next, the operation of raising and lowering the top brush 3 based on the vehicle height will be described. The car wash machine body 1 moves and the car sensor 10
Reaches AA (bonnet part) in FIG.
The light beam from 1 blocks the light receivers R1, R2 by the vehicle. At this time, the pulse signal at the travel position G detected by the encoder 12 is read, and the vehicle height signal of the vehicle height H detected by the vehicle sensor 10 is read.
J (J = G + I) ahead by I (the distance between the top brush 3 and the vehicle sensor 10) is stored in the storage means 22.

Since the light receivers R1 and R2 are shielded from light at the vehicle height H, the vehicle is not damaged even if the support shaft 5 of the top brush 3 is moved down to the position of the light emitter T2 above it. The position of the light emitter T2 is stored in the storage unit 22 as the vehicle height H (vehicle height signal), judging that the position is the optimum position at which the top brush 3 cleans the upper surface of the vehicle. Then, when the top brush 3 reaches the position G, a lift signal is output to the lift motor 7 to the vehicle height H in the storage means 22 to move the top brush 3 up and down to perform cleaning.

Thereafter, when the car washer body 1 has reached BB (lube part) in FIG. 5, similarly, the light emitters T1, T2, T
3, and the light receivers R1, R2, R3, R4 are shaded by the vehicle and detect the roof position of the vehicle. At this time, since the light emitting device T3 and the light receiving device R4 are shielded from light, the vehicle sensor 10 stores the position of the light emitting device T4 above the light emitting device T4 as the vehicle height H (vehicle height signal) together with the travel position J from the encoder 12 and the storage means 22. To memorize. When the top brush 3 reaches the position J, a lift signal is output to the lift motor 7 based on the vehicle height H, and the roof portion is cleaned by the top brush 3. Similarly, a pulse signal from the encoder 12 and a vehicle height signal from the vehicle sensor 10 are stored, and a vertical signal is output to the vertical motor 7 when the top brush 3 reaches a corresponding position.

Then, the light receiver R2 receives the light beams from the light emitters T1 and T2 and, for example, even after 5 seconds, the light receiver R2
If a light beam has been input, it is determined that the rear end of the car has been detected, and from this point on, the vehicle moves by the distance between the car sensor and the top brush, and the car wash machine body 1 stops.

Further, when the motor for movement is reversed to perform the same control as described above and the car wash machine main body 1 returns to the initial position, the car wash machine main body 1 stops and the car wash tools such as the top brush 3 and the side brush 8 and the like. Also returns to the initial position.

[0018]

The gate-type car washer according to the present invention is as described in detail above. The gate-type car washer comprises a plurality of light emitters and light receivers at positions facing the legs of the car washer body with the car interposed therebetween. Sensors are provided, and the car washer body is moved relative to the car, and the gate-type car washer, which controls the washing device up and down based on the output of the photoelectric sensor, is equipped with light emitters on one leg at equal intervals A light receiver for receiving a light beam from the light emitter is provided at an upper and lower position of the other leg opposite to the light emitter, and the light emitters are grouped one by one and emit light alternately. I do. Therefore, since the light receiver can be shared, it is possible to contribute to the cost reduction of the car washer itself, and it is possible to obtain the same detection accuracy as in the case where the photoelectric sensors are provided in pairs. Further, since the adjacent light emitting devices do not emit light, erroneous detection can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an arrangement of a car sensor of a portal type car washer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the configuration of the portal type car washer of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating control of a portal type car washer according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of vehicle height detection.

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory view of the portal type car washer of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Car wash machine main body 2 Beam part 3 Top brush 4 Leg 5 Support shaft 6 Guide 7 Elevating motor 8 Side brush 9 Cleaning nozzle 10 Car sensor 11 Running wheel 12 Encoder 13 Keyboard 21 Control device 22 Storage device

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A photoelectric sensor comprising a plurality of light-emitting devices and a light-receiving device is provided at a position opposite to a leg of a main body of a car washer with the car interposed therebetween. In a portal type car washing machine for controlling a washing device to be able to move up and down freely based on an output of a sensor, a light emitting device is disposed at an equal interval on one leg, and the light emitting device is provided at a vertical position of the other leg facing the light emitting device. A light-receiving device for receiving light rays from a light source, the light-emitting devices are grouped one by one, and light is emitted alternately.