JP3574637B2 - Gate type car wash machine - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial applications]
TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a portal type car washer provided with a brush device and a blower nozzle in a car wash device main body running across an automobile to automatically wash the body of the automobile by brushing and drying the washed body.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In this type of car washer, the car washer itself traveled, and there was a risk that a contact accident would occur if a car or a person waiting for the car was mistakenly entered the traveling range. Particularly, as described in JP-A-6-219243, this is a drive-through type car washer in which an automobile can pass from the front to the rear of the car washer. Devices that are located ahead of the start position and are improved to make it easier for the car to exit are known.However, with such a device, the car that has completed car washing exits and the car washer reaches the car washing start position. Retreating was about the same time, and delaying the exit of a car could lead to a contact accident.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
An object of the present invention is to provide a car wash machine capable of performing a speedy car wash in which the car wash is completed only by going once in a drive-through type car wash machine and performing safe and efficient car wash operation. It is in the point.
[0004]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the present invention, an upper surface brush device for brushing the upper surface of a vehicle body at the front side, a side surface brush device for brushing the front and rear surfaces and side surfaces of the vehicle body behind the device body, and further, a blower nozzle is disposed behind the device body, and a rear end of the device body The unit includes a vehicle body detection unit and an object detection unit that detects whether or not there is an object behind the apparatus main body in a non-contact manner, and simultaneously performs brushing cleaning with the brush device and vehicle body drying with the blower nozzle. When the car washing apparatus main body moves forward once from the car washing start position, the car washing is completed only by going forward once, and the car washing can be completed. When an object is detected in step, it is determined whether or not the detected object is a leaving car. Be characterized in that the the cause is that efforts to solve the above problems.
[0005]
【Example】
Hereinafter, the embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an explanatory plan view of the embodiment, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a main part of the side of the embodiment, and FIG. Reference numeral 1 denotes a car washing machine main body, which is formed in a gate shape and reciprocates on the rails 2.2 so as to straddle the automobile A. The main body 1 stops at the rear end of the traveling range usually provided by the rails 2, as shown in FIG. 1A, and starts car washing from this position. The main body 1 is provided with brush devices 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, blower nozzles 6, 7.7, sprinkling nozzles 19a to 19c, a liquid agent tank (not shown), and the like. Cleaning work is performed by spraying wax and the like, and drying work is performed by blowing air from a blower nozzle. Here, as shown by the arrow in FIG. 1 (A), the car A enters from the front of the travel range of the main body 1 provided by the rails 2.2, and when the car washing ends as shown in FIG. 1 (B). The route is set so as to exit behind the traveling range.
[0006]
The brush device is located in front of the main body 1 and moves up and down along the upper surface of the vehicle body to brush the upper surface. The upper brush device 3 is located below the upper surface brush device 3 and moves toward and away from the vehicle body (opens and closes). A pair of left and right rocker brush devices 4 and 4 that mainly brush the lower part of the side of the vehicle body, and are located behind the upper surface brush device 3 and the rocker brush devices 4 and 4 and move toward and away from the vehicle body (open and close) to operate the front and rear surfaces of the vehicle body And a pair of left and right side brush devices 5.5 for brushing the side surfaces. Further, the blower nozzle is located behind each of the brush devices 3, 4, 4, 5, and 5, moves up and down along the upper surface of the vehicle body, blows air to the upper surface, and performs drying by blowing air. It further comprises a pair of left and right side blower nozzles 7, 7 which are located at the rear of the main body 1 and which blow air to the side of the vehicle body to dry.
[0007]
Numeral 8 is located behind the brush devices 3, 4, 4, 5.5, 5 and the watering nozzles 19a to 19c in front of the blower nozzles 6, 7, 7 so that the water scattered from the brush device and the watering nozzle is dried with a blower nozzle. A shutter that shuts off so as not to reach the processing unit, and is moved up and down along the upper surface of the vehicle body by a known elevating unit. The shutter 8 shuts off the cleaning section including the brush device and the drying section including the blower nozzle, so that the cleaning water is scattered from the cleaning section to the drying section, or the blower blows from the drying section to the cleaning section. The cleaning process and the drying process can be reliably performed without blowing, and thus the cleaning process and the drying process can be performed simultaneously in parallel.
[0008]
Reference numeral 11 denotes an approach guide light provided on the front surface of the main body 1, and reference numeral 12 denotes an exit guide light provided behind the main body 1 and at a position visible from the driver's seat of the automobile at the car wash position. Reference numeral 13 denotes an operation box provided at a height operable from the driver's seat of the vehicle just before entering the travel range of the main body 1 provided by the rails 2.2, and accepts operations such as input of a fee and selection input of car washing contents. Reference numeral 14 denotes a detection switch for detecting a car wash start position of the main body 1, which detects a convex piece 15 provided at a predetermined position on the car wash apparatus installation surface. The car wash start position is as shown in FIG. 2 is set at the rear end of the travel range given. Reference numeral 16 denotes a rotary encoder for detecting the traveling position of the main body 1, which is connected to the traveling wheels of the main body 1 and outputs a pulse every time the main body 1 travels a unit distance. The traveling distance can be detected.
[0009]
Reference numerals 17a and b and 18a and b denote body detectors provided before and after the main body 1, respectively. The light emitters 17a and 18a and the light receivers 17b and 18b are opposed to each other so as to sandwich a car wash space, and are transmitted and received between the two. Car body detection is performed by detecting that the beam signal is blocked by the vehicle. Reference numeral 20 denotes an object detector which is provided on the rear surface of the main body 1 and detects an object within a predetermined range behind the main body 1 and comprises a so-called area sensor for detecting an object by detecting a reflected wave of the emitted infrared light. In this case, it is checked whether there is a vehicle, a person, or the like that exits in the traveling direction. Reference numerals 21 are contact switches provided at four positions on the front, rear, left and right sides of the main body 1, respectively, for detecting contact with an object such as a vehicle or a person and stopping the main body 1 urgently.
[0010]
The rails 2 are mounted in grooves C in which the car washing device installation surface is recessed, and are provided so that the vehicle can pass freely on the rails so as not to protrude from the installation surface. The groove C communicates with a drain pit P disposed at the center between the rails 2 and 2 and is formed so as to collect washing water mainly scattered outside the rails 2 and 2 to guide the washing water to a drain outlet D. It also functions as a drain. F is a fence, and the exit guide light 12 is fixed to the fence F.
[0011]
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control system of the embodiment. Reference numeral 22 denotes a control unit having a microcomputer, and reference numeral 23 denotes a drive circuit of each unit. The control unit 22 receives a car wash in the operation box 13 and moves the car wash machine body 1 according to a sequence programmed in advance based on signals from the detection switch 14, the encoder 16, the body detectors 17 and 18, the object detector 20, and the like. The operation of the brushes 3, 4, 4, 5, 5 and the blower nozzles 6, 7, 7 and the discharge of water from the watering nozzles 19a to 19c are controlled via the drive circuit 23. Reference numeral 24 denotes a storage unit provided in the control unit 22, reference numeral 25 denotes a voice notification unit for performing voice guidance, and reference numeral 26 denotes an input unit for performing processing such as storing the position of a fixed object described later in the storage unit 24.
[0012]
FIG. 5 is a time chart for explaining an example of a car washing operation according to the embodiment. Here, a speed car washing which is completed only by one round trip of the main body 1 is illustrated. In addition, a plurality of car washing operations can be performed, such as performing the car washing including waxing by making the main body 1 reciprocate one and a half times. Hereinafter, the operation of the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
[0013]
The car wash apparatus main body 1 is normally stopped at a car wash start position given by the detection switch 14. When the car wash user inputs a car wash fee in the operation box 13 and selects a desired car wash menu, the control unit 22 confirms that there is no preceding vehicle and neither the vehicle body detectors 17 and 18 are in the non-detected state. The "advance" lamp of the approach guide light 11 is turned on, and an announcement prompting entry is made by the audio notification unit 25 to enter an entry possible state. Here, the user enters the car between the rails 2 and 2 and enters the car until the "stop" lamp of the approach guide light 11 is turned on by detecting the front end of the car body by the front car body detector 17. When the car is stopped at the predetermined car wash position, the car wash operation is started according to the car wash menu selected in the operation box 13. Note that the user is waiting in the car while the car is being washed.
[0014]
In FIG. 5, when the car wash is started, the apparatus main body 1 is moved forward, and first, the washing water is discharged from the watering nozzle 19a and the detergent water s1 is discharged from the watering nozzle 19b. By driving the rocker brushes 4 and pressing them against the lower side of the vehicle body, brushing cleaning of the upper surface and the lower side surface of the vehicle is started. When the side brushes 5.5 are driven to close toward the center of the main body 1 and the front end of the automobile touches the closed side brushes 5.5, this is detected by known detecting means and the apparatus main body 1 is detected. Is temporarily stopped, and here the side brushes 5, 5 are opened with the discharge of the cleaning water from the watering nozzle 19c to perform the brushing cleaning of the front of the vehicle body. When the side brushes 5.5 are opened and cleaning of the front of the vehicle body is completed, the forward movement of the apparatus main body 1 is resumed to continue the brushing cleaning of the upper surface and the lower side of the vehicle body, and the side brushes 5.5 are pressed against the side of the vehicle body. Perform side brushing cleaning.
[0015]
As the main body 1 travels, the control unit 22 counts a pulse from the encoder 16 to detect a travel distance until the vehicle body detector 17 changes to non-detection, detects the length of the vehicle body, and based on the detected vehicle length data. The timing at which each brush and watering nozzle comes off the rear end of the vehicle body is estimated, and the operation is sequentially stopped. Also, behind the side brushes 5, the shutter 8 is driven, so that the space above the vehicle body is blocked by the shutter 8, so that water scattered during brushing washing does not reach the drying processing section having the blower nozzle. Is controlled based on vehicle length data.
[0016]
The control unit 22 drives a blower (not shown) at the timing when the main body 1 resumes running, and performs a drying process of blowing air from the blower nozzles 6, 7, 7 to remove cleaning water attached to the vehicle body by brushing cleaning. . Here, the upper surface blower nozzle 6 moves up and down along the upper surface of the vehicle body, and operates so that the side surface blower nozzles 7 protrude and retract along the side surface of the vehicle body. The driving of the blower nozzle is also controlled based on the vehicle length data, and stops operating when the blower nozzle reaches the rear end position of the vehicle body. The control unit 22 counts the distance from the vehicle body detector 18 at the rear of the main body after detecting the vehicle body, and when the count value does not exceed the vehicle length data by the detector 17, that is, the rear end of the vehicle body is separated from the main body 1. The traveling of the apparatus main body 1 is stopped just before the detector 18 turns to non-detection.
[0017]
In this way, when the speed car washing in which the main body 1 goes only once is completed, the control unit 22 turns on the exit guidance light 12 and announces from the audio notification unit 25 to prompt the exit of the washed car, and responds to this. When the vehicle exits and the vehicle body detector 18 turns to non-detection, the apparatus main body 1 is moved backward after a predetermined delay time and is retracted to the car wash start position given by the detection switch 14. When the vehicle is still in the car wash space due to the retreat, and the vehicle body detector 18 and the object detector 20 are in the detection state, the main body 1 stops running, waits until the detection is turned off, and the main body 1 and the vehicle To prevent collision. Hereinafter, the retreat operation will be described in more detail.
[0018]
The storage unit 24 of the control unit 22 stores the position of a fixed object (fence F in this embodiment) which is fixedly installed near the travel range of the main body 1 and in which the object detector 20 is in a detection state as the main body 1 approaches. ing. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, a car washer is often installed at the last minute of a boundary such as a fence for effective use of the site, and when the main body 1 reaches near the car washing start position at the rear end of the traveling range, an object detector is provided. At 20, the fence F is detected. Therefore, the position of the main body 1 corresponding to the range R in which the fence F is detected is stored in the storage unit 24, and processing such as stopping traveling is not performed even if the detector 20 detects an object when the main body 1 is at this position. To set. The specific processing will be described below with reference to FIG.
[0019]
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a program portion executed when the object detector 20 enters the detection state when the main body 1 moves backward. The control unit 22 counts the pulses of the encoder 16 starting from the car wash start position given by the detection switch 14 (+1 count when the main body goes forward, -1 count when going home), and the running position of the main body from the car wash start position. Is always detected. When the detector 20 detects an object, the control unit 22 reads the position of the fixed object in the storage unit 24, compares the position of the fixed object with the traveling position of the main body, and as shown in FIG. It is checked whether (fence F) is detected, or whether an object such as a car to be evacuated is detected as shown in FIG. 8 (1). The operations of steps (2) to (5) are executed.
[0020]
If it is determined in step (1) that an object to be avoided is detected, the traveling of the main body 1 is stopped, and the voice alarm 25 indicates that the car washer is backing. Announce to leave (2). Thereafter, the apparatus waits until the object detector 20 becomes non-detected (3). If the object detector 20 becomes non-detected, the apparatus waits for a further fixed time (4), and restarts the running of the main body 1 (5). On the other hand, if it is determined in step (1) that the detection of the fixed object stored in the storage unit 24 is performed, the processing such as stopping the running of the main body 1 is not performed, and the running is continued as it is.
[0021]
When the position of the fixed object is not yet stored in the storage unit 24 immediately after the car washer is installed, and when the fixed object is detected and the traveling is stopped, the standby state of step (3) is set. By inputting a key in the input unit 26, the main body 1 can be driven in the detection state to store the position of the fixed object. That is, when there is a key input in the input unit 26 (6), the first position of the fixed object is set based on the current running position of the main body 1 (set to a position a certain distance before the current position) and stored in the storage unit 24. After the storage, the running of the main body 1 is restarted (7). After that, although not particularly shown, when the object detector 20 turns to non-detection, or when the vehicle reaches the position given by the detection switch 14 while the detector 20 is in the detection state and the car wash ends, the detection becomes non-detection. The second position of the fixed object is set based on the position or the car wash end position, and stored in the storage unit 24. In this manner, the first and second positions of the fixed object are stored in the storage unit 24, and the position range where the detector 20 is always in the detection state by the fixed object is stored.
[0022]
As for the method of setting the position of the fixed object, various methods other than the above are conceivable. For example, a mode dedicated to position setting can be designated, and in this dedicated mode, an actual car wash operation or an operation similar to a car wash accompanied by running of a car wash machine is executed in a state where a car or a person does not approach the travel range of the main body 1. When the object detector 20 detects an object during this operation, the first position is set based on the detected position without stopping the traveling of the main body 1, and when the detector 20 becomes non-detected thereafter, this position is set. The second position may be set based on the second position. In most cases, a fixed object, such as a building or a fence, is located at the rear end of the normal traveling range. At this time, the first and second positions may be set.
[0023]
This embodiment is configured as described above, and when the car leaves after car washing and the car washing machine retreats to the car washing start position, it is almost the same time, and if it takes time to leave, contact between the car and the car washing machine may occur. Although there is concern, when the vehicle body detector 18 and the object detector 20 detect an automobile or the like, the running of the main body 1 is immediately stopped, and a contact accident can be prevented. Even if a failure or malfunction occurs in both detectors 18 and 20, the contact switch 21 can be used to stop the main body 1 in an emergency, so that the vehicle or the like is not seriously damaged. Further, even if the object detector 20 detects a fixed object such as the fence F that does not need to be avoided, the position of the fixed object is stored in the storage unit 24 so that even if the fixed object is detected, 1 does not need to be stopped one by one, and can operate smoothly. Note that the position of the fixed object such as the fence F can be registered by actually washing the car, and can be arbitrarily stored according to the location conditions after the car washing machine is installed.
[0024]
As another example, a reflection type ultrasonic sensor can be used for the object detector. In the photoelectric type area sensor used in the previous embodiment, since light is used, the amount of light reflected changes according to the color of the vehicle body and the like, and it is difficult to specify an accurate distance to an object. If a sound wave sensor is used, the distance to the object can be specified without being affected by color or the like. For this reason, the first approach range and the second approach range are set according to the distance to the object, and the operation is controlled according to the degree of approach.
[0025]
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a program portion executed when the detector enters a detection state when an ultrasonic sensor is used as the detector. When the object detector detects an object in the first or second approach range, it checks whether the detector detects a fixed object or an object to be avoided (11) and avoids it. If an object to be detected is detected, it is confirmed whether the detection is in the second approach range R2 or the first approach range R1 (12) (13). If it is in the second approaching range that is closer, the running of the main body 1 is immediately stopped, an announcement is made by the audio alarm to leave the running range of the main body 1, and the timer T2 is set (14). If it is the first approaching range, the traveling of the main body 1 is decelerated, an announcement is also made from the audio alarm 25 to leave the traveling range of the main body 1, and the timer T1 is set (15). Here, if the timer time T1 or T2 elapses without the detected object leaving, steps (14) and (15) are executed again, and the announcement urging the leaving is repeated. When the detector becomes non-detected in this way, an announcement of the resumption of running is issued from the audio alarm 25 and the running of the main body 1 is restarted.
[0026]
As described above, in this embodiment, the traveling of the main body is controlled in accordance with the degree of approach, and if there is sufficient distance to contact in the first approach range, the traveling of the main body is decelerated, If the danger of contact occurs in the approaching range, the main body is stopped. Thereby, the traveling of the main body 1 is avoided as much as possible while confirming the safety, and the traveling operation is sped up.
[0027]
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. Of course, it can be applied to a general portal type car washing machine that sequentially performs washing and drying by a conventionally known reciprocating traveling, and there is no problem with a type of car washing machine that performs washing only with a high-pressure spray without using a brush. Can be applied.
[0028]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to execute the speed car wash in which the car wash is completed only by the car wash apparatus body going forward once from the car wash start position, and after the car wash ends in the front of the traveling range, When the main unit is retracted to the car wash start position, it is possible to reliably detect an unexited car and prevent contact, and to automate the operation safely even when performing an unmanned car wash service using this car wash machine. .
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an explanatory plan view of an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a main part of a side surface of the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a main part of the front of the embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a control system according to the embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a time chart illustrating an example of a car washing operation according to the embodiment.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a main part of the embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a program part in a control unit.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of a main part of the embodiment.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a program portion of a control unit according to another embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Car wash machine body 3, 4, 4, 5.5 Brush device 6, 7, 7 Blower nozzle 16 Rotary encoder 17, 18 which constitutes travel position detecting means Body detectors 19a to 19c Sprinkler nozzle 20 Object detector, object detector 22 control section as control means 24 storage section as storage means

Claims (1)

A car wash device that runs across an automobile, is equipped with a brush device and a blower nozzle, and is a portal type car wash machine of a type in which a vehicle body is brushed and automatically washed so as to dry the washed body. In the case where the travel range of the device main body is set on a space that can pass from the front to the rear ,
In the device main body, an upper surface brush device for brushing the upper surface of the vehicle body on the front side, a side brush device for brushing the front and rear surfaces and side surfaces of the vehicle body behind, and a blower nozzle disposed further behind the device body, and a rear end portion of the device main body is provided. Body detecting means, and an object detecting means for detecting in a non-contact manner whether or not there is an object in the traveling direction of the apparatus body,
The brush washing with the brush device and the drying of the vehicle body with the blower nozzle are performed simultaneously, and the speed of the car washing can be completed by performing a single forward movement from the car washing start position to the end of the car washing.
When retreating the apparatus body to the car wash start position after the end of car washing, when an object is detected by the object detecting means, it is determined whether or not the detected object is a leaving car, and if it is determined that the car is a car, A portal type car washer characterized by stopping a retreat of an apparatus main body .

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