JP4285423B2 - Car wash machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a car wash machine that is installed, for example, in a gas station and used for car washing.

An example of the conventional car wash machine is disclosed in Patent Document 1.
The car wash machine disclosed in Patent Document 1 performs a car wash operation (washing, drying, waxing, etc.) on a vehicle to be washed that is stopped at a predetermined position while the car washing machine body travels in the front-rear direction. A pair of left and right parallel quadruple link mechanisms that are rotatable in the horizontal direction and perpendicular to the front-rear direction, and an operation that rotates the parallel quadruple link mechanism in the horizontal direction. Device, a holding plate provided at the free end of the parallel quadruple link mechanism, a pair of left and right rocker brushes connected to the holding plate, a rotating device for rotating the rocker brush, and one of the parallel quadruple link mechanisms And an elastic neutral maintaining mechanism in which the free end of the connecting arm and the holding plate are connected to each other so as to be relatively swingable in the horizontal direction.

  Under the above configuration, while running the car wash machine body, the rocker brush is rotated by the rotating device and the parallel quadruple link mechanism is rotated by the actuating device so that the lower part of both outer side surfaces and wheels of the vehicle to be cleaned by the rocker brush Clean the outer surface of the. At this time, the holding plate oscillates relatively in the horizontal direction against the elastic force of the neutral maintaining mechanism in accordance with the concave and convex shapes on both outer side lower portions of the vehicle to be cleaned and the outer side surface of the wheel.

As a result, when the rocker brush is positioned at the corner of the tire house or the corner of the bumper, the rocker brush swings horizontally in the opposite direction to the traveling direction of the car wash machine body and escapes outward. There is no getting caught.
JP-A-4-342644

  However, according to the conventional configuration described above, when the vehicle to be cleaned is cleaned, each rocker brush contacts and cleans from the lower front side surface to the lower rear side surface of the vehicle to be cleaned. When trying to escape to the outside when positioned on the rear bumper of the vehicle, the rear bumper shape (particularly a large and special shape that protrudes greatly from the side of the vehicle to be cleaned) and the rear bumper There is a possibility that the rocker brush may get entangled and damage the rear bumper, which may hinder the cleaning operation of the vehicle to be cleaned.

  Then, an object of this invention is to provide the car wash machine which can perform the washing | cleaning operation | work of a to-be-washed vehicle reliably.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, the car wash machine according to claim 1 of the present invention is a car wash machine that performs washing of the vehicle to be cleaned while relatively moving the vehicle to be cleaned and the car wash machine body in the front-rear direction. A pair of left and right lower side surface cleaning brushes that are provided at the lower portions on both sides in the car wash machine body so as to be able to approach and separate and rotate to clean the lower portions on both side surfaces of the vehicle to be cleaned, and a rear bumper of the vehicle to be cleaned are detected. Vehicle detection means, and when the lower side cleaning brush, which is brought close to and rotated by the vehicle to be cleaned at the time of cleaning, reaches a position in front of the rear bumper detected by the vehicle detection means, the lower side surface The rotation of the cleaning brush is stopped and the cleaning brush is separated from the vehicle to be cleaned.

  According to the above configuration, the lower side surface cleaning brush that cleans the vehicle to be cleaned by rotating it close to the vehicle to be cleaned detects the rear bumper of the vehicle to be cleaned by the vehicle detection means, and the rear bumper of the vehicle to be cleaned. , The rotation is stopped, and then the vehicle is separated from the vehicle to be cleaned, and the cleaning of the vehicle to be cleaned is finished.

  Further, the invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle detection means is provided in the car wash machine body, and the washing is performed prior to washing the rear bumper by the lower side face washing brush. It comprises detection means for detecting the shape of the vehicle to be cleaned, and determines that the lower side surface cleaning brush has reached the front position of the rear bumper by detecting the rear end of the vehicle to be cleaned. It is characterized by that.

  According to the above configuration, the vehicle detection means is constituted by the detection means for detecting the shape of the vehicle to be cleaned prior to the cleaning of the rear bumper by the lower side surface cleaning brush, and when the detection means detects the rear end of the vehicle to be cleaned, It is determined that the lower side surface cleaning brush has reached the position in front of the rear bumper, the rotation of the lower side surface cleaning brush is stopped, and then separated from the vehicle to be cleaned, and the cleaning of the vehicle to be cleaned is finished.

  In the car wash machine of the present invention, when the lower side cleaning brush that is brought into contact with the vehicle to be cleaned and rotated at the time of cleaning reaches the front position of the rear bumper detected by the vehicle detection means, the lower side cleaning brush rotates. Since it is stopped and separated from the vehicle to be cleaned, the rear side cleaning brush can be prevented from being caught by the rear bumper even if the rear bumper has a special shape or installation. It can be done reliably.

Hereinafter, a car wash machine according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The car wash machine of the present embodiment is a car wash machine that cleans a vehicle while relatively moving a vehicle to be cleaned (hereinafter referred to as a vehicle) and a car wash machine body in the front-rear direction. In the description of the operation in the present embodiment, a passenger vehicle system (sedan system) is used for the vehicle.

  In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a portal type that straddles the vehicle 2 of the vehicle to be cleaned and travels in the front-rear direction of the vehicle 2 on a rail 5 laid on the floor surface 4 via a plurality of wheels 3. The main body of the car wash machine 1 includes a first washing water (pre-rinse) arch 6 and a first washing water (rinse) or spray device for spraying detergent or wax from the front, 1 detergent (pre-detergent) arch 7, second wash water (final rinse) arch 8, first wax arch 9, second wax arch 10, and second detergent (post-detergent) arch 11 are disposed. Near the first washing water arch 6, as a drying means of the vehicle 2, there are a top nozzle 12, a pair of left and right side nozzles 13, and a pair of left and right blowers 14 that simultaneously communicate with both nozzles 12 and 13 and supply wind. Is provided.

  Further, in the car wash machine main body 1, as a cleaning means for brushing the vehicle 2, the top brush 15 that is movable in the vertical direction and that cleans the upper surface of the vehicle 2 is perpendicular to the traveling direction (front-rear direction) of the car wash machine main body 1. A pair of side brushes 16 that can traverse in the left-right direction and that cleans the front and rear surfaces and both side surfaces of the vehicle 2 are provided. An example of a cleaning brush) 17 is provided so as to be close to and away from each other.

An example of the rocker brush device for operating each of the rocker brushes 17 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, an inverted L-shaped holding arm 31 is provided, a free end of a parallel quadruple link mechanism 32 is connected to the upper surface of the holding arm 31, and a base end of the parallel quadruple link mechanism 32 Is connected to the car wash machine body 1 side via a fixture 43. The parallel quadruple link mechanism 32 includes a support arm 33 and a tie rod 34. The pair of left and right parallel quadruple link mechanisms 32 are connected to the car wash machine body 1 via a support arm 33 and a tie rod 34 so as to be rotatable in the horizontal direction and close to and away from each other. 31 is connected so that relative rotation is possible in the horizontal direction.

  Further, a cylinder device 35 for rotating the parallel quadruple link mechanism 32 is provided on the car wash machine main body 1 side, and the tip end of the piston rod 36 is a support shaft 37 penetrating through the base end portion of the support arm 33. It is connected to the free end of the lever 38 fixed to the lower part of the lever. As a result, the support arm 33 moves integrally with the lever 38. Further, an operating device 39 for operating the cylinder device 35 is provided on the car wash machine main body 1 side.

  A horizontal shaft 42 that is rotatable around a left-right axial center 41 projects from a lower side of the vertical frame portion 40 of the holding arm 31 and opposite side surfaces. The horizontal shaft 42 is interlocked and connected to the swing drive device 44 through a transmission device (not shown) disposed in the vertical frame portion 40. The swing drive device 44 is composed of, for example, an electric motor or a cylinder device.

  A C-shaped swing arm 45 is attached to the inner end of the horizontal shaft 42 so as to be swingable around the left and right axis 41. That is, the inner end of the horizontal shaft 42 is fitted and fixed to the lower portion of the vertical frame portion 46 of the swing arm 45, and the swing arm 45 is attached with the side where the upper and lower horizontal frame portions 47 are opened facing each other. It is done. Further, a rotation shaft (vertical axis) 49 that is rotatable around a rotation axis 48 orthogonal to the left-right direction axis 41 is attached between the lateral frame portions 47 at the inner end of the swing arm 45. The rotation shaft 49 is integrated with the brush shaft 50 so that the rocker brush 17 is attached. The rotating shaft 49 is interlocked and connected to a rotation driving device 51 such as an electric motor via a transmission device (not shown) disposed in the upper horizontal frame portion 47.

  With the above-described configuration, the rocker brushes 17 provided at the lower portions on both sides in the car wash machine body 1 can be moved toward and away from the vehicle 2 and can be rotated, and the lower portions on both sides of the vehicle 2 and the tires can be cleaned as desired. Done.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, vehicle detection sensors (also referred to as area sensors) (an example of vehicle detection means) 18 for detecting the shape (vehicle type) of the vehicle 2 are provided on both front sides in the car wash machine body 1. In addition, a vehicle height sensor (vehicle height detection means) 19 including an ultrasonic sensor for detecting the vehicle 2 is provided at the upper front portion of the car wash machine body 1.

  The vehicle detection sensor 18 is composed of a transmissive photoelectric sensor, and a projector group is provided in a vertical direction (vertical direction) on one (left side) side of the car wash machine body 1, and the other (right side) of the car wash machine body 1. ) Is provided in the vertical direction at the side portion, and each projector group and the light receiver group are arranged to face each other. The vehicle detection sensor 18 is disposed in front of the rocker brush 17 in the car wash machine main body 1 and detects the shape of the vehicle 2 prior to the cleaning of the rear bumper 2 a of the vehicle 2 by the rocker brush 17. That is, whether or not the rocker brush 17 has reached the front position of the rear bumper 2 a of the vehicle 2 is determined by whether or not the vehicle detection sensor 18 has detected the rear end of the vehicle 2.

An operation panel 20 on which operation switches for inputting start and stop commands, a car wash mode, and the like are arranged is provided on the front side portion of the car wash machine body 1.
Further, a control device (not shown) made of a microcomputer is provided in the car wash machine main body 1, and a car wash course pattern setting signal from the operation panel 20, an operation signal such as starting and stopping, and the vehicle detection sensor A detection signal from a sensor system such as 19 is inputted and stored, and in accordance with these operation signals and detection signals, the driving system such as the operating device 39 and the rotation driving device 51 of the rocker brush 17 is controlled to control the car washing machine main body. 1 The operation of the whole is controlled and the car washing operation is executed.

  The operation in the above embodiment will be described below. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the top brush 15 is moved up and down, the side brushes 16, and the rocker brushes 17 while the vehicle 2 is stopped at the vehicle stop position and the car wash machine body 1 is running. The above-mentioned approaching and separating movements, cleaning water supply through the cleaning water arches 6 and 8, wax supply through the wax arches 9 and 10, and detergent supply through the detergent arches 7 and 11 are appropriately combined. By actuating, the vehicle 2 can be cleaned as desired.

The operation of the rocker brush 17 at this time will be described with reference to FIG.
First, as shown in FIG. 4, when the car wash machine main body 1 is stopped at the home position HP, the pair of rocker brushes 17 are in an open state (P-1).

  Then, when the car wash machine main body 1 moves forward and the vehicle 2 starts to be washed, the control device outputs a rotation drive command to the rotation drive device 51 to operate the rotation drive device 51, and the rocker brush 17 is rotated about the rotation axis. 48, and the extension device command is output to the actuator 39 to operate the actuator device 39. The cylinder device 35 is extended to move the rocker brush 17 of the vehicle 2 via the parallel quadruple link mechanism 32. It is made to approach (contact) the lower part of the side surface and the tire (P-2).

  Thereby, the cleaning of the lower portion of the side surface of the vehicle 2 and the tire by the rocker brush 17 is started. When cleaning the lower portion of the side surface of the vehicle 2, the control device outputs a swing command to the swing drive device 44 to operate the swing drive device 44, and the swing arm 45 is moved in the horizontal direction axis. The vehicle is rotated around the center 41 to clean the lower portion of the side surface of the vehicle 2 and the tires.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 5, when the car wash machine body 1 moves forward, the rear end of the vehicle 2 is detected by the vehicle shape detection sensor 18, and the rocker brush 17 reaches the front of the rear bumper 2 a of the vehicle 2, The control device that has input the detection signal from the vehicle shape detection sensor 18 first outputs a rotation stop command to the rotation drive device 51 to stop the operation of the rotation drive device 51 and stop the rotation of the rocker brush 17 (P−). 3). Immediately thereafter, a contraction operation command is output to the operation device 39 to operate the operation device 39, the cylinder device 35 is contracted and the rocker brush 17 is separated from the lower side surface of the vehicle 2 via the parallel quadruple link mechanism 32. (P-4).

  Accordingly, the rocker brush 17 stops rotating before the rear bumper 2a of the vehicle 2 and is separated from the lower portion of the side surface, and the cleaning of the lower portion of the side surface of the vehicle 2 and the tire by the rocker brush 17 is finished. When the rear end of the vehicle 2 is detected by the vehicle shape detection sensor 18, the control device outputs a swing stop command to the swing drive device 44 to stop the operation of the swing drive device 44.

  As described above, according to the embodiment, the rear end of the vehicle 2 is detected by the vehicle detection sensor 18 of the rocker brush 17 that is rotated while being moved closer to the vehicle 2 at the time of cleaning and reaches the front position of the rear bumper 2a. Then, since the rocker brush 17 is moving toward the rear bumper 2a, first, in order to avoid that the bristle extending in the circumferential direction (horizontal direction) by the rotation of the rocker brush 17 is caught on the rear bumper 2a. Since the rocker brush 17 is stopped from rotating and then the rocker brush 17 with the brush hairs hanging downward is separated from the vehicle 2, even if the rear bumper 2 a has a special shape or attachment, the rocker brush 17 Can be prevented from being caught by the rear bumper 2a, and therefore the vehicle 2 can be reliably cleaned.

  In this embodiment, only the car wash machine main body 1 is moved, and the car wash machine main body 1 and the vehicle 2 are relatively moved to wash the vehicle 2. May be fixed, and the vehicle 2 may be moved back and forth using a roller conveyor (vehicle moving means) or the like to move relative to each other. Further, the car wash machine main body 1 may be divided into a front main body provided with a cleaning means and a rear main body provided with a drying means, and the front main body and the rear main body may be movable separately. Good.

  In the present embodiment, the rear end of the vehicle 2 is detected by the vehicle detection sensor 18. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the vehicle detection detects the rear bumper 2a of the vehicle 2 in the car wash machine body 1. Means may be provided. For example, an image processing device that captures (especially) the vehicle 2 with a camera, analyzes the captured data, and detects the position of the rear bumper 2a is provided. As a result, when the rocker brush 17 that has been rotated and moved closer to the vehicle 2 at the time of cleaning reaches a position in front of the rear bumper 2a detected by the vehicle detection means, the rotation of the rocker brush 17 is stopped and separated from the vehicle 2. Therefore, the rocker brush 17 and the rear bumper 2a of the vehicle 2 can be prevented from being caught, and therefore the vehicle 2 can be reliably cleaned.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the passenger vehicle system (sedan system) is used for the vehicle 2, but the same effect can be obtained even in other vehicles such as a one-box system.

It is a schematic side view of the car wash machine in the embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic front view of the car wash machine. It is a perspective view of the rocker brush apparatus of the car wash machine. It is a figure which shows the movement path | route of the rocker brush of the car wash machine. It is a schematic side view of the car wash when the rear end of the vehicle is detected by the vehicle detection sensor of the car wash.

Explanation of symbols

1 Car Wash Machine Body 2 Vehicle (Washed Vehicle)
2a Rear bumper 17 Rocker brush (lower side cleaning brush)
18 Vehicle detection sensor (vehicle detection means)

Claims (2)

A car wash machine for cleaning the vehicle to be cleaned while relatively moving the vehicle to be cleaned and the car wash machine body in the front-rear direction,
A pair of left and right lower side surface cleaning brushes, which are provided at the lower portions on both sides in the car wash machine body so as to be able to approach and separate from each other and rotate to clean the lower portions on both side surfaces of the vehicle to be cleaned;
Vehicle detection means for detecting a rear bumper of the vehicle to be cleaned,
When the lower side cleaning brush that has been brought close to and rotated by the vehicle to be cleaned during the cleaning reaches a position in front of the rear bumper detected by the vehicle detecting means, the rotation of the lower side cleaning brush is stopped. A car wash machine separated from the vehicle to be cleaned. The vehicle detection means is provided in the car wash machine main body, and comprises a detection means for detecting the shape of the vehicle to be cleaned prior to the cleaning of the rear bumper by the lower side surface cleaning brush;
2. The car wash machine according to claim 1, wherein the detection means determines that the lower side surface cleaning brush has reached a position in front of the rear bumper by detecting a rear end of the vehicle to be cleaned.

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