JPH01178051A - Automatic car washing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently wash the side surface of a vehicle by the simple structure by installing a side surface cleaning nozzle for cleaning the side surface of the car body, permitting the vertical movement, and by controlling the operation of the side surface cleaning nozzle according to the position of an elevating/ lowering girder having an upper cleaning nozzle. CONSTITUTION:An elevating/lowering girder 10 having a reciprocation traveling dolly 11 built in is installed onto the frame 1 of a car washer which is moved in reciprocation along the right and left rails 4 in pairs, and an upper cleaning nozzle 7 is arranged onto the reciprocation traveling dolly 11. Further, a nozzle bracket 13 which is moved in the vertical direction by an elevating/lowering mechanism including a turnable endless chain 32 is installed onto the pillar part 12 of the frame 1, and a side surface cleaning nozzle 8 is arranged into the nozzle bracket 13. Though the elevating/lowering girder 10 is controlled by the outputs of the photoelectric sensors 15 for detecting a car body on the both sides, the whole of the car body side surface is washed by controlling the vertical movement and the liquid injection of the side surface cleaning nozzle 8 in interlocking with the rising and lowering operation of the elevating/ lowering girder 10 and the shift of the frame 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An industrial field of application - The present invention relates to an automatic car wash device that cleans the body of a car while moving a gate-shaped or inverted frame. The present invention relates to a mounting structure for a side cleaning nozzle provided for spraying cleaning water and a means for controlling its operation.

1. Conventional technology - A car wash device has a washing nozzle for spraying detergent and washing water onto the car body to be washed.In an automatic car wash device that washes the car while moving the frame, the front and rear surfaces of the car body and An upper cleaning nozzle for cleaning the top surface is placed on a lifting frame that can be raised and lowered on the frame, and a side cleaning nozzle for cleaning the side surfaces of the vehicle body is placed on the pillars of the frame. In the conventional device, a large number of side cleaning nozzles are arranged vertically on the pillars of the frame.

Problems with the Prior Art - However, if a large number of cleaning nozzles are provided and they are operated simultaneously, a large-capacity injection pump for detergent or cleaning water is required, resulting in a large pump and drive motor. occurs.

In addition, the height of a car varies depending on the type of car, and the height of the passenger compartment and the bonnet are different. Therefore, by detecting the height of the car and controlling the operation of the side washing nozzle, wastage of detergent and washing water is prevented. At the same time, it is desirable to reduce pump power consumption. However, providing an independent vehicle height detection sensor for controlling the operation of the side cleaning nozzle is undesirable in terms of device cost (and also causes the problem of complicating the control structure).

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a car washing device that can wash the entire side surface of a vehicle body of various heights with a small number of side surface cleaning nozzles, and also operates the side surface cleaning nozzle according to the height of the vehicle body. The purpose is to provide a simple means of controlling the

- Means for Solving the Problems - The present invention provides a side cleaning nozzle 8 for cutting grooves on the side surface of the vehicle body 2 and spraying cleaning water so as to be movable up and down on the column part 12 of the frame 1, and an upper cleaning nozzle 7 Detection means 4 for detecting the vertical relationship between the provided lifting frame 10 and this side cleaning nozzle 8
4.45 is provided, and the operation of the side cleaning nozzle 8 is controlled by the detection signal of the detection means.

The operation control structure of the side cleaning nozzle 8 includes a structure in which the vertical stroke of the side cleaning nozzle 8 is constant and the injection operation of the side cleaning nozzle 8 is started and stopped based on the above detection signal, and a structure in which the vertical stroke of the side cleaning nozzle 8 is variable. It is possible to adopt a structure in which the rising end of the side cleaning nozzle 8 is set based on the detection signal.

According to the above structure, the side surface of the vehicle body 2 is cleaned by the side surface cleaning nozzle 8.
Since cleaning is performed by scanning in a zigzag manner by reciprocating up and down and movement of the frame 1, one side cleaning nozzle 8 on each side is installed on the left and right sides.
It becomes possible to clean the entire car body side with only a small amount of water. Furthermore, since the elevating frame lO is located at a height corresponding to the height of the vehicle body, if the vertical relationship with this elevating frame lO is detected and the operation of the side cleaning nozzle 8 is controlled, the upper part where the car body is not present can be detected. It is possible to avoid losses caused by spraying detergent and washing water from the side washing nozzle 8 at different positions, and the control structure thereof is also simplified.

One Embodiment - Figures 1 to 8 are diagrams showing an embodiment of this invention. In FIGS. 2 and 3 showing the overall structure of the device, 1 is a frame of the car washing device, 2 is the body of a car to be washed, and the frame 1 is installed on a rail 4 with wheels 3 so that it can run freely. , a motor 5 that drives wheels 3, and a reduction gear 6. 7 is an upper cleaning nozzle, 8 is a side cleaning nozzle, and 9 is a bottom cleaning nozzle.
1, the side cleaning nozzle 8 is attached to the nozzle bracket 13 installed inside the column 12 of the frame, facing sideways, and the bottom cleaning nozzle 9 is attached to the lower end of the frame, facing diagonally upward. ing.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a sensor stand fixed to both ends of the lifting frame IO, and photoelectric sensors 15 for detecting the vehicle body 2 are arranged on this sensor stand!
has been done. The photoelectric sensors 15... are provided with respective light emitting elements and light receiving elements facing the sensor stands 14 and 14 on both sides, and when the optical path is blocked by the vehicle body 2, the elevating frame is driven as described later. By controlling the amount of air supplied to the air cylinder 26, the elevating frame 10 is raised and lowered according to the height of the vehicle body 2. 16 is a limit switch for emergency stop;
Reference numeral 17 denotes the detection arm, which is provided to emergency stop the running operation of the car wash device when the elevator frame 1O comes too close to the vehicle body 2.

The elevating frame 10 is supported by fixing both ends to a frame bracket 18 shown by broken lines in FIG. 2, and the elevating mechanism of the frame bracket 18 is shown in FIG.

In the figure, 19 to 22 are pulleys pivoted to the frame 1, 23 is a wire wound around the pulleys 19 to 22,
24 is a balance weight fixed to the middle part of the wire 23;
5 is an L-shaped bracket fixed to the balance weight 24, 26
is an air cylinder installed vertically; the tip of the rod 27 of the cylinder is fixed to the lower end of the L-shaped bracket 25, and the frame bracket 18 is fixed to the wire 23.

One of the pulleys 19 to 22 20 is connected on both sides by a shaft 28, and the frame brackets 18 and 18 on both sides are moved up and down in synchronization by the rod expansion and contraction movement of one cylinder 26. .

The elevating mechanism of the nozzle bracket 13 to which the side nozzle 8 is attached is shown at 29 in Fig. 0 in Figs. 4 and 5.
is a guide rail that is fixed to the frame 1 and guides the nozzle bracket 13, 30 and 31 are sprockets that are pivoted to the frame 1, 32 is a chain that is wound around the sprockets 30 and 31, and 33 is the nozzle bracket 13. A connecting piece 34 connecting the chain 32 is a drive motor, which is wound between a connecting sprocket 35 that is substantially integral with the sprocket 30, a connecting shaft 37 having sprockets 36 fixed to both ends, and sprockets 35 and 36. Nozzle brackets 13.13 on both sides via chain 38
The structure is such that the two motors are synchronously driven by one motor 34.

The connecting piece 33 has its base end pivotally supported by adjacent connecting pins 39 and 39 of the chain 32, and a center pin 4 planted at the tip.
0, the nozzle bracket 13 is pivoted at the center of its width, that is, at a position where the center pin 40 and the axis of the sprocket 30 or 31 exactly coincide when the nozzle bracket 13 reaches its lifting end. Therefore, when the chain 32 is driven in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 5, the nozzle bracket 13 is pulled by the connecting piece 33 and rises from the position indicated by the solid line in the figure, and the chain piece connecting the connecting piece 33 moves toward the sprocket. 30, the connecting piece 33 rotates around the center pin 40 and the nozzle bracket 13 itself remains stationary, and after the chain piece goes around the sprocket 30, it is pulled down by the connecting piece 33 which has been reversed left and right. do. Then, at the position of the lower sprocket 31, the connecting piece 33 is reversed left and right again, and the nozzle bracket 13 is raised again. By repeating this operation, the nozzle bracket 13 moves up and down with a stroke S equal to the distance between the axes of the sprockets 31 and 32.

As shown in detail in FIG. 6, the nozzle bracket 13 is provided with a shielding plate 41, and a groove 4 through which this shielding plate passes.
2 is fixed to the frame bracket 18, and upper and lower sensors 4 are attached to the sensor block 43.
4.45 is installed.

Figure 7 shows the cleaning water piping, where 46 is the cleaning water tank, 47.48 is the pump, 49.50 is the pump motor,
51 is a switching valve, 52 is a wax liquid container, 53 is a wax liquid supply pump, 54 is a wax liquid supply motor, 55
．． 56 is flowing! The regulating valve 57, 58 is a mixer, and the water discharged from the pump 47 is switched to the upper cleaning nozzle 7, and the water discharged from the pump 48 is supplied to the side cleaning nozzle 8 and the bottom cleaning nozzle 9 on both sides. The structure is as follows. The water level in the cleaning tank 46 is maintained constant by being detected by a float switch 59 and a water supply valve 60 being opened and closed. The wax liquid supply motor 54 is not driven when a car wash is performed using only wash water, and the motor 54 is not driven when a wax car wash is performed.
is driven, and the cleaning water containing the wax liquid flows into the cleaning nozzle 7.
．． It will be injected from 8.9. The amount of wax liquid supplied at this time is adjusted by flow ffi adjustment valves 55 and 56.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the switching control operation between the side cleaning nozzle 8 and the bottom cleaning nozzle 9 by the switching valve 51. In FIG.
4, and the lower sensor is the sensor shown with reference numeral 45 in the figure.

In the illustrated flowchart, the lower sensor 45 is turned ON, and the trailing sensor 44 is turned ON (Step 7, Step 62.
63 and 64), that is, when the nozzle bracket 13 passes the position of the frame bracket 18 while rising, the switching valve 51 is operated to switch the jet water pipe from the side cleaning nozzle 8 to the bottom cleaning nozzle 9. There is. Further, when the upper sensor 45 is turned ON after the upper sensor 44 is turned ON (step 61, 65, 66), that is, when the nozzle bracket 13 passes the position of the frame bracket 18 while descending, the injection water pipe The path is switched from the bottom cleaning nozzle 9 to the side cleaning nozzle 8.

Therefore, when the lifting frame 10 is at a height H+ as shown by the solid line in FIG. Water is not injected when moving up and down the range N, and during this time water is injected from the bottom washing nozzle 9 to wash the bottom surface of the vehicle body 2 and the tire house. Furthermore, when the elevator frame 10 rises to a height H2 shown by the imaginary line in the figure, water is sprayed from the side cleaning nozzle 8 in the range of M2, and water is sprayed from the bottom cleaning nozzle 9 in the range of N2. will be exposed.

, and step 67 in the flowchart of FIG.
．． 68 is the sensor 44.45 that was turned on once again.
This is a standby step until it becomes FF, and steps 69 and 70 are steps to ensure operation when the device is started with the shielding plate 41 located between the sensors 44 and 45.

The flowchart in FIG. 9 shows that instead of switching the pipeline between the side cleaning nozzle 8 and the bottom cleaning nozzle 9, the lifting motor 34 of the side cleaning nozzle is reversed to change the lifting stroke of the side cleaning nozzle 8 as shown in FIG. This shows a control procedure in which the nozzle bracket 13 is raised and the frame bracket l-18 is limited to the range shown by M+ and Mz.
When the position is reached, that is, the lower sensor 45 is turned on, and the rear end sensor 44 is turned on (steps 62, 63.
64), a reverse rotation command is given to the nozzle lifting motor 34. In this control, the nozzle bracket 13
When it passes the position of the frame bracket 18 while descending (steps 61, 65, and 66) (an operation that cannot occur during normal operation), it is sufficient to allow the nozzle bra and kerato 13 to pass through as is.

Effects of the Invention - According to the automatic car wash device of the present invention explained above, the entire side surfaces of car bodies of different types of animals can be washed with only one side washing nozzle on the left and right sides, and the upper side where there is no car body can be washed. This has the advantage that it is possible to prevent wasteful spraying of detergent and cleaning water from the side cleaning nozzle at certain positions, and that the control structure for realizing this operation is also extremely simple. Furthermore, since there is no need to install multiple side cleaning nozzles, the injection pump for detergent liquid and cleaning water can be made smaller, piping to the cleaning nozzles is simplified, and high-pressure jetting of cleaning water is also possible. There is.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 8 are diagrams showing an embodiment of the present invention, with Figure 1 being an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the side cleaning nozzle in relation to the elevator frame, and Figure 2 being an overall front view of the car washing device. , 3rd
The figure is a sectional side view of the same, Figure 4 is a perspective view schematically showing the lifting mechanism of the lifting frame and side cleaning nozzle, Figure 5 is a side view of the lifting mechanism of the side cleaning nozzle, and Figure 6 is the lifting frame and side surface. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the washing water piping, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the control procedure. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing another embodiment of the control procedure. In the diagram, 1: Frame 2: Vehicle body

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A lift frame (10) that moves up and down according to the height of the car body (2) is provided on the frame (1) that moves relative to the car body (2) to be washed, and the top surface of the car body is washed on this lift frame. In an automatic car washing device equipped with an upper washing nozzle (7) for washing the side surface of the vehicle body (2), a side washing nozzle (8) for washing the side surface of the vehicle body (2) is provided on the column (12) of the frame (1) so as to be able to reciprocate and move up and down. Cleaning nozzle (8) and the lifting frame (10)
Detection means (44) and (45) are provided for detecting the vertical relationship between the side cleaning nozzle (8) and the detection signal of the detection means.
) An automatic car wash device characterized by controlling the operation of. (2) The side cleaning nozzle (8) is reciprocated by the lifting drive device (32) having a fixed stroke, and the injection operation of the side cleaning nozzle (8) is started by the detection signals from the detection means (44) and (45). The automatic car wash device according to claim 1, characterized in that the automatic car wash device is turned on and stopped. (3) The side cleaning nozzle (8) is driven up and down by a lifting drive device (34) having a variable stroke, and the rising end of the lifting drive device is set by the detection signals from the detection means (44) and (45). , an automatic car wash device according to claim 1.