JP2003040089A - Car washer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a car washer that can prevent an accident of a brush of a top brush being caught by a rear wiper of a washed vehicle. SOLUTION: In the case a washed vehicle 5 washed by driving a top brush by a control device provided at a car washer body has a rear wiper 10, the top brush is lowered down to a lower limit position while rotating the brush 32 normally in a rotating direction P, and advanced by the drive of a conveyor to wash a hood part 5A and a windshield part 5B. When reaching the tip position of a roof part 5C, the brush 32 is reversely rotated in a rotating direction Q to wash the roof part 5C, a rear window part 5D and a trunk part 5E by the constant control of torque, and the brush 32 is lifted by lower limit detection. This constitution can avoid the brush 32 being caught by the rear wiper 10 and damaged in normal rotation.

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a car washer for cleaning the upper surface of a vehicle to be cleaned with a top brush by relatively moving a vehicle to be cleaned and a car wash machine body. 2. Description of the Related Art A conventional method for cleaning an upper surface of a vehicle to be cleaned by a car washer using a top brush will be described with reference to FIG. [0003] As shown in the figure, a car washing machine main body 81 that can reciprocate on a fixed path is provided with a brush rotating at one end of an arm 82.
83, balance weight 84 is attached to the other end, arm 82
The brush 83 is moved up and down around the rotation fulcrum X of the vehicle 85 to be cleaned.
Place a top brush 86 to wash the top of the car with a brush 83,
In cleaning the upper surface of the vehicle 85 to be cleaned, the car washing machine is rotated while rotating the brush 83 in a counterclockwise direction indicated by an arrow P (a rotation direction in which the brush 83 contacts the vehicle 85 to be cleaned from the front to the rear of the vehicle 85 to be cleaned). The main body 81 is self-propelled in the forward direction indicated by the arrow F,
The arm 82 is rotated to lower the rotating brush 83, and the upper surface is cleaned according to the shape of the vehicle 85 to be cleaned, as indicated by the trajectory indicated by the dashed line. A top brush 86 is provided so that the upper surface of the vehicle can be optimally cleaned in accordance with the shape of the upper surface (cleaning surface) of the vehicle to be cleaned.
Is controlled by repulsion balance between the own weight of the brush 83 and the cleaning surface due to the rotation of the brush 83, or a method of controlling by detecting a change in the angle of the arm 82 with a sensor. [0005] However, in this conventional method for cleaning a vehicle 85 to be cleaned, if the (rear) wiper 87 is provided in the rear window portion D of the vehicle 85 to be cleaned, the rotating brush 83
Caused the wiper 87 to rotate, especially the rotating brush
When the 83 is made of cloth, the wiper 87 may be damaged. Accordingly, the present invention prevents an accident in which a top brush is hooked on a rear wiper of a vehicle to be cleaned,
It is another object of the present invention to provide a car washer that can be used in a continuous car washer. In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a car washer according to the present invention rotates around a horizontal axis at one end of a vertically swingable arm in a car washer body. A car washing machine provided with a control device for disposing a top brush formed by attaching a rotating brush, and for relatively moving a body to be washed and the main body to wash an upper surface of the vehicle to be washed with the top brush, On the front of the main body, there is provided an operation panel provided with a switch for setting that a rear wiper is mounted as an accessory of the vehicle to be cleaned, and at the top center of the front of the main body of the car wash machine, the height of the vehicle to be cleaned is provided. The control device detects each part of the vehicle to be cleaned by a detection signal of the sonic sensor, and controls the switch of the operation panel to operate the vehicle to be cleaned. When recognizing that the wiper is attached to the rear window, the vehicle to be cleaned and the main body are rotated while rotating the rotating brush forward and backward from the front of the vehicle to be cleaned in a direction in which the brush contacts the vehicle to be cleaned. Are relatively moved to wash the vehicle to be cleaned by the rotating brush, and when the relative brush detects that the rotating brush has reached the tip of the ceiling of the vehicle to be cleaned, And the relative movement of the main body is stopped, and the rotating brush is reversely rotated in a direction in which the brush contacts the vehicle to be cleaned from the rear to the front of the vehicle to be cleaned, and the relative movement of the vehicle to be cleaned and the main body is again performed. It is characterized by starting. According to the above configuration, when the wiper is mounted on the rear window of the vehicle to be cleaned, the rotating brush is directed from the front to the rear of the vehicle to be cleaned in the direction in which the brush contacts the vehicle to be cleaned. While rotating, the vehicle to be cleaned and the body of the car washer are relatively moved to clean the vehicle to be cleaned with the rotating brush, and it is confirmed that the rotating brush has reached the tip of the ceiling of the vehicle to be cleaned with the relative movement. Stop the relative movement between the washing vehicle and the main body, rotate the rotating brush backward from the rear of the cleaning target vehicle to the front in the direction in which the brush contacts the cleaning target vehicle, and again perform the relative movement between the cleaning target vehicle and the car washer body. Let it start. In this manner, by setting the rotating direction of the rotating brush to be the reverse direction from the rear to the front of the vehicle to be cleaned by extending the rotation direction from the ceiling to the rear window, the rotating brush is positioned from above with respect to the wiper of the rear window of the vehicle to be cleaned. An accident in which the rotating brush of the top brush touches the wiper and comes into contact with the wiper is prevented. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a (continuous) car washer according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, on a floor surface 1, a stationary car wash machine body 2 formed in a gate shape, and a pair of left and right roller conveyors penetrating the car wash machine body 2 from the front and reaching the rear. 3) are installed. An operation panel 4 (details will be described later) is provided on the front of the car washer body 2, and a sonic sensor 8 for detecting the presence / absence and height of the vehicle 5 to be washed is provided at the upper center of the front. Further, a (rear) wiper 10 is attached to a rear window portion 5D of the vehicle 5 to be cleaned. In the main body 2 of the car washer, a pair of right and left cleaning side / rocker brushes 11 for cleaning the lower portions of both sides of the vehicle 5 and the side surfaces of the front and rear wheels 6 as cleaning means for the vehicle 5 to be cleaned. A cleaning top brush 12 for cleaning the upper surface of the vehicle 5 to be cleaned, a pair of left and right side brushes 13 for cleaning the front, rear, and both side surfaces of the vehicle 5 to be cleaned, and an arch (shown in FIG. And a wax top brush 14 for applying wax to the upper surface of the vehicle 5 to be cleaned as a wax application means for the vehicle 5 to be cleaned.
A pair of left and right side / rocker brushes 15 for applying wax to both sides of the vehicle 5 to be washed and the side surfaces of the wheels 6, and an arch (not shown) for injecting a wax base material, a liquid wax or a fluorine coating agent. Further, as a drying means for the vehicle 5 to be cleaned, an air curtain provided between the top nozzle 16 and the rocker brush 15 for wax, which can be moved up and down, and a top nozzle 16 for drying the upper surface of the vehicle 5 to be cleaned is provided. A vertically movable sub-top nozzle 17 to be formed,
A pair of left and right side nozzles 18 provided on the rear side of the top nozzle 16 for drying both side surfaces of the vehicle 5 to be cleaned are provided. Further, a front slope 19 for allowing the vehicle 5 to be cleaned to smoothly enter is provided at the starting end side of both roller conveyors 3.
A rear slope 20 is provided on the end side for smoothly discharging the vehicle 5 to be washed. As shown in FIG. 3, a switch for inputting automatic car wash data is provided on the operation panel 4 as a switch for inputting automatic car wash data. There are provided a car type / equipment input switch 22, a setting completion lamp 23, a car wash course and a car type / equipment setting confirmation switch 24 for inputting information, and a car wash course and a car type / equipment setting correction switch 25. In the right half, a prepaid card reader / writer 26, a coin insertion machine 27, a digital display device 28 for displaying the number of prepaid cards or the amount of inserted coins are provided as a device for paying a car wash fee and a display device for confirming the amount.
Is provided. As the vehicle type / equipment input switch 22, a switch 22A for setting a normal vehicle as a vehicle type is provided, and a switch 22B for setting the rear wiper 10 as an equipment is provided. Note that the switch is configured by a panel switch, and a corresponding lamp is attached to the switch. Each device of the operation panel 4 is connected to a control device 30 installed in the car wash machine main body 2 (described later). FIG. 4 shows an example of the structure of the cleaning top brush 12 and its driving system. The top brush 12 has a brush 32 that rotates around a horizontal axis at one end of an arm 31 and a balance weight 33 attached to the other end. The upper surface is cleaned with a brush 32. The brush 32 includes a sprocket 35 in which the rotational force of a motor 34 mounted between a weight 33 of the arm 31 and a rotation fulcrum X is fixed to a horizontal axis of the brush 32. It is rotated by being transmitted through a chain 36 stretched between them. The top brush 12 is moved up and down by supplying and discharging oil from the first and second oil tanks 37 and 38 to the cylinder 39. When the top brush 12 is raised, a changeover switch is used. The solenoid A of the switch 40 and the solenoid B of the changeover switch 41 are both turned off, and the first oil tank is released from the compressor 42 via the silencer 43.
When air is supplied to the 37 and the oil in the first oil tank 37 is extruded under pressure to supply the oil to the cylinder 39, and when the oil is held (to lock up / down), the solenoid A is turned on.
When further lowered, the solenoid A is turned off, the solenoid B is turned on, the air in the first oil tank 37 is discharged from the exhaust nozzle 46 through the check valve 44 and the silencer 45, and the first oil tank is discharged from the cylinder 39. Oil is returned to 37. Further, when the solenoid A is turned on and the lifting is locked, when a force for pushing the top brush 12 upward is applied, a check valve 47 is provided to suck in the outside air and reduce the movement of the cylinder 39, Plus 32 brushes
Are provided. The torque detecting device 48 of the brush 32 detects the torque by the current of the motor 34 that drives the brush 32, and determines the weight of the brush 32 and the brush 32
The repulsion balance between the rotating surface and the cleaning surface of the vehicle 5 to be cleaned is detected. Further, a lower limit position detecting device 49 for detecting the lower limit position of the arm 31 and an upper limit position detecting device 50 for detecting the upper limit position of the arm 31 are provided. These position detecting devices 49 and 50 are configured by, for example, a proximity sensor or a photoelectric switch. Further, the torque detection signal of the torque detection device 48 and the position detection signals of the position detection devices 49 and 50 are
Entered in 30. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a control system of the car washer according to the present embodiment. The control system of the car washer is large,
The control device 30, the operation panel 4, the sonic sensor 8, the position detection devices 49, 50, and the like, which is built in the microcomputer and includes a microcomputer having an input / output interface unit 30a, a storage unit 30b storing data and programs, and a control unit 30c. A sensor system 54 including a pulse encoder 53 of a motor (conveyor motor) 52 for driving the conveyor 3, a conveyor motor 52, a changeover switch 40 (solenoid A), a changeover switch 41 (solenoid B), a motor 34 for rotating the brush 32, and the like. And a control system 30
Are input and stored operation signals such as start and stop from the operation panel 4 and a detection signal of the sensor system 54, and control the drive system 55 according to the operation signal and the detection signal to control each of the brushes 11.
, The nozzles 16 to 18 and the roller conveyor 3 are driven to control the operation of the entire car washer body 2. Conveyor 3 and top brush by control device 30 when vehicle 5 to be cleaned is a normal vehicle and has rear wiper 10
Twelve driving methods will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. It is assumed that the control device 30 detects each part of the vehicle 5 to be cleaned, as shown in FIG. 6, based on the detection signal of the sonic sensor 8. That is,
In the front window portion 5B and the rear window portion 5D of the vehicle 5 to be cleaned, the reflection of the sound wave is oblique and the vehicle height cannot be detected. 5, the front window portion 5B and the rear window portion 5D are detected, and the vehicle height before and after the front window portion 5B and the rear window portion 5D are detected is the hood portion 5A, the ceiling portion 5C, and the trunk portion of the vehicle 5 to be washed. 5E is determined. Further, a course involving washing of the vehicle 5 to be washed is set by a car wash course selection switch 21 on the operation panel 4, a normal car is set as a car type by a switch 22A of a car type / equipment input switch 22, and an equipment is set by a switch 22B. It is assumed that the rear wiper 10 is set, the confirmation switch 24 is subsequently operated, and the control device 30 recognizes that the normal brush with the rear wiper 10 is cleaned by the top brush 12. Further, it is assumed that the top brush 12 is at the upper limit position. First, a forward drive signal is output to the motor 34 of the top brush 13 (the direction in which the rotating brush 32 contacts the vehicle 5 to be cleaned from the front to the rear of the vehicle 5 to be cleaned) to drive the brush 32 forward. The brush 32 is turned down (step-1), the solenoid A is turned off, the solenoid B is turned on, and the brush 32 is lowered (step-2). When the operation of the lower limit position detecting device 49 is confirmed (step-3), the solenoid A is turned off. When the brush 32 is turned on, the position of the brush 32 is held (the vertical movement is locked) (step-4). Next, a rotation drive signal is output to the conveyor motor 52 to advance the vehicle 5 to be cleaned (step-5). When the brush 32 comes into contact with the bonnet portion 5A of the vehicle 5 to be cleaned with this advance, a force for pushing the brush 32 upward acts on the brush 32, and the brush 32 moves along the hood portion 5A and the front window portion 5B of the vehicle 5 to be cleaned. Rises in proportion to its own weight. When the brush 32 reaches the tip (point Y in FIG. 6) of the ceiling 5C of the vehicle 5 to be washed (step-
6) A stop signal is output to the conveyor motor 52 to stop the vehicle 5 to be cleaned (step-7). The tip of the ceiling of the brush 32 (point Y in FIG. 6)
When the sonic sensor 8 detects the tip of the ceiling (point Y in FIG. 6), the pulse count of the pulse encoder 53 starts, and the vehicle 5 to be cleaned
It can be detected by counting a predetermined number of pulses traveling substantially the distance between the sonic sensor 8 and the rotating brush 32. Next, a driving signal is output to the motor 34 of the top brush 13 in a reverse direction (the direction in which the rotating brush 32 contacts the vehicle 5 to be cleaned from the rear to the front of the vehicle 5 to be cleaned) to rotate the brush 32 in the reverse direction. (Step-8), then conveyor motor
A rotation drive signal is output to 52 to cause the vehicle 5 to be washed forward again (step-9). Then, the brush 32 is moved to the vehicle 5
(Steps 10 and 11) so that the brush 32 reaches the rear end of the ceiling 5C and moves along the rear window 5D. When the lower limit position detecting device 49 operates (step-13), the solenoid A and the solenoid B are both turned off to raise the brush 32 (step-13), and a stop signal is output to the motor 34 to cause the brush 32 to move. When the upper limit position detecting device 50 is operated (step-15) and stopped (step-15), the solenoid A is turned on to hold the position of the brush 32 (step-16), and the process ends. The above constant torque control method will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. That is, the torque detection signal of the torque detection device 48 is confirmed (step-S1), and if the torque J is within a certain range (J _A ≦ J ≦ J _B ), the solenoid A is kept on (up-down lock). ) (step -S2), the torque J reduced (J <J _A),
The solenoid A is turned off and the solenoid B is turned on to lower the brush 32 so that the brush 32 is pressed against the upper surface of the vehicle 5 to be washed (step-S3). When the torque increases (J _B <J), the brush 32 is The solenoids A and B are turned off so that the brushes 32 are separated from the upper surface of the vehicle 5 to be washed.
Is raised (Step-S4). By driving the top brush 12 by the control device 30, when the vehicle 5 to be cleaned is a normal vehicle with a rear wiper 10, as shown by the dashed line in FIG.
The top brush 12 is lowered until the arm 31 is at the lower limit position while rotating the brush 32 in the direction of rotation P in the forward direction.
A, When the front window 5B is washed and reaches the tip of the ceiling 5C, the brush 32 is rotated in the reverse direction in the rotation direction Q, and the ceiling 5C, the rear window 5D, and the trunk 5E are controlled by a constant torque control. The cleaning with the brush 32 is performed, and the brush 32 is raised by detecting the lower limit. As described above, the control device 30 drives the conveyor 3 and the top brush 12 to drive the vehicle 5 to be cleaned.
When the vehicle reaches the ceiling 5C of the vehicle 5 to be cleaned when the vehicle is a regular vehicle and has the rear wiper 10, as shown in FIG.
By reversing the rotation, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the brush 32 is caught on the rear wiper 10 during normal rotation and is damaged. In this embodiment, the cleaning top brush is used.
Although the cleaning method using 12 has been described, the same operation is performed on the top brush 14 for wax,
Similarly, the rear wiper 10 can be prevented from being damaged. In the present embodiment, the method of cleaning the top brush 12 is applied to a continuous car washer. However, the present invention can also be applied to a car washer in which a to-be-cleaned vehicle is washed by the top brush while moving the main body of the car washer. As a method of detecting that the rotating brush has reached the ceiling of the vehicle to be washed, a sonic sensor is attached to the tip of the car wash machine body, and the ceiling of the vehicle to be washed is determined based on this detection signal. From this discrimination time, the relative movement time of the distance between the sonic sensor and the rotating brush is counted and detected. The ceiling may be a predetermined time after the detection of the leading end. As described above, according to the present invention, the direction of rotation of the rotating brush is set to the reverse direction from the rear to the front of the vehicle to be cleaned from the ceiling portion to the rear window portion. The rotating brush can be brought into contact with the wiper of the rear window portion of the vehicle from above, and an accident of the rotating brush of the top brush being caught on the wiper can be prevented.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a trajectory diagram of a top brush when a normal car with a rear wiper is washed by a car washer according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the car washer. FIG. 3 is a plan view of an operation panel of the car washer. FIG. 4 is a view showing a structure of a top brush of the car washer and a drive system thereof. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a control system of the car washer. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a method of detecting each part of the vehicle to be washed by the control device of the car washer. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of top brush control by the control device of the car washer. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a top brush control by the control device of the car washer. FIG. 9 is a trajectory diagram of a top brush during cleaning of a conventional vehicle to be cleaned. [Description of Signs] 1 Floor surface 2 Car wash machine main body 3 Roller conveyor 4 Operation panel 5 Vehicle to be cleaned 5C Ceiling portion of vehicle to be cleaned 5D Rear window portion of vehicle to be cleaned 8 Sonic sensor 10 Rear wiper 12 Top brush 21 Car wash course selection Switch 22 Vehicle type / equipment input switch 22A Normal vehicle input switch 22B Rear wiper input switch 30 Controller 31 Arm 32 Brush 33 Weight 34 Rotary motor 37, 38 Oil tank 39 Cylinder 40, 41 Switch 42 Compressor 48 Torque detector 49 Lower limit Position detecting device 50 Upper limit position detecting device 52 Conveyor motor 53 Pulse encoder P Brush forward rotation direction Q Brush reverse rotation direction X Rotation fulcrum

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. A vehicle to be cleaned, wherein a top brush formed by attaching a rotating brush that rotates around a horizontal axis to one end of an arm that can swing up and down is disposed in a car washer body. And a control device for relatively moving the main body and cleaning the upper surface of the vehicle to be cleaned with a top brush, wherein a rear wiper is mounted as a component of the vehicle to be cleaned on a front surface of the vehicle body. An operation panel provided with a switch for setting that the vehicle is being washed, a sonic sensor for detecting a vehicle height of the vehicle to be washed is provided at an upper central portion of a front surface of the car washing machine main body, and the control device includes a sonic sensor. Each part of the vehicle to be cleaned is detected by the detection signal, and when it is recognized that the wiper is attached to the rear window of the vehicle to be cleaned by operating a switch on the operation panel, While rotating the rotating brush forward and backward in the direction in which the brush contacts the vehicle to be cleaned from the front to the rear of the vehicle to be cleaned, the vehicle to be cleaned and the main body are relatively moved to rotate the vehicle to be cleaned by the rotating brush. When the cleaning is performed, and when the rotary brush reaches the tip of the ceiling portion of the vehicle to be cleaned by the detection of each part along with the relative movement, the relative movement between the vehicle to be cleaned and the main body is stopped, and the rotating brush is stopped. A reverse direction of the brush from the rear to the front of the vehicle to be cleaned in a direction in which the brush contacts the vehicle to be cleaned, and the relative movement between the vehicle to be cleaned and the main body is started again.