JP2553940B2 - Car wash method - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a car washing method for automatically washing a car at a gas station, for example.

When cleaning the front and rear surfaces of an automobile with a pair of left and right side brushes, the brushes of the side brushes that have moved close to each other in a rotating state interfere with each other, which results in unwashed residue in the center portion in the vehicle width direction. Occurs. As a solution to this, for example, a car wash method disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-27747 is provided.

In this conventional method, a pair of left and right vertical brushes are driven to rotate at the same time, and the brush bristles are brought close to a position where they interfere with each other in the center portion of the front and rear surfaces of the vehicle in the left-right direction. The vertical brushes are driven to rotate alternately. According to this method, since one of them is driven to rotate and the other is stopped to rotate, there is no interference between the brush bristles, so that the brush bristles on the rotating side advance to the stopped side, and The brushing cleaning of the central part of the rear surface is possible.

However, in the above-mentioned conventional method, both vertical brushes are rotationally driven, and one vertical brush is stopped while the brush bristles interfere with each other, that is, the other vertical brush rotates at high speed. Since one vertical brush gradually decelerates and stops at the end, the peripheral speeds of both vertical brushes are different, and the contact movement of both brush bristles becomes irregular,
As a result, an accident may occur such as damage or destruction of both vertical brushes.

Also, rotation stop and rotation drive (start / stop) are repeated many times in the central part, that is, near the bumper or license plate, increasing the rate of brush hairs getting caught on these bumpers or license plates, causing damage. easy. Further, since the rotation stop and the rotation drive are alternately performed, the repulsive force from the vehicle body side strongly acts on the vertical brush during the rotation drive, and the service life of this vertical brush is reduced.

The object of the present invention is to rotate and stop rotation of both brushes without adversely affecting both brushes such as damage or destruction, and to wash the central portion without leaving unwashed residue, The front surface as well as the rear surface, which includes the parts, is to provide a car wash method that can be cleaned more cleanly.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a car washing method of the present invention includes a pair of left and right side brushes that can approach and separate from each other in the vehicle width direction and are rotatable about a longitudinal axis, The brush bristles do not interfere with each other while maintaining the rotation of both side brushes by rotating the two side brushes while rotating in one direction and bringing them closer to the central cleaning position where the brush bristles interfere with each other. After being moved away from each other to the intermediate cleaning position, a plurality of reciprocating movements were performed to move the brushes closer to the central cleaning position where the bristles interfere with each other, and both side brushes were moved to the central cleaning position. After that, stop the rotation of both side brushes, and then rotate both side brushes in the left-right symmetrical direction at the same time in opposite directions. The entire front or back surface is cleaned by moving it away to a certain position.

Action According to the above-described configuration of the present invention, both side brushes in the rotationally driven state between the central cleaning position and the intermediate cleaning position,
By performing a plurality of reciprocating movements while moving toward each other or moving away from each other, the vicinity of the central portion between both positions is
Cleaning is performed multiple times with both side brushes. The rotation stop and the reverse rotation drive of both side brushes are performed simultaneously and once.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

The gate-shaped car washer body 1 is mounted on a rail 3 via a plurality of wheels 2, and can be reciprocally traveled on a fixed route by the operation of a travel drive device (not shown). The car wash main body 1 includes a first wash water arch 4, a first wax arch 5, a second wash water arch 6, and a second wax arch 7.
And a cleaning arch 8 are arranged in this order, and a top nozzle 9 and a side nozzle 10 for drying are provided at the location of the first cleaning water arch 4, and a top brush 11 and a rocker brush 12 are arranged. There is.

The side brush device 13 has a pair of left and right rails 14A and 14B supported on the car wash machine body 1 side, and is supported and guided by the rails 14A and 14B to move the movable bases 15A and 15B movably in the vehicle width direction W. Have. Brush shafts 16A and 16B are hung from the movable bases 15A and 15B, respectively.
6B is linked to the motors 17A and 17B on the movable bases 15A and 15B, and the side brushes 19A and 19B configured by implanting the brush bristles 18A and 18B on the brush shafts 16A and 16B have a longitudinal axis 20A, It becomes rotatable around 20B.

Further, an actuating device 21 interlocking with the movable bases 15A and 15B is provided on the car wash machine main body 1 side, so that the side brushes 19A and 19B can be moved toward and away from each other in the vehicle width direction W. 22 vehicle, 22a shows the front surface of the vehicle 22, and 22b shows the rear surface of the vehicle 22.

In the embodiment described above, the brushes 11, 12, 19A, 19B are stopped while the car 22 is stopped and the car washer body 1 is reciprocated.
The separation movement, supply of wash water through the wash water arches 4, 6, supply of wax liquid through the wax arches 5, 7,
The desired car wash can be performed by appropriately combining the supply of the detergent and the scale remover through the detergent arch 8 and the blowing of the air through the nozzles 9 and 10.

At that time, the cleaning of the front surface 22a and the rear surface 22b by the side brush device 13 is controlled as follows.

That is, before moving to car washing, both side brushes 19A and 19B have stopped rotating as shown in FIG. 1 (a),
It is located forward and outward of the front surface 22a of the automobile 22. In this state, first rotate both side brushes 19A, 19B in the left-right symmetric direction as shown by the phantom line (a).
Let 5B. Both brush hairs 18A, 18B due to centrifugal force at that time
Expands (diameter expansion). Next, the both side brushes 19A, 19B are moved toward each other M in the vehicle width direction W to set to the central cleaning position X where the brush bristles 18A, 18B interfere with each other as shown by the phantom line (b). Then, attach both side brushes 19A and 19B to the front surface 22a.
Move towards.

As shown in FIG. 1 (b), both side brushes 19A, 19B abut (contact) the front surface 22a, and the central portion cleaning R is performed.
Since the bristles 18A and 18B interfere with each other at the time of carrying, there is an unwashed portion S at the center. Then
While maintaining the forward rotation 25A, 25B of both side brushes 19A, 19B, as shown in FIG. 1 (C), both side brushes 19A, 19B
Is moved to the intermediate portion cleaning position Y where the brush bristles 18A and 18B do not interfere with each other. Due to this separation movement n, the range of the central portion cleaning R is expanded by the movement amount.

After this separation movement n, both side brushes 19A and 19B are moved to the central portion cleaning position X as shown in FIG. 1 (n). Then, as shown in FIG. 1 (e), the separating movement n is performed again, and then, as shown in FIG. 1 (f), both side brushes 19A and 19B are moved toward the central cleaning position X. By repeating such a reciprocating movement operation of the separating movement n and the approaching movement m, the above-mentioned unwashed portion S is washed.

After such cleaning is performed, the rotation of both side brushes 19A, 19B is stopped, as shown in FIG. 1 (g).
Then, as shown in FIG. 1 (h), both side brushes 19A,
19B are simultaneously rotated in opposite directions 26A and 26B in the opposite direction, and then, as shown in FIG. 1 (i), both side brushes 19A and 19B are
The front surface 22a is cleaned over the entire surface by moving the space N away from the central cleaning position X.

The cleaning of the rear surface 22b of the automobile 22 is performed in the same manner.

In the above embodiment, the separating movement n and the approaching movement m of the side brushes 19A and 19B are repeated twice, but this may be repeated three or more times.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention having the above-described configuration, both side brushes in a rotationally driven state perform a plurality of reciprocating movements between the central cleaning position and the intermediate cleaning position while moving toward each other or moving away from each other. By doing so, the vicinity of the central part, which is between both positions, can be cleaned multiple times by both side brushes that are being driven to rotate, and more thorough cleaning can be performed, and the central part can be cleaned by repeated reciprocal cleaning. Can be carried out without leaving any unwashed residue. In addition, rotation and reverse rotation of both side brushes facing the center portion need only be performed once and simultaneously with both side brushes, so the rate of hooking on the bumper or license plate is small and the vehicle body The repulsive force from the side does not act strongly, so damage to the vehicle body and side brushes can be reduced, and the service life of the side brushes can be improved. Moreover, since both side brushes are only moved toward or away from each other, it is possible to simply provide them without any special addition to their control and brush support / movement structure.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIGS. 1 and 2 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 1 (a) to (i) are schematic plan views showing a car wash process, and FIG. 2 is a side view of a car wash machine. 1 …… Car wash body, 13 …… Side brush device, 14A, 14B
...... Rail, 15A, 15B …… Movable stand, 16A, 16B …… Brush shaft, 17A, 17B …… Motor, 18A, 18B …… Brush bristle, 19A, 19
B ... Side brush, 20A, 20B ... Vertical axis, 21 ... Actuator, 22 ... Car, 22a ... Front, 22b ... Rear, 25A, 25
B …… forward rotation, 26A, 26B …… reverse rotation, M, m …… approaching movement, N, n
…… Separation movement, R …… Center part cleaning, S …… Unwashed part, W
... vehicle width direction, X ... central cleaning position, Y ... intermediate cleaning position.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] Claim: What is claimed is: 1. A pair of left and right side brushes that can move toward and away from each other in the vehicle width direction and that are rotatable about a longitudinal axis are washed in the left-right symmetric direction while the bristles interfere with each other. While contacting the front or rear surface of the car with the bristles moved to the position, while maintaining the rotation of both side brushes, first move them away from each other to the intermediate cleaning position where the bristles do not interfere with each other, and then the bristles move to each other. Performing a reciprocating motion to move closer to the central cleaning position that interferes with each other, and move both side brushes toward each other to the central cleaning position, then stop the rotation of both side brushes, and then remove both side brushes. Simultaneously rotate in the opposite direction in the left-right symmetric direction, and then move these side brushes away from the intermediate cleaning position to clean the entire front surface or rear surface. Car wash how to butterflies.