JPH0554466B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to a car wash device for a vehicle.

[Prior Art] In conventional car washing devices, the pressing force of the brush against the car body is the same both when washing with water (or water mixed with detergent) and when waxing. However, when washing with water, the purpose is to remove dirt from the car body, and it is necessary to press the brush against the car body to some extent, but when applying wax, you do not need as much pressing force as when washing with water.
Rather, excessive pressing force has the problem of thinning the wax coating and reducing the wax effect.

Further, the pressing force of the brush was the same whether it was a heavily soiled vehicle or an old vehicle that is difficult to remove dirt from, a lightly soiled vehicle, a luxury car with easily noticeable scratches, or a new vehicle. This is a problem where if you set the pressing force based on the former, it will be too strong for the latter and damage the car body, and if you set the pressing force based on the latter, it will be too weak compared to the former and the dirt will not come off. There is.

Further, the pressing force of the brush for cleaning the upper part of the car body which is not very dirty, that is, the top brush and the side brush, and the brush for cleaning the lower part of the car body that is heavily dirty, that is, the rocker brush, was the same. This is because if the pressing force is set based on the former, it will be too weak for the latter and it will be difficult to remove dirt, and if the pressing force is set based on the latter, it will be too strong compared to the former and may damage the car body. .

Furthermore, when the number of rotations of the brush is made to correspond to the strength of the pressing force, a similar problem occurs.

In Japanese Patent Application No. 59-26954, the applicant proposed a car washing method that uses high-pressure water to blow off the dirt attached to the car and then performs brushing. Although a car wash device equipped with a shower nozzle is proposed, it does not solve all of the above-mentioned problems.

In addition, the technology of making the pressing force of the side brushes variable in car washing equipment is well known, for example,
It is described in Publication No. 70249. however,
In this known technique, the pressing force is simply varied depending on the part of the vehicle body, and it is not possible to distinguish between heavily soiled cars and lightly soiled cars, or between high-paid cars and old cars.

[Problems to be Solved] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a car washing device that does not damage the car body or wash the car insufficiently depending on the type of car.

[Means for Solving the Problems] According to the present invention, a car wash device that reciprocates while rotating a brush is provided with an input means for inputting car wash conditions, and a control device receiving a signal from the input means is configured to control the vehicle body of the brush. a brush control unit that controls the number of rotations of the brush, a shower control unit that controls the amount of water, and a wax control unit that applies wax; A pressing force drive unit that applies a pressing force to the brush based on a signal from the brush control unit, a brush drive unit that determines the number of rotations of the brush based on a signal from the brush control unit, and a car washing process based on a signal from the shower control unit. It has a shower drive section that determines the amount of water, and a wax drive section that applies wax during waxing in response to a signal from the wax control section.

[Description of Effects] Therefore, when washing a car, the car wash conditions are inputted into the control device by reading the input means for inputting the car wash conditions, for example, a selection button or a selection card with a card reader. Then, the pressing force control section outputs a control signal to the pressing force driving section,
Apply the selected pressing force to the side brush. A control signal from the brush drive unit causes the brush drive unit to rotate the side brush at a predetermined rotation speed. In addition, the shower control section outputs a control signal to the shower drive section so as to provide the amount of water that matches washing and brushing, and when applying wax, the wax control section outputs a control signal to the wax drive section,
Perform waxing.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to select the appropriate car wash conditions depending on the car type, and when the car is heavily dirty, the pressing force of the brush is increased, and when the car is lightly dirty or when waxing is required, the pressing force is decreased. can.
In the case of luxury cars, the pressing force of the brush can be reduced to prevent scratches on the car body, and in the case of regular cars, the pressing force of the brush can be increased to shorten the car wash time.

Therefore, rational car washing work can be performed depending on the type of car and the degree of dirt.

[Examples] Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In Fig. 1, inside the machine frame 1, there is a drying device 2 for blowing dry air onto the vehicle body surface from the front side to the rear side, a top brush 3 for mainly brushing the roof of the vehicle, and a top brush 3 mainly for brushing the vehicle's tires. a wax applicator 5 for spraying wax on the car body surface, a shower device 6 for spraying wash water (water or water mixed with detergent) for washing the car body surface, and Side brushes 10a, 10 for brushing the front and rear surfaces and sides of the vehicle
b, respectively, and the machine frame 1 is mounted on rails 9 by wheels 8 driven by a machine frame moving motor 7.
It is now possible to travel back and forth on the top. and,
The wax applicator 5 is provided with a wax drive section D that adjusts the amount of wax, and the shower device 6 is provided with a shower drive section C that adjusts the amount of water.

In FIG. 2, side brushes 10a, 10b
are arranged in pairs so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction so as to sandwich a vehicle (not shown) from the left and right sides.
These side brushes 10a and 10b are attached to a rail 12 suspended from a support 11 on the machine frame 1.
roller 13 and slider 14 that sandwich 2 from above and below
It is suspended by a motor, that is, a brush drive unit B, and is rotated via a chain 16 (FIG. 1).

On the other hand, one ends of wires 18a and 18b are connected to arms 17a and 17b that connect roller 13 and slider 14, respectively, along rail 12.
The other ends of these wires are connected to pulleys 20a and 20 of brush widening motors 19a and 19b fixed to the machine frame 1.
When the motors 19a and 19b are rotated, the brushes 10a and 10b are respectively expanded toward the machine frame 1 side, that is, outwardly, to a set maximum width.

Furthermore, the wires 18a of the arms 17a, 17b,
One end of wires 21a and 21b are connected along the rail 12 to the side opposite to 18b, respectively.
These wires are turned vertically by rollers 22, and have weights, generally designated 30, suspended from their lower ends.
The brushes 10a and 10b are urged inwardly toward each other and pressed against the vehicle body.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, the weight 30 is formed in the shape of a container, and the weight is adjusted depending on the amount of water inside.
The pushing force of the brushes 10a and 10b is adjusted, and in order to adjust the amount of water, the whole is set to A.
A pressing force drive unit is provided which is a means for varying the pressing force shown in FIG. This pressing force drive unit A has a weight of 30
A water injection pipe 32 equipped with a valve 31 for injecting water into the weight 30, a drain pipe 34 equipped with a drainage pump 33 for discharging water in the weight 30, a drain pipe lifting device 35 for moving the drain pipe 34 in the vertical direction, and a water injection pipe. 32 and drain pipe 3
A moving device 36 for moving 4 to the water filling position
It's getting more and more familiar.

In FIG. 5, a control device 40 that adjusts the pressing force, the number of rotations of the brush, the amount of washing water, and the amount of wax is provided with a pressing force control section 41, a brush control section 42, a shower control section 43, and a wax control section 44. The controller 40 is connected to a pressing force drive unit A, a brush drive unit B, a shower drive unit C, and a wax drive unit D, respectively, and the control device 40 has a selection button 45 for inputting car wash conditions and reads the contents of a selection card (not shown). A card reader 46 is connected. The selection button 45 or the card reader 46 constitutes input means for inputting car wash conditions. And the control device 40
The car wash conditions are: heavy dirt or old cars that are difficult to remove (high), normal dirt (medium), light dirt or luxury/new cars (low) when washing with water and wax. During application, the pressing force and rotational speed of the brush can be controlled, for example, at a ratio as shown in FIG.

Next, let's look at the effect, for example, when the car wash conditions are normal (normal).
The case of washing with water will be explained below.

When the operator inputs the above car wash conditions into the control device 40 by pressing the selection button 45 or by having the card reader 46 read the selection card, the control device 40 causes the pressing force control section 41 to input the above-mentioned car wash conditions to the pressing force drive section A.
A control signal is output to , the moving device 36 is driven to move the water inlet pipe 32 and the drain pipe 34 to the inlet position, and the valve 31 is opened to inject water into the weight 30 to fill it with water. Next, the control device 40 determines that the pressing force ratio is 3 in the pressing force control unit 41, and causes the pressing force drive unit A to set the pressing force ratio to 3.
outputs a control signal. Based on this control signal, the pressing force driving unit A drives the lifting device 35 to lower the drain pipe 34 as shown in FIG.
After positioning at L3, the lifting device 35 and moving device 36 are finally driven to return to the state shown in FIG. 3. As a result, the weight 30 becomes a weight with a ratio of 3, and the wire 2
Side brushes 10a, 10 via 1a, 21b
A pressing force with a ratio of 3 is applied to b.

Next, a control signal is output from the brush drive unit 42 to the brush drive unit B to rotate the side brushes 10a, 10b at a rotational speed ratio of 3, and washing with water from the shower device 6 is performed. Then, the machine frame 1 moves forward and the vehicle moves to the side brush 10.
a, 10b, the control device 40 operates the brush width widening motors 19a, 19b under known control to widen the side brushes 10a, 10b.

Next, the control device 40 controls the brush widening motor 19
a and 19b are stopped to allow free rotation.
Then, the side brushes 10a and 10b are loaded with weight 3.
The car is washed by being pressed against the car body with a pressing force ratio of 3 due to the weight of 0.30. Note that the control device 40 outputs a control signal from the shower control section 43 to the shower drive section C to adjust the amount of water to an amount that matches the above-mentioned washing and brushing. In this way, purposeful washing with water is carried out using the pressing force, rotational speed, and amount of washing water of the side brushes 10a, 10b that match ordinary dirt.

7 and 8 show another embodiment of the present invention,
The weight 30 is divided into four weights 30a to 30d, the weight 30d is used as a basic weight, the weights 30a to 30c are used as adjustment weights, and the weights 30a to 30 are divided into four weights 30a to 30d.
The weight of the weight 30 is changed by selectively removing each of the weights 30 and 30 by a pressing force drive unit indicated by A,
This is an example configured similarly to the other embodiments described above. The pressing force driving unit A includes arms 38a to 38c that chuck and remove the weights 30a and 30b, respectively;
It consists of an arm driving device 39 that drives the arms and a moving device 37 that moves the arm driving device 39.
A is moved to the position shown by the dotted line in FIG. 8, one to three weights 30a to 30b are checked with the arm, and the weight of the weight 30 is changed by returning to the position shown by the solid line. This embodiment also has similar effects.

In the above two embodiments, the side brushes that are particularly important, that is, the front, rear, and side parts of the vehicle body that are easy to see, have been explained, but it is of course possible to use the rocker brushes and the top brushes as well.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the following excellent effects are achieved.

(i) The optimal brush rotation speed and pressing force can be selected depending on the vehicle type and degree of dirt.

(ii) The number of rotations and pressing force of the brush can be selected according to each car washing process such as dirt removal, water washing, and waxing.

(iii) The car body will not be damaged or the car will not be washed insufficiently depending on the type of car or the degree of dirt.

(iv) It is possible to wash cars in a reasonable manner depending on whether they are luxury cars, ordinary cars, or how dirty they are, so work efficiency can be improved.

(v) Since the car wash is performed using an input means for inputting the car wash conditions, the operator does not need to make special judgments or be skilled.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 6 show a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a side view, FIG. 2 is a front view, FIG. 3 is a front view of the pressing force drive unit, and FIG. 4 is a pressing force FIG. 5 is a control block diagram, FIG. 6 is a brush pressing force ratio diagram corresponding to car wash conditions, and FIG. 7 is a front view of the pressing force driving portion showing the second embodiment of the present invention. , FIG. 8 is a plan view of the same. A...Pushing force drive unit, 10a, 10b...Side brush, 30...Weight.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a car wash device that reciprocates while rotating a brush, the control device includes an input means for inputting car wash conditions, and receives a signal from the input means. , comprising a brush control unit that controls the rotation speed of the brush, a shower control unit that controls the amount of water, and a wax control unit that applies wax,
A pressing force drive unit that applies a pressing force to the brush based on a signal from the pressing force control unit, a brush driving unit that determines the number of rotations of the brush based on a signal from the brush control unit, and A car wash apparatus comprising: a shower drive section that determines the amount of car wash water based on a signal from the wax control section; and a wax drive section that applies wax during waxing based on a signal from the wax control section.