JPH0679891B2 - Wheel cleaning method by self-propelled gate type car wash machine - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a wheel cleaning method by a self-propelled gate type car washer installed in a gas station or a car wash and used for cleaning a vehicle.

(Prior Art) For example, as described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 50-10657, wheels that rotate around a horizontal axis are respectively provided on the inner lower portions of both side pedestals of a gate type frame in a self-propelled gate type car wash machine. A wheel cleaning device is known in which a cleaning brush is provided, and the brush is moved inward to be pressed against the outer surface of a wheel of an automobile or the like.

A stylus is provided near the brush, and when the car washer travels and the stylus comes into contact with the tire of the front wheel of the automobile, the position is sensed and the car washer stops running.

At this stop position, the liquid detergent is sprayed toward the front wheels, and the cleaning brush is pressed against the front wheels to automatically perform the cleaning work. Normally, in order to reduce the number of unwashed parts, the cleaning brush is once retracted, then reversed and pressed again to the front wheel.

At the end of the wash, the spray stops, the wash brush retracts, and the car washer restarts.

If the stylus comes into contact with the tire of the rear wheel during this re-run, the same rear-wheel cleaning cycle as described above is performed, and then the re-run is started again.

In this way, the four wheels are washed, but for one washing, the washing machine is stopped twice during traveling, and the washing brushes are operated at the respective stop positions. It takes a long time to wash the whole car.

Therefore, in recent years, it has become common to wash the wheels with a rocker brush that rotates around a vertical axis for washing the lower portion of the side surface of the vehicle body instead of the above-described washing brush.

In this case, since the wheels can be washed without stopping the car washer on the way, efficiency can be improved.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Each of the above-described conventional means has the following problems.

(A) In the case of using a wheel cleaning brush It takes time because the car washing machine is stopped twice while the vehicle is running, and the cleaning brush is put in and taken out at each place, and the cleaning is performed by reversing forward and backward.

Since the brush is washed while applying the detergent, sufficient time for the detergent to penetrate cannot be obtained, and the stain removal is incomplete.

The brushes do not come into sufficient contact with the wheel caps and the recesses in the wheels, and the cleaning is not performed sufficiently.

The stylus is caught between the wheel and the floor, bends,
It may break.

Deformation or breakage of the stylus may cause the cleaning brush to misalign with the center of the wheel, and at times, to damage the vehicle rocker panel with the cleaning brush.

Since the tip of the cleaning brush rotates in strong contact with the wheel, the cleaning brush wears heavily and needs to be replaced.
It requires considerable effort and expense.

The rotation and reciprocating motion of the cleaning brush, the retracting limit switch of the cleaning brush, the mechanism such as the stylus and the sensing unit are complicated and expensive, and the risk of failure increases.

An electric signal is required for the sensing device, and the switch and the like used for that purpose must be an explosion-proof type capable of preventing a fire in order to ensure the safety of the gas station, which is expensive.

(B) In case of rocker brush Since the rocker brush is vertical, its bristles are hard to reach the wheel retracted in the wheel house, and the dirt on the wheel cannot be sufficiently removed.

The rocker brush has soft bristles so that the paint will not be damaged when the lower side surface of the vehicle is washed. Therefore, the dirt that has penetrated into the rubber of the tire cannot be washed off. By the way, the surface of the rubber tire is easily deteriorated by ultraviolet rays, has a large number of fine irregularities, and is strongly attached with dirt.

In order to solve the above problems, an operator must wash the tires by hand with a scrubbing brush and a detergent before washing the vehicle. It is extremely harsh because it is done.

(Means for Solving Problems) According to the present invention, the above problems can be solved by washing the wheels in the following steps.

(A) The wheel position of the vehicle to be washed in is regulated and stopped by the protrusion provided on the floor surface.

(B) The distance from the front wheel stop position to the rear wheel is visually determined based on a marker attached on the floor surface that is a required distance away from the protrusion.

(C) The numerical value corresponding to the distance in the preceding paragraph is stored in the control device in the car wash machine.

(D) Wash the stopped front wheel.

(E) The car wash machine is moved forward, and when the controller moves to the distance stored therein, the car wash machine is stopped.

(F) The rear wheels are washed with this stopping device.

(Example) Configuration The left and right front wheels (2) of the vehicle to be cleaned are provided at key points on the floor (1).
Front and back that can support (2) in a slightly floating state 1
A pair of protrusions (3) (3) are provided.

The stop position of the front wheel (2) supported by the protrusions (3) (3),
That is, from the center line toward the rear, at an appropriate interval (for example, 120 m) between the distances (B ₁ ) to (B ₁₀ ) corresponding to the wheel bases of various vehicles to be cleaned.
m), signs (40) to (49) with numbers are laid on the floor (1). (5) is a rear wheel.

In the car wash machine (6), a rotary encoder (not shown) for transmitting a pulse corresponding to the travel distance from the travel drive source to the power transmission unit is provided.

At the bottom of the frame of the car wash machine (6), a pair of left and right rocker brushes (7), (7), inward cleaning spray nozzles (8) (8) and high pressure water spray nozzles (9) ( 9) is provided. Pumps (10) (11) for these spray nozzles (8) (9) are adapted to be turned on for a certain period of time by an electric signal and then turned off.

An operation panel (1 attached to one side of the front of the car wash machine (6)
2) In addition to the conventional general mode selection switch (13), the numbers of the markers (40) to (49) at the stop position of the wheel cleaning switch (14) and the rear wheel (5) visually read. There are ten numeric keys (15) for entering.

Numerical keys (15) are sequentially labeled with 0, which corresponds to the indicator (4).
The numbers 9 to 9 are entered to set the rear wheel position of the vehicle to be cleaned.

In a processing device (not shown) connected to the operation panel (12), the rear wheel position set by the numerical key (15) is stored, and the car wash machine (6) approaches and the wheel (2) or the rear wheel is approached. When the fact that the predetermined distance (A) or (A + B) has been reached is received by the pulse from the encoder from (5), the car wash machine (6) is stopped at that position.

Note that (16) is a start key.

Washing procedure The vehicle to be washed is driven toward the car wash machine (6) in the original position, and when it is found that the front wheels (2) have come to the fixed position by the protrusions (3) and (3), the vehicle is stopped. .

The operator uses the sign (4) laid on the floor (1) to
Read the position (B) of the rear wheel (5) and operate the operation panel (12)
Turn on the corresponding numeric key (15) and the wheel cleaning switch (14).

Next, when the start key (16) is pressed, the car wash machine (6) runs toward the vehicle to be cleaned, and the following car wash cycle is performed.

Car wash (6) is a certain distance (A) from the front wheels (2) of the vehicle
At that point, the value of the pulse from the rotary encoder matches the value stored in the memory of the processor and the car wash (6) is stopped.

At this position, the pump (10) operates and the detergent is sprayed from the detergent spray nozzle (8) toward the left and right front wheels (2) (2). After a certain period of time (usually 3 to 5 seconds), the pump (10) is stopped.

The car wash machine (6) starts traveling again, and normal car wash is restarted.

When the car wash machine (6) reaches the position (B) of the rear wheel (5) that is visually input in advance, the value of the pulse transmitted from the rotary encoder matches the value stored in the processing device. Therefore, the car wash machine (6) is stopped.

Apply detergent to the rear wheel (5) in the same manner as on the front wheel (2).

After that, a normal car wash is performed.

In the first return stroke, in which the car wash machine (6) is returned, the vehicle body is rinsed.

However, the detergent on the front and rear wheels (2) and (5) is not washed away, and the detergent is allowed to adhere to the wheels for a sufficient time to be moistened and to penetrate into the wheels (2) and (5).

In the second outward stroke, the detergent pump (10) is stopped and the high-pressure water pump (11) is activated by the same operation as described above, and a large amount of water is discharged from the high-pressure water spray nozzle (9) to the wheel. Spray to remove dirt from tires, wheels, and wheel cap details.

In the second return stroke, drying with a dryer is performed and the entire work is completed.

(Effects of the Invention) Since the rear wheel position is visually inspected by the marker and is manually input to the control device, the equipment cost is low, and reliable input is possible.

(Note) In the case of automatic detection using a stylus, there are the above-mentioned problems. In the case of using a beam such as a laser beam, the spray of cleaning water and the bristles of the cleaning brush become obstacles, so that correct detection cannot be performed. In particular, a lens provided with a lens cannot be detected because the lens becomes cloudy. Since the directivity is inferior in the case of using ultrasonic waves, accurate position detection cannot be performed, and the ultrasonic waves are affected by the frictional noise of the brush during cleaning, resulting in malfunction.

Since the wheels are washed in the car wash cycle, manual work can be omitted and efficiency is improved.

Since the brush is used to clean the wheels without using a brush, it is possible to wash not only the tire but also the wheel or the wheel cap having a complicated shape.
Also, the brush is not worn and the rocker panel is not damaged.

After applying the detergent, allow sufficient time and then wash it off with water, so even severe dirt can be washed off completely.

Since no complicated mechanism is required, there is little risk of breakdown and repair costs are low.

Thus, according to the present invention, the problems caused by the conventional means described at the beginning are solved.

Needless to say, the present invention can be implemented by a wheel cleaning brush that rotates around a horizontal axis.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining the procedure of the method of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a side view of a protrusion and a front wheel supported thereby, and FIG. 2 is a front and rear wheel of a vehicle to be washed and a car wash machine. And FIG. 3 is a front view of the operation panel. (1) …… Floor surface, (2) …… Front wheel (3) …… Protrusion, (4) …… Signage (5) …… Rear wheel, (6) …… Car wash machine (7) …… Rocker brush ( 8) …… Spray nozzle (9) High pressure water spray nozzle (10) (11) …… Pump, (12) …… Operation panel (13) …… Mode selection switch (14) …… Wheel cleaning switch, (15) ) …… Numeric key (16) …… Start key

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A wheel cleaning method using a self-propelled gate type car washer that cleans a vehicle with a liquid detergent and a rotating brush while traveling back and forth across the vehicle, including the following steps. . (A) The wheel position of the vehicle to be washed in is regulated and stopped by the protrusion provided on the floor surface. (B) The distance from the front wheel stop position to the rear wheel is visually determined based on a marker attached on the floor surface that is separated from the protrusion by a desired distance. (C) The numerical value corresponding to the distance in the preceding paragraph is stored in the control device in the car wash machine. (D) Wash the stopped front wheel. (E) The car wash machine is moved forward, and when the controller moves to the distance stored therein, the car wash machine is stopped. (F) The rear wheel is washed at this stop position. 2. High pressure water is supplied to the front and rear wheels in a second forward stroke, which is performed after the front and rear wheels are sprayed with a detergent in the first forward stroke of the car wash machine and the car wash machine is once returned. The method for washing wheels with a self-propelled gate type car washing machine according to claim (1), characterized in that the detergent is washed off by spraying with high pressure water. 3. The wheel cleaning method for a self-propelled gate type car washer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the rotating brush is a rocker brush that rotates around a vertical axis. 4. The rotating brush is a car wash brush which rotates about a horizontal axis, as claimed in claim 1 or 2.
A method for cleaning wheels using the self-propelled gate type car wash machine according to the item.