JPH0749259B2 - Automatic water pressure car wash machine - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a car wash machine, and more particularly to an automatic hydraulic car wash machine for injecting a cleaning liquid to wash a car.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a car washing machine arranged at a gas station or the like has a structure in which a surface of a vehicle body such as a rotating brush is contacted to remove dirt. To prevent this, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-5178
There is provided an automatic hydraulic washing machine in which a washing liquid is sprayed onto a vehicle body at a predetermined pressure as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.

4 and 5 are a front view and a side view showing the structure of such an automatic water pressure washing machine. As shown in the figure, this automatic car wash machine has a gate-shaped guide frame 1 that moves forward and backward in the vehicle length direction of the car C while straddling a vehicle body C of the car, and left and right pedestals 12 of the gate-shaped guide frame 1, 12 is mounted on both pedestals 12; an elevating beam 2 that is driven to elevate and lower along 12; a ceiling nozzle 3 that is mounted on the elevating beam 2 and ejects a cleaning liquid toward the upper surface of the vehicle body while reciprocating in the vehicle width direction. And a side nozzle 4 that ejects the cleaning liquid toward the side surface of the vehicle body while moving up and down. Further, vehicle body sensors 5a and 5b are horizontally provided at both ends of the lower surface of the elevating beam 2 and in front of and behind the gate-shaped guide frame 1.

Car washing with the automatic water pressure washing machine is carried out in the following procedure. That is, first, when the wheels 14 that idle on the rails 13 are driven to move the gate-shaped guide frame 1 forward in the vehicle length direction of the vehicle body C, the vehicle body sensor 5a detects the vehicle body C,
Based on the output, the elevating beam 2 is vertically controlled to an appropriate height position, and the cleaning liquid is ejected from the ceiling nozzle 3 and the side nozzles 4. Thereafter, when the vehicle body sensor 5a or 5b detects the vehicle body C, the descending operation of the elevating beam 2 turns to an ascending operation, and conversely, when the ascending distance of the elevating beam 2 exceeds a predetermined value, the elevating beam 2 descends from the ascending operation. The ceiling nozzle 3 is controlled so as to start the operation, and the car wash is performed while the ceiling nozzle 3 keeps a predetermined distance from the ridgeline of the vehicle body C.

Further, the side nozzle 4 has a lower limit of its raising / lowering operation as a limit switch 91 fixed to a predetermined height of both pedestals 12 and an upper limit as a limit switch 92 connected to the lower surface of the raising / lowering beam 2, The moving direction is reversed every time the side nozzle 4 contacts the limit switches 91 and 92.

When the gate-shaped guide frame 1 reaches the front end of the vehicle body C in this way, both of the vehicle body sensors 5a and 5b no longer detect the vehicle body C, and the cleaning liquid is jetted from the ceiling nozzle 3 and the side nozzles 4. Stops and the car wash is completed.

Further, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-258638, as shown in FIG.
5, the spray type car wash machine is mounted on the side nozzle box 70 together with the side nozzle box 70, and the side nozzle box 70 is moved back and forth in the vehicle width direction based on the output of the vehicle width sensor 95 in accordance with the distance from the vehicle body C during car washing. It is disclosed. In this spray type car wash machine, by maintaining the distance between the side surface of the vehicle body C and the side nozzles 4 at a predetermined value, the injection pressure of the cleaning liquid on the side surface of the vehicle body C is maintained at a predetermined value to wash even a vehicle body with a small vehicle width. We are trying to prevent a decrease in efficiency. The other configurations are the same as those in the conventional example shown in FIGS. 4 to 5 except that the air cylinder 24 and the link 23 are used for the lifting drive mechanism of the lifting beam 2, and each member in the common drawings is the same. The reference numeral is used as a reference.

[0008]

However, according to the automatic hydraulic washing machine disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-51780, both pillars of the gate-shaped guide frame 1 can be washed in various vehicle types as much as possible. Inevitably, the width of 12 must be designed to be large, and when cleaning a vehicle model having a relatively small vehicle width, the distance between the side nozzle 4 and the side surface of the vehicle body C becomes large, and the contact pressure of the cleaning liquid is reduced, resulting in a clean cleaning. There are many cases where you cannot wash your car.

Although the above-mentioned drawbacks of the automatic spray-type car wash machine disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-258638 are alleviated, the height of the vehicle width sensor 95 for detecting the distance between the side surface of the vehicle body C and the side nozzle 4 is increased. Since the position does not change during car washing, for example, the height position corresponding to a large car is above the hood of a small car, and the width sensor 9
5 may not be able to correctly detect the side surface of the vehicle body C. Therefore, there is a drawback that complicated work such as adjusting the height position of the vehicle width sensor 95 in advance is required.

The present invention has been proposed in view of the above-mentioned conventional circumstances, and the distance between the side nozzle for ejecting the cleaning liquid and the side surface of the vehicle body can be adjusted according to the vehicle type. An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic water pressure washing machine that can be reflected in the forward / backward movement of the side nozzle.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs the following means. That is, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a gate-shaped guide frame 1 that moves in the vehicle length direction of the car body C while straddling the car body C of an automobile, and a lifting beam 2 that is vertically driven with respect to the gate-shaped guide frame 1. A vehicle height sensor 5 for detecting the ridgeline of the vehicle body C, a ceiling nozzle 3 for ejecting the cleaning liquid toward the upper surface of the vehicle body C while reciprocating in the vehicle width direction, and a cleaning liquid for the side surface of the vehicle body C while moving up and down. In the automatic hydraulic washing machine equipped with the side nozzles 4 for ejecting the horizontal nozzles, horizontal guide grooves 21 are provided at both end portions of the elevating beam 2, and a pair of left and right vehicles equipped with the side nozzles 4 are movable back and forth in the vehicle width direction. A vertical guide groove 41 is extended at a position corresponding to the horizontal guide groove 21 of the side nozzle box 40, and is slidably fitted in both the horizontal guide groove 21 and the vertical guide groove 41. Crossing position of the lifting beam 2 and each side nozzle box 40 A follow-up bracket 6 that follows is provided, and a ceiling nozzle sensor 61 that detects a moving end of the ceiling nozzle 3 is provided at a position corresponding to both ends of the moving path of the ceiling nozzle 3 of the follow-up bracket 6. The automatic car wash machine is provided with a side nozzle sensor 62 that detects the distance between the side surface of the vehicle body C and the side nozzle 4 and that detects the top dead center of the lifting operation of the side nozzle 4.

[0012]

According to the above construction, the side nozzle box 4
0 advances and retreats in the vehicle width direction, and the ejection area of the cleaning liquid which is surrounded by the side nozzle box 40 and the lifting beam 2 and which is rectangular in a front view is adjusted according to the size of the vehicle body to be cleaned.

Moreover, the follow-up bracket 6 is positioned at the crossing position between the elevating beam 2 and the side nozzle box 40 constantly following the elevating operation of the elevating beam 2 and the moving operation of the side nozzle box 40. Since the side nozzle sensor 62 can detect the side surface of the vehicle body C regardless of the shape of the ridgeline of the vehicle body C, the advance / retreat distance of the side nozzle box 40 can be accurately controlled.

Further, by disposing the ceiling nozzle sensor 61 at the above-mentioned position, the moving direction of the ceiling nozzle 3 can be reversed based on the output of the ceiling nozzle sensor 61, and the ceiling can be moved in the ceiling in a moving range according to the vehicle width. The nozzle 3 will be driven.

Further, the side nozzle sensor 6 is provided at the above position.
By arranging 2, the side nozzle 4 can be reversed from the ascending operation to the descending operation based on the output of the side nozzle sensor 62, and the side nozzle 4 is driven in the ascending / descending range according to the vehicle height. Become.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a front view of an embodiment according to the present invention, FIG.
Is a partially broken side view.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in this embodiment, a beam 11 straddling a vehicle body C of an automobile and a pair of left and right pedestals 1 are used.
2 and 12, and along the two rails 13, the car body C
-Shaped guide frame 1 moving in the vehicle length direction of the vehicle, and the gate-shaped guide frame 1
Of the up-and-down beam 2 which is driven up and down through the slide legs 21 which are slidably fitted to both the pillars 12, and the vehicle-width direction along the lower surface opening 29 of the up-and-down beam 2 which is mounted on the up-and-down beam 2. A ceiling nozzle 3 that ejects the cleaning liquid toward the upper surface of the vehicle body while reciprocating, and a side nozzle 4 that ejects the cleaning liquid toward the side surface of the vehicle body while moving up and down.

In this embodiment, the side nozzle 4 is a wheel 4 which is in rolling contact with a ridge 13 provided on the beam 11 of the gate-shaped guide frame 1.
2 is mounted on a side nozzle box 40 that is suspended via 2 and is movable in the vehicle width direction.
It is driven up and down along the side opening 49.

Further, a ceiling blower nozzle 80 for ejecting high pressure air to the ceiling surface of the vehicle body C is provided on the lifting beam 2 in a drying operation described later, and a side blower nozzle 90 for ejecting high pressure air to the side surface of the vehicle body C is provided on the side nozzle box 40. It is provided in.

Further, two pairs of left and right photoelectric detection type vehicle body sensors 5a and 5b are provided at both ends of the lower surface of the elevating beam 2 so as to detect the vehicle body C before and after the gate type guide frame 1.
As will be described later, the lifting beam 2 is driven up and down based on its output.

A horizontal guide groove 21 having a predetermined length is provided at both ends of the elevating beam 2, and the side nozzle box 4 is provided.
No. 0 vertical guide groove 41 is provided at a position corresponding to the horizontal guide groove 21, and the follow-up bracket 6 is slidably fitted in both the horizontal guide groove 21 and the vertical guide groove 41. .

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of the structure of the follow-up bracket 6. As shown in FIG. 3, the follow-up bracket 6 has vertical concave grooves 602 extending vertically on both left and right side surfaces of the front half of a main body 601 which is a rectangular parallelepiped, while
Horizontal concave grooves 603 are provided in the horizontal direction on both the top and bottom surfaces of the latter half of the No. 1. A side nozzle sensor 62 is vertically provided on one side surface of the front half of the main body 601 via a stay 604, and a ceiling nozzle sensor 61 is horizontally provided on the top surface of the latter half of the body 601 via a stay 605. .

A vertical groove 60 of the follow-up bracket 6 having the above-mentioned structure
2 is fitted to the side peripheral edge of the vertical guide groove 41, and the stay 604 and the side nozzle sensor 62 are attached to the side nozzle box 40.
The horizontal recessed groove 603 is accommodated in the horizontal guide groove 2
1, the stay 605 and the ceiling nozzle sensor 61 are housed in the lifting beam 2.

Therefore, the follower bracket 6 slides up and down along the vertical guide groove 41 when the elevating beam 2 moves up and down, and along the horizontal guide groove 21 when the side nozzle box 40 moves back and forth in the vehicle width direction. As a result, the elevator beam 2 and the side nozzle box 40 are always located at the intersecting position.

The ceiling nozzle sensor 61 and the side nozzle sensor 62 both use ultrasonic waves as a detection medium. Among them, the ceiling nozzle sensor 61 is a ceiling nozzle 3 that reciprocates along the lower surface opening 29 of the lifting beam 2 in the detection area.
In response to the entry of the above, a signal for reversing the moving direction of the ceiling nozzle 3 is output.

On the other hand, the side nozzle sensor 62 measures the distance between the side nozzle 49 and the side surface of the vehicle body C through the side opening 49, and the amount of forward / backward movement of the side nozzle box 40 in the vehicle width direction is determined based on the output thereof. Further, when the side nozzle 4 rising along the side surface opening 49 enters the detection area of the side nozzle sensor 62, the side nozzle sensor 62 outputs an output indicating that the raising operation of the side nozzle 4 is changed to the lowering operation. ing.

Car washing work using the automatic water pressure washing machine having the above-mentioned structure proceeds as follows. That is, the gate-shaped guide frame 1 in which the elevating beam 2 is set at a predetermined height position in advance is driven at a substantially constant speed in the vehicle length direction of the vehicle body C. Body sensor 5 soon
The ceiling nozzle 3 and the side nozzles 4 start moving and moving up and down, respectively, in response to the light rays between a being blocked by the vehicle body C, and spouting the cleaning liquid toward the vehicle body C.

After that, when the vehicle body sensor 5a or 5b detects the vehicle body C, the descending operation of the elevating beam 2 turns to an ascending operation, and conversely, when the ascending distance of the elevating beam 2 exceeds a predetermined value, the elevating beam 2 ascends. The vehicle is controlled so as to change from the operation to the descending operation, and the car washing is performed while the ceiling nozzle 3 maintains a predetermined distance from the ridgeline of the vehicle body C.

The side nozzle box 40 is driven forward and backward in the vehicle width direction based on the output of the side nozzle sensor 62 to hold the side nozzle 4 and the side surface of the vehicle body C at an appropriate distance.

Further, during this cleaning operation, the ceiling nozzle 3
Reciprocally drives in the vehicle width direction with the detection area of the ceiling nozzle sensor 61 as a moving end so that the reciprocating range of the ceiling nozzle 3 always matches the vehicle width of the vehicle body C.

On the other hand, the side nozzle 4 moves up and down in the vehicle height direction with the detection area of the side nozzle sensor 62 as the top dead center. Since there is no particular problem even if the lower limit of the raising / lowering operation of the side nozzle 4 is set to be substantially constant regardless of the vehicle type, the limit switch 43 as shown in the figure is used.
It is provided in the lower part of 0 so that the descending operation is reversed to the ascending operation upon receiving the contact of the side nozzle 4, and the ascending / descending range of the side nozzle 4 coincides with the vehicle height of the vehicle body C.

When the above cleaning work is completed over the entire length of the vehicle body C in this way, the moving operation of the ceiling nozzle 3 and the side nozzles 4 and the spraying operation of the cleaning liquid are stopped, and instead the gate-shaped guide frame 1 moves in the opposite direction. The movement is started, and high-pressure air is ejected from the ceiling blower nozzle 80 and the side blower nozzle 90, and the process proceeds to a drying operation in which droplets on the surface of the vehicle body C are blown off. Also in this drying operation, the control of the moving amount of the lifting beam 2 and the side nozzle box 40 is performed in the same manner as in the cleaning operation.

As described above, in the above embodiment,
The side nozzle box 40 moves back and forth in the vehicle width direction, and the rectangular area of the cleaning liquid, which is surrounded by the side nozzle box 40 and the elevating beam 2 and is rectangular in a front view, is adjusted according to the size of the vehicle body to be cleaned.

In addition, the follow-up bracket 6 is positioned at the intersecting position between the elevating beam 2 and the side nozzle box 40 in a steady manner, following the elevating operation of the elevating beam 2 and the moving operation of the side nozzle box 40. Since the side nozzle sensor 62 can detect the side surface of the vehicle body C regardless of the shape of the ridgeline of the vehicle body C, the advance / retreat distance of the side nozzle box 40 can be accurately controlled.

Further, by disposing the ceiling nozzle sensor 61 at the above-mentioned position, the moving direction of the ceiling nozzle 3 can be reversed based on the output of the ceiling nozzle sensor 61, and the ceiling can be moved within the range of movement depending on the vehicle width. The nozzle 3 will be driven.

Further, the side nozzle sensor 6 is placed at the above position.
By arranging 2, the side nozzle 4 can be reversed from the ascending operation to the descending operation based on the output of the side nozzle sensor 62, and the side nozzle 4 is driven in the ascending / descending range according to the vehicle height. Become.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, but it goes without saying that the drive system of the elevating beam 2 and the side nozzle box 40, the detection medium of each sensor, and the like can be appropriately selected.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, the sensor for detecting the side surface of the vehicle body is moved while following the shape in the height direction of the vehicle body to be washed while having a relatively simple structure. Therefore, it is possible to wash a large number of vehicle types without adjustment.

Further, it is possible to reflect the vertical and horizontal distances of the jetting regions defined by the lifting beam and the side nozzle box in the moving range of the ceiling nozzle and the side nozzles, thereby wasting the cleaning liquid and shortening the car washing time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway side view of an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a conventional example.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a conventional example.

FIG. 6 is a front view of another conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Gate type guide frame 2 Elevating beam 3 Ceiling nozzle 4 Side nozzle 5 Vehicle height sensor 6 Tracking bracket 21 Horizontal guide groove 40 Side nozzle box 41 Vertical guide groove 61 Ceiling nozzle sensor 62 Side nozzle sensor C Body

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle body (C) of an automobile in a state of straddling the vehicle body (C).
(C) a gate-shaped guide frame (1) that moves in the vehicle length direction, a lifting beam (2) that is driven up and down with respect to the gate-shaped guide frame (1), and a vehicle body (C)
Height sensor (5) that detects the ridgeline of the vehicle, a ceiling nozzle (3) that ejects cleaning liquid toward the upper surface of the vehicle body (C) while reciprocating in the vehicle width direction, and a side surface of the vehicle body (C) while moving up and down. In the automatic water pressure washing machine equipped with a side nozzle (4) for ejecting the cleaning liquid toward, a horizontal guide groove (21) is extended at both end portions of the lifting beam (2),
In addition, a vertical guide groove (41) is extended at a position corresponding to the horizontal guide groove (21) of a pair of left and right side nozzle boxes (40, 40) that can move back and forth in the vehicle width direction equipped with the side nozzle (4). In addition, it is slidably fitted into both the horizontal guide groove (21) and the vertical guide groove (41), and the lifting beam (2) and each side nozzle box (4
(0) is provided with a follow-up bracket (6) that follows the crossing position, and the moving end of the ceiling nozzle (3) is located at a position corresponding to both ends of the moving path of the ceiling nozzle (3) of the follow-up bracket (6). A ceiling nozzle sensor (61) is installed to detect the distance between the side surface of the vehicle body (C) and the side nozzle (4) on the following bracket (6), and the up / down movement of the side nozzle (4) is also detected. An automatic water washing machine equipped with a side nozzle sensor (62) for detecting a dead point.