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US 2019/0283717 A1Published application
Automated car wash system utilizing steam
AssigneePlover Inc.
InventorsAndrew Kim, Victor Wang, Jon Allen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An automated/robotic car wash system is disclosed that is able to autonomously wash and dry a vehicle using steam and/or high-pressure water. High-pressure water, steam, and/or pressurized air outputs are mounted to a tool head, which is in turn mounted to the end of a multi-axis robotic gantry system wash that maneuvers around the surface of the vehicle. Also provided are vehicle washing processes that automatically controls the movement and operation of the system, through an automatic main controller that generates and analyzes input data in the form of a movement program, a safety program, a user entry program, a toolpath program, and/or a utilities management program.
Claims20
An automated car wash system, comprising:
- a supply module comprising a reservoir or other supply of water and a boiler for transforming at least a portion of water into steam;
- a delivery module coupled to the control module, the delivery module comprising a motor and a pump for transporting the steam at a pressure level;
- an outputting module coupled to the delivery module, the outputting module comprising:
- a valve assembly configured to receive steam from the delivery module, the valve assembly including a plurality of valves for controlling the flow of steam to different outputs;
- and
- one or more nozzle assemblies configured to dispense steam toward a vehicle, each nozzle assembly comprising a plurality of nozzles configured to output pressurized steam;
- and
- a control module coupled to the delivery module and outputting module and configured to operate the automated car wash system, the control module comprising one or more processors coupled to memory containing code that when executed by the one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform automated steam cleaning of a vehicle.
5 more elements
An automated car wash system, comprising:
- a supply module comprising at least one reservoir for storing water and at least one boiler for heating at least a portion of the stored water and for generating steam;
- a delivery module coupled to the control module, the delivery module comprising at least one pump and at least one motor for transporting water at a pressure level and temperature level, at least one pump and at least one motor for transporting water into the boiler to generate steam, and at least one blower motor for transporting air at a predetermined pressure level;
- a fluid outputting module coupled to the delivery module;
- an optional gantry module;
- a motion module coupled to the gantry module, the outputting module, and the control module;
- a network-server based communication module coupled to a control module;
- a vision module coupled to the control module, the vision module comprising a plurality of sensors configured to identify an object and give input to the control module, a safety module coupled to the control module, the safety module comprising a plurality of sensors configured to monitor the operation of all modules of the automated car wash system and provide input to the control module;
- and
- a control module, coupled to the delivery module, outputting module, motion module, communication module, vision module, and safety module, configured to operate the automated car wash system, the control module comprising:
- one or more processors coupled to memory containing code that when executed by the one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the automated cleaning of a vehicle using steam, water, and/or air;
- a 3D-vision software algorithm configured to construct a 3D model of the subject object based on the input captured by the plurality of sensors;
- a wash path software algorithm configured to calculate and generate the optimal wash path based on the output of the 3D-vision software algorithm;
- a safety software algorithm configured to detect and prevent potentially damaging, harmful, or unexpected behavior of the automatic car wash system.
10 more elements
An automated car wash system, comprising:
- a supply module comprising at least one reservoir for storing water and at least one boiler for heating at least a portion of the stored water and for generating steam;
- a delivery module coupled to a control module;
- an outputting module coupled to the delivery module;
- an optional gantry module includes 3D-vision software algorithm and a wash path algorithm;
- a motion module coupled to the gantry module, the outputting module, and the control module;
- a communication module coupled to the control module;
- a vision module coupled to the control module;
- and
- a safety module coupled to the control module.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.