Method of automatically washing vehicles and apparatus for the same

An apparatus for automatically washing vehicles comprising:

• a portal frame being movable relative to a vehicle body to be washed;
• a vehicle detecting means provided on said portal frame for detecting an outer surface of said vehicle body;
• a lifting/lowering drum provided on said portal frame so as to be vertically movable;
• a moving base provided on said lifting/lowering drum through a moving base drive mechanism so as to be laterally movable;
• an upper nozzle for washing which is provided on said moving base;
• a pair of side nozzles for washing which are respectively provided on both side portions of said portal frame so as to be vertically movable;
• wherein said vehicle detecting means has a plurality of photo-sensors vertically arranged;
• a vehicle-type recognizing means including a memory unit for storing information from said photo-sensors in time sequence, a set information unit in which set information on vehicle washing is programmed, and a processing unit for reading-out said information from said memory unit on the basis of said set information of said set information unit thereby supplying a control signal to each drive mechanism of said portal frame, lifting/lowering drum, moving base, upper nozzle and side nozzles;
• and
• a side nozzle lifting/lowering mechanism for lifting/lowering said side nozzle by changing a speed thereof according to a height of a portion to be washed of said vehicle body which is obtained by a detection signal from said vehicle detecting means.

An apparatus for automatically washing vehicles comprising:

• a portal frame being movable relative to a vehicle body to be washed;
• a vehicle detecting means provided on said portal frame for detecting an outer surface of said vehicle body;
• a lifting/lowering drum provided on said portal frame so as to be vertically movable;
• a moving base provided on said lifting/lowering drum through a moving base drive mechanism so as to be laterally movable;
• an upper nozzle for washing which is provided on said moving base;
• a pair of side nozzles for washing which are respectively provided on both side portions of said portal frame so as to be vertically movable;
• wherein said vehicle detecting means has a plurality of photo-sensors vertically arranged;
• a vehicle-type recognizing means including a memory unit for storing information from said photo-sensors in time sequence, a set information unit in which set information on vehicle washing is programmed, and a processing unit for reading-out said information from said memory unit on the basis of said set information of said set information unit thereby supplying a control signal to each drive mechanism of said portal frame, lifting/lowering drum, moving base, upper nozzle and side nozzles;
• and
• a nozzle lifting/lowering mechanism for lifting/lowering said side nozzles by changing a speed thereof according to a height of a portion to be washed of said vehicle body which is obtained by a detection signal from said vehicle detecting means;
• wherein said moving base drive mechanism has sensors for setting a movement range of said moving base into longer and shorter modes on both side portions of said lifting/lowering drum, and said upper nozzle has an injecting fixture capable of being changed in posture into a downward posture, a forwardly downwardly inclined posture and a rearwardly downwardly inclined posture.

A method of automatically washing vehicles comprising the steps of:

• transporting a vehicle body to be washed to a predetermined position with respect to a portal frame and stopping the vehicle body at the predetermined position;
• moving the portal frame so as to bridge over the vehicle body;
• detecting the vehicle body with use of vehicle detecting means vertically elongated and provided on a front portion of the portal frame as the portal frame is moved so as to accumulate in time sequence information for controlling the movement of the portal frame, a lifting/lowering of a lifting/lowering drum provided on the portal frame, a lateral movement of an upper nozzle provided to the lifting/lowering drum and a lifting/lowering of side nozzles;
• and
• causing the upper nozzle to follow an outer surface of the vehicle body with a predetermined distance while lifting/lowering the lifting/lowering drum at a position spaced by a constant distance from the vehicle detecting means rearwardly in the moving direction of the portal frame, causing the upper nozzle to laterally move and inject a washing liquid, and lifting/lowering the side nozzles in accordance with a height of a portion to be washed of the vehicle body to inject a washing liquid during the movement of the portal frame, by controlling on a basis of the information accumulated.