JPH0126532Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a vehicle drying device for drying the upper surface of a vehicle body such as an automobile.

The above-mentioned drying device may include, for example, a top nozzle connected to a blower installed at the top of a gate-shaped frame so as to be movable up and down, and a blowout port of the top nozzle directed close to the top surface of the vehicle body so that drying air can be blown onto the top surface of the vehicle body from the blowout port. A structure having this structure is conventionally known.

By the way, in such a vehicle drying device,
In order to efficiently blow off water droplets adhering to the car body and dry it after car washing, etc., it is preferable to place the spout of the top nozzle as close to the top surface of the car body as possible. However, if the top nozzle is placed too close to the top surface of the car body, The spout of the top nozzle may come into contact with a protruding object such as a rear view mirror and damage it. In order to avoid this, the top nozzle must be placed at a height where it does not come into contact with protruding objects such as rear view mirrors, but in this way, when drying the bonnet surface or trunk lid surface of a passenger car, the top nozzle cannot be removed from them. The nozzles are separated by a considerable distance, and as a result, the airflow ejected from the top nozzle entrains a large amount of surrounding air before it reaches the surface of the vehicle, creating turbulence and reducing drying efficiency. occurs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle drying device that can eliminate the above-mentioned problems of conventional devices. In order to achieve this object, according to the present invention, a top nozzle connected to a blower is provided at the top of the portal frame so as to be movable up and down, and the spout of the top nozzle is directed close to the top surface of the vehicle body, so that drying air is In a vehicle drying device capable of spraying air on the top surface of a vehicle body, a flexible guide plate is attached to the jet port of the top nozzle to guide the air blown from the jet port toward the top surface of the vehicle body. The guide plate is configured such that when the top nozzle approaches the top surface of the vehicle body by a predetermined distance or more, the free end of the guide plate is bent along the top surface of the vehicle body due to the air flow from the jet port, and air flows between the top nozzle and the top surface of the vehicle body. The bending strength is set so that a flow gap can be formed.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In Figs. 1 to 3, a gate-shaped frame 1 of a car wash machine connects to guide rails 2, 2 laid on the ground via its running wheels 3, 3. It travels back and forth along the line by a prime mover (not shown).

A pair of side nozzles 4, 4 for drying the side surfaces of the vehicle body are arranged facing each other on the left and right sides of the gate-shaped frame 1, and these side nozzles 4, 4 are connected to the duct 5,
5, it is connected to blowers 6, 6 provided on both sides of the upper part of the portal frame 1. At the inner ends of the side nozzles 4, 4, drying air outlets 4a, 4a directed inward of the portal frame are formed,
Elongated flexible guide plates 7, 7 of appropriate width are fixed to the end edges of the jet ports 4a, 4a by suitable fixing means such as rivets, and extend vertically along the edges. These flexible guide plates 7, 7 are arranged so that when the side nozzles 4, 4 approach the side surface of the vehicle body by a predetermined distance or more, the free end portions of the guide plates 7, 7 are moved to the side surface of the vehicle body by the air flow from the jet ports 4a, 4a. The bending strength is set so that it can be bent along the side surface of the vehicle body to form an air flow gap between it and the side surface of the vehicle body. Even if the guide plates 7, 7 are not bent, the free ends of the guide plates 7, 7 can be easily bent if they come into contact with the side surfaces of the vehicle body.

In addition, a top nozzle 1 for drying the upper surface of the vehicle body is installed at the center of the upper part of the gate-shaped frame 1 via an elevating mechanism 11.
2 is supported so that it can be raised and lowered, and its top nozzle 12
is a flexible conduit 13, 13 and an L-shaped duct 1
It is connected to the blowers 6, 6 via 4, 14.

The configuration of the lifting mechanism 11 will be explained as follows.
A base end of a parallel link 15 is rotatably supported at the center of the upper part of the gate-shaped frame 1, and a top nozzle 12 is supported at the distal end of the parallel link 15 via a support link 16. One end of the band 17 is tied, and the other end is connected to a lifting cylinder 19 provided on the upper part of the gate-shaped frame 1 by hanging a chain wheel 18.
is tied to the tip of the piston rod 20. As a result, when the lifting cylinder 19 is telescopically operated, the top nozzle 12 is moved up and down via the parallel link 15 and the support link 16, and the lower limit position of the top nozzle 12 is such that its tip is located above the vehicle V as shown in FIG. The height is set in advance so that it does not come into contact with any protruding objects such as the back mirror M.

The top nozzle 12 has a drying air outlet 12a directed downward inside the portal frame 1,
At the edge of the spout 12a, there is an elongated flexible guide plate 21 of an appropriate width extending approximately horizontally along the edge.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, it is secured by suitable securing means 22 such as rivets. This flexible guide plate 21 is designed such that when the top nozzle 12 approaches the upper surface of the vehicle body by a predetermined distance or more, the free end of the guide plate 21 is caused to move along the upper surface of the vehicle body as shown in FIG. The bending strength is set so that it can be bent to form an air flow gap between it and the vehicle body surface. Information board 12
The free end can be easily bent when it comes into contact with the upper surface of the vehicle body.

Further, a guide wheel 23 is attached to the top nozzle 12, and the guide wheel 23 rolls along the top surface of the vehicle when the vehicle body is dry to maintain a constant distance between the spout 12a of the top nozzle 12 and the surface of the vehicle body.

Next, the operation of the embodiment described above will be explained with reference to FIG. 3. First, the vehicle V to be dried enters between the guide rails 2, 2, and then the blowers 6, 6 are driven and the gate-shaped frame 1 is made to run. The left and right side nozzles 4, 4 face both sides of the vehicle V,
The top nozzle 12 faces the trunk lid surface T thereof. Now, when the lifting cylinder 19 is extended and operated, the top nozzle 12 descends due to its own weight and approaches the trunk lid surface T of the vehicle V, and the pressurized air jetted from the top nozzle 12 and the side nozzles 4, 4 touches the trunk lid surface T. It hits both sides along it, thereby allowing those surfaces to dry.

At this time, as shown in Fig. 4, the top nozzle 1
2 is placed above the trunk lid surface T at a certain distance so as not to come into contact with any protruding objects such as the rear mirror M of the vehicle V. Since the air is guided along the guide plate 21 toward the trunk lid surface T in a substantially rectified state, drying efficiency can be improved.

As will be described later, the flexible guide plate 21 is such that when the top nozzle 12 approaches the top surface of the vehicle body sufficiently, the free end of the guide plate 21 is bent along the top surface of the vehicle body due to the air flow from the jet outlet 12a. Since the bending strength is set to be relatively small and the guide plate 21 is relatively flexible, in the state shown in FIG. Therefore, compared to the case where the guide plate 21 is made of a plate material with high rigidity, the guiding and rectifying effect on the air flow is inferior. However, by specially installing the guide plate 21, it is possible to prevent at least the air outside the plate 21 (the right side in FIG. Therefore, a sufficient guiding and rectifying effect on the air flow can be expected, and turbulence of the air flow can be reduced, thereby improving drying efficiency.

Further, the jet ports 4a, 4a of the side nozzles 4, 4 are also arranged at a certain distance from both sides of the vehicle body, but in this case as well, the pressurized air injected from the side nozzles 4, 4 is Since the drying material is guided toward both side surfaces of the vehicle body along the drying guide plates 7, 7, the drying efficiency can be improved.

If the portal frame 1 continues to travel to the left in FIG. 3 and at the same time the lifting cylinder 19 is retracted, the top nozzle 12 will rise and move along the top surface of the vehicle V until it reaches the roof surface R. The jet nozzle 12a of the top nozzle 12 is sufficiently close to the roof surface R to powerfully dry the roof surface R with the pressurized air jetted therefrom. At this time, the lower part, that is, the free end of the flexible guide plate 21 is bent along the roof surface R due to the airflow on the roof surface R, as shown in FIG. Since it is possible to form a gap that allows air to flow, it is possible to spread the pressurized air over a wide range of the roof surface R. Therefore, by bringing the top nozzle 12 close to the roof surface R, the pressure air can be spread from the top nozzle 12 to the roof surface R. Combined with the effect of being able to blow airflow extremely vigorously onto the surface R, the drying efficiency can be further improved.

Furthermore, when the portal frame 1 continues to run and the lifting cylinder 19 is extended, the top nozzle 12 reaches above the bonnet surface B, and as in the case of drying the trunk lid surface T, spray is emitted from the spout 12a of the top nozzle 12. The compressed air is guided to the bonnet surface B along the flexible guide plate 21 and efficiently dries there. At this time, when the flexible guide plate 21 comes into contact with a protruding object such as the back mirror M, the guide plate 21 is flexibly bent.
It will not damage the back mirror M etc.

As described above, according to the present invention, a top nozzle connected to a blower is provided in the upper part of the gate-shaped frame so as to be movable up and down, and the jet nozzle of the top nozzle is directed close to the top surface of the vehicle body, so that the drying air is directed from the jet port to the top surface of the vehicle body. In a vehicle drying device capable of spraying air, a flexible guide plate is attached to the outlet of the top nozzle for guiding air blown from the outlet toward the upper surface of the vehicle body, and this guide plate is configured to: When the top nozzle approaches the top surface of the vehicle body by a predetermined distance or more, the free end of the guide plate is bent along the top surface of the vehicle body due to the air flow from the jet port, thereby creating an air flow gap between the top nozzle and the top surface of the vehicle body. Since the bending strength is set so that the top nozzle can be formed, even if the tip of the top nozzle is placed away from the top of the car body to avoid contact with protruding objects such as rear view mirrors, when drying the top of the car body, The airflow blowing out from the jet port can be guided toward the vehicle body surface along a flexible guide plate, and when guiding, the air outside the guide plate is prevented from being caught in the airflow, and the It is possible to suppress the occurrence of turbulence in the airflow as much as possible, and therefore, the turbulence in the airflow is reduced compared to the case without the guide plate, and the upper surface of the vehicle body can be efficiently dried by the airflow. . In addition, when the top nozzle is placed sufficiently close to the top surface of the car body, the free end of the guide plate is bent along the car body surface due to the air flow blown out from the nozzle outlet, allowing air to flow between the top nozzle and the car body surface. Since it is possible to form a gap between the top nozzle and the top surface of the car body, it is possible to spread the pressurized air over a wide range of the top surface of the car body. Combined with the effect of extremely vigorous spraying, the drying efficiency can be further improved.

Furthermore, even if the guide plate should come into contact with the car body or a protruding object such as a rearview mirror during car washing, the guide plate will bend easily due to the contact, so there will be no damage to the car body or its protruding objects. .

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the vehicle drying device of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a front view thereof, FIG. 2 is a side view thereof, and FIG. 3 is an operational view showing the vehicle drying process.
Figure 4 is a diagram showing the rectifying effect of the injected air by the flexible guide plate when the bonnet surface or trunk lid surface of the car body is dry, and Figure 5 is a diagram showing the injected air flow and the flexible guide plate when the roof surface of the car body is dry. FIG. 1... Gate-shaped frame, 6... Blower, 12...
Top nozzle, 12a... spout, 21... flexible guide plate.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A top nozzle 12 connected to a blower 6 is provided on the top of the gate-shaped frame 1 so as to be movable up and down, and a spout 12a of the top nozzle 12 is directed close to the top surface of the vehicle body so that drying air can be blown onto the top surface of the vehicle body from the spout 12a. In the drying device for a vehicle, a flexible guide plate 21 is attached to the outlet 12a of the top nozzle 12 to guide the air blown from the outlet 12a toward the upper surface of the vehicle body. When the top nozzle 12 approaches the upper surface of the vehicle body by a predetermined distance or more, the free end portion of the guide plate 21 is bent along the upper surface of the vehicle body due to the air flow from the jet port 12a, and air flows between the top nozzle 12 and the upper surface of the vehicle body. A vehicle drying device characterized in that the bending strength is set so as to form a flow gap.