Pivotable Side Brush for Vehicle Wash Angled Surface Cleaning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional vehicle wash systems struggle to effectively clean the angled side surfaces of vehicles without causing damage or noise, as conventional cylindrical brushes are inadequate for curved surfaces and may damage antennas or mirrors due to uneven contact and increased force.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle wash system with side brushes that can pivot between three positions, allowing for adjustable orientation to match the vehicle's geometry, ensuring consistent contact and reducing force on specific areas, while maintaining a constant diameter to maintain consistent surface feet per minute (SFPM) and avoiding protrusions like antennas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a vertical cylindrical brush is used to clean the middle portion of the side surface, then the middle portion is properly cleaned, but the angled top and bottom portions are not adequately contacted
Solution Approach 1:
The side brush is designed with a pivotable mounting that allows it to dynamically adjust its orientation between vertical and angled positions. This enables the brush to adapt to different surface geometries (vertical middle portions vs. angled top/bottom portions) during operation, resolving the contradiction between maintaining effective cleaning and adapting to varied surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The brush orientation parameter is made variable through the pivotable mounting mechanism. By changing the orientation parameter from fixed vertical to adjustable (vertical and angled), the system can optimize contact with different surface portions while maintaining appropriate cleaning force, thus improving both cleaning effectiveness and adaptability.
2Manufacturing precision
If the brush is moved inward to contact the angled upper and lower portions, then those portions are cleaned, but the middle portion is impacted with too much force causing damage or noise
Solution Approach 1:
The pivotable mounting enables different local orientations of the brush for different portions of the vehicle surface. The brush can be angled specifically for top/bottom portions while maintaining vertical orientation for the middle portion, providing locally optimized cleaning that avoids excessive force on any single area, thus preventing damage and noise.
3Manufacturing precision
If a contoured brush with enlarged diameters at top and bottom is used, then the angled surfaces are reached, but the surface feet per minute contact increases causing greater impact force
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a static contoured brush with variable diameter, the invention uses a dynamic approach where a constant-diameter brush changes its orientation dynamically. This maintains consistent surface feet per minute and impact force while still achieving contact with angled surfaces through angular adjustment, resolving the contradiction between reaching angled surfaces and controlling impact force.
4Manufacturing precision
If a larger diameter brush is used to cover angled portions, then cleaning coverage is improved, but the brush may contact and damage vehicle antennas
Solution Approach 1:
The pivotable mounting allows the brush to dynamically adjust its position and orientation based on the vehicle profile. This enables the system to achieve adequate cleaning coverage on angled surfaces while retracting or adjusting the brush path to avoid contact with protruding elements like antennas, thus resolving the contradiction between coverage and avoiding damage.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle wash system includes a vehicle treatment area and an overhead frame portion supporting a pair of side brushes. The side brushes are configured to treat the lateral sides of the vehicle and may also treat the front and back of the vehicle. The side brushes are configured to pivot between a vertical position, an outwardly angled position, and inwardly angled position. The side brushes may travel along the side of the vehicle in both the vertical and pivoted orientations. The side brushes may make multiple passes along the side of the vehicle, and the side brushes may change orientation during or between passes to treat different segments of the vehicle. The side brushes may be actively pivoted or may pivot in response to contacting the vehicle when shifted laterally into contact with the vehicle.