Vehicle Rinse Assembly with Adjustable Blower and Fluid Nozzle
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current vehicle wash systems, particularly automatic washes, face inefficiencies in drying vehicles due to fixed drying equipment that cannot adequately remove water from all surfaces, leading to water marks and increased operational costs.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle rinse assembly with adjustable blower units and fluid nozzles, controlled by a sensor and actuator system, which dynamically directs air and water to all vehicle surfaces as it moves, ensuring comprehensive drying without additional conveyor length or water usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If fixed drying equipment is used, then the equipment structure is simple, but the equipment cannot adequately dry all vehicle surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The blower units are made movable rather than fixed, allowing them to dynamically adjust their positions and orientations to target different vehicle surfaces. The system includes movable blower units with adjustable angles and positions that can be controlled to direct air flow onto various parts of the vehicle as it moves through the wash system.
Solution Approach 2:
The drying system is divided into multiple independent blower units rather than a single fixed structure. Each blower unit can be independently positioned and oriented to cover specific areas of the vehicle, allowing comprehensive coverage through coordinated operation of multiple segmented components.
2Reliability
If manual drying is used to ensure complete drying, then drying quality is improved, but operational costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables automated drying without requiring manual intervention. The movable blower units are controlled to automatically track and dry vehicle surfaces as the vehicle moves through the wash, eliminating the need for attendants to manually dry vehicles while maintaining high drying quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses sensors to detect vehicle presence and position, providing feedback that controls the movement and orientation of blower units to ensure complete drying of all surfaces without requiring manual inspection or intervention.
3Adaptability or versatility
If additional conveyor length is added to improve drying coverage, then drying effectiveness is improved, but system complexity and space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of extending the conveyor length in one dimension, the system achieves improved drying coverage by adding movement and adjustment capabilities in multiple dimensions - the blower units can move vertically, horizontally, and rotate to change orientation, creating coverage in additional spatial dimensions without extending the conveyor.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses dynamic positioning of blower units to achieve comprehensive coverage within the existing conveyor length. The movable blower units can adjust their positions and angles to target different vehicle surfaces during the wash process, eliminating the need for additional conveyor length.
4Productivity
If more water is used to improve rinsing, then rinsing effectiveness is improved, but water consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the parameters of the drying process by using movable blower units with adjustable positions, angles, and air flow rates. This allows optimized air drying that reduces the need for additional water while maintaining effective rinsing and drying performance.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively removes excess water from all vehicle surfaces, reducing the need for manual drying, lowering operational costs, and increasing wash efficiency by allowing faster processing of vehicles without compromising quality.
Implementation Method 1
Each blower unit may include a housing with an air inlet and an air outlet. The air inlet may be in communication with a motor unit to draw air into the housing.
Implementation Method 2
The rinse assembly also includes a fluid nozzle disposed on the blower unit and in communication with a fluid source to direct fluid onto the vehicle exterior.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A
Figure 2B
AI summary
A vehicle rinsing assembly (102) includes at least one blower unit (104) having a housing (108) with an air inlet (110) and an air outlet (112). The air inlet is in communication with a motor unit (114) to draw air into the housing. The rinsing assembly also includes a fluid nozzle (146) disposed on the blower unit and in communication with a fluid source to direct fluid onto the vehicle exterior. The rinsing assembly includes an actuator (132) in communication with the at least one blower unit to direct air emitted from the air outlet in different preselected directions with respect to the vehicle exterior. The rinsing assembly is in communication with a controller such that air from the air outlet and fluid from the fluid nozzle are emitted simultaneously onto the vehicle exterior surface to remove excess water therefrom, The controller is also in communication with the actuator to vary the direction of air flow in response to a location of the vehicle with respect to the at least one blower unit.