Abstract:
A valve plate ( 54 ) is slidably moved on a frame ( 52 ) by an actuator ( 62 ) between open and closed positions to control the supply of air sucked into the inlet ( 44 ) of a blower system ( 40 ) that supplies pressurized air through an outlet ( 46 ) to a plenum ( 12 ) for distribution to said nozzle ( 16, 18 ). By disposing the valve plate ( 54 ) at the inlet, the blower motor ( 49 ) may run continuously without a load as the impeller is not pumping air when there is no demand to blow the water from a vehicle.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application claims the benefit of provisional application 60/477,550 filed Jun. 11, 2003. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The subject invention relates to an assembly for blowing liquids from the surface of a vehicle in a car wash. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   Assemblies for blowing liquids from a vehicle are well known and typically include a plenum for distributing air to a plurality of nozzles that direct air from the plenum toward a vehicle. The plenum is supplied air by a blower system having an inlet for sucking air in and an outlet for supplying pressurized air to the plenum for distribution to the nozzles. Such blowers include an impeller that is rotated in a housing by an electric motor, the impeller acting as a pump or compressor to pressurize air and force it into the plenum system. 
   There are significant periods during the operation of a car wash that there is no demand for blowing liquid from a vehicle, i.e., periods without a vehicle passing through the car wash. It is generally very detrimental to an electric motor to start and stop the motor. It is much more efficient in electrical power usage and maintenance of the electric motor to run the motor continuously. This problem has been approached by controlling the delivery of pressurized air from the blower impeller by controlling the flow of pressurized air in the outlet from the impeller, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,467 to Rodgers. However, during the idle periods of no demand, the motor and impeller remain under load, and sometimes an increased load because of backpressure. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION AND ADVANTAGES 
   The subject invention provides an improved blower control in an assembly for blowing liquids from a vehicle of the type including a plenum for distributing air to at least one nozzle for directing air from the plenum toward a vehicle with a blower system having an inlet for sucking in air and an outlet for supplying pressurized air to the plenum for distribution to the nozzle. The assembly is characterized by a valve mechanism disposed over the inlet for controlling the amount of air sucked into the inlet. 
   Accordingly, the subject invention allows the electric motor to be run continuously but without a load as air is unavailable through the inlet to compress or pump. Without a load, the motor uses less electrical energy and is subject to less wear and tear, thereby reducing maintenance. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein: 
       FIG. 1  is a frontal view of a typical car wash water removal system with which the subject invention may be used; 
       FIG. 2  is a top view of the system shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  is an end view of the blower assembly of the subject invention; 
       FIG. 4  is a top view of  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIG. 5  is a side view of  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the valve mechanism of the subject invention in the open position; 
       FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the valve mechanism of the subject invention in the closed position; 
       FIG. 8  is an exploded perspective view of the valve mechanism of the subject invention; and 
       FIG. 9  is a schematic view of the actuator and control valve for controlling the valve mechanism of the subject invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Referring to the Figures, wherein like numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, an assembly for blowing liquids from a vehicle is generally shown at  10 . 
   The assembly comprises a support plenum  12  for distributing air. A nozzle system is generally indicated at  14  and includes a nozzle  16  for directing air toward the top of a vehicle. The nozzle  16  comprises a flexible material, such as a fabric as is well known in the art. In addition, the assembly includes side nozzles systems, generally shown at  18  for directing air from the side legs of the plenum  12 , as is well known and shown in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,564. 
   As more specifically described in application Ser. No. 09/849,165 filed May 04, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,519,872, an air delivery conduit, including a plurality of pairs of telescoping tubes  20  and  22 , interconnects the plenum  12  and the nozzle system  14  for delivering air from the plenum  12  to the nozzle system  14  while allowing the nozzle system  14  to move in an adjustment direction toward and away from the plenum  12  between various vertical operating positions. The telescoping tubes  20  and  22  include a base tube  20  extending from the support plenum  12  and a movable tube  22  in telescoping relationship with the base tube  20  and attached to the nozzle system  14 . The tubes  20  and  22  are rigid and self-supporting and may be made of various materials such as metal or plastic. The tubes  20  and  22  are circular in cross section, as shown in phantom in  FIG. 2 , and have a close or airtight fit. There may be a sliding seal incorporated between the tubes  20  and  22  to effect an air tight seal to prevent the leakage of air as the movable tubes  22  are moved into and out of the fixed or base tubes  20 . The base tubes  20  are welded or otherwise fastened to the support plenum  12 . 
   The nozzle system  14  is elongated and includes a fixed outer and upper shell  24  and a movable lower or inner shell (not shown) movably supported by the fixed shell  24 . The movable tubes  22  are attached to the fixed shell  24  by welding or fasteners. The inner or movable shell is rotatably supported within the fixed shell  24  as the fixed shell  24  has an elongated opening along the bottom for the passage of air into the nozzle  16  and the movable shell has an elongated opening along the top to accommodate the rotational movement of the movable shell about a nozzle axis which is at the center of the circular shells. 
   The nozzle system  14  is suspended by bungee chords  32  which are attached to a cross bar  34 , the cross bar  34  supporting the fixed shell  24 . The bungee chords  32  extend upwardly to an upper end  38  secured to the plenum  12  and act as a spring to react between that upper end  38  and the cross bar  34  to lift the nozzle system  14  in the event of loss of power, or the like. 
   An actuator in the form of a pneumatic cylinder  42  is included for moving the nozzle system  14  between the operating positions whereby the nozzle system  14  may be moved up and down to accommodate the changing longitudinal configuration of a vehicle. The piston of the pneumatic cylinder  42  is attached to the cross bar  34  to move the nozzle system  14  up and down between raised and lowered operating positions. The bungee chords  32  act as a biasing system for automatically retracting the nozzle system  14  toward the raised operating position in response to loss of control by the actuator  42 . 
   The assembly also includes a rotary drive for rotating the nozzle  16  about the nozzle axis extending transversely to the adjustment direction and the nozzle  16  whereby the nozzle system  14  may be rotated about the nozzle axis to efficiently direct air against the contour of the vehicle. 
   The assembly  10  also includes a blower system, generally shown at  40 , having an inlet  44  for sucking in air and an outlet  46  for supplying pressurized air to the plenum  12  for distribution to the nozzles  16  and  18 . The blower system  40  includes a housing  48  surrounding an impeller and an electric motor  49  for rotating the impeller, as well known in the art. As illustrated, a blower system  40  is disposed on each side of the assembly with the blower system on opposite sides extending axially of the system  10  in opposite directions, but they may extend in the same direction, i.e., be mirror images of one another. 
   The invention is characterized by a valve mechanism, generally indicated at  50 , disposed over the inlet  44  for controlling the amount of air sucked into the inlet  44 . 
   It is to be understood that the subject valve mechanism  50  can be used to control pressurized air to various different blower systems and that the blower system described above is but exemplary of the environment in which the invention has utility. A more preferred embodiment of the above described blower system is set forth in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/280,914 filed Oct. 25, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,745,497 granted Jun. 8, 2004,in the name of the inventor herein. Additional blower systems in which the instant invention has utility are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,421,102 and 5,901,461. 
   Accordingly, the subject invention in the valve mechanism  50  is applicable to any blower system in an assembly for blowing liquids from a vehicle comprising a plenum for distributing air and at least one nozzle for directing air from the plenum toward a vehicle. 
   The valve mechanism  50  includes a frame  52  and a valve plate  54  slidably supported by the frame  52  for movement between open and closed positions, as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7  respectively. The frame  52  includes at least one and preferably two rails  56  and the valve plate  54  includes at least one and preferably four rail couplings  58  for engaging and sliding along the rails  56 . Each rail coupling  58  is defined by a sleeve presenting a circular bore surrounding a circular rod defining each rail  56 . A bushing may be disposed within the bore of each coupling  58  to act as a bearing against the rail  56 . A plurality of fasteners in the form of bolts and nuts attach the couplings  58  to the valve plate  54 . The bottoms and tops of the rods defining the rails  56  are attached to the frame  52  by stanchions  60 . 
   The valve mechanism  50  includes a pneumatic actuator  62  supported by the frame  52  for sliding the valve plate  54  rectilinearly along the rails  56  between the open and closed positions. 
   An inlet collar  64  is supported by the frame  52  and adapted for attachment to the inlet  44 . The frame  52  defines a rectangle having long sides adjacent the sides of the collar  64  and one short side defining a bottom close adjacent the collar  64  and one short side defining a top spaced from the collar  64 . The rails  56  extend between the top and bottom of the rectangle defining the frame  52  and the actuator  62  extends between the top of the rectangle defining the frame  52  and the valve plate  54 . The frame is made up of channel members having inwardly directed flanges that define an axial thickness and the valve plate  54  is disposed in that thickness, i.e., between the axial extremes or faces of the frame  52 . Sheets or panels  66  close these opposite faces of the frame  52  and a collar extension  68  extends through the panel  66  on the inlet side or face of the frame  52 . Consequently, the valve plate  54  moves up and down in a closed space within a housing defined by the frame  52  and sheets  66 . The collar  64  is circular in cross section and extends axially from between the sides of the frame  52  and struts  70  extend between the top of the frame  52  and the collar  64  to act structural reinforcements for supporting the collar  64 . As alluded to above, the axially spaced panels  66  surround the collar  64  and collar extension  68  by extending to and closing the frame  52 . 
   The pneumatic actuator  62  is shown schematically in  FIG. 9  wherein a control valve  72  controls the flow of air to the pneumatic actuator  62  to raise and lower the valve plate  54 . The control valve  72  is appropriately controlled by a centralized central processing unit that determines the demand for airflow through the blower assembly  10 . 
   Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. The invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described within the scope of the appended claims, wherein that which is prior art is antecedent to the novelty set forth in the “characterized by” clause. The novelty is meant to be particularly and distinctly recited in the “characterized by” clause whereas the antecedent recitations merely set forth the old and well-known combination in which the invention resides. These antecedent recitations should be interpreted to cover any combination in which the inventive novelty exercises its utility. In addition, the reference numerals in the claims are merely for convenience and are not to be read in any way as limiting.