Patent ID: 7143771

Claim:
A vehicle wash system for washing a vehicle moving along a line of travel, said wash system comprising: a set of longitudinally spaced spray assemblies each having a plurality of nozzles located to spray water on the vehicle, said set of spray assemblies includes at least a first spray assembly, a second spray assembly, a third spray assembly and a fourth spray assembly being sequentially arranged in said system along the line of travel of the vehicle; a pump commonly connected to said set of spray assemblies and adapted to provide high pressure water thereto; a set of valves corresponding in number to no more than the number of said spray assemblies, said valves operable to open and close the flow of water from said pump to said spray assemblies; a plurality of sensors for determining the location of a vehicle as it travels through said spray assemblies; and a controller coupled to said sensors end said valves, said controller adapted to open and close said valves in a prescribed sequence such that at some point during operation of said system said set of said spray assemblies receives water provided by said pump in a non-sequential order, wherein said controller is configured to operate said first and third spray assemblies simultaneously with each other and said subsequently second and fourth spray assemblies sequentially with each other wherein said sensors are adapted to sense the position of the vehicle and to provide a signal to said controller to turn on and off the spray assemblies.