Patent ID: 8024834

Claim:
A system for washing a side surface of a vehicle, said vehicle having a generally downward facing under side surface located generally proximate a lower portion of said side surface, said system comprising: a brush rotatable about an axis that is oriented generally longitudinal and horizontal relative to said vehicle and generally parallel to said side surface of said vehicle, said brush having a plurality of cleaning elements, said plurality of cleaning elements each having at least a portion thereof, that for at least part of the rotation about said axis, is positioned vertically below the generally downward facing under side of said vehicle; a drive mechanism for rotating said brush about said axis in a rotational direction that provides for upward relative movement of said cleaning elements relative to said side surface of said vehicle; a position locator for positioning said brush relative to said side surface of said vehicle and causing said brush to apply a generally transverse directed load against the side surface of said vehicle including said lower portion of said side surface, to assist in cleaning said side surface including said lower portion of said side surface; and a variable frequency drive for driving said drive mechanism at a predetermined rotational speed, said variable frequency drive comprising a load sensor operable to measure a measured load characteristic indicative of the amount of load on said brush, and in response to said measured load characteristic exceeding a predetermined load, send a first signal to said position locator; in operation, in response to receiving said first signal, said position locator releasing said transverse load applied against said side surface.