Patent ID: 7571682

Claim:
A correlator system for an automatic car wash, comprising: a. a pair of roller assemblies one for supporting a left front wheel and the second for supporting a right front wheel of a land vehicle placed between a vehicle entrance location to said car wash and a conveyor track location for transporting said left front wheel of said land vehicle through said car wash; b. a plurality of guide rails or bars disposed above said roller assembly supporting said left front wheel for guiding said left front wheel by exerting lateral forces on said left front wheel to adjust axial displacement and angular misalignment thereof; c. said roller assembly having a plurality of steel rollers having longitudinal axes oriented to extend in the general direction of movement of said land vehicle; d. said steel rollers with steel shafts being supported on ultra high molecular weight (UHMW) polyethylene sleeve bearings that facilitate low friction rotation of said rollers; e. friction generating means associated with said steel rollers for generating friction against said rollers, said friction having a magnitude sufficient to retard rotation of said rollers when stepped on by a car wash worker; f. said friction generating means comprises a tangential brake having a spring loaded pivotable plate that contacts an external circumferential surface of at least one of said rollers; g. said magnitude of said friction being insufficient to prevent rotation of said steel rollers when said land vehicle is driven onto said guide rails or bars, thereby enabling said adjustment of axial displacement and angular misalignment of said left front wheel; whereby injury to car wash workers is mitigated by said friction generating means, and said land vehicle is reliably moved into a position of alignment with said conveyor track.