CAR WASH CLOTH ROLL ASSEMBLY

• US 20090205150A1
• Filed: 02/19/2008
• Published: 08/20/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Motor City Wash Works Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Motor City Wash Works Incorporated
• Inventors: Wentworth, Robert J., Belanger, Lionel
• Granted Patent: US 8,082,618 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 15/97.300
• CPC Class Codes: B60S 3/06 with rotary bodies contacting the vehicle hand-held B60S3/048

Abstract

A cloth-type vehicle laundering implement includes a support mechanism consisting of a rotatable drive shaft and a plurality of generally parallel, adjacently arranged spacers mounted on the support mechanism. Each of the plurality of spacers includes a first face and a second face. The implement includes a plurality of individual circular fabric disk elements disposed between the first face of one of the plurality of spacers and the second face of another of the plurality of spacers. Each of the plurality of individual circular fabric disk elements extends outwardly beyond the spacers. Each of the individual circular fabric disk elements consists of a single piece of non-woven material having an inner diameter and an outer diameter. The inner diameter is retained in a single plane by a securing mechanism such that more material is located adjacent the inner diameter than the outer diameter to provide a more rigid element. The outer diameter and the inner diameter consist of substantially the same linear length of material.

Claims

1. A cloth-type vehicle laundering implement, comprising:

a support mechanism consisting of a rotatable drive shaft;

a plurality of generally parallel, adjacently arranged spacers mounted on said support mechanism, each spacer having a first face and a second face;

a plurality of individual circular fabric disk elements disposed between said first face of one of said plurality of spacers and said second face of another of said plurality of spacers, each of said plurality of individual circular fabric disk elements extending outwardly beyond an outer circumference of each of said spacers;

each of said individual circular fabric disk elements consists of a single piece of non-woven material having an inner diameter and an outer diameter, said inner diameter being retained by a securing mechanism such that more material per linear inch is located adjacent said inner diameter than said outer diameter to provide a more rigid element;

wherein said outer diameter and said inner diameter consist of substantially the same linear length of material.

2. The vehicle laundering implement of claim 1, wherein said inner diameter is bound together by a clinch ring.

3. The vehicle laundering implement of claim 2, wherein said clinch ring is eco treated for preventing corrosion of said clinch ring.

4. The cloth roll assembly of claim 1 wherein said non-woven material sheet is a spun bond material.

5. The cloth roll assembly of claim 1, wherein said support mechanism engages each of said plurality of spacers to effectuate rotation of said cloth roll.

6. The cloth roll assembly of claim 5, wherein each of said plurality of spacers includes a shoulder portion for engaging an inner surface of a respective one of said securing mechanism to cause said plurality of disk elements to rotate with said plurality of spacers as said support mechanism rotates.

7. The cloth roll assembly of claim 5, wherein said first face of one of said plurality of spacers engages a surface of one of said disk segments and said second face of another of said plurality of spacers engages an opposing surface of said segment such that no slippage occurs between said surfaces of said segment and said spacers such that said plurality of disk elements rotate with said plurality of spacers as said support mechanism rotates.

8. A car wash roll assembly for laundering a vehicle as it proceeds along a predetermined direction of travel, comprising:

a drive shaft assembly;

a plurality of individual cloth disk segments disposed on said drive shaft assembly;

an actuator in communication with said drive shaft assembly to effectuate rotation thereof such that each of said plurality of individual cloth disk segments rotate to provide more effective cleaning as they contact an exterior surface of the vehicle;

each of said plurality of cloth disk segments being individually removable from said drive shaft assembly;

each of said plurality of cloth disk segments being formed of a single piece of material with a first side and a second side, said first side and said second side having substantially equal linear lengths of material;

wherein said single piece of material is retained as it is formed into a generally circular shape having an outer diameter and an inner diameter defining a center through hole for receipt of said drive shaft assembly, whereby said outer diameter of said generally circular shape is measured along said first side and said inner diameter is measured along said second side of said single piece of material;

whereby said material is bunched adjacent said inner diameter such that more material per linear inch is located adjacent said inner diameter of said disk segment than adjacent said outer diameter of said disk segment.

9. The cloth roll assembly of claim 8, wherein said inner diameter is secured in place by a clinch ring.

10. The cloth roll assembly of claim 9, wherein said clinch ring is eco treated for preventing corrosion of said clinch ring.

11. The cloth roll assembly of claim 8, wherein said single sheet of material consists of a non-woven material.

12. The cloth roll assembly of claim 11 wherein said non-woven material sheet is a spun bond material.

13. The cloth roll assembly of claim 8, further comprising:

a spacer disposed on said drive shaft assembly and located on either side of each of said plurality of individual cloth disk segments.

14. The cloth roll assembly of claim 13, wherein each of said spacers are press fit against an opposite side of a respective one of said plurality of individual cloth disk segments to effectuate rotation of said plurality of cloth disk segments without slippage.

15. A replaceable element for a cloth-type vehicle laundry implement wherein the implement rotates in an edge-wise manner, the element having an overall shape of a circle and having opposite, generally parallel faces, being made of single sheet of a non-woven, synthetic fabric and having a first vehicle-containing peripheral edge, the element having an inner periphery and an outer periphery, said inner periphery being secured by a retention mechanism, wherein said fabric has a greater density of fabric adjacent said inner periphery than adjacent said outer periphery to assist the implement in retaining its shape.

16. The implement of claim 15, wherein said retention mechanism is a clinch ring.

17. The implement of claim 16, wherein said clinch ring is eco treated for preventing corrosion of said clinch ring.

18. The implement of claim 15, wherein said non-woven material sheet is a spun bond material.

19. A car wash roll assembly for laundering a vehicle in a vehicle cleaning process as the vehicle proceeds along a predetermined direction of travel, comprising:

a drive shaft assembly having a pair of opposing ends and having a longitudinally extending axis of rotation, said drive shaft assembly having a plurality of protrusions uniformly spaced about a shaft periphery of said drive shaft assembly;

an actuator in communication with said drive shaft assembly to effectuate rotation about said axis of rotation as commanded;

a plurality of spacers having a spacer opening, said spacer opening having a plurality of mating notches for engagement with a respective one of said plurality of protrusions on said shaft periphery to effectuate rotation of said plurality of spacers as said drive shaft assembly rotates;

a plurality of cloth rolls consisting of a single sheet of non-woven material having an inner edge secured by a clinch ring to create a non-pleated finishing surface for engaging the vehicle as it proceeds along the horizontal path of travel, each of said plurality of cloth rolls being disposed between two of said plurality of spacers; and

a cap secured to said drive shaft at one of said ends for applying sufficient pressure to said spacers to create friction between each of said cloth rolls and said spacers to sandwich and secure each of said cloth rolls between a pair of adjacent spacers such that said plurality of spacers and said plurality of cloth rolls can be rotated as a unit without relative movement therebetween.

20. The assembly of claim 19, wherein said axis of rotation is perpendicular to the path of travel of the automobile.

21. The assembly of claim 19, wherein said clinch ring is eco treated for preventing corrosion of said clinch ring.

22. The assembly of claim 19, wherein said non-woven material sheet is a spun bond material.

23. The assembly of claim 19, wherein each of said plurality of spacers includes an upwardly extending shoulder for engagement with an inner periphery of said clinch ring of said cloth roll to secure said cloth roll to said spacer to be rotated therewith.