Friction curtain apparatus

Claim 1

A friction curtain apparatus for washing or drying or finishing a motor vehicle comprising a frame having an opening provided with an entrance and an exit, said opening having a longitudinally extending axis between said entrance and exit, said opening being adapted to receive a vehicle for movement therethrough by relative motion between the aforesaid frame and the vehicle along a predetermined path between said entrance and exit, a pair of swingable scrubbing units pivotally carried by said frame and disposed in said opening and capable of turning in alternate directions forward and then backward with respect to said entrance and to said exit, each of said units being pivotable about a horizontal axis which is generally perpendicular to said longitudinally extending axis, one of said units being located on one side of said longitudinally extending axis and the other of said units being located on the other side of said longitudinally extending axis, each of said units comprising an elongated rack having a plurality of transversely extending elongated slot-defining apertures which are parallel to one another, said apertures having axes lying in a flat plane, a pack unit containing fill material received in each of said apertures and forming a curtain, each curtain being arranged on each rack in spaced apart, generally parallel relation relative to the other curtains, with each curtain extending generally perpendicular to said longitudinally extending axis and having an end portion which extends beyond a side of the vehicle, each curtain defining a row of closely arranged elongated flexible strips which hang freely when the units are beyond the ends of the vehicle and are substantially in continuous contact with the vehicle during the swinging movement of the rack when the units overlie the vehicle, power actuated means for swinging said racks and the curtains carried thereby through an arcuate path forward and then backward and imparting to said curtains a sweeping, scrubbing and flicking motion to permit said curtains to contact the exterior surfaces of the vehicle to finish the vehicle, said power actuated means including means for coordinating the swinging of said racks and said curtains in a predetermined phase relationship whereby the rack and curtains at one side of said longitudinally extending axis are out of phase with the rack and curtains on the other side of said longitudinally extending axis, each slot-defining aperture having a key-hole configuration, each aperture having a generally cylindrical inner portion opening downwardly through a restricted neck portion, each pack unit comprising a substantially solid, elongated, headforming and pack reinforcing support element made from a resiliently firm yet flexible plastic material, said support element including a generally cylindrical, solid, bulb-like portion having single, substantially flat, integral, solid fin portion of rectangular configuration extending from said bulb-like portion, a first sheet of generally flexible material having one portion looped tightly over said elongated support element so as to conform closely to the contours thereof and a second portion extending from the support element, said looped portion having a first section closely overlying said bulb-like portion and second and third sections integrally contiguous with the respective opposite ends of said first section tightly overlying corresponding opposite sides of said fin portion, fastening means for securing the looped portion to said first sheet to said elongated support element to prevent relative sliding movement therebetween and forming a generally cylindrical, flexible material covered bulbous head and neck portion of the pack unit which is telescopically received in the corresponding aperture for replaceably mounting said pack unit thereto, said fill material forming said curtain having an inner portion secured to the second portion of said first sheet and an outer portion engageable with the vehicle.