Vehicle washing apparatus having a yieldable brush shaft coupling

Claim 1

A vehicle wash apparatus, comprising: a generally horizontal overhead brush support arm wherein at least one end of said brush support arm is located above the path of a vehicle to be washed; a generally vertical shaft housing pivotally connected with said support arm about a horizontal pivot axis; a shock absorber connecting said shaft housing and said brush support arm for minimizing the swinging movement about said horizontal pivot axis between said shaft housing and said support arm; an elongate rotatable brush arranged in the path of a vehicle to be washed, said rotatable brush being rotatable about a generally vertical axis of rotation for washing at least one end and one entire side surface of a vehicle moving relative thereto; a lower rotatable shaft secured to said rotatable brush; drive means for imparting rotational movement to said brush; an upper rotatable shaft located in said shaft housing and being connected with said drive means; and coupling means for coupling said upper and lower rotatable shafts, said coupling means including (a) an upper plate secured to said upper shaft, (b) a lower plate secured to said lower shaft, and (c) three or more rigid connecting members radially disposed about said axis of rotation which operably connect said upper plate with said lower plate, which prevent said upper and lower plates from moving more than a predetermined distance apart from each other, and which allow said plates to tilt relative to each other during rotation of said brush from a first normal position when said brush is rotating freely about said generally vertical axis of rotation to a second washing position when said brush contacts a vehicle being washed and tilts from said generally vertical axis of rotation.