A lighted conveyor assembly for a vehicle wash system for moving a vehicle through a vehicle wash process including a vehicle treatment area and including a pair of guide rails for engaging the wheels of the vehicle to keep it on the conveyor. The guide rails including a protective sheath disposed thereon for preventing damage to the wheels of the vehicle. The protective sheath is made of a translucent material and contains a light source, which may be an LED strip light, and is configured to emit light that can be seen by a vehicle occupant in the vehicle treatment area. The light source may display a variety of patterns or effects, including specific colors or patterns to indicate that associated features of the car wash process are active. The light source may also be seen from outside of the treatment area to provide a positive impression for potential customers.

A vehicle wash system includes a wash package selection zone where a vehicle operator is presented with a plurality of different vehicle wash packages. Each of the vehicle wash packages has an associated unique color identifier. The system includes a controller configured to receive a selection from the vehicle operator of one of the plurality of different vehicle wash packages. The system includes a vehicle treatment zone, including at least one illumination element associated therewith. The at least one illumination element is in communication with the controller. The controller is configured to emit light from the at least one illumination element in a color that corresponds to the color identifier of the vehicle package selected by the vehicle operator.

In an aspect, a conveyor system for moving a wheeled structure through a service line is provided. The conveyor system comprises at least one endless belt mounted longitudinally through the service line. The belt has an upper transport portion for moving the vehicle through the service line, and a lower return portion with a support deck below the upper transport portion to support the belt. A debris deflector is mounted between the upper transport portion and the lower return portion to protect the lower return portion from debris falling through the support deck.

A wash equipment assembly for a car wash and method of operating the equipment are described. For example, the assembly includes a cleaning element configured to clean a vehicle, an arm assembly operably attached to the cleaning element and configured to move the cleaning element to a vehicle cleaning position, the arm movably fixed to a support at a first end and the cleaning element mounted on the arm at a second end, a controlled locator for positioning the arm relative to the support such that the cleaning equipment is moved to the vehicle cleaning position, and a sensor for evaluating an actual orientation of the cleaning element relative to a default orientation of the cleaning element. In certain implementations, the controlled locator can modify the position of the arm in response to a signal from the sensor, thereby providing a closed loop control system.

Rotary vehicle cleaning installation, the installation comprising a vehicle support platform that is rotatable around a central platform axis and is configured to support a number of vehicles on a vehicle surface of the vehicle support platform, and a drive assembly that is operatively connected to the vehicle support platform and that is configured to rotate the vehicle support platform, and a number of cleaning devices that is positioned at a working distance from the vehicle surface of the vehicle support platform. The invention also relates to a method for cleaning a vehicle using a rotary vehicle cleaning installation according to the invention.

In an aspect, a conveyor system is provided for a vehicle having wheels. The conveyor system includes a conveyor having an inlet end positioned to receive a vehicle to be conveyed, and an exit end positioned for exiting of the vehicle off of the conveyor, and a surface positioned proximate to at least one of the inlet end and the exit end. The surface is positioned to support at least one of the wheels while at least another of the wheels is supported on the conveyor. The surface has surface properties selected such that a coefficient of friction between the surface and tire rubber is below a selected threshold so as to permit sliding of the at least one of the wheels on the surface while the at least another of the wheels is supported on the conveyor.

A car wash vehicle conveyor system including a lower track, an upper track, and an intermediate track positioned between the lower and upper tracks. The upper track includes laterally spaced and parallel raised portions. An endless chain extends around the lower track and the intermediate track. The endless chain is connected around at least one drive sprocket so that rotation of the at least one drive sprocket results in lateral movement of the endless chain around the lower and intermediate tracks. A plurality of push roller assemblies are attached to the endless chain. Each push roller assembly is sized so that, when the push roller assembly is directed onto the upper track, the corresponding rollers travel along the upper track between the raised portions. In embodiments, the conveyor system is part of an automated car wash system.

Quick service restaurants with car wash systems and traffic management systems for managing customer traffic and routing customers who have made food-only purchases and customers who have purchased both a food item and a carwash service. In some examples, graphical user interfaces incorporated in point of sale systems display time predictions for the delivery of food items and carwash services to aid and encourage customer selection of both food items and carwash services.

A vehicle wash system is provided that includes an oxidizer system and a filter system.

The present invention comprises a method of managing car wash membership programs that uses unique vehicle identifiers that can be read directly from a vehicle's onboard computer. This method works with vehicles that possess an onboard computer (i.e., “connected cars”) that collects data on the vehicle itself (e.g. vehicle identification number (VIN), oil life, fuel level) and exposes an interface that makes it possible for external systems to request and read this data. An example scenario utilizing this method involves a customer who installs a software application (app) for the car wash on their smartphone. The customer then selects their desired subscription car wash package within the app and the app initiates a communication link directly with the vehicle that will be associated with this membership account. Once the communication link is established between the smartphone app and the vehicle, a unique identifier will be requested from the vehicle's onboard computer, such as the VIN, and this vehicle identifier will be linked to the customer's membership account which is stored in an external system, typically in a cloud-based server and database. When the customer arrives at the car wash to request wash services under their membership, they will first use the smartphone app to “check in” to the car wash location by verifying that the vehicle associated with the customer's membership account is physically within a predefined distance of the car wash. The smartphone app may then establish a communication link with the vehicle to request its unique identifier and then pass this data to the external server and database to verify if the customer and vehicle are registered, active, and authorized to receive the requested service(s). If the request is deemed valid, then the smartphone app will provide a means of activating the requested car wash service(s), such as through a unique numeric code entered into the pay station kiosk, a barcode or QR code to be scanned and recognized by the pay station kiosk, a wireless signal sent directly or indirectly to the pay station kiosk or car wash controller for activation, or other equivalent methods. The service(s) rendered will then be logged and stored in the external system for future reference to ensure any limits on wash usage are not exceeded by the customer's account.