JP4836538B2 - Vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner provided with an electric blower driven by power supply from a secondary battery.

  Conventionally, this type of vacuum cleaner includes a control circuit that switches the switch off to stop the operation of the electric blower or the like when the secondary battery reaches the end-of-discharge voltage.

  However, in such a vacuum cleaner, even when the secondary battery once becomes an end-of-discharge voltage and stops the operation of the electric blower, when the electric blower is driven again, the switch is turned on. Therefore, there is a problem that the battery may be further discharged to cause overdischarge, which may shorten the battery life.

Therefore, once the secondary battery reaches the end-of-discharge voltage, the fact that the end-of-discharge voltage has been reached is stored in a memory or the like, and the secondary battery voltage rises to a predetermined value while referring to this memory. There is known a configuration in which a secondary battery is integrally provided with a control circuit that does not permit discharge (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-151697 (page 12, FIG. 6)

  However, in the configuration as described above, since the control circuit is provided integrally with the secondary battery, in addition to the secondary battery itself generating heat, it is not easy to attach a large heat sink or the like. If the temperature rises more than necessary, it may affect the operation of the control circuit that protects the secondary battery, and if the temperature of the storage means such as a microcomputer rises, malfunction will occur and accurate control will not be performed. There is a problem of fear.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a point, and it aims at providing the vacuum cleaner which can protect a secondary battery reliably with respect to an overdischarge.

The present invention provides an electric blower that is driven by power supply from a secondary battery, a control unit that is provided separately from the secondary battery, controls the operation of the electric blower, and is provided separately from the secondary battery. Storage means for storing the fact that the electric blower has been stopped at the discharge end voltage of the secondary battery at the time of discharging, and the control means re-drives the electric blower when the storage means stores the stop of the electric blower Is not permitted, and when the voltage of the secondary battery becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined voltage, the stored data stored in the storage means is cleared and the re-driving of the electric blower is permitted .

According to the present invention, the storage means for storing that the electric blower has been stopped at the discharge end voltage, and the control means that does not permit re-driving of the electric blower when the storage means stores the stop of the electric blower, By providing it separately from the secondary battery, reliable operation of the control means and storage means can be obtained, and the secondary battery can be reliably protected against overdischarge, and control is performed when the voltage of the secondary battery exceeds a predetermined voltage. By clearing the stored data stored in the storage means and allowing the electric blower to be redriven, the secondary battery that has reached the final discharge voltage is charged or replaced, thereby preventing the electric blower from being redriven. The permission state can be removed.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a cleaner body, and an electric blower 2 driven by direct current is accommodated in the cleaner body 1. The vacuum cleaner main body 1 is a so-called canister-type vacuum cleaner, and the dust sucked together with the intake air generated by driving the electric blower 2 is separated by a cyclone in a dust collecting cup 2a as a dust collecting portion and collected. Dust.

  Furthermore, a main body inlet 3 for sucking air from the outside is opened at the front center of the cleaner main body 1. The main body suction port 3 is connected to a hose body 4 as a slender, substantially cylindrical connecting pipe that can be bent. At the tip of the hose body 4, a hand operation unit 5 is provided as an operation means capable of selecting a plurality of drive modes of the electric blower 2.

  The operation section 5 includes an operation button for setting the operation state of the electric blower 2 and the like in the cleaner body 1 to an operation mode such as strong, medium, and weak, and a stop button for setting the cut mode. A plurality of setting buttons 6 provided are provided, and a gripping portion 7 that is gripped by an operator when cleaning is projected from the proximal end side. In addition, an extensible and elongated cylindrical extension pipe 8 is detachably connected to the distal end of the hand operation section 5 in a detachable manner. Further, a floor brush 9 serving as a suction port for sucking dust on the carpet is detachably connected to the tip of the extension pipe 8, for example, placed on a carpet on the floor of the room. Yes.

  Next, a description will be given with reference to the internal configuration of the embodiment.

  In the vacuum cleaner main body 1, as shown in FIG. 1, the electric blower 2, the secondary battery 11 that supplies power to the electric blower 2, and the power supply from the secondary battery 11 to the electric blower 2 are controlled. A circuit with a control means 12 such as a microcomputer for controlling the driving of the electric blower 2 is provided.

  The secondary battery 11 is a battery pack in which a plurality of cells are connected in series. The secondary battery 11 is housed in the battery housing portion P and is detachably attached to the cleaner body 1.

  The control means 12 includes a hand operating section 5, a control element 13 that is a switching element such as a power MOSFET connected to the electric blower 2, and a voltage detection means 14 that detects the voltage value V of the secondary battery 11. It is electrically connected to control the electric power supplied from the secondary battery 11 to the electric blower 2 by controlling the operation of the control element 13 in accordance with the operation of the setting button 6 (FIG. 2) of the hand operation unit 5. The drive of the electric blower 2 is controlled.

  The control means 12 includes a storage means 15 such as a nonvolatile memory for a microcomputer. Further, the control means 12 is provided with a heat sink, which is a heat sink (not shown), and is disposed in an exhaust air passage of the electric blower 2 and can be cooled by the exhaust air.

The voltage detection means 14 is connected in parallel to the secondary battery 11, detects the voltage value V of the secondary battery 11, and outputs the detected voltage value V to the control means 12. Therefore, the control means 12 can monitor the voltage value V of the secondary battery 11 based on the voltage value V output from the voltage detection means 14, for example, the discharge end voltage V _E of the secondary battery 11, In addition, a discharge permission voltage V _{T that} is a threshold value for permitting the restart of the electric blower 2 that has stopped once the secondary battery 11 has become a discharge end voltage is arbitrarily set in advance.

  The storage means 15 stores the stoppage of the electric blower 2 when the secondary battery 11 becomes a discharge end voltage and the electric blower 2 is forcibly stopped.

  The storage means 15 and the control means 12 are provided separately from the battery accommodating portion P that accommodates the secondary battery 11, and are separated from the secondary battery 11.

  Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. The circled numbers in the figure represent step numbers.

  First, the control means 12 determines whether or not an operator has input an operation using a predetermined operation button of the setting button 6 of the hand operation unit 5 (step 1).

  In step 1, when the control means 12 determines that the operation is not input by the operation button, the process returns to step 1, and when the control means 12 determines that the operation is input by the operation button, this control is performed. The means 12 controls the electric blower 2 in a predetermined operation mode by controlling the electric power supplied from the secondary battery 11 to the electric blower 2 through the control element 13 according to the operation mode set by the input of the operation button. (Step 2).

Then, the control unit 12 detects the voltage value V of the secondary battery 11 by the voltage detection unit 14, whether this voltage value V is equal to or less than a preset discharge end voltage V _E, i.e. whether V ≦ V _E Judgment is made (step 3).

In step 3, if it is determined that the control means 12 is a V ≦ V _E is stores this to the storage unit 15 (Step 4), stops the electric blower 2 (Step 5). In step 5, the operation of the electric blower 2 and the discharge of the secondary battery 11 are stopped.

On the other hand, in step 3, if V ≦ V _E not equal control unit 12 determines the whether the operation by the switching button of the setting button 6 of the operation portion 5 is input control means 12 is further judged (step 6) If it is determined that the operation is not input with the OFF button, the process returns to step 3; if it is determined that the operation is input with the OFF button, the process proceeds to step 5.

  Further, after step 5, the control means 12 determines whether or not an operation is input by the operation button of the setting button 6 of the hand operation unit 5 (step 7).

In step 7, when the control means 12 determines that the operation is not input by the operation button, the process returns to step 7, and when the control means 12 determines that the operation is input by the operation button, this control is performed. It means 12, by referring to the stored data in the storage unit 15, the last stop of the electric blower 2, whether due to the voltage value V of the secondary battery 11 is equal to or less than the discharge cutoff voltage V _E, i.e. storage It is determined whether or not the stop of the electric blower 2 is stored in the means 15 (step 8).

  In this step 8, when the control means 12 judges that the stop of the electric blower 2 is not stored in the storage means 15, the process returns to step 2.

On the other hand, when the control means 12 determines in step 8 that the stop of the electric blower 2 is stored in the storage means 15, the control means 12 detects the voltage of the secondary battery 11 detected by the voltage detection means 14. With reference to the value V, it is determined whether or not the voltage value V is equal to or higher than a predetermined discharge permission voltage V _T, that is, whether V ≧ V _T (step 9).

In step 9, when the V ≧ V _T not equal control unit 12 determines the control means 12 does not allow restarting of the electric blower 2 (Step 10), the flow returns to step 7.

On the other hand, in step 9, when the control unit 12 to be V ≧ V _T is determined, the control unit 12 clears the stored data stored in the storage unit 15 (step 11), the flow returns to step 2.

As described above, according to the above embodiment, the storage unit 15 to record a stop electric blower 2 with a discharge termination voltage V _E of the rechargeable battery 11, stop of the electric blower 2 in the storage means 15 Control means 12 that does not permit re-driving of the electric blower 2 by operating the operation button of the setting button 6 of the hand operation unit 5 is provided separately from the secondary battery 11, thereby storing the control means. Thus, the secondary battery 11 can be reliably protected against overdischarge by obtaining reliable operation of the storage means 12 and the storage means 15.

  That is, in the conventional case where the control means and the storage means are molded integrally with the secondary battery, the control means and the storage means are easily affected by the heat generated by the secondary battery itself, and the size of the control means and the storage means is large. The temperature of the control means and the storage means is likely to rise, for example, it is not easy to attach a large heat sink because of the limited size, which may affect the operation of the control means and the storage means. In one embodiment, the control means 12 and the storage means 15 are not only separated from the secondary battery 11 but also housed in the cleaner body 1 outside the battery housing portion P and having a relatively large space. For example, it is possible to secure a large number of means for cooling the control means 12 and the storage means 15 such as the exhaust air of the electric blower 2 and a large heat sink, so that it is easy to take measures against heat. It is possible to obtain a reliable operation of the memory unit 15.

  Further, by providing the control means 12 and the storage means 15 separately from the secondary battery 11, for example, when the control means 12 or the storage means 15 needs to be replaced due to a failure of the control means 12 or the storage means 15, etc. Since only the control means 12 or the storage means 15 has to be taken out from the cleaner body 1, the control means, the storage means and the secondary battery are integrated as when the control means, the storage means and the secondary battery are provided integrally. The maintenance performance is better than the case where they are exchanged together, and the cost at the time of replacement, that is, the service cost can be suppressed.

  Furthermore, by using the control means 12 for controlling the operation of the electric blower 2 for protection of the secondary battery 11, unlike the conventional case where the protection circuit of the secondary battery 11 is built in hardware by a switch or the like, There is no need to add more than necessary, and cost increases can be suppressed.

When the voltage of the secondary battery 11 becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined discharge permitting voltage V _T, by permitting re driving of the electric blower 2 clears the stored data stored in the storage unit 15, once the discharge termination voltage V _E By charging or replacing the secondary battery 11 that has reached 1, the non-permitted state of re-driving the electric blower 2 can be removed.

  In the above embodiment, the electric vacuum cleaner is not limited to the above configuration.

It is a block diagram which shows the vacuum cleaner of one embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows a vacuum cleaner same as the above. It is a flowchart which shows control of a vacuum cleaner same as the above.

Explanation of symbols

2 Electric blower
11 Secondary battery
12 Control means
15 Storage means

Claims (1)

An electric blower driven by power supplied from the secondary battery;
A control unit that is provided separately from the secondary battery and controls the operation of the electric blower;
A storage means provided separately from the secondary battery, and storing that the electric blower is stopped at the discharge end voltage of the secondary battery when the secondary battery is discharged;
When the storage means stores the stop of the electric blower by the storage means, the control means does not allow the electric blower to be re-driven, and stores in the storage means when the voltage of the secondary battery exceeds a predetermined voltage. A vacuum cleaner characterized by clearing stored data and permitting re-driving of the electric blower .

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