JP5012224B2 - Electric vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner, and more particularly to a method for controlling a vacuum cleaner having a self-propelled function.

  As a conventional electric vacuum cleaner, there is one as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 6, a conventional vacuum cleaner has a vacuum cleaner body 1 having a built-in electric blower 2 and a dust collecting portion 3, and a caster 9 and a traveling roller 10 are provided on the vacuum cleaner body 1. The hose 4 communicating with the extension pipe 6 was connected and fixed in front of the cleaner body 1. 8 is
It is an operation means for operating the operation of the cleaner body 1.

  And in the said conventional vacuum cleaner, it moves, pulling the vacuum cleaner main body 1 during cleaning, but when starting the movement of the vacuum cleaner main body 1, the greatest resistance acts on the hand grip 5 by the inertia, and the suction tool 7 It was easy to get tired because it disturbed the smooth operation, and it felt very annoying. In particular, on the carpet, the rolling frictional resistance of the traveling roller as the caster 9 and the traveling roller 10 increases, so that not only the resistance at the start of movement increases but also the resistance at the time of traveling considerably increases, and the feeling of use becomes worse. Had problems.

  As a method for solving this, there is a method in which a traveling roller connected to a drive motor is provided, the pulling force of the hose is detected, the drive motor is driven, and resistance due to inertia at the start of movement of the cleaner body is eliminated. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

In a self-propelled electric vacuum cleaner (robot) that automatically cleans the floor, a plurality of bumpers outside the main body, and contact detection means for detecting contact with obstacles such as walls of the bumpers, And after the electric vacuum cleaner starts moving forward, a method of moving backward by detection of contact detection means is known (for example, see Patent Document 2).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-232025 Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-79781

  However, in the configuration of the conventional vacuum cleaner as described in Patent Document 1, the user's operating force is reduced by detecting the user's pulling force and running the cleaner body with a drive motor. The operability can be improved, but even if the main body of the vacuum cleaner touches an obstacle such as a wall or furniture during cleaning, the user moves forward by pulling, so the following problems (problems) There is.

  1) Depending on the contact position, even if the user pulls the hose more strongly in the direction of travel, the main body of the vacuum cleaner cannot move in the lateral direction and obstacles cannot be avoided.

  2) It takes time and labor for the user to pull the cleaner main body in contact in a direction different from the traveling direction, and to move in the target direction after bypassing the obstacle.

  3) If the main body of the vacuum cleaner cannot avoid the obstacle even if the hose is pulled forward, the user has to move the main body of the vacuum cleaner backward, which is very troublesome.

  Further, in the case of a self-propelled vacuum cleaner as described in Patent Document 2, when the contact detection means detects contact with an obstacle and starts to move backward, the user moves forward. Troubles such as becoming a tug of war with a pulling force.

  The present invention solves such a conventional problem, and assists the avoidance action so that the user can smoothly avoid the obstacle without touching the user's hand as much as possible when touching the obstacle. The purpose is to provide a vacuum cleaner with functions and good usability.

In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, a vacuum cleaner of the present invention includes a traveling roller for traveling provided at the bottom of a cleaner body, and a drive for driving the traveling roller to move the cleaner body forward and backward. A motor, a hose connected to the cleaner body, a hose tension detecting means for detecting a pulling force of the hose, a bumper provided outside the cleaner body, and an obstacle ahead of the bumper Contact detecting means for detecting contact; and control means for controlling the drive motor in response to signals from the tensile force detecting means and the contact detecting means; the hose tensile force detecting means and the contact detecting means; in, while the tensile strength of the hose, and simultaneously detects the contact with the obstacle, the driving of the traveling roller by the drive motor is stopped, the contact with the hose tension detecting means From the state in which the pulling force of the hose and the contact with the obstacle are simultaneously detected by the knowledge means, when the pulling force of the hose is no longer detected, the drive motor is detected until the pulling force is detected again. When the user is cleaning while pulling the hose and the cleaner body comes into contact with an obstacle, the driving roller is driven by the drive motor. Because it stops, there is no excessive force applied to the running roller, and when the user notices that the main body of the vacuum cleaner has come into contact with the obstacle and stops pulling the hose, the main body of the vacuum cleaner moves backward. If the traveling roller is driven like this, the pulling force of the user and the reverse force by the drive motor will be in a tug-of-war condition, and the reverse will move smoothly. Divide. Then, the user can advance the cleaner body again by lightly pulling the hose again. At this time, it is necessary for the user to add force (change the direction of pulling slightly) so that it does not come in contact with the obstacle again. it is already Mukoto without the annoying behavior, such as moving the cleaner body to.
Also, after avoiding obstacles by moving the vacuum cleaner backward, you do not wait for the user to pull the hose next, but go back to the distance that the vacuum cleaner detects the hose pulling force. It is. In other words, the control means detects the information of no contact from the contact detection means by moving the vacuum cleaner backward, and then continues to move backward so that the cleaning body pulls the hose and pulls from the tensile force detection means. You will get the information and automatically start moving forward. As described above, it is possible to provide a highly usable vacuum cleaner having a function of assisting the user so as to smoothly perform the obstacle avoidance action without causing the user's hand as much as possible.

  Since the electric vacuum cleaner of the present invention has a self-propelled function, it can reduce the operation force when moving the main body of the vacuum cleaner, improve the operability, and when the main body of the vacuum cleaner contacts an obstacle, Unreasonable power is not added. In addition, if the main body of the vacuum cleaner is moved backward after there is no pulling force by the user, the user's pulling force and reverse force will not be in a tug-of-war condition, and the user's hand will be used as much as possible. It is possible to provide a highly usable vacuum cleaner having a function of assisting avoidance behavior so that a person can smoothly avoid obstacles.

A first aspect of the present invention is a travel roller provided at the bottom of a cleaner body, a drive motor that drives the travel roller to move the cleaner body forward and backward, and a hose connected to the cleaner body. Hose tensile force detection means for detecting the pulling force of the hose, a bumper provided outside the cleaner body, contact detection means for detecting contact with an obstacle ahead of the bumper, and the tensile force Control means for controlling the drive motor in response to signals from the detection means and the contact detection means, the hose pulling force detection means and the contact detection means, the hose pulling force and the obstacle while detecting contact at the same time to the driving of the traveling roller by the drive motor stops, between said contact detection means and the hose tension detecting means, and the tensile force of the hose, From a state where the contact of the harm product are detected simultaneously, when the tensile force of the hose is no longer detected, until the pulling force again is detected, the cleaner main body by driving the traveling roller by the drive motor The distance that the main body of the vacuum cleaner detects the pulling force of the hose instead of waiting for the user to pull the hose after the obstacle is avoided by moving the main body of the vacuum cleaner backward. It goes back on its own. In other words, the control means detects the information of no contact from the contact detection means by moving the vacuum cleaner backward, and then continues to move backward so that the cleaning body pulls the hose and pulls from the tensile force detection means. You will get the information and automatically start moving forward. As described above, it is possible to provide a highly usable vacuum cleaner having a function of assisting the user so as to smoothly perform the obstacle avoidance action without causing the user's hand as much as possible.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
The vacuum cleaner in the 1st Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated referring FIGS. 1-6. In addition, about the same part as the said prior art example, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  FIG. 1 is an external side view of a vacuum cleaner according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a top cross-sectional view of a vacuum cleaner body of the vacuum cleaner.

  1 and 2, the cleaner body 1 includes an electric blower 2 that generates suction air and a dust collection unit 3 that collects dust. When an air flow for sucking dust is generated by the operation of the electric blower 2, dust on the surface to be cleaned is sucked together with air from the suction tool 7 and enters the cleaner main body 1 through the extension pipe 6 and the hose 4. It is collected by the dust collection unit 3. The air that has carried the dust passes through the dust collecting unit 3 and is exhausted outside the cleaner body 1. A hand grip 5 is provided at the tip of the hose 4 so that the user can easily handle the vacuum cleaner. The hand grip 5 is provided with operation means 8 that can set “ON” and “OFF” of the input of the electric blower 2.

  The cleaner body 1 is provided with a single caster 9 at the front of the bottom (on the hose 4 attachment side) and two traveling rollers 10 at the rear for movement. The traveling roller 10 rotates in the forward (hose attachment side) direction or rearward when the driving by the driving motor 14 shown in FIG. 2 is transmitted to the speed reducing means 13, the clutch mechanism 16, and the driving shaft 15. Is moved forward or backward.

  A bumper 21 urged outward from the cleaner body 1 by a coil spring 22 is provided in front of the cleaner body 1, and the bumper 21 contacts an obstacle (not shown) such as furniture. Further, when the bumper 21 is pushed to the inside of the cleaner body 1, the contact detection means 23 is turned on to detect contact with the obstacle. If the contact with the obstacle is avoided, the bumper 21 is returned to the outside (the original position) of the cleaner body 1 by the biasing force of the coil spring 22, and the contact detection means 23 is turned off.

  FIG. 3 is a side view when the vacuum cleaner in the present embodiment is pulled forward. FIG. 3A shows a state when the user starts cleaning. When the hand grip 5 is moved in the Y direction indicated by the arrow as the user advances from this state, the state shown in FIG. At this time, the hose 4 connected to the hand grip 5 is pulled, and the cleaner body 1 is also pulled forward. The hose connection part 24 of the vacuum cleaner main body 1 is provided with a hose tensile force detection means 26 for detecting the tensile force of the hose 4 by the user. FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of the hose tensile force detecting means 26.

The lower side (floor surface side) of the hose connection portion 24 of the cleaner body 1 is movable, and is biased toward the cleaner body 1 by a coil spring 25. Therefore, when the hose 4 is pulled, the hose connection portion 24 is pulled, and the coil spring 25 contracts as shown in FIG. At this time, a part of the hose connecting portion 24 that has been pressed to turn on the hose tensile force detecting means 26 by the urging force of the coil spring 25 is separated from the hose tensile force detecting means 26, whereby the hose tensile force detecting means 26. Turn off. And if the tension | tensile_strength force added to the hose 4 is lose | eliminated, the hose connection part 24 will return to the original position (Fig.3 (a)) by the coil spring 25 currently urged | biased by the cleaner body 1 side.

  FIG. 5 is a circuit configuration block diagram of the electric vacuum cleaner in the present embodiment.

  The vacuum cleaner in the present embodiment includes a drive motor 14 that is driven by power supplied from the drive means 19, a speed reduction means 13 that reduces the rotational output of the drive motor 14 and rotationally drives the drive shaft 15, and a drive shaft. A traveling roller 10 that rotates according to the rotation of 15 and causes the cleaner body 1 to self-run is provided.

  Here, the speed reduction means 13 is separated by the clutch mechanism 16 so that the drive shaft 15 can freely rotate (idle) when the drive motor 14 is stopped. When the drive motor 14 is stopped, the traveling roller 10 is separated from the speed reduction means 13 by the clutch mechanism 16 and thus can be rotated lightly with a small force.

  This is because, for example, when the user moves the cleaner body 1 while the drive motor 14 is stopped, the free rotation of the traveling roller 10 is obstructed by the speed reduction means 13 and hinders movement. It is for preventing. The control unit 20 outputs a phase control timing signal to the electric blower driving unit 31 in accordance with the signal from the operation unit 8. The electric blower 2 is operated with electric power obtained by phase-controlling the commercial power supply 30 supplied from the electric blower driving unit 31. Reference numeral 18 denotes a DC power source that rectifies and smoothes the commercial power source 30 and outputs DC power to the driving means 19.

  The control means 20 performs PWM control on the DC power in accordance with the PWM timing signal to the drive means 19 and outputs supply power to the drive motor 14. Here, the drive motor 14 is a motor capable of normal rotation and reverse rotation, and the normal rotation (advanced) and reverse rotation (reverse) are controlled by the control means 20.

  The contact detection means 23 is turned on when the bumper 21 provided in the cleaner body 1 is in contact with an obstacle, and is turned off when it is not in contact.

  The hose tension detecting means 26 is turned off when the hose 4 is pulled and turned on when the hose 4 is not pulled.

  About the vacuum cleaner in this Embodiment comprised as mentioned above, the operation | movement and an effect | action are demonstrated below.

  When the user moves forward during cleaning and moves away from the cleaner body 1 and pulls the hose 4 (FIG. 3B), the lower part (floor side) of the hose connecting part 24 is the upper part as shown in FIG. The hose 4 is lifted in the pulling direction around the rotation center, and a part of the hose connecting portion 24 urged by the coil spring 25 toward the cleaner body 1 side is separated from the hose tensile force detecting means 26 to detect the hose tensile force. Means 26 is turned off.

  The control unit 20 detects information from the hose tension force detection unit 26 and outputs a PWM timing signal for forward movement to the drive unit 19. The drive means 19 supplies and outputs power from the DC power supply 18 to the drive motor 14 in accordance with the PWM timing signal of the control means 20 so that the traveling roller 10 rotates in the direction in which the cleaner body 1 moves forward. When the drive motor 14 starts to rotate, the clutch mechanism 16 of the speed reduction means 13 is connected to the drive shaft 15 so that the rotational force of the drive motor 14 is transmitted to the traveling roller 10 and the cleaner body 1 self-travels in the forward direction. .

  Thus, the vacuum cleaner main body 1 starts self-propelled, and the subsequent pulling force of the user is reduced. After self-running, the vacuum cleaner main body 1 approaches the user and the hose 4 is loosened (FIG. 3A), so that the hose connection portion 24 returns to the original position by the biasing force of the coil spring 25, and the hose tensile force is detected. It is turned on by pressing means 26. The control means 20 recognizes that the hose 4 is not pulled by this information.

  Next, when the cleaner main body 1 is moving during the cleaning of the user, the bumper 21 provided in the front part of the cleaner main body 1 is in contact with an obstacle such as a front wall or furniture. The bumper 21 is pushed toward the inside of the cleaner body 1 by the obstacle, and the contact detection means 23 is turned on. When this information is detected, the control means 20 temporarily stops the output of the PWM signal to the drive means 19 and stops the drive motor 14 from driving in the direction in which the traveling roller 10 is advanced.

  This is because if the driving in the forward direction is continued, the obstacle that has been touched is pushed and an excessive force is applied to the traveling roller 10, which is not preferable. Even if the vacuum cleaner main body 1 that does not advance due to contact with an obstacle may be driven forward, it may not be able to advance forward. Therefore, once the stop control is performed, the vacuum cleaner main body 1 is reversely controlled to control the obstacle. It avoids it. The reason why the vacuum cleaner main body 1 that has come into contact with the obstacle is not moved backward immediately is that the user pulls forward when the user starts pulling backward while the vacuum cleaner main body 1 is in contact with the obstacle. This is to avoid a situation where the force and the reverse drive force of the drive motor 14 are in a tug-of-war state.

  In the present embodiment, the following control is performed.

  When the contact detection means 23 detects contact of the bumper 21 with the obstacle, the control means 20 first stops the output of the PWM signal to the drive means 19 and moves the traveling roller 10 of the drive motor 14 forward. Stop driving. Next, the control unit 20 determines information of the hose tensile force detection unit 26. If the hose pulling force detecting means 26 detects the presence of a pulling force, the drive motor 14 is kept stopped.

  Thereafter, when the user stops pulling the hose 4, the control means 20 obtains information on the absence of the pulling force from the hose pulling force detection means 26. The PWM timing signal is output.

  As a result, the drive unit 19 supplies and outputs the electric power from the DC power source 18 according to the PWM timing signal of the control unit 20 so that the drive motor 14 rotates in the direction in which the traveling roller 10 moves backward. When the drive motor 14 starts to rotate in the direction in which the travel roller 10 is moved backward, the clutch mechanism 16 of the speed reduction means 13 is connected to the drive shaft 15 and the rotational force of the drive motor 14 is transmitted to the travel roller 10 for cleaning. The machine body 1 starts to run backward. In this way, it is possible to avoid a situation where the user's forward pulling force and the reverse driving force by the drive motor 14 are in a tug of war state.

  If contact with an obstacle is avoided by the backward movement of the cleaner body 1, the bumper 21 returns to the outside (to the original position) of the cleaner body 1 by the biasing force of the coil spring 22, and the contact detection means 23 is turned off. To do.

  Thereafter, the control means 20 continues the control so that the cleaner main body 1 moves backward until the hose tension force detection means 26 obtains information indicating that there is a hose tension force again. That is, the vacuum cleaner main body 1 continues to move backward, and this time, it creates a situation where the user has a hose 4 and a tug-of-war state. By entering the tug-of-war state, the control unit 20 obtains information on the presence of the hose pulling force from the hose pulling force detection unit 26, and therefore performs forward control by the drive motor 14 again.

  Thus, in order to avoid the cleaner body 1 caught on the obstacle, the user pulls the hose 4 strongly or moves back to the place where the cleaner body 1 is located and moves the cleaner body 1 by itself. If the hose 4 is not pulled, the vacuum cleaner main body 1 is automatically lowered once and automatically starts to advance again.

  Thereby, the user has an opportunity to advance (pull) the cleaner body 1 again. At this time, it is necessary to add force by the user so that it does not come into contact with the obstacle again (although the direction of pulling is slightly changed). Troublesome actions such as going back and moving the vacuum cleaner main body 1 become unnecessary. Here, it goes without saying that when the vacuum cleaner main body 1 has a function of changing the direction when moving forward and backward, it is possible to reduce the force applied by the user or eliminate the need for force.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the electric cleaning with good usability is provided with the function of assisting the user so that the avoidance action of the obstacle can be smoothly performed by the user without bothering the user's hand as much as possible. Machine can be provided.

  As described above, the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention is useful for a high value-added and high-functional vacuum cleaner that reduces fatigue during cleaning, and also for devices that follow the movement of the user. Technology. Moreover, it is a technique useful also for the apparatus which has a function which mounts a secondary battery and self-runs.

External side view of the electric vacuum cleaner according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention Top sectional view of the main body of the vacuum cleaner (A) Side view of the electric vacuum cleaner in a state of starting cleaning, (b) Side view of the electric vacuum cleaner in a state of cleaning Configuration diagram of tensile force detection means of the vacuum cleaner Circuit block diagram of the vacuum cleaner External perspective view of a conventional vacuum cleaner

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vacuum cleaner main body 4 Hose 10 Traveling roller 14 Drive motor 20 Control means 21 Bumper 23 Contact detection means 26 Hose tensile force detection means

Claims (1)

A traveling roller for traveling provided at the bottom of the cleaner body, a drive motor that drives the traveling roller to move the cleaner body forward and backward, a hose connected to the cleaner body, and a pull of the hose Hose tensile force detection means for detecting force, a bumper provided outside the cleaner body, contact detection means for detecting contact with an obstacle ahead of the bumper, the hose tensile force detection means, and the contact Control means for controlling the drive motor in response to a signal from the detection means, and the hose tension force detection means and the contact detection means simultaneously cause the hose pulling force and contact with the obstacle. while detection, the driving of the traveling roller by the drive motor stops, between the hose tension sensing means and said contact detection means, and the tensile force of the hose, the obstacle From a state in which detected contact simultaneously, when the tensile force of the hose is no longer detected, until the pulling force again is detected, the cleaner thereby reverse the body by driving the traveling roller by the drive motor An electric vacuum cleaner.

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