JPS62152421A - Self-propelling cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application This invention relates to a self-propelled vacuum cleaner that is equipped with a cleaning function and a moving function and that cleans floors. 2. Description of the Related Art Vacuum cleaners have been developed that have a moving function added to improve operability during cleaning.

Particularly recently, self-propelled vacuum cleaners of the so-called self-guided type have been developed, which are equipped with various microcomputer sensors to perform cleaning while determining the movement of the cleaning area on their own.

In this type of self-propelled vacuum cleaner, a rotary encoder or the like is connected to the left and right running wheels to measure the moving speed and distance from the number of rotations of the running wheels. Usually, obstacles are avoided using an obstacle detection sensor.・Also, some models are equipped with a gyro sensor such as a gas rate gyro to more reliably measure the direction of movement.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, with this type of system, measurement of the distance traveled relies solely on the number of rotations of the running wheels, so measurement errors due to slippage between the running bamboo wheels and the moving surface are unavoidable. Met.

Therefore, if the machine gradually deviates from the course it should normally travel to the left or right, or if the moving distance becomes long, errors will accumulate, making it impossible to judge the position, resulting in unfinished cleaning or malfunctions. Particularly in the case of self-propelled vacuum cleaners, they are susceptible to external forces from rotating cleaning brushes, etc., and the surface on which they move is not limited. , self-guided locomotion was almost impossible. In addition, methods can be considered to increase the gravitational load applied to the running wheels or provide unevenness on the running wheels to increase the ground resistance to suppress slipping of the running wheels and reduce the error in measuring the distance traveled, but depending on the moving surface. However, there were materials that were easily damaged, such as tatami mats and carpets, and there were limits to this as well.

Therefore, the present invention provides a self-propelled vacuum cleaner that can move on any moving surface by self-guided guidance regardless of the slippage of the running wheels, can thoroughly clean the moving surface, and does not damage the moving surface. .

Means for Solving the Problems Technical means of the present invention for solving the above problems include a gyro sensor that detects the direction of movement, and a gyro sensor that detects the relative speed with the moving surface by receiving reflected light from the moving surface. and a speed sensor, one of which is provided at the left and right center of the main body in a plane parallel to the plane of movement, and further processes signals from the gyro sensor and speed sensor to send a signal to the steering device. It is equipped with a steering control circuit that outputs output.

For production The effect of this technical means is as follows.

In other words, the position and direction of the vacuum cleaner are measured by detecting the direction of movement using a gyro sensor and the relative speed to the moving surface using a speed sensor. Rather than measuring direction, these can be measured directly and without contact, so wheel slippage is irrelevant to position determination. Also,
By providing the speed sensor at the center of the left and right sides of the main body in a plane parallel to the plane of movement, errors in measuring the moving distance during direction changes and direction corrections are minimized. Therefore, even if the running wheels are on a slippery moving surface, they can be moved and thoroughly cleaned by self-guided guidance.

EXAMPLES Below, the examples will be explained based on the attached drawings. In Figures 1 to 4, 1 is the main body of a self-propelled vacuum cleaner, 2 is an electric blower, 3 is a filter disposed on the suction side, It is located inside the dust collection chamber 4. This dust collection chamber 4 is connected via a hose 6 to a nozzle 6 provided below the main body 1. The nozzle 6 is provided with a suction lower, and a moving surface A is provided in front of the lower suction lower.
A rotary brush 8 is attached to the rear part of the rotary brush 8 to sweep dirt into the suction lower, and a fixed brush 9 is attached to the rear part. Further, side brushes 10L and 10R are attached to both sides of the main body 1, and located on the left and right sides of the nozzle 6, so that they rotate and guide dirt f on the floor surface on the left and right sides of the main body 1 to the suction lower. 11L and 11R are running wheels provided on the left and right sides of the main body 1, respectively, and are connected to left and right drive motors 12L and 12R, respectively. 13 is an auxiliary wheel rotatably attached to the bottom surface of the main body 1. 14 is a power source such as a storage battery, and 16 is a steering control circuit. A speed sensor 16 is attached to the center of the bottom of the main body 1 on a line connecting the running wheels 11L and 11R, and has a light receiving body for receiving reflected light from the moving surface A, and is connected to the steering control circuit 15. . 17° each on the front of main body 1,
Two obstacle detection units are installed on the left and right sides.
It consists of an ultrasonic transmitting/receiving element or a light emitter and a photoreceptor, etc., and detects the presence or absence of an obstacle or the distance to the obstacle. A gyro sensor 20, such as a gyroscope, a gas rate gyro, or a vibration type gyro, is installed in the main body 1 and detects angular displacement during direction change. In addition, various sensors 16 to 2
0 and drive motors 12L and 12R are connected to a steering control circuit 16 to control the movement of the main body 1, as shown in FIG.

Here, the speed sensor 16 is a so-called spatial filter speed sensor consisting of a light emitter of visible light, infrared light, etc., a lens (or optical fiber) that receives reflected light from the moving surface A, and a light receiver. Broadly speaking, there are two types: optical type and laser type.

Figure 6 shows an optical velocity sensor, 21 is a lamp, LE
22 is a lens, 23 is a photoreceptor such as a photodiode or solar cell, 24 is a frequency analysis circuit, and 25 is a speed calculation circuit. In this device, the image of the moving surface A is transmitted through the lens 22 to the photoreceptor 23 by the light emission from the light emitter 21.
imaged on top. At this time, when the speed sensor 16 moves in the direction B, the image on the photoreceptor 23 also moves, and the photoreceptor 23 outputs a signal corresponding to this movement. The frequency of this output signal is determined by the frequency analysis circuit 26.
Since the peak frequency obtained by analysis is proportional to the moving speed, the speed calculating circuit 26 can obtain an output as the moving speed.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a laser speed sensor, in which 26 is a laser light emitting body such as a semiconductor laser, 27 is a light emitting side optical fiber that is connected to this and guides and irradiates a laser beam to the moving surface A, and 28 is a moving side optical fiber. An optical fiber array 29.30 is composed of a plurality of optical fibers that receive the laser beam reflected from the surface A, and 29.30 is a photodiode or the like that is connected every other fiber to the optical fiber array 28 and receives the reflected laser beam from the moving surface A. 31 is a differential amplifier, and 32 is a speed calculation circuit.

In this case, the laser light emitted by the laser emitter 26 is irradiated onto the moving surface A via the optical fiber 27. At this time, an interference pattern (speckle pattern) unique to laser light is generated on the moving surface A by the irradiated light and the diffusely reflected light from the moving surface A. This interference pattern is picked up by the optical fiber array 28 and guided to two photoreceptors 29 and 30. For example, when the speed sensor 16 moves in the direction B, this interference pattern moves in the direction opposite to B when viewed from the optical fiber array 28. Therefore, a signal corresponding to the movement of the speed sensor 16 is output from the photoreceptor 29, 30, which is passed through the differential amplifier 31, and the number of output pulses is counted by the speed calculation circuit 32, thereby outputting the movement speed. can get.

The two examples of speed sensors have been described above, but the point is that the reflected light from the moving surface A is different from the movement of the image formed on the moving surface A and the movement of the interference pattern generated on the moving surface A. The basic principle of receiving light by a photoreceptor and calculating the moving speed is the same, but there are several other concrete configurations.

The operation of the self-propelled vacuum cleaner configured as above will be described below.

For example, if the self-propelled vacuum cleaner of the present invention is placed at a cleaning place as shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, cleaning is performed while moving on the moving surface A along the surrounding wall C. At this time, the speed sensor 16 attached to the left and right center portions of the main body 1 detects the relative speed to the moving surface A to measure the moving distance, and the gyro sensor 2o measures the moving direction. The information is sequentially stored in the memory circuit. Therefore, when the robot goes around the surrounding wall C and returns to the original location, the shape and size of the cleaning location is memorized. Further, 1. Even if the moving surface A slides or the running wheels 11L and 11R move while sliding, the measurement of the position and direction is unrelated to the running wheels 11L and 11R, and the measurement error will not become large.

After going around the surrounding wall C in this way and returning to the original location, the next step is to move straight towards the opposing wall C1, as shown in Figure 8, and when you get close to the opposing wall C1 at a certain distance, the arrow As shown in E, the vehicle makes two 90° direction changes and then moves straight again toward the next opposing wall C2.

When traveling straight and changing direction by 90°, gyro sensor 2
Since the direction is controlled by 0, even if the running wheels 11L,
Even if 11R slips, it will not lead you in the wrong direction. When the vacuum cleaner approaches the next opposing wall C2 to a certain distance, it changes direction twice by 90 degrees as shown by arrow F, and then repeats the above operation until the cleaning area is completely dug out as shown by arrow G in Figure 9. It can be cleaned without any problems.

Furthermore, in the one-way control by the gyro sensor 20 described above, since the commonly used gas rate gyros and vibration-type gyros have large drifts in the reference point due to time and temperature, in this embodiment 90
° Just before moving on to direction change, pause and press gyro sensor 2.
The zero reference point is calibrated to prevent measurement errors from accumulating.

The movement procedure described above is just an example, and the point is that the gyro sensor 20 that detects the direction of movement and the speed sensor 16 attached to the left and right center portions of the main body 1 are used even if the moving surface A is slippery and the running wheels 11L or Even if 11R slips, the direction and position can be determined, and any movement procedure may be used.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention includes a gyro sensor that detects the direction of movement and a speed sensor that receives reflected light from two moving surfaces to detect the relative speed with the moving surface. One is provided at the left and right center of the main body in a plane parallel to the moving surface, and the steering control circuit that processes the signals from the gyro sensor and speed sensor and outputs the signal to the steering device is equipped, so even if the moving surface is Even on slippery surfaces such as waxed floors or uneven carpet surfaces, the machine moves by self-guided guidance regardless of the slippage of the running wheels, cleaning the moving surface without any grooves and damaging the moving surface. It is possible to provide a self-propelled vacuum cleaner without any problems.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a self-propelled vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the same, Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing the connection of each part of the self-propelled vacuum cleaner, Fig. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of the optical speed sensor, FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of the laser speed sensor, and FIGS. 7 to 9 are explanatory diagrams showing an example of the movement procedure of the self-propelled vacuum cleaner. 1...Main body, 11L, 11R, 12L, 12R・
・・・・Drive device, steering device (running wheels, drive motor),
16... Steering control circuit, 16... Speed sensor, 2Q... Gyro sensor, 21.26
...Mark/Light emitter, 22...Lens, 23, 29.
30...-photoreceptor, 28... optical fiber. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person No. 1
Figure / Main body 11F ---
゛Running wheel 1--1 body 20-1-Jai U11! Sensor Fig. 3 Fig. 5 I6 --- Speed sensor 21 - Emission body z6 --- Lena light emission figure Fig. 7 Δ Fig. 8 Fig. 9

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) It has a drive device that moves the main body, a steering device that changes the direction of movement, a cleaning device, a power source, and a gyro sensor that detects the direction of movement. and a speed sensor that detects the relative speed with respect to the gyro sensor, and one speed sensor is provided at the left and right center of the main body in a plane parallel to the moving surface, and further processes signals from the gyro sensor and the speed sensor. A self-propelled vacuum cleaner equipped with a steering control circuit that outputs signals to the steering device. (2) The speed sensor is self-propelled according to claim 1, which comprises a light emitter that emits visible light or infrared light, a lens or optical fiber that receives reflected light from a moving surface, and a light receiver. Vacuum cleaner.