JP2003310509A - Mobile cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mobile cleaner in which spaces by the side of walls and corners of walls are cleaned without omission. <P>SOLUTION: In the mobile cleaner provided with a main body, a driving means for moving the main body, a suction port and a suction port driving means for relatively movably connecting the suction port and the main body, when moving the main body straight, the suction port is positioned approximately in the middle in front of the main body and at a standard location where the front edge of the suction port is approximately orthogonal with the straight moving direction and when turning the main body near the surface of the wall, the suction port is moved to make the front edge of the suction port opposed to the turning direction touch or proximate to the surface of the wall. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a self-propelled cleaner that is self-propelled for cleaning.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional technique for a self-propelled cleaner or a cleaning robot that is self-propelled for cleaning, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-88453 discloses a steering device for changing the traveling direction of a robot body. , A slide device that is provided to be able to reciprocate toward and away from the side wall and is equipped with a cleaning mechanism, a contact force detector that detects the contact force received from the side wall, and based on the detected force. A cleaning robot that controls a slide device and a steering device is disclosed.

[0003]

Since the dust tends to collect at the wall portion where the floor surface intersects with the wall and the corner portion where the floor surface intersects with the two wall surfaces, the self-propelled vacuum cleaner is It is required to clean those places without omission. In order to quickly clean the edges and corners of the wall, you can run along the wall with the suction part that sucks dust along the wall, and when you reach the corner, turn on the spot and cross. It is desirable to be able to run along the wall surface.

However, in the prior art, since the cleaning mechanism can be attached to the wall, when it reaches the corner, it cannot turn on the spot, and once it moves backward, it turns back and forth.
It was necessary to drive in a complex combination of forward and turn.

For this reason, there are problems that cleaning takes time and an error in traveling control becomes large.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a self-propelled cleaner capable of quickly cleaning a wall and a corner of the wall without leakage.

[0007]

To achieve the above object, the present invention is characterized in that a main body, drive means for moving the main body, a suction port, and a relative movement between the suction port and the main unit. In a self-propelled cleaner including a suction port moving means that is connectable with the suction port moving unit, the suction port moving unit positions the suction port at the front center of the main body when the main body moves straight, and the front edge of the suction port. In a standard arrangement that makes
The suction part is arranged, and when the main body swivels in the vicinity of the wall surface, the suction part is moved so that the front edge end of the suction part on the side opposite to the turning direction comes into contact with or comes close to the wall surface.

[0008]

1 and 2 show the structure of a self-propelled cleaner according to the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a top view of a first embodiment of a self-propelled cleaner of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view. In the figure, cover 1
9 shows the cross section.

The self-propelled vacuum cleaner 1 includes a main body 2 and a suction portion 3
And a link mechanism 4 which is a suction means moving means.

The main body 2 includes a base 5, left and right wheels 6a,
6b is provided. On the base 5, there are provided motors 7a and 7b for driving wheels, a dust collector 8 for sucking dust, a controller 9 for controlling the operation of the system, and a battery 10 for supplying electric power to the system.

The link mechanism 4 includes joints 21 and 22 which are rotational pairs provided on the base 5, joints 23 and 24 which are provided on the mouthpiece 3, and a link 25 which connects the joints 21 and 23.
, A link 26 connecting the joints 22 and 24, and a link mechanism 4
Is provided with springs 27 and 28 for returning the neutral state to the neutral state. Here, the joints are arranged such that the distance between the joints 21 and 22 is larger than the distance between the joints 23 and 24.

The self-propelled cleaner 1 is self-propelled by driving the wheels 6a and 6b by the motors 7a and 7b, and the dust collector 8 sucks dust from the suction port 3 for cleaning. When the wheels 6a and 6b are both rotated forward at the same speed, the main body 2 moves straight, and when the wheels 6a and 6b are rotated at different speeds, the main body 2 turns. Especially the wheels 6
When a and 6b are rotated in opposite directions at the same speed, the main body 2
Makes a turn on the spot.

Here, the "in-situ turn" is a turn in which the left and right wheels are turned in opposite directions at a constant speed to change the direction in a minimum space, and the turning center is a line segment connecting the left and right wheels. Becomes the midpoint. Here, the main body 2 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and when viewed from above, the center of the main body 2 and the turning center coincide with each other. The diameter of the main body 2 is smaller than the width of the mouthpiece 3.

The running of the self-propelled cleaner of the present invention near the wall and at the corner will be described below.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view seen from above for explaining a traveling method of the self-propelled cleaner of the present invention.

First, as shown in FIG. 3A, in the self-propelled cleaner 1, the main body 2 is brought close to the wall 12 and the suction port 3 is provided.
The vehicle runs straight while the left side surface 31 is in contact with the wall 12.
In the figure, a gap is provided between the wall and the wall for easy viewing. At this time, since a large contact force is not applied to the suction port 3, the suction port 3 is connected to the link mechanism 4 and the spring 2.
7 and 28, they are located in a standard arrangement. Here, the standard arrangement means that the mouthpiece portion 3 is arranged at the center of the front portion of the main body 2, and the front edge 32 is in the direction of straight movement of the main body 2, that is,
The arrangement is orthogonal to the rolling direction of the wheels 6a and 6b.

However, since the wall 12 is actually pushed, the left front edge portion 33 is slightly rearwardly displaced from the standard arrangement. Therefore, the self-propelled cleaning device 1 has the suction port 3
The vehicle travels with the left front edge portion 33 of the vehicle contacting the wall 12.

When the above traveling is continued, the self-propelled cleaning device 1 is provided with a wall 14 and a corner 14 of the wall 13 as shown in FIG. 3 (b).
To reach. As a result, the cleaning of the wall 12 near the wall is completed.

Next, in order to perform cleaning along the wall 13, the self-propelled cleaner 1 changes direction. If the mouthpiece 3 is fixed to the body 2, the body 2 cannot swivel on the spot because the left front edge 33 and the body 2 hit the wall 13. Also, the wheels 6
By turning around the point where the line connecting a and 6b intersects with the wall 12, interference between the suction port 3 and the wall 13 can be avoided, but in this case, the main body 2 interferes with the wall 12. For this reason, in order to change the direction, the main body 2 is once retracted and then moved forward.
Since it is necessary to perform complicated movements that combine backward and turn, it takes time to change directions. Further, since complicated wheel movement causes a lot of wheel slips, the wheel rotation causes a large detection error in detecting the position of the main body 2. If the error in the position detection becomes large, the deviation between the travel route and the plan becomes large, which causes a problem such as cleaning leakage. Also, by running alongside the wall,
When the method of recognizing a room is used, the detection error of the shape and size of the room becomes large.

However, in the self-propelled cleaning device of the present invention, it is possible to perform the in-situ turning from the state shown in FIG. 3 (b) in which the suction port 3 is abutted against the corner. In this state, the main body 2
When the is swung in place, the left front edge 33 is pushed by the wall 13 toward the rear of the main body 2. Then, since the suction port 3 is supported by the trapezoidal link mechanism 4 and the springs 27 and 28, the suction port 3 moves to the right while rotating counterclockwise. This causes the left front edge 33 to move along the wall without biting into the wall.

FIG. 3 (c) shows a state in which the mouthpiece 3 has moved the most with respect to the main body 2. In this state, the left front edge portion 33 enters the reference circle 34. Here, the center of the reference circle 34 is the center of in-situ turning, that is, the main body 2
Is a circle whose radius is equal to the center of the suction port 3 in the standard state and whose radius coincides with the distance A from the center of the suction port 3 to the front edge of the suction port 3.

When the main body 2 pivots beyond the state shown in FIG. 3 (c), the suction port 3 causes the springs 27, 2 to move in response to the pivot.
The force of 8 returns to the standard position, and the 90-degree turn is completed as shown in FIG. When the turn is over,
Drive straight along the wall 13.

[0024] With the above, it is possible to quickly clean the edges and corners of the wall without leakage.

In order to be able to run as described above,
The following conditions are required. (1) The link mechanism 2 has a movable range in which the front edge of the mouthpiece 3 can be moved to the inside of the reference circle. This is necessary to go through the state of FIG. 3 (c). (2) When viewed from above, the main body should fit within a reference circle, that is, a circle centered on the in-situ turning center and in contact with the front edge of the mouthpiece 3 in the standard arrangement. This condition is required so that the body 2 does not hit the wall when turning in place. The body 2 does not necessarily have to be cylindrical, but in order to avoid interference with obstacles, it is desirable that the body 2 be cylindrical as in this embodiment. (3) In the standard arrangement, the distance between the front edge of the mouthpiece 3 and the center of the in-situ turning matches the half of the width of the mouthpiece 3, that is, the diameter of the reference circle matches the width of the mouthpiece 3. thing.
This is required at the corners of the wall so that when the body is turned 90 degrees in-situ, it will be able to run along the next wall. Further, when this condition is satisfied, the range of the distance of the width of the mouthpiece 3 from the wall can be cleaned without leakage including the corners, and the cleaning efficiency is improved.

Even if the condition (3) is not satisfied, it is possible to change the direction from the state of entering the corner along the wall without moving backward by combining turning and advancing. It is possible. However, in this case, although the wall can be cleaned without leaking, a part of the cleaning leaks from the wall in the width range of the suction port 3, and it is necessary to come to the place again and clean it later.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 shows an example of a self-propelled cleaner including another suction port moving means. In the above-mentioned first embodiment, the trapezoidal four-node type link mechanism 4 and the springs 27 and 28 are used as the means for moving the suction port 3, but here, instead,
As a simpler method, there is a shaft 41 at the center of the front edge of the mouthpiece 3.
Is provided to rotatably support the suction port portion 3 around the shaft 41, and a mechanism for returning the suction port portion 3 to the standard position by the springs 42 and 43 is used.

Also in this case, the same function as that of the first embodiment is performed. However, as compared with the case of the first embodiment, the movement of the left and right end portions of the suction port 3 in the front-rear direction becomes large, and the minimum distance between the suction port 3 and the wheels 6a, 6b becomes small. The conditions become strict.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing still another example of the suction port moving means.

Here, a link mechanism 51 as the suction port moving means and a linear drive mechanism 52 as the suction port driving means.
And springs 53 and 54 connecting the two. Further, contact sensors 55 and 56 are provided at the front edge of the mouthpiece 3.

This mechanism operates as follows. When the contact sensors 55 and 56 detect contact between the right or left front edge portion and the wall, the controller 9 operates the linear drive mechanism 52 to move the link mechanism 51, and the contact is detected. Then, the mouthpiece 3 is moved in the direction in which the front edge portion is separated from the wall. As a result, similarly to the first embodiment, the mouthpiece 3 moves along the wall and functions similarly to the first embodiment.

The direct drive mechanism 52 and the link mechanism 51
Since the spaces are connected by the springs 53 and 54, even if the wall has irregularities at short intervals and the direct drive mechanism 52 cannot follow, the suction port 3 can be made to follow the wall.

A proximity sensor may be used instead of the contact sensors 55 and 56. In this case, the mouthpiece 3
Does not come into contact with the wall, and the suction portion 3 moves so as to maintain a small constant interval.

When this mechanism is used, the cost is increased as compared with the first embodiment in which the suction port driving means is not used and the suction port is returned to the standard arrangement by the force of the spring, but the contact force with the wall is reduced. The size can be reduced, and the suction port 3 can move stably without being affected by the friction of the floor surface.

If a sensor for measuring the displacement of the springs 53 and 54 is provided, the force acting on the suction port 3 can be detected. If the linear drive mechanism 52 is driven according to the detected force, the suction port 3 will be sucked. It is possible to give the part 3 a virtual spring characteristic.

Also in the first or second embodiment, the force acting on the suction port 3 can be measured by measuring the displacement of the springs 27, 28 or the springs 42, 43. The measured force can be used for traveling control when traveling with the mouthpiece 3 in contact with the wall.

Although the trapezoidal four-bar linkage is used in the first and third embodiments, a parallel link mechanism in which the left and right links are parallel may be used instead. In this case as well, the same function as in the first and third embodiments is performed, but since the movement in the front-rear direction is smaller than in the case of the trapezoidal link, the contact force for moving the suction port portion 3 becomes large.
The parallel link mechanism is more suitable in the third embodiment having the suction port driving means.

Although geometrical conditions such as orthogonality, matching distances, matching centers, etc. have been described above, the actual mechanism has deflection and can absorb errors. Does not necessarily have to be exactly
It should be almost the same.

[0039]

According to the self-propelled cleaner of the present invention, it is possible to quickly clean a wall and a corner of the wall without leakage.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view of a first embodiment of a self-propelled vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the first embodiment of the self-propelled vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the first embodiment of the self-propelled vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a top view of a second embodiment of the self-propelled vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a top view of a self-propelled vacuum cleaner according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Self-propelled cleaner, 2 ... Main body, 3 ... Suction part, 4 ... Link mechanism, 6a, 6b ... Wheels, 8 ... Dust collector, 9 ... Control device,
12, 13 ... Wall, 14 ... Corner, 27, 28 ... Spring, 34 ...
Reference circle, 41 ... Shaft, 52 ... Direct drive mechanism drive mechanism.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Minoru Arai             502 Kintatemachi, Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Japan             Tate Seisakusho Mechanical Research Center (72) Inventor Atsushi Ozeki             502 Kintatemachi, Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Japan             Tate Seisakusho Mechanical Research Center (72) Inventor Ikuo Takeuchi             502 Kintatemachi, Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Japan             Tate Seisakusho Mechanical Research Center F-term (reference) 3B057 DA00

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A main body, a driving means provided on the main body for moving the main body, a suction port, and a suction port moving means for connecting the suction port and the main body so as to be movable relative to each other. In the self-propelled vacuum cleaner, the suction port moving means positions the suction port at substantially the front center of the main body when the main body moves straight, and sets the front edge of the suction port to the direction of the straight movement. The suction port portion is arranged in a standard arrangement substantially orthogonal to each other, and the suction port moving means, when the main body swivels in the vicinity of the wall surface, causes the front end portion of the suction port portion on the opposite side to the swivel direction to A self-propelled vacuum cleaner, wherein the suction port is moved so as to come into contact with or approach a wall surface. 2. The self-propelled vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the main body has a substantially cylindrical shape having a diameter equal to or less than the width of the suction port, and the suction port moving means is provided on the left and right sides of the suction port. A self-propelled vacuum cleaner having a movable range in which one of the front edge portions is moved to the inside of a cylindrical space concentric with the main body that is in contact with the front edge of the suction port at the standard position. 3. The self-propelled cleaner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the suction port moving means includes a rotating pair provided near a front edge of a substantially central portion of the suction port. Self-propelled vacuum cleaner. 4. The self-propelled cleaner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the suction port moving means comprises first and second rotating pairs provided on the main body and a third rotation pair provided on the suction port. And a fourth link, a first link connecting the first rotary pair and the third rotary pair, and a second link connecting the second rotary pair and the fourth rotary pair. The self-propelled cleaner according to claim 1, wherein a distance between the first even number and the second even number is larger than a distance between the third even number and the fourth even number. 5. The self-propelled cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the suction port moving means includes a spring mechanism that moves the suction port according to a force applied to the suction port. A self-propelled vacuum cleaner characterized by being installed. 6. The self-propelled cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the suction port moving means includes suction port driving means for moving the suction port, and right and left sides of the suction port. Contact or proximity detection means for detecting contact or proximity of the wall surface to the front edge portion, and contact or proximity to the wall surface of both the right and left front edge portions of the suction port by the contact or proximity detection means. When the contact is not detected, the suction part is moved in a direction of approaching the standard position, and when the contact or proximity to the wall surface of either the right or left front edge of the suction part is detected, Control means for controlling the driving means so as to move the suction port in the direction in which the front edge portion, whose contact or proximity is detected, is moved away from the wall surface. Traveling vacuum cleaner.