JP2004148021A - Self-traveling cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a self-traveling cleaner which detects positions and shapes of a surrounding wall and an obstacle by a cheap method, and reduces a non-cleaned region. <P>SOLUTION: The self-traveling cleaner 1 is equipped with a sucking port 3 which can be displaced in the lateral direction and a body 2 to which this sucking port is connected. Belt-like contact sensors 12a, 12b are disposed on the side faces of the sucking port and the body. The contact sensor is the one in which many contact points are dispersed and arranged. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a self-propelled vacuum cleaner.
[0002]
[Prior art]
An example of a conventional self-propelled cleaner is described in Patent Document 1. In the self-propelled cleaner described in this publication, an ultrasonic sensor, which is a non-contact sensor, and a contact sensor are used together to detect an obstacle.
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-5-46246 (FIG. 1)
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Self-propelled cleaners are required to efficiently clean the area to be cleaned and to thoroughly clean the area to be cleaned. It is best to clean as close as possible to the boundaries and obstacles, avoiding walls surrounding the area to be cleaned and obstacles in the area to be cleaned. It is necessary to accurately grasp the position and shape of an object. A conventional self-propelled robot uses an optical or ultrasonic non-contact sensor, a tape-type contact sensor, or a bumper-type contact sensor to detect an obstacle as described in Patent Document 1 described above. . When a non-contact type sensor is used, it is used together with a contact type sensor because the range that can be detected is narrow, and the use of a large number of pieces causes an increase in cost.
[0004]
Since many contact sensors such as a tape type have only one detection area per sensor, it is difficult to specify the position of contact with an obstacle and the shape of the obstacle with high accuracy. It is also conceivable to detect obstacles by arranging a large number of small switches on the outer periphery of the self-propelled robot. However, in this case, the number of parts increases and the cost increases.
[0005]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described disadvantages of the related art, and an object of the present invention is to enable a self-propelled cleaner to clean a wall near a wall. Another object of the present invention is to detect the position of an object in contact with a self-propelled cleaner.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
A feature of the present invention to achieve the above object is that in a self-propelled vacuum cleaner having a laterally displaceable suction part and a main body to which the suction part is connected, a band-shaped contact sensor is provided on the side of the suction part and the main body. This contact sensor has a large number of contacts arranged in a distributed manner.
[0007]
In this feature, the contact sensor includes a plurality of first contact elements provided on the base plate, a second contact element provided on a strip-shaped contact layer spaced apart from the base plate, and the second contact element. It is preferable that the first contact element has a plurality of wires arranged side by side and two sets of members connected at one end side thereof in a nested shape. It is desirable.
[0008]
Another feature of the present invention to achieve the above object is that in a self-propelled vacuum cleaner having a laterally displaceable suction port and a main body to which the suction port is connected, the suction port and a side surface of the main body are provided. In addition to providing a belt-shaped contact sensor, the main body is provided with storage means for storing information of a room to be cleaned by the self-propelled cleaner, and the cleaner detects the room information stored in the storage means and a position detected by the contact sensor. The room can be automatically cleaned based on the information.
[0009]
In this feature, the storage means can store the map information of the room, and it is preferable that the cleaning can be performed without performing the teaching operation based on the map information. The contact sensor includes a plurality of first sensors provided on the base plate. A contact element, a second contact element provided on a strip-shaped contact layer disposed apart from the base plate, and a strip-shaped elastic body disposed on the contact layer, and a large number of contacts are formed. Is desirable. Further, in each of the above features, it is preferable that the cross-sectional shape of the main body is substantially circular.
[0010]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
An embodiment of a self-propelled cleaner according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a top sectional view of the self-propelled cleaner, and FIG. 2 is a side view of the self-propelled cleaner shown in FIG. The self-propelled cleaner 1 has a main body 2 and a suction port 3, and the main body 2 and the suction port 3 are connected by support members 4 a and 4 b. The support members 4a and 4b are swingable around a portion to be attached to the base 5, thereby facilitating cleaning of corners, walls, and obstacles of the room. An electric motor (not shown) that drives this swing is attached to the base 5.
[0011]
The main body 2 houses a base 5 to which a pair of left and right drive wheels 6a and 6b are attached, in a cylindrical cover 11 having a dome-shaped top. The base 5 has a motor 7 for driving the left and right driving wheels 6a and 6b, a dust collector 8 having a blower and a motor for sucking dust from the suction port 3, and a control device 9 for controlling the operation of the self-propelled cleaner 1 as a whole. And a battery 10 for supplying power to the dust collector 8, the left and right driving wheels 6a, 6b, and the control device 9. Along the cylindrical outer peripheral surface of the cover 11, a contact sensor 12a that detects that the main body 2 has come into contact with an external obstacle, a wall, or the like is attached.
[0012]
The mouthpiece 3 has a rectangular mouthpiece 13 with rounded corners and a contact sensor 12b arranged along the outer periphery of the mouthpiece 13. A hose 14 connects the suction body 13 and the dust collector 8 of the main body 2. When the blower motor drives the blower provided in the dust collector 8, dust is sucked into the dust collector 8 from the mouthpiece 13.
[0013]
An example of the contact sensor 12 attached to the outer periphery of the main body 2 and the mouth 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the contact sensor 12, and FIG. 4 is a developed view of a base sheet 15 included in the contact sensor 12. The contact sensor 12 is formed by laminating a base sheet 15 on which a circuit is printed, a spacer 16, a contact layer 17, a buffer layer 18, and a protective layer 19.
[0014]
The base sheet 15 is a T-shaped plastic film, and a large number of contacts 21 are printed with conductors on the surface of the T-shaped horizontal bar. On the surface of the T-shaped vertical bar portion, a terminal 23 connected to each of the contacts and a common contact 22 for applying a common potential to the contacts are printed with conductors. Similarly, in the contact layer 17, conductor contacts are printed on the film surface. When the base sheet 15 and the contact layer 17 are combined, they operate as electric switches.
[0015]
Specifically, each of the plurality of contacts 21 printed on the base sheet 15 has two contact portions 21a and 21b. In one contact portion 21a, a plurality of straight lines 21c are arranged and one end is connected, and a terminal 23 serving as a lead wire is connected to this connection portion. In the other contact portion 21b, a plurality of straight lines 21d are similarly arranged and one end is connected. The plurality of contacts 21 are connected by a terminal 22 which is a common lead wire. The contact portions 21a and 21b are arranged such that the straight lines 21c and 21d are nested without contacting each other.
[0016]
The contact layer 17 has a central portion 17a of the conductor and blank portions 17b provided on both sides of the central portion 17a. The central portion 17a is formed at a position corresponding to the contact point 21 of the base sheet 15. When the central portion 17a comes into contact with any two wires 21c, 21d of the nested base sheet 15, conduction occurs between the two wires 21c, 21d, and current flows between the terminal 23 and the common terminal 22. Flows.
[0017]
The spacer 16 is arranged to form a predetermined gap between the base sheet 15 and the contact layer 17. The spacer 16 is arranged corresponding to the blank portion 15b of the contact layer 17. The buffer layer 18 is made of an elastic material such as rubber or sponge, and reduces the impact when the contact sensor 12 comes into contact with another object. The buffer layer 18 has a flat plate-like shape 18b on the bottom surface, and a portion 18a corresponding to the central portion 17a of the contact layer 17 on the upper surface has a rectangular or trapezoidal projection structure protruding upward. The protective layer 19 is made of a material having low friction, such as a fluororesin, and is disposed so as to cover the protrusion 18 a of the buffer layer 18. Instead of using the protective layer 19, the elastic material constituting the buffer layer 18 may be a material having low friction.
[0018]
The operation of detecting a wall or an obstacle using the contact sensor 12 configured as described above will be described below. FIG. 5 shows a cross-sectional view of the contact sensor. When the contact sensors 12a and 12b attached to the self-propelled cleaner 1 are not in contact with walls or obstacles and no external force is applied to the contact sensors 12a and 12b, the base sheet 15 and the contact layer 17 The spacer 16 provided therebetween secures a gap between the contact 21 and the central portion 17a of the contact layer 17. As a result, there is no conduction between the common terminal 22 and the terminal 23.
[0019]
On the other hand, when pressure is applied to the contact sensors 12a and 12b when the contact sensors 12a and 12b come into contact with a wall or an obstacle, the elastic body of the projection 18a of the buffer layer 18 is deformed, and the flat portions 18b and The contact layer 17 bends. When the contact layer 17 is bent, the straight line 17c printed on the contact layer 17 and the straight lines 21c and 21d constituting the contact 21 printed on the circuit layer 20 come into contact with each other. At this time, conduction is established between the terminal 23 and the common terminal 22 corresponding to the contacted portion. Therefore, the control device 9 observes the electric resistance between the terminals 23, 23,... And the common terminal 22, and determines whether the self-propelled cleaner 1 is in contact with a wall or an obstacle.
[0020]
According to the present embodiment, since the contact sensors 12a, 12b have the plurality of contacts 21, 21,... On the base sheet 15, the number of parts of the contact sensors 12a, 12b can be reduced. Since the number of parts is reduced, the production cost of the contact sensors 12a and 12b and the assembly cost of the self-propelled cleaner 1 can be reduced. Further, since only a large number of straight lines arranged in parallel and a band of a conductor that can contact the straight lines are printed, the density of the contacts 21 can be changed as necessary. For example, to make the resolution of the circumferential angle of a self-propelled cleaning having a diameter of about 30 cm 15 degrees, 24 contacts should be arranged at a pitch of about 4 cm, and 72 contacts to make the circumferential resolution 5 degrees. May be arranged at a pitch of about 1.3 cm. Therefore, the required detection accuracy can be easily obtained.
[0021]
In the position detection described above, the case where the position is specified using only the signal from one contact point 21 has been described. However, when the elastic body of the buffer layer 18 comes into contact with a wall or an obstacle, not only one contact of the contact layer 17 but also a contact in a certain extent may change.
[0022]
For example, it is assumed that when the side surface of the self-propelled cleaner 2 contacts a corner of a wall, a position between the contact 21A and the contact 21B among the plurality of contacts 21, 21,. Neither the contact 21A nor the contact 21B is a direct contact point with the wall, but the elastic body of the buffer layer is deformed and pushes and bends the contact layer 17. As a result, it is understood that both the contact 21A and the contact 21B conduct, and that the contact position is between the contact 21A and the contact 21B. Thereby, even if there is a contact point between the two contacts 21, the position can be detected, and the range where the position cannot be detected can be reduced. Since the buffer layer 18 is provided, the force at the time of contact or collision between the wall or obstacle and the self-propelled cleaner 1 is reduced, and both the wall and obstacle and the self-propelled cleaner 1 are damaged. Can be prevented.
[0023]
An example in which the above-described position detecting means is attached to the self-propelled cleaner 1 for cleaning will be described below. Self-propelled (vacuum) cleaner 1 sets a cleaning range according to a predetermined procedure. At that time, first, the self-propelled cleaner 1 starts running on the outermost part of the cleaning area. For example, the self-propelled vacuum cleaner 2 set at the entrance of the room goes straight to a nearby wall and changes its direction against the wall. Then follow the wall and change direction when you hit the next wall. By making one round of the room in this way, the cleaning area is determined. This cleaning area is stored in advance in the storage means 9a provided in the control device 9 of the self-propelled cleaner 1, and data stored using the position information actually measured by the contact sensors 12a and 12b is referred to. , The position can be grasped accurately.
[0024]
Here, since the outer diameter of the self-propelled cleaner 1 is circular in cross section except for the suction port 3, the direction can be changed smoothly even when the direction is changed by contacting the wall. Further, in general households, various objects are placed indoors. These are obstacles when the self-propelled cleaner 1 is cleaned, and their positions are not fixed. That is, the information of the room is stored in the storage means 9a before the self-propelled cleaner 6 is used, and in many cases, the positional information of the object at the time of the storage and the positional information at the time of actual cleaning are different. Therefore, these obstacles are avoided by using only the information detected by the contact sensors 12a and 12b of the self-propelled cleaner 1.
[0025]
FIG. 6 shows the details. It is assumed that the self-propelled cleaner 1 moves forward and the contact sensor 12b attached to the suction opening 3 of the self-propelled cleaner 1 contacts a corner of an obstacle 24 such as a table. The contact sensor 12b detects a contact position from information on the contact point 21 at the contact position. At this time, if the mouthpiece 3 has moved to the left or right, the drive motor (not shown) drives the mouthpiece 3 to the left until the mouthpiece 3 is located to the left of the width of the main body 2. From the detected position and the information on the shape of the self-propelled cleaner 1 stored in the control device 9 in advance, a direction to avoid and a distance L required to avoid are obtained. The self-propelled cleaner 1 is moved to the left by the avoidance distance L, and moves while the right side surface of the suction opening 3 or the main body 2 is in contact with the outer periphery of the obstacle 24. By this operation, the obstacle 24 is avoided.
[0026]
If there is no contact information from the right side surface of the suction opening 3 or the contact sensor 12b of the main body 2, the self-propelled cleaner has separated from the obstacle 24. Therefore, the self-propelled cleaner 1 is rotated around an axis perpendicular to the paper surface. When a contact signal is obtained from the contact sensor 12b disposed on the right side surface of the mouthpiece 3, the self-propelled cleaner 1 is caused to go straight. By repeating this procedure, it is possible to reduce the remaining area around the obstacle 24 and clean it while avoiding the obstacle 24.
[0027]
In the operation of the self-propelled cleaner, the movement position of the self-propelled cleaner may be stored in the storage unit. In that case, cleaning can be performed automatically and quickly without waste. Further, in the above embodiment, the plurality of contacts of the self-propelled vacuum cleaner and the position detecting means attached to the mouth portion have the same shape. However, the shape of the contacts is changed periodically or randomly to obtain the position between the contacts more accurately. You may do so. In this case, the circumferential resolution can be increased with a small number of contacts, which is effective for a small-sized vacuum cleaner.
[0028]
According to this embodiment, since the distributed sensors are sheet-shaped sensors, the position can be detected at low cost and efficiently, and the uncleaned area can be reduced. Further, according to the present embodiment, information necessary for cleaning can be accumulated in the self-propelled cleaner, so that cleaning using the self-propelled cleaner can be performed unattended. Furthermore, although only the contact sensor has been described in the above embodiment, an object that moves using an optical sensor or an ultrasonic sensor together with the contact sensor is checked with these sensors, and the contact sensor is used for moving the self-propelled cleaner. You may use it. For example, when a cat or a person in a room moves, a collision due to the movement can be avoided.
[0029]
The above embodiments of the present invention are illustrative and not limiting. All modifications that come within the true spirit and scope of the invention are included in the following claims.
[0030]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, since the sensors capable of detecting the positions are dispersedly arranged on the side surface of the self-propelled cleaner, the position and shape of a wall or an obstacle can be easily detected, and the uncleaned area of the self-propelled cleaner is removed. Can be reduced.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a top sectional view of one embodiment of a self-propelled cleaner according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side view of the self-propelled cleaner shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a contact sensor used in the self-propelled cleaner shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a developed view showing a wiring state of the contact sensor shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the contact sensor.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an operation state of the self-propelled cleaner.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Self-propelled cleaner, 2 ... Body part, 3 ... Suction part, 4 ... Support member, 5 ... Base, 6, 6a, 6b ... Drive wheel, 7, 7a, 7b ... Motor, 8 ... Dust collector, 9 ... Control device, 9a storage means, 10 battery, 11 cover, 12, 12a, 12b contact sensor, 13 mouthpiece, 14 hose, 15 base sheet, 16 spacer, 17 contact layer, 17a Central part, 17b blank part, 18 buffer layer, 18a protrusion part, 18b flat plate part, 19 protection layer, 21 contact point, 21a, 21b contact part, 21c straight line (contact element), 21d straight line (Contact element), 22: common terminal, 23: terminal, 24: obstacle.

Claims (7)

In a self-propelled cleaner having a laterally displaceable suction part and a main body to which the suction part is connected, a strip-shaped contact sensor is provided on the side of the suction part and the main body. A self-propelled vacuum cleaner characterized by dispersing and disposing. The contact sensor includes a plurality of first contact elements provided on a base plate, a second contact element provided on a strip-shaped contact layer disposed apart from the base plate, and a contact element disposed on the second contact element. The self-propelled cleaner according to claim 1, further comprising a strip-shaped elastic body. 3. The self-propelled cleaning device according to claim 2, wherein the first contact element is configured by arranging a plurality of members in which a plurality of wires are arranged side by side and one end thereof is connected in a nested manner. 4. Machine. In a self-propelled cleaner having a laterally displaceable suction port and a main body to which the suction port is connected, a strip-shaped contact sensor is provided on the suction port and a side surface of the main body. Storage means for storing information on the room to be cleaned by the vacuum cleaner, and the vacuum cleaner can automatically clean the room based on the information on the room stored in the storage means and the position information detected by the contact sensor. Self-propelled vacuum cleaner characterized by the following. The self-propelled cleaner according to claim 4, wherein the storage means is capable of storing map information of a room, and is capable of cleaning without performing a teaching operation based on the map information. The contact sensor includes a plurality of first contact elements provided on a base plate, a second contact element provided on a strip-shaped contact layer disposed apart from the base plate, and a strip-shaped contact element disposed on the contact layer. The self-propelled cleaner according to claim 4, further comprising an elastic body, wherein a plurality of contacts are formed. The self-propelled cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a cross-sectional shape of the main body is substantially circular.

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