JP6774790B2 - Wireless charging system for self-propelled vacuum cleaners - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a wireless charging system for a self-propelled vacuum cleaner.

As a background technique of the present invention, the self-propelled vacuum cleaner can be moved from the charging stand by physically contacting the power receiving metal terminal provided on the charging stand with the power receiving metal terminal provided on the self-propelled vacuum cleaner. A charging system is used in which the battery is charged by supplying electric power. However, if dust, water, or the like adheres to one of the few metal terminals for power supply and the metal terminal for power reception, there is a disadvantage that poor contact occurs between the two and charging cannot be performed safely and efficiently. On the other hand, a flat feeding coil that generates magnetic flux in the direction orthogonal to the floor surface is installed horizontally on the charging stand, and the power receiving coil provided on the bottom surface of the self-propelled vacuum cleaner is overlapped with the feeding coil. Therefore, a dielectric method, that is, a method in which power is supplied by a wireless method is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-239830

However, in such a wireless power feeding method, since a flat power feeding coil exists in a plane on the charging stand, the area occupied by the floor surface of the charging stand is large, and there is a problem that it may be difficult to select the installation location. there were.

The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances. By arranging both coils so that the feeding coil generates magnetic flux parallel to the floor surface and the power receiving coil accepts the magnetic flux, the floor has a large charging stand. It provides a wireless charging system for self-propelled vacuum cleaners that does not occupy an area.

The present invention comprises a self-propelled vacuum cleaner equipped with a battery, a cleaning and traveling device, a control unit for driving and controlling the cleaning and traveling device with the power of the battery, and cleaning while traveling on the floor surface, and the battery. The charging stand is provided with a feeding coil and an exciting circuit for exciting the feeding coil, and the self-propelled vacuum cleaner has a power receiving coil and a power receiving coil that receive power from the feeding coil by electromagnetic coupling. A charging circuit for charging the battery by receiving the output of the coil is provided, the power feeding coil is installed on the charging stand so as to generate a magnetic flux in a direction parallel to the floor surface, and the power receiving coil is parallel to the floor surface. It provides a wireless charging system for a self-propelled vacuum cleaner, characterized in that it is receptively installed in the self-propelled vacuum cleaner.

According to the present invention, the feeding coil is installed so as to generate a magnetic flux in a direction parallel to the floor surface, and the power receiving coil is installed so as to receive the magnetic flux parallel to the floor surface, that is, the magnetic fluxes of both coils. Since the transfer surface is perpendicular to the floor surface (vertical), the area occupied by the floor of the charging stand accommodating the power feeding coil can be made compact.

It is a top perspective view of the self-propelled vacuum cleaner which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a bottom view of the self-propelled vacuum cleaner shown in FIG. It is a side view which shows the internal structure of the self-propelled vacuum cleaner shown in FIG. It is a perspective view of the charging stand which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the control circuit which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows an example of the cleaning operation of the self-propelled vacuum cleaner which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the operation of 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the main part which shows the operation of 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows the operation of 1st Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 1 is a correspondence diagram showing a self-propelled vacuum cleaner according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a corresponding diagram showing a charging stand according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 5 showing a control circuit according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

The wireless charging system of the self-propelled vacuum cleaner of the present invention includes a battery, a cleaning and a traveling device, and has a control unit that drives and controls the cleaning and traveling device with the power of the battery, and performs cleaning while traveling on the floor surface. The self-propelled vacuum cleaner is composed of a charging stand for charging the battery, the charging stand includes a feeding coil and an excitation circuit for exciting the feeding coil, and the self-propelled vacuum cleaner is electromagnetically driven from the feeding coil. A power receiving coil that receives power by coupling and a charging circuit that charges the battery by receiving the output of the power receiving coil are provided, and the power feeding coil is installed on a charging stand so as to generate magnetic flux in a direction parallel to the floor surface, and the power receiving coil is provided. The coil is characterized in that it is installed in a self-propelled vacuum cleaner so as to receive the magnetic flux parallel to the floor surface.

The power feeding coil and the power receiving coil in the present invention include one in which a magnetic core (for example, an iron core) is wound, and one in which only the winding (coreless) is applied.
It is preferable that the charging stand and the self-propelled vacuum cleaner each include a housing having a flat side surface orthogonal to the floor surface, and the feeding coil and the power receiving coil are arranged so as to face each other along each side surface.
It is desirable that the housing of the self-propelled vacuum cleaner has a triangular, quadrangular or D-shaped contour when viewed from the upper surface, and the flat side surface corresponds to one side thereof.
The self-propelled vacuum cleaner includes a position detection sensor that detects a position where the power receiving coil faces the feeding coil, and the control unit receives the output of the position detecting sensor to position the power receiving coil at a predetermined position facing the feeding coil. The traveling device may be controlled so as to be positioned.
Further, it is desirable that the predetermined position where the power receiving coil faces the feeding coil is a position where the leakage inductance between both coils is minimized.

Further, the power feeding coil and the power receiving coil may be wound around the first and second magnetic bodies, respectively, and the position detection sensor may be provided with a detection coil wound around the second magnetic body.

Further, it is preferable that the control unit supplies the output of the charging circuit to the battery after the power receiving coil is positioned with respect to the feeding coil.
Further, the charging stand may be provided with a light emitting element or an ultrasonic transmitter, and the position detection sensor may be a light receiving element or an ultrasonic receiver.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail using the embodiments shown in the drawings. This embodiment does not limit the invention.
(First Embodiment)
(1) Configuration of self-propelled vacuum cleaner and charging stand The self-propelled vacuum cleaner (hereinafter referred to as a cleaning robot) according to the present invention sucks dust on the floor together with air while traveling on the floor, and dust. The floor is cleaned by exhausting the removed air.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the cleaning robot according to the first embodiment of the present invention as viewed from above, FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the cleaning robot, and FIG. 3 is a side view showing the internal configuration of the cleaning robot. is there. Further, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the charging stand according to this embodiment.

As shown in these figures, the cleaning robot 1A includes a housing 2 having a substantially triangular contour when viewed from above. As shown in FIG. 2, the bottom plate 2a is provided with a rotating brush 3, a pair of side brushes 4, a suction port 11, a pair of drive wheels 5a and 5b, a rear wheel 7, and two floor surface detection sensors 12. There is. The floor surface detection sensor 12 is composed of an infrared light emitting diode and a phototransistor, and the detection surface is exposed toward the floor.

Further, in the housing 2, as shown in FIG. 3, a suction path 10 connected to the suction port 11, a dust collecting section 20 provided on the downstream side of the suction path 10, and a downstream side of the dust collecting section 20 The electric blower 30 provided in the above, and an exhaust passage 40 connecting the electric blower 30 and the exhaust port 41 are provided.

The housing 2 includes a lid 2d and a top plate 2b as shown in FIG. A side plate 2c is provided on the outer peripheral side surface between the bottom plate 2a and the top plate 2b. The top plate 2 is provided with an input unit 31 for inputting operating conditions and operating commands of the cleaning robot 1A.

The dust collecting unit 20 shown in FIG. 3 has a dust collecting box 21 connected to the suction path 10 and a filter 22 detachably provided on the dust collecting box 21. The dust collection box 21 is usually housed in the housing 2, but when the dust collected in the dust collection box 21 is discarded, the lid 2d (FIG. 1) of the housing 2 is opened. It is designed to be taken in and out.

The bottom plate 2a (FIG. 2) is formed with holes for projecting the lower portions of the pair of drive wheels 5a and 5b described above from the inside of the housing 2 to the outside. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, three ultrasonic ranging sensors 1112a, 112b, 112c for detecting an obstacle in the forward direction indicated by an arrow X are provided on the front surface of the cleaning robot 1A.

As shown in FIG. 2, the drive wheels 5a and 5b are rotatably provided around a pair of rotating shafts 6a and 6b parallel to the bottom plate 2a of the housing 2 and coaxial with the straight line L for cleaning. When the drive wheels 5a and 5b rotate at the same speed in the same direction, the robot 1A advances and retreats in the arrow X or Y direction, and when the drive wheels 5a and 5b rotate in opposite directions at the same speed, the robot 1A turns at the same position. ing.

As shown in FIG. 2, the rotating shafts 6a and 6b of the drive wheels 5a and 5b are individually connected to the pair of traveling motors 51a and 51b via reduction gears 52a and 52b, respectively. The traveling motors 51a and 51b have a built-in encoder for measuring the number of rotations. Further, the rear wheel 7 is composed of free wheels, and is provided so as to be rotatable behind the bottom plate 2a of the housing 2 so as to come into contact with the floor surface.

In this way, a pair of drive wheels 5a and 5b are arranged in the middle of the traveling direction with respect to the housing 2, so that the entire weight of the cleaning robot 1A can be supported by the pair of drive wheels 5a and 5b and the rear wheels 7. The weight is distributed in the front-rear direction with respect to the housing 2. As a result, dust in the course direction can be efficiently guided to the suction port 11.

The above-mentioned rotating brush 3 is provided at the inlet of the suction port 11 so as to be rotatable around an axis parallel to the bottom plate 2a of the housing 2. Further, the side brushes 4 on the left and right sides of the suction port 11 in the bottom plate 2a are adapted to rotate about an axis perpendicular to the bottom plate 2a. The rotary brush 3 is formed by spirally planting a brush on the outer peripheral surface of a roller which is a rotation axis.

The side brush 4 has a plurality of brush bundles (here, four) radially provided at the lower end of the rotation shaft. The rotating shaft of the rotating brush 3 and the rotating shaft of the pair of side brushes 4 are supported on the inner surface of the bottom plate 2a of the housing 2, and are powered by a brush drive motor and a side brush drive motor provided in the vicinity thereof, respectively. It is connected via a transmission mechanism.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, an infrared detection main sensor 110 is provided in the center of the front portion of the top plate 2b of the housing 2, and three infrared detection sub-sensors 111a and 111b are provided in the center of the front portion of the side plate 2c. , 111c are provided in a horizontal row.

The infrared detection main sensor 110 can detect infrared rays incident from all directions (360 degrees), and the infrared ray detection sub-sensors 111a, 111b, 111c can detect infrared rays incident from the front, respectively. Further, the ultrasonic ranging sensors 112a, 112b, 112c shown in FIG. 1 emit ultrasonic waves forward and receive the reflected waves to measure the distance to an object (obstacle).

The cleaning robot 1A has a built-in battery as will be described later. As shown in FIG. 1, a power receiving side iron core 108 for charging the built-in battery is provided inside the side plate 2c on the front surface of the housing 2. ing. A power receiving coil 107 (FIG. 5) is wound around the power receiving side iron core 108 as described later, and the power receiving side iron core 108 is a magnetic flux parallel to the floor surface generated from the power feeding side iron core 106 of the charging stand 101 (FIG. 4). Is arranged so that it can be accepted efficiently.

When the cleaning is completed, the cleaning robot 1A that self-propells and cleans the room returns to the charging stand installed in the room, and the charging stand charges the battery. The charging stand connected to the commercial power supply (outlet) is usually installed along the side wall of the room.

Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the housing 2 is composed of a central circular central housing portion 60 and an outer shell housing portion 61 around the central housing portion 60. The outer shell housing portion 61 is rotatably supported by a ring-shaped thrust bearing 62 provided on the outer periphery of the central housing portion 60.

Further, an arcuate rack 63 is provided over 180 degrees on the outer circumference of the central housing portion 60, and the output shaft of the outer shell housing portion motor 43 installed in the outer shell housing portion 61 serves as a pinion 64. It is coupled to the rack 63 via. By driving the motor 43 for the outer shell housing portion, the outer shell housing portion 61 can rotate around the central housing portion 60 by 90 degrees clockwise and 90 degrees counterclockwise from the position shown in FIG. It has become like.

The drive wheels 5a, 5b, reduction gears 52a, 52b, traveling motors 51a, 51b, and rear wheels 7 described above are mounted on the central housing 60, and the others are mounted on the outer shell housing 61. .. The outer shell housing motor 43 also has a built-in encoder that measures the rotation speed, similarly to the traveling motors 51a and 51b.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of a housing (hereinafter, simply referred to as a charging stand) 101 constituting the charging stand. As shown in the figure, the charging stand 101 is provided with an infrared transmission unit 103 that emits infrared rays to indicate a return path to the cleaning robot 1A on a flat side surface on the front side, and an iron core 108 on the power receiving side (FIG. 1). ) Is provided with a power feeding side iron core 106 for electromagnetically coupling to), a power feeding electrical component described later, and the like. A feeding coil 105 (FIG. 5) is wound around the feeding side iron core 106 as described later, and the feeding side iron core 106 is arranged so that magnetic flux is generated from the feeding coil 105 in parallel with the floor surface.

(2) Control system of cleaning robot and charging stand FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a control system of cleaning robot 1A and charging stand 101. As shown in the figure, the control system of the cleaning robot 1A controls a control unit 34 including a microcomputer composed of a CPU, ROM, and RAM, and traveling motors 51a and 51b for driving two drive wheels 5a and 5b, respectively. In the motor driver circuit 57, the motor driver circuit 59 that controls the brush drive motor 58 that drives the rotary brush 3, the motor driver circuit 72 that controls the two side brush drive motors 70 that drive the two side brushes 4, and the electric blower 30. A motor driver circuit 68 that controls the built-in blower motor 69, a motor driver circuit 44 that drives the motor 43 for the outer shell housing, a power switch 15, a sensor control unit 32 that drives and controls various sensors 33, and an input unit 31. To be equipped.

The various sensors 33 are for the floor surface detection sensor 12, the ultrasonic ranging sensors 112a, 112b, 112c, the infrared detection main sensor 110, the infrared detection sub-sensors 111a, 111b, 111c, the traveling motors 51a, 51b, and the outer shell housing portion. It includes an encoder built in the motor 43 and the like.

When the power switch 15 is turned on, the output power of the battery 14 is supplied to the motor driver circuits 44, 57, 59, 68, 72, respectively, and also to the control unit 34, the input unit 31, the sensor control unit 32, and the like. Be supplied.

The control unit 34 includes a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM as described above. The CPU is a central processing unit, and calculates signals received from the input unit 31 and various sensors 33 based on a program stored in the ROM in advance. It is processed and output to the motor driver circuits 44, 57, 59, 68, 72 and the like. The RAM stores various commands input by the user from the input unit 31, various operating conditions of the cleaning robot 1A, outputs of various sensors 33, and the like.

In addition, the RAM can store the travel map of the cleaning robot 1A. The travel map is information on travel such as the travel route and travel speed of the cleaning robot 1A, and can be stored in the RAM in advance by the user, or can be automatically recorded by the cleaning robot 1A itself during the cleaning operation. Further, as will be described later, the control unit 34 has a function of detecting the terminal voltage of the battery 14 and the like to detect the remaining charge of the battery 14.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the cleaning robot 1A rectifies and smoothes the power receiving coil 107 for receiving power from the charging stand 101, the power receiving side iron core 108 around which the power receiving coil 107 is wound, and the AC output power of the power receiving coil 107. The rectifying and smoothing circuit 35 is provided, and the charging circuit 36 that controls the DC output of the rectifying and smoothing circuit 35 to charge the battery 14.

Further, a detection coil 109 is wound around the power receiving side iron core 108 as an auxiliary winding, and the output of the detection coil 109 is rectified by the rectifier circuit 37 and input to the control unit 34.

Since a Nikado battery, a nickel hydrogen battery, a lithium ion battery, or the like is used for the battery 14, the charging circuit 36 may be used for constant voltage charging, constant current charging, or constant current charging, depending on the characteristics of the battery 14. A circuit for current constant voltage charging is selectively used.

On the other hand, the charging stand 101 includes a rectifying and smoothing circuit 102 that rectifies and smoothes power from an external commercial power source (AC100V, 50 / 60Hz) 18, an inverter 104 that converts the output of the rectifying and smoothing circuit 102 into an AC output, and a power feeding side. A power feeding coil 105 that is wound around an iron core 106 and to which an output of an inverter 104 is applied is provided.

Then, as will be described later, when the battery 14 is charged, the power feeding coil 105 and the power receiving coil 107 are magnetically coupled via the power feeding side iron core 106 and the power receiving side iron core 108, and the power feeding coil 102 is electromagnetically induced to the power receiving coil 107. Power transmission takes place. In this case, the transmission frequency of the inverter 104 is preferably about 200 kHz from the viewpoint of miniaturization and efficiency.

(3) Cleaning operation of the cleaning robot In the cleaning robot 1A configured in this way, when a cleaning operation is commanded by the user via the input unit 31, the electric blower 30, the drive wheels 5a, 5b, the rotary brush 3 and the side The brush 4 is driven.

As a result, with the rotating brush 3, the side brush 4, the drive wheels 5a, 5b, and the rear wheel 7 in contact with the floor surface, the housing 2 self-propells within a predetermined range and dust on the floor surface from the suction port 11. Inhale air containing.

At this time, the dust on the floor surface is scraped up by the rotation of the rotating brush 3 and guided to the suction port 11. Further, the rotation of the side brush 4 guides dust on the side of the suction port 11 to the suction port 11.

As shown in FIG. 3, the air containing dust sucked into the housing 2 from the suction port 11 passes through the suction path 10 and flows into the dust collection box 21. The airflow that has flowed into the dust collection box 21 passes through the filter 22 and is discharged to the exhaust port 41 through the discharge path 40.

At this time, since the dust contained in the air flow in the dust collection box 21 is captured by the filter 22, the dust is accumulated in the dust collection box 21. The airflow that has flowed into the exhaust passage 40 from the dust collection box 21 is discharged to the outside from the discharge port 41 as clean air that has been dust-removed by the filter 22.

Further, as described above, in the cleaning robot 1A, the left and right drive wheels 5a and 5b rotate in the same direction to move forward, rotate in the same direction to move backward, and rotate in the forward and reverse directions to rotate. .. Therefore, when the cleaning robot 1A approaches a large step (cliff), reaches the peripheral edge of the cleaning area, or tries to collide with an obstacle in the path, the floor surface detection sensor 12 (FIG. 2). ) And the ultrasonic ranging sensors 112a, 112b, 112c (FIG. 1) notify the control unit 34 (FIG. 5), and the cleaning robot 1A stops or reversely rotates the drive wheels 5a, 5b. Turn around. As a result, the cleaning robot 1A can self-propell and clean the entire installation location or the entire desired range while avoiding large steps and obstacles.

Further, when the cleaning robot 1A travels on the floor surface in the room to clean the room and encounters a corner or a wall surface in the room, the control unit 34 uses the traveling motors 51a and 51b and the motor 43 for the outer shell housing. It is driven to rotate the central housing portion 60 and the outer shell housing portion 61, and controls the pair of guide brushes 4 (FIG. 2) so as to be suitable along the corners and walls of the room.

FIG. 6 shows a control example when the cleaning robot 1A cleans the corners and walls of the room.
When the cleaning robot 1A at the position (a) in the figure advances toward the position (b) along the arrow and faces the wall W1 at the position (b), the drive wheels 5a and 5b have the same speed. The central housing 60 rotates counterclockwise with respect to the wall W1 by 90 degrees, and at the same time, the pinion 64 is driven to drive the outer shell 61 clockwise with respect to the central 60. Rotates 90 degrees. As a result, the central housing portion 60 rotates counterclockwise by 90 degrees with respect to the outer shell housing portion 61, and the positional relationship between the side brush 4 and the drive wheels 5a and 5b is shown in FIG. ) Will be displayed.

Therefore, the cleaning robot 1A advances toward the position (d) along the arrow while keeping the two side brushes 4 close to the wall W1. When the other wall W2 is reached at the position (d) in the figure, the outer shell housing portion 60 turns counterclockwise by 90 degrees with respect to the central housing portion 60, and (b) with respect to the wall W2. It returns to the state shown in. Therefore, it is controlled as described above and becomes the state shown in (e) of the figure.

The cleaning robot 1A advances along the arrow toward the position (f) in the figure while keeping the two side brushes 4 close to the wall W2. Hereinafter, similarly, the cleaning robot 1A travels from the position (g) to the position (h) so that the two side brushes 4 always run along the corners and the walls of the room, whereby dust is efficiently sucked and removed.

(4) Return and Charging Operation of Cleaning Robot As shown in FIG. 5, when the commercial power supply 18 is connected to the charging stand 101, the power from the commercial power supply 18 is applied to the inverter 104 via the rectifying and smoothing circuit 102. To. The inverter 104 supplies a no-load exciting current to the feeding coil 105, and the output of the rectifying smoothing circuit 102 operates the infrared transmitter 103.

Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the charging stand 101 irradiates the cleaning robot 1A with infrared IR having a diffusion angle of 20 to 30 degrees from the infrared transmitter 103 (FIG. 4) in the direction of the arrow in order to show the return path. To do.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a return operation and a charging operation of the cleaning robot 1A to the charging stand 101. The return operation and the charging operation of the cleaning robot 1A to the charging stand 101 will be described below with reference to FIG. 7.

As shown in FIG. 7, the cleaning work is completed (step S1), or the remaining charge Q of the battery 14 is lower than the permissible value Qs (step S2), and the control unit 34 (FIG. 5) causes the cleaning robot 1A. When it is determined that the robot 1A needs to be returned to the charging stand 101, and the cleaning robot 1A exists in the infrared IR irradiation region as shown in FIG. 8A (step S3), the infrared IR is detected by the infrared detection main sensor. 110 detects and temporarily stops (step S4). Then, it rotates on the spot (step S5), detects the direction in which the charging stand 101 exists as shown in FIG. 8 (b), and changes the direction in that direction (step S6).

As a result, as shown in FIG. 6C, the three infrared detection sub-sensors 111a, 111b, 111c can detect the infrared IR, and the cleaning robot 1A follows the return path indicated by the infrared IR. (Step S7).

Then, when the cleaning robot 1A approaches the charging stand 101 and the distance D between the two is detected by the ultrasonic ranging sensor 111b and becomes equal to or less than a predetermined value Ds (step S8), the traveling speed of the cleaning robot 1A is switched to a low speed. When D = 0, the cleaning robot 1A stops (steps S10 and S11).

At this point, the front surface of the cleaning robot 1A comes into contact with the charging stand 101 as shown in FIGS. 9A to 9C, and the horizontal positional relationship of the power receiving side iron core 108 with respect to the power feeding side iron core 106 is shown in FIG. It is either shifted to the right as shown in a), shifted to the left as shown in FIG. 9 (b), or matched as shown in FIG. 9 (c).

Therefore, the control unit 34 drives the drive wheels 5a and 5b and the pinion 64 as in the above-mentioned cleaning work near the wall, and rotates the positions of the drive wheels 5a and 5b by 90 degrees with respect to the front surface of the cleaning robot 1A. , The cleaning robot 1A can be translated with respect to the charging stand 101 as shown in FIG. 10 (step S12).

Next, the control unit 34 detects the peak value Vp of the output voltage of the detection coil 109 (FIG. 5) via the rectifier circuit 37 (step 13), and moves the power receiving side iron core 108 to the right with respect to the power feeding side iron core 106. It is moved by a distance ΔS (for example, 0.5 mm) (step S14).

If Vp increases at this time (step S15), it is further moved to the right by ΔS (step S22). This operation is repeated (step S23), and when Vp does not increase, it is moved to the left by ΔS and stopped (step S24). Further, when Vp does not increase in step S15, it is moved by ΔS to the left, Vp is detected each time (steps S16 and S17), and when Vp does not increase, it is moved by ΔS to the right and stopped (steps S16, S17). Step S18).

As a result, the power receiving side iron core 108 is positioned at the position shown in FIG. 9C with an accuracy of ± ΔS or less with respect to the power feeding side iron core 106 so that the leakage inductance between the power feeding coil 105 and the power receiving coil 107 is minimized. Will be done. In this case, the gap between the power feeding side iron core 106 and the power receiving side iron core 108 is 3 to 5 mm including the thickness of the housing of the charging stand 101 and the cleaning robot 1A.

Therefore, the control unit 34 operates the charging circuit 36 (FIG. 5). As a result, the power feeding side iron core 106 and the power receiving side iron core 108 are satisfactorily magnetically coupled, and the output of the inverter 104 is supplied from the power feeding coil 105 to the power receiving coil 107 by electromagnetic induction, via the rectifying smoothing circuit 35 and the charging circuit 36. The battery 14 is charged (step S19).

Then, when the control unit 34 detects that the remaining charge Q of the battery 14 has reached the full charge amount Qf from the terminal voltage of the battery 14 or the like (step S20), the power receiving circuit 36 is stopped from the charging operation and driven. The directions of the wheels 5a and 5b are returned to the state shown in FIG. 2, and the next cleaning command is awaited (step S21).

In this way, when the cleaning robot 1A returns to the charging stand 101, the gap between the feeding side iron core 106 of the charging stand 101 and the power receiving side iron core 108 of the cleaning robot 1A is minimized so that the leakage inductance between them is minimized. In addition, since charging is performed after positioning for accurately facing each other, charging from the charging stand 101 to the battery 14 can be performed safely and efficiently.

(Second Embodiment)
11 is a correspondence diagram of FIG. 1 showing a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 12 is a correspondence diagram of FIG. 8 showing a second embodiment, and FIG. 13 is a correspondence diagram of FIG. 5 showing a second embodiment.

As shown in these figures, in this embodiment, the power feeding coil 105a is used instead of the power feeding side iron core 106 and the power feeding coil 105 in the first embodiment, and the power receiving coil 107a is used instead of the power receiving side iron core 108 and the power receiving coil 107. Are used respectively. In both the power feeding coil 105a and the power receiving coil 107a, only the copper wire is wound to a thickness of about 1 to 2 mm and fixed to the adhesive pad, and as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, on the back surface of the front side surface of each housing. It is pasted. Therefore, a magnetic flux is generated from the feeding coil 105a in parallel with the floor surface, and the power receiving coil 107a receives the magnetic flux in parallel with the floor surface.
Furthermore, instead of the detection coil 109 wound around the power receiving side iron core 108 in the first embodiment and the rectifying circuit 37 for rectifying the output thereof, it is driven by the output of the rectifying smoothing circuit 102 provided on the charging stand 101. A positioning light emitting element 113 (here, a light emitting diode is used), a positioning light receiving element (for example, a phototransistor) 115 provided on the front surface of the cleaning robot 1A and receiving the light of the light emitting element 113, and a light receiving element. A sensor control unit 114 that drives the 115 is used.

Since the intensity distribution of the light emitting element (light emitting diode) 113 generally has a Gaussian distribution centered on the optical axis of the luminous flux, the power receiving side iron core with respect to the power feeding side iron core 106 according to the intensity change with respect to the position of the detection output of the light receiving element 115. The position of 108 is performed. Other configurations and operations are the same as those in the first embodiment. Even in this embodiment, charging can be performed efficiently.

(Third Embodiment)
In this embodiment, an ultrasonic transmitter is used in place of the positioning light emitting element 113 in the second embodiment, and an ultrasonic receiver is used in place of the positioning light receiving element 115. Also in this embodiment, charging can be performed efficiently as in the first and second embodiments.

1A Cleaning robot, 2 housing, 2a bottom plate, 2b top plate, 2c side plate, 2d lid, 3 rotating brush, 4 side brush, 5a, 5b drive wheel, 6a, 6b rotating shaft, 7 rear wheel, 10 suction path, 11 Suction port, 12 Floor detection sensor, 14 Battery, 18 Commercial power supply, 20 Dust collector, 21 Dust collection box, 22 Filter, 30 Electric blower, 31 Input section, 32,114 Sensor control unit, 33 Various sensors, 34 Control Unit, 35 Rectifier smoothing circuit, 36 Charging circuit, 37 Rectifier circuit, 40 Exhaust path, 41 Exhaust port, 43 Outer shell housing motor, 44,57,59,68,72 Motor driver circuit, 51a, 51b Travel motor , 52a, 52b reduction gear, 58 brush drive motor, 60 central housing, 61 outer shell housing, 62 thrust bearing, 63 rack, 64 pinion, 69 blower motor, 70 side brush drive motor, 101 charging stand, 102 Rectifier smoothing circuit, 103 infrared transmitter, 104 inverter, 105 power supply coil, 106 power supply side iron core, 107 power receiving coil, 108 power receiving side iron core, 109 detection coil, 110 infrared detection main sensor, 111a, 111b, 111c infrared detection sub sensor, 112a, 112b, 112c Ultrasonic ranging sensor

Claims (5)

A self-propelled vacuum cleaner equipped with a battery and a cleaning and traveling device, equipped with a control unit for driving and controlling the cleaning and traveling device with the power of the battery, and cleaning while traveling on the floor surface, and for charging the battery. The charging stand is equipped with a feeding coil and an exciting circuit for exciting the feeding coil, and the self-propelled vacuum cleaner outputs a power receiving coil and a power receiving coil that receive power from the feeding coil by electromagnetic coupling. It is equipped with a charging circuit that receives and charges the battery, the feeding coil is installed on the charging stand so as to generate magnetic flux in a direction parallel to the floor surface, and the power receiving coil is capable of accepting the magnetic flux parallel to the floor surface. Installed in a running vacuum cleaner
The charging stand and the self-propelled vacuum cleaner each include a housing having a flat side surface orthogonal to the floor surface, and the feeding coil and the power receiving coil are arranged so as to face each other along each side surface.
The housing of the self-propelled vacuum cleaner has a triangular outline when viewed from the top surface, and the flat side surface corresponds to one side of the triangle.
A suction port and a pair of side brushes are provided on the flat side bottom plate of the housing.
A rotating brush is provided at the entrance of the suction port.
The front side surface of the self-propelled vacuum cleaner corresponds to the flat side surface, and the entire power receiving coil is located in front of the suction port and between the pair of side brushes from the vertical center of the flat side surface. A wireless charging system for self-propelled vacuum cleaners that is also located below. The self-propelled vacuum cleaner includes a position detection sensor that detects a position where the power receiving coil faces the feeding coil, and the control unit receives an output of the position detecting sensor and receives a predetermined position where the power receiving coil faces the feeding coil. The wireless charging system for a self-propelled vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the traveling device is controlled so as to be positioned in. The self-propelled vacuum cleaner according to claim 2, wherein the power feeding coil and the power receiving coil are wound around the first and second magnetic bodies, respectively, and the position detection sensor is wound around the second magnetic body. Wireless charging system. The wireless charging system for a self-propelled vacuum cleaner according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the control unit supplies the output of the charging circuit to the battery after the power receiving coil is positioned with respect to the feeding coil. The wireless charging system for a self-propelled vacuum cleaner according to claim 2, wherein the charging stand includes a light emitting element, and the position detection sensor is a light receiving element that receives the emitted light of the light emitting element.

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