CN111657792B

CN111657792B - Electric vacuum cleaner

Info

Publication number: CN111657792B
Application number: CN202010076047.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 村田博光
Original assignee: Toshiba Lifestyle Products and Services Corp
Current assignee: Toshiba Lifestyle Products and Services Corp
Priority date: 2019-03-07
Filing date: 2020-01-23
Publication date: 2022-05-13
Anticipated expiration: 2040-01-23
Also published as: JP7264671B2; CN111657792A; JP2020141912A

Abstract

Provided is an electric dust collector capable of automatically restraining the running condition of a driving wheel with dust attached. An electric vacuum cleaner (11) is provided with: a main body case (20), drive wheels (34, 34), a control unit, and dust removing members (39, 39). The drive wheels (34, 34) are rotatably provided on the main body case (20) and enable the main body case (20) to travel on a travel surface. The control unit controls the driving of the driving wheels (34, 34) to drive the main body casing (20). The dust removing members (39, 39) remove dust adhering to the drive wheels (34, 34) by the operation of the drive wheels (34, 34).

Description

Electric vacuum cleaner

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present invention relate to an electric vacuum cleaner having a travel driving unit that enables a main body housing to travel on a travel surface.

Background

Conventionally, a so-called autonomous traveling type electric vacuum cleaner (cleaning robot) has been known, which includes: which can clean the ground surface while autonomously traveling on the ground surface as the surface to be cleaned. Such an electric vacuum cleaner has a travel driving unit for traveling, such as a driving wheel or a crawler belt, at a lower portion or both sides of the main body casing, and the travel of the electric vacuum cleaner can be controlled based on the rotation speed (rotation angle) of the travel driving unit.

However, since these travel driving units directly contact the ground, dust on the ground tends to adhere thereto. Further, if the electric vacuum cleaner is driven in a state where dust adheres to the driving portion, not only the floor surface is soiled with the adhered dust, but also a driving distance corresponding to the rotation speed (rotation angle) of the driving portion cannot be obtained because the driving portion slips (idles) with respect to the floor surface, and there is a possibility that, for example: the traveling control is adversely affected by a deviation in the turning angle when avoiding an obstacle, a deviation in the traveling distance from a desired distance, a difference in the traveling distance by the left and right traveling drive units, a failure in straight-ahead movement, an inability to properly engage with a charging stand, and the like.

Further, although it is conceivable that the user removes the dust by himself/herself, the dust can be removed only when the electric vacuum cleaner is stopped, the dust cannot be removed when the electric vacuum cleaner is driven, and the removing work is cumbersome and unsanitary.

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2005-230044

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electric vacuum cleaner capable of automatically suppressing a situation in which the electric vacuum cleaner travels with dust adhering to a travel driving unit.

The electric dust collector of the embodiment comprises: the dust removal device comprises a main body shell, a running driving part, a control unit and a dust removal component. The travel driving unit is rotatably provided in the main body case, and can cause the main body case to travel on a travel surface. The control unit controls the driving of the travel driving unit to cause the main body casing to travel. The dust removing member removes dust adhering to the travel driving unit by the operation of the travel driving unit.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing an electric vacuum cleaner of embodiment 1 from below.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view showing a part of the electric vacuum cleaner.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the electric vacuum cleaner.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the electric vacuum cleaner.

Fig. 5 is a plan view showing the electric vacuum cleaner of embodiment 2 from below.

Fig. 6 is a plan view showing the electric vacuum cleaner of embodiment 3 from below.

Fig. 7 is a plan view showing the electric vacuum cleaner of the 4 th embodiment from below.

Fig. 8 is a plan view showing a part of the electric vacuum cleaner from below in a state where the dust removing member is detached from the main body case.

Description of the reference numerals

11 electric vacuum cleaner

20 main body case

27 control unit

31. 61 suction inlet

34 driving wheel as running driving part

39 dust removing component

41 electric blower

F as the ground of the driving surface

Detailed Description

Next, the structure of embodiment 1 will be described with reference to fig. 1 to 4.

In fig. 1 to 4, reference numeral 11 denotes an electric vacuum cleaner, and the electric vacuum cleaner 11 constitutes an electric cleaning device (electric cleaning system) together with a charging device (charging stand) or the like as a base device.

In the present embodiment, the electric vacuum cleaner 11 is a so-called self-propelled robot cleaner (cleaning robot) that cleans a floor surface F, which is a surface to be cleaned, while autonomously traveling (self-propelled) on the floor surface F. The electric vacuum cleaner 11 includes: a hollow main body case 20; a traveling unit 21 that causes the main body case 20 to travel on the ground surface F; a cleaning unit 22 for cleaning dust on the floor surface F or the like; a sensor section 26; a control unit (control unit) 27 that controls the traveling unit 21, the cleaning unit 22, and the sensor unit 26; and a secondary battery 28 as a main power supply unit that supplies power to the traveling unit 21, the cleaning unit 22, the sensor unit 26, the control unit 27, and the like. Further, the electric vacuum cleaner 11 may include: and a wireless communication unit for performing wireless communication with an external device such as a charging device, a remote controller, or a home gateway. In the following description, a direction along the traveling direction of the electric vacuum cleaner 11 (the main body housing 20) is set as a front-rear direction (directions of arrows FR and RR shown in fig. 1 and the like), and a left-right direction (both side directions) intersecting (orthogonal to) the front-rear direction is set as a width direction. Here, the electric vacuum cleaner 11 (main body casing 20) normally travels mainly in one direction, and may travel in the opposite direction for a short time in a predetermined limited case such as when changing the direction or when avoiding an obstacle. That is, in the normal running of the electric vacuum cleaner 11 (main body casing 20), the running time in one direction is much longer than the running time in the other direction. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the main traveling direction or the direction in which the traveling time is long is set as the forward direction or the forward direction, and the reverse direction is set as the backward direction or the reverse direction.

The main body case 20 is formed in a flat cylindrical shape (disk shape) or the like, for example, from synthetic resin or the like, and is provided with openings in a lower surface 30 which is a lower portion facing the floor surface F: a suction port 31 and an exhaust port 32 as dust collection ports.

The traveling unit 21 includes: a plurality (a pair) of

driving wheels

34, 34 as a travel driving unit,

motors

35, 35 as driving means for driving these driving wheels 34, and a turning wheel 36 for turning.

The

driving wheels

34 and 34 are used for driving the electric vacuum cleaner 11 (main body casing 20) in the forward direction and the backward direction (autonomous driving), that is, for driving, and have a rotation axis (not shown) extending in the left-right width direction. In the present embodiment, the rotation shafts of the

drive wheels

34, 34 are located at both front sides of the suction port 31. The

driving wheels

34 and 34 may be located entirely forward of the suction port 31, or may have a rear portion partially overlapping the suction port 31 in the front-rear direction. The

driving wheels

34, 34 are arranged symmetrically in the width direction. Therefore, the electric vacuum cleaner 11 (main body casing 20) can travel autonomously by these

drive wheels

34, 34. The

drive wheels

34, 34 are disposed in the disposition openings 37, which are drive portion openings that open on both sides of the suction port 31, in the lower surface 30 of the main body casing 20, and the lower portions of the drive wheels protrude from the

disposition openings

37, 37 toward the floor surface F (downward) with respect to the lower surface 30 of the main body casing 20. That is, the

drive wheels

34 and 34 are located on both sides of the suction port 31. Further, on the outer peripheral surface, which is the surface of each driving wheel 34, and over the entire periphery thereof, there are provided: a convex portion for increasing the grip force on the ground surface F, i.e., the grip portion 34 a. The drive wheels 34 may be crawler belts or the like.

Here, each placement opening 37 is formed in an elongated shape along the front-rear direction, and defines: a drive wheel cover H (fig. 2) which is a recess recessed upward with respect to the lower surface 30 of the main body case 20. At the edge of these arrangement openings 37, are attached: and a dust removing member 39 for removing dust adhering to the driving wheel 34 by the operation (rotation) of the driving wheel 34.

The dust removing members 39 are located at positions on the rear side of the drive wheels 34. That is, the dust removing members 39 are disposed at the rear edge of the disposition openings 37. Further, each dust removing member 39 is disposed: the drive wheels 34 are disposed at positions facing the inner side (one end side in the axial direction, i.e., the center side in the left-right direction of the main body case 20), the outer side (the other end side in the axial direction, i.e., the opposite side to the center side in the left-right direction of the main body case 20), and the outer peripheral portion, respectively. Therefore, the dust removing members 39 are arranged in an コ shape so as to surround the rear portions of the drive wheels 34 when viewed from below. Further, in each dust removing member 39, a base material 39a as a base end side is fixed to the main body case 20, and a dust removing member main body 39b as a tip end side is arranged in a free end shape so as to face the inside of the arrangement opening 37, that is, the driving wheel 34, and extends toward the inside of the arrangement opening 37 to be in contact with the driving wheel 34 (fig. 2). Thereby, the gap between the rear portion of the driving wheel 34 and the inner edge portion where the opening 37 is disposed is narrowed by the presence of the dust removing member 39 (dust removing member main body 39 b).

The dust removing member main body 39b is formed in a brush shape, and a plurality of bristles are implanted into the base 39 a. That is, the dust removing members 39 are brush-like members, respectively.

The motors 35 are disposed, for example, so as to correspond to the drive wheels 34, and can independently drive the drive wheels 34. These motors 35 are coupled to the drive wheels 34 via, for example, gear boxes 40. These gear boxes 40 are arranged in the arrangement openings 37 together with the drive wheels 34. The gear boxes 40 are biased by biasing means S such as coil springs in a direction in which the drive wheels 34 project toward the floor surface F (downward) (fig. 2).

The caster wheels 36 are located: the lower surface 30 of the main body case 20 is positioned at a substantially central and front portion in the width direction, and is a driven wheel that can rotate along the floor surface F.

The cleaning unit 22 includes, for example, the following components: an electric blower 41, which is located in the main body case 20, and sucks dust from the suction port 31 together with air and discharges the dust from the exhaust port 32; a rotary brush 42 as a rotary cleaning body, the rotary brush 42 being rotatably attached to the suction port 31 and lifting up dust; a brush motor 43 for driving the rotary brush 42 to rotate by the brush motor 43; a side brush 44 as an auxiliary cleaning unit (auxiliary cleaning unit) of a rotary cleaning unit, the side brush 44 being rotatably mounted on both sides of the front side of the main body case 20, etc., for collecting dust, a side brush motor 45, the side brush motor 45 driving the side brush 44; and a dust collecting part (dust cup) 46, wherein the dust collecting part 46 is communicated with the suction port 31 to collect dust. The electric blower 41, the brush motor 43, and the side brush motor 45 are driven by power supplied from the secondary battery 28, and are controlled by the control unit 27. The cleaning unit 22 may include at least one of the electric blower 41, the rotary brush 42, the brush motor 43, and the side brush 44 and the side brush motor 45.

The dust collecting part 46 is a dust cup that is detachable from the main body case 20, and is located at a rear portion of the main body case 20, for example. The dust collecting portion 46 communicates with the suction port 31. In the present embodiment, the dust collecting unit 46 communicates with the suction side of the electric blower 41, and the dust sucked in together with the air from the suction port 31 is accumulated in the dust collecting unit 46 by the negative pressure generated by the driving of the electric blower 41. In the dust collection unit 46, a filter unit, not shown, may be disposed so that dust contained in the air passing therethrough is not sucked into the electric blower 41.

The sensor unit 26 includes, for example: an object detection means (object detection unit) 57 that is an obstacle detection means (obstacle detection unit) for detecting the presence or absence of a physical object or a virtual object around the main body casing 20, a step detection means (step detection unit) 58 for detecting a step on the floor surface F, and the like. The sensor unit 26 is not necessarily configured.

The object detection unit 57 includes, for example, an ultrasonic sensor, an infrared sensor, and the like, and can detect an object (obstacle) located within a predetermined distance.

The step detection means 58 is, for example, an infrared sensor or the like, and detects the distance between the lower portion of the electric vacuum cleaner 11 (main body casing 20) and the floor surface F, thereby detecting the step on the floor surface F.

The control unit 27 is for example: a microcomputer including a CPU that is a control unit main body (control unit main body), a ROM that is a storage unit that stores fixed data such as a program read by the CPU, and a RAM (not shown) that is an area storage unit that dynamically forms various storage areas such as a work area that is a work area for data processing by the program. In the present embodiment, the control unit 27 includes: a travel mode in which autonomous travel is performed based on the detection result obtained by the sensor unit 26 (a cleaning mode in which cleaning is performed by the cleaning unit 22 while autonomous travel is performed based on the detection result obtained by the sensor unit 26), a return mode in which return to the charging device is performed, and a standby mode in which operation is on standby. In the present embodiment, the control unit 27 also has a charging mode for charging the secondary battery 28, but this mode is not essential. The control unit 27 controls the operations of the cleaning unit 22 (the electric blower 41, the brush motor 43, and the side brush motor 45), the sensor unit 26, and the like. Therefore, the control units 27 respectively have: a cleaning control unit (cleaning control unit) and a sensor unit control unit (sensor unit control unit).

The travel patterns of the control unit 27 may include a plurality of travel control patterns such as random travel control for controlling the operation of the drive wheels 34 and 34 (the motors 35 and 35) so as to repeat the following operations: for example, when an obstacle such as a wall is detected in front by the sensor unit 26 after the electric vacuum cleaner 11 (main body casing 20) is linearly driven, the electric vacuum cleaner 11 (main body casing 20) is rotated at a random angle within a predetermined angle range, and then linearly driven, and the operation of the driving wheels 34 and 34 (motors 35 and 35) is controlled so that the electric vacuum cleaner 11 (main body casing 20) is driven along the obstacle such as a wall while keeping a fixed distance from the obstacle.

The secondary battery 28 is electrically connected to charging

terminals

59 and 59 as connection portions exposed at positions separated from each other and on both sides of the rear portion of the lower surface 30 of the main body case 20, for example, and the secondary battery 28 is charged by electrically and mechanically connecting the

charging terminals

59 and 59 to charging terminals on the charging device side.

Next, the operation of embodiment 1 will be described.

When a predetermined timing, such as a preset cleaning start timing or a timing when a cleaning start command is received from a remote controller or the like, is reached, the control unit 27 switches from the standby mode to the travel mode to drive the travel unit 21 from a predetermined cleaning start position, such as a charging device. The control unit 27 drives the motors 35 and 35 (the drive wheels 34 and 34) in response to the detection by the object detection unit 57 and the step detection unit 58 from the sensor unit 26, and drives the cleaning unit 22 to clean the dust on the floor surface F and collect the dust in the dust collection unit 46 while allowing the electric vacuum cleaner 11 (the main body housing 20) to travel to each corner on the floor surface F in the cleaning area while avoiding obstacles, steps, and the like.

At this time, the dust on the floor surface F is collected by the rotating brush 42 rotated by the control unit 27 (via the brush motor 43). Then, the dust on the floor surface F and the dust collected by the rotary brush 42 are sucked into the dust collection part 46 together with the air by the negative pressure applied to the suction port 31 by the driving of the electric blower 41, and are accumulated in the dust collection part 46. The air having dust accumulated in the dust collection unit 46 is sucked into the electric blower 41 through the filter unit, cools the electric blower 41, and is then discharged to the outside of the electric vacuum cleaner 11 through the exhaust port 32. In the case where the electric blower 41 is not provided, the dust collected by the rotary brush 42 may be lifted up to the dust collection part 46 by the rotation of the rotary brush 42 and may be accumulated in the dust collection part 46.

When the cleaning is completed or the remaining amount of the secondary battery 28 is less than or equal to a predetermined value, the control unit 27 controls the operation of the driving wheels 34 and 34 (motors 35 and 35) so that the electric vacuum cleaner 11 (main body case 20) returns to the charging device. When the

charging terminals

59 and 59 are mechanically and electrically connected to the charging terminals of the charging device, the control unit 27 terminates the return mode to stop the driving wheels 34 and 34 (motors 35 and 35) and stop the vacuum cleaner 11 (main body casing 20). Next, the control unit 27 switches to the charging mode immediately after the return control mode is finished, or switches to the charging mode after the standby mode is set at predetermined intervals, and charges the secondary battery 28 via the charging device. Also, when the charging of the secondary battery 28 is ended, the control unit 27 switches to the standby mode.

Here, the dust removing members 39, 39 (dust removing

member bodies

39b, 39b) are always in contact with the driving

wheels

34, 34. Therefore, when the electric vacuum cleaner 11 (main body casing 20) travels, the

dust removing members

39, 39 fixed to the main body casing 20 (arrangement openings 37, 37) come into sliding contact with the driving

wheels

34, 34 being driven. Therefore, the dust adhering to the driving

wheels

34, 34 is immediately scraped off by the dust removing members 39, 39 (dust removing

member bodies

39b, 39 b). In other words, the dust removing members 39, 39 (dust removing

member bodies

39b, 39b) can automatically remove dust by the operation (rotation) of the driving

wheels

34, 34. Therefore, the

dust removing members

39, 39 can automatically suppress the traveling state in which the

driving wheels

34, 34 have dust adhering thereto, without the user himself/herself removing the dust adhering to the driving

wheels

34, 34.

Next, embodiment 2 will be described with reference to fig. 5. Note that the same components and operations as those in embodiment 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

In embodiment 2, a part of the suction port 31 of embodiment 1 extends to the rear side of the drive wheels 34, 34 (and the dust removing members 39, 39).

That is, the suction port 31 includes: a suction port body 31a which is positioned between the

drive wheels

34, 34 and is formed in a rectangular shape elongated in the left-right direction; and a rear suction port 31b formed in a shape of a continuous quadrangle in the left-right direction so that both end portions thereof are positioned at positions behind the driving

wheels

34, 34 and the dust removing members 39, 39 (the arrangement openings 37, 37). Therefore, the suction port 31 is convex when viewed from below.

When the electric vacuum cleaner 11 (main body case 20) travels, the

dust removing members

39, 39 fixed to the main body case 20 (arrangement openings 37, 37) slide on the driving

wheels

34, 34 being driven, and dust adhering to the driving

wheels

member bodies

39b, 39 b). The scraped dust is quickly sucked from the suction port 31 (rear suction port 31b) by driving the electric blower 41 and collected in the dust collecting section 46.

As described above, by providing at least a part of the suction port 31 for sucking dust by driving the electric blower 41 at a position rearward of the driving wheels 34, dust removed from the driving

wheels

34, 34 by the

dust removing members

39, 39 can be quickly sucked and collected in the dust collecting portion 46, and a state where the dust falls on the floor surface F for a long time does not occur. That is, the dust removed from the driving

wheels

34, 34 can be treated by the

dust removing members

39, 39 by the dust collecting function of the electric vacuum cleaner 11.

Further, when the electric vacuum cleaner 11 (main body casing 20) is retracted, the rotation direction of the driving wheels 34 is: since the dust removing member 39 is in contact with the dust removing member 39 from above, the dust removed by the dust removing member 39 may be accumulated in the drive wheel cover H above the dust removing member 39. However, even if dust is accumulated in the drive wheel cover H, when the electric vacuum cleaner 11 (main body casing 20) is switched from backward to forward, the dust can fall onto the floor surface F from a position on the front side of the drive wheel 34, and be sucked into the suction port 31 on the rear side of the drive wheel 34. Therefore, the electric vacuum cleaner 11 (main body casing 20) generally has a relatively short time to retreat, and the time to advance is longer than the time to retreat, so that dust does not stay in the drive wheel cover H or accumulate in a large amount in the drive wheel cover H. Therefore, in the present embodiment, if the dust removing member 39 is located at least at the rear side position of the driving wheels 34, dust can be effectively treated by the suction ports 31 at least partially located at the rear side of the driving wheels 34.

Next, embodiment 3 will be described with reference to fig. 6. The same components and functions as those of the above embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof are omitted.

In embodiment 3, in addition to the suction port 31 of embodiment 1,

suction ports

61 and 61 are provided near the

drive wheels

34 and 34.

The

suction ports

61 and 61 are separated from the suction port 31 to the left and right and the rear side on the lower surface 30, but communicate with the suction port 31 inside the main body case 20. That is, the

suction ports

61 and 61 communicate with the suction side (dust collecting section 46) of the electric blower 41. The front-rear dimension and the left-right dimension of the

suction ports

61, 61 are set small. Therefore, the opening areas of the

suction ports

61 and 61 are set smaller than the opening area of the suction port 31. The left and right dimensions of the

suction ports

61, 61 are set to be substantially equal to the left and right dimensions of the

drive wheels

34, 34. That is, the

suction ports

61 and 61 are provided exclusively for sucking the dust removed from the driving

wheels

34 and 34 by the

dust removing members

39 and 39.

When the electric vacuum cleaner 11 (main body case 20) travels, the

dust removing members

39, 39 fixed to the main body case 20 (the arrangement openings 37, 37) slide on the driving

wheels

34, 34 being driven, and dust adhering to the driving

wheels

34, 34 is immediately scraped off by the dust removing members 39, 39 (the dust removing

member bodies

39b, 39 b). The scraped dust is sucked from

suction ports

61 and 61 located near the driving

wheels

34 and 34 by driving the electric blower 41 before falling to the floor surface F, and is collected in the dust collecting section 46.

In this way, by providing the

suction ports

61, 61 for sucking dust by driving the electric blower 41 in the vicinity of the

dust removing members

39, 39 on the main body case 20, dust removed from the driving

wheels

34, 34 by the

dust removing members

39, 39 can be quickly sucked and collected in the dust collecting portion 46, and a state of being dropped on the floor surface F for a long time does not occur. That is, the dust removed from the driving

wheels

34, 34 can be treated by the

dust removing members

39, 39 by the dust collecting function of the electric vacuum cleaner 11.

In embodiment 3, the

suction ports

61 and 61 may be disposed on the front side or the side of the driving

wheels

34 and 34, as long as they are located near the driving

wheels

34 and 34.

Next, embodiment 4 will be described with reference to fig. 7 and 8. The same components and operations as those of the above embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof are omitted.

In embodiment 4, the

dust removing members

39 and 39 are detachable from the main body case 20 in addition to embodiment 2.

That is, the main body case 20 has: and opening/closing covers 63, 63 for opening and closing positions including at least the rear edge of the

openings

37, 37. The opening/closing covers 63 are continuous from the inside to the rear side of the drive wheels 34. Therefore, each opening/closing lid 63 is formed in an L shape when viewed from below. Further, a dust removing member 39 (base material 39a) is integrally attached to each opening/closing cover 63. Therefore, by detaching the opening/closing covers 63, the

arrangement openings

37, 37 are largely opened, and the dust removing member 39 is detached from the main body case 20 together with the opening/closing covers 63. That is, the dust removing member unit is constituted by the opening/closing cover 63 and the dust removing member 39.

The

drive wheels

34, 34 are preferably detachably connected to the

gear boxes

40, 40 via a coupling (joint), not shown, or the like. Therefore, the

drive wheels

34, 34 exposed by detaching the opening/closing cover 63 from the main body case 20 are preferably set to be detachable from the gear boxes 40, 40 (fig. 8).

In this way, since the

dust removing members

39, 39 can be detached from the main body case 20, maintenance of the

dust removing members

39, 39 is facilitated. Further, by detaching the opening/closing covers 63, 63 (dust removing unit) from the main body case 20, a space for detaching the driving

wheels

34, 34 can be secured, and the attachment, the maintenance, the replacement, and the like of the driving

wheels

34, 34 become easy.

The 4 th embodiment can be applied to the 1 st embodiment or the 3 rd embodiment.

In the above embodiments, the electric vacuum cleaner 11 is driven autonomously by using the sensor unit 26, but may be driven by a user using a mobile terminal, a remote controller, or the like.

Further, according to at least one of the embodiments described above, since the

dust removing members

39, 39 that remove dust adhering to the driving

wheels

34, 34 by the operation (rotation) of the driving

wheels

34, 34 are provided, the electric vacuum cleaner 11 (main body case 20) can automatically remove dust from the driving

wheels

34, 34 by the

dust removing members

39, 39 only by traveling without the user himself/herself removing dust adhering to the driving

wheels

34, 34. Therefore, it is possible to automatically suppress: the electric vacuum cleaner 11 (main body case 20) travels with dust adhering to the driving

wheels

34, 34.

Further, since the dust removing members 39, 39 (dust removing member

main bodies

39b, 39b) protrude into the

arrangement openings

37, 37 to narrow the gaps between the driving

wheels

34, 34 and the arrangement openings 37, it is not easy for the user to erroneously insert a finger into the gap between the driving

wheels

34, 34 and the arrangement openings 37, and it is difficult for foreign substances to be caught in the gap between the driving

wheels

34, 34 and the arrangement openings 37, and stacking or the like is difficult to occur.

Further, by providing the

dust removing members

39, 39 as brush-like members, the driving wheel 34 having the grip portion 34a particularly on the outer peripheral portion can follow the driving wheel 34 while maintaining the contact state between the front end sides of the dust removing members 39, 39 (dust removing member

main bodies

39b, 39b) and the driving wheel 34, thereby effectively removing dust, and dust removed from the driving

wheels

34, 34 by the

dust removing members

39, 39 can be scraped off to the floor surface F without accumulating on the

dust removing members

39, 39. That is, the dust removed from the driving

wheels

34, 34 is hardly in a state of being continuously attached to the dust removing members 39, and the

dust removing members

39, 39 can be continuously used for a long period of time without performing maintenance at a high frequency.

Further, by disposing the dust removing members 39 on the rear side with respect to the drive wheels 34, when the electric vacuum cleaner 11 (main body casing 20) travels forward, that is, moves forward, dust is less likely to enter the drive wheel covers H, and accumulation of dust in the drive wheel covers H can be suppressed.

Moreover, since: since the driving

wheels

34, 34 travel with dust adhering thereto, it is possible to suppress the driving

wheels

34, 34 from slipping (slipping) on the ground surface F due to the adhering dust, and to accurately correspond the travel distance to the rotation speed (rotation angle) of the driving wheels 34, thereby preventing: for example, when the vehicle is traveling in a straight line or is not appropriately connected to the charging device due to a difference in the traveling distance between the left and right driving units, the traveling control can be performed with high accuracy. Therefore, even in the type of the electric vacuum cleaner 11 in which the self position cannot be detected based on, for example, the feature point in the cleaning area, it is possible to suppress: the situation of the current self position cannot be grasped.

While the present invention has been described with reference to several embodiments, these embodiments are merely provided as examples, and the scope of the present invention is not intended to be limited to these embodiments. These new embodiments may be implemented in other various ways, and various omissions, substitutions, and changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

Claims

1. An electric dust collector is characterized in that,

the electric vacuum cleaner comprises:

a main body case;

a travel driving unit which is rotatably provided in the main body casing and which can cause the main body casing to travel on a travel surface;

a control unit that controls driving of the travel driving unit to cause the main body casing to travel; and

a dust removing member for removing dust adhering to the travel driving unit by the operation of the travel driving unit,

the dust removing member is disposed on the rear side with respect to the travel driving unit,

the electric vacuum cleaner comprises:

an electric blower housed in the main body case; and

a suction port provided in the vicinity of the dust removing member in the main body casing and sucking dust from the suction port by driving the electric blower,

the dust removing member is disposed at an edge portion on the rear side of a disposition opening that opens at the lower surface of the main body case.

2. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 1,

the dust removing component is a brush-shaped component.

3. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 1 or 2,

at least a part of the suction port is provided at a position on the rear side of the main body case with respect to the travel driving unit.

4. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 1 or 2,

the dust removing member is detachably attached to the main body case.

5. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 3,

the dust removing member is detachably attached to the main body case.