JP2000350687A - Vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vacuum cleaner capable of promptly coping with changes in characteristic of a motor-driven fan and specifications relating to control. SOLUTION: This vacuum cleaner is provided with a control means 23 for controlling a motor-driven fan 2, a nonvolatile storage means 22 for storing a plurality of control values whereby the control means 23 controls inputs to the motor-driven fan 2, and a control means 23. The control means 23 reads the amount of phase control matching one operational mode and, depending on the amount of phase control, determines parameters such as amounts of phase control in all operational modes, so that changing some of the parameters allows changing all the related parameters.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric vacuum cleaner which is controlled in accordance with dust on a floor surface and changes in electric current of an electric blower.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional vacuum cleaner generally has a structure as shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the configuration will be described.

As shown in FIG. 8, a cleaner main body (hereinafter referred to as a main body) 1 has a built-in electric blower 2 for sucking dust, and the dust is stored on the suction side of the electric blower 2, that is, in front of the blower. A dust collection chamber 3 is provided. A suction port 4 communicating with the dust collection chamber 3 is provided at a front portion of the main body 1, and the suction port 4 is connected to the other end of a hose 6 having a hand operation section 5 at one end. That is, the extension pipe 7 and the suction tool 8 are connected to the hand operation unit 5 side, and a ventilation path 13 is formed by the suction tool 8, the extension pipe 7, the hose 6, the suction port 4, and the dust collection chamber 4.

When the electric blower 2 is operated by operating the hand operation unit 5, dust 14 passes through the ventilation passage 13 from the suction device 8 and is accumulated in the dust collection chamber 3, but as shown in FIG. A principle that a dust sensor 15 including a light emitting element 12 such as an LED and a light receiving element 11 such as a phototransistor is provided in 13, and that when the dust 14 passes, the light of the light emitting element 12 is blocked from being received by the light receiving element 11. The electric blower 2 according to the amount of dust 14 passing through the ventilation path 13
In some cases, automatic operation is performed by varying the amount of supplied power.

In many of these types, the power supplied to the electric blower 2 is varied by phase control.
A plurality of phase control amounts (control values) according to the amount of dust detected by the dust sensor 15 are set in advance. That is, when the amount of dust increases, the amount of phase control is reduced to increase the power supplied to the electric blower 2. As described above, by controlling the electric blower 2 with the suction force according to the amount of dust, cleaning can be efficiently performed with the minimum necessary power, and the number of stages of the phase control amount according to the amount of dust can be increased. The more it runs, the more it can operate with optimal power.

In recent years, dedicated microcomputers and the like have been developed,
The mainstream is to provide a sensor such as the dust sensor 15 and control the power of the electric blower 2 in accordance with the output of the sensor. A phase control amount corresponding to the output of the sensor is set in a ROM such as a microcomputer. Are common. In addition, there is an operation switch provided on the hand operation unit 5 that can perform cleaning in a plurality of operation modes such as “strong”, “standard”, and “weak”. In the “strong” operation mode, the suction force of the electric blower 2 is increased. Supply power is large and "weak"
In the operation mode, the supply power is reduced to weaken the suction force of the electric blower 2, and in the "standard" operation mode,
The power supply of the electric blower 2 is set so as to obtain a suction force between the “strong” and “weak” operation modes. That is, in some cases, phase control amounts corresponding to a plurality of operation modes are set in a ROM such as a microcomputer.

[0007]

However, in such a conventional configuration, when the suction force of the electric blower 2 has to be changed due to a change in specifications or the like, the entire phase control amount of the ROM of the microcomputer or the like must be rewritten. Since it had to be done, there was the trouble of redesigning the microcomputer and the like.
In addition, by storing only the phase control amount in the storage unit separately from the control unit such as a microcomputer, it is conceivable to cope with the situation by simply rewriting the data in the storage unit. In a device having a plurality of operation modes, at least a phase control amount for each operation mode must be stored, and a plurality of phase control amounts must be stored according to the sensor output. Has the problem that the data amount of the storage means increases.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum cleaner capable of flexibly changing the amount of supplied power by a small-capacity storage means.

[0009]

An electric blower for sucking dust, control means for controlling the electric power supplied to the electric blower by a plurality of operation modes in which electric power supplied to the electric blower is different, and data writing. Possible storage means, wherein the control means sets the supply power of the electric blower in a plurality of operation modes according to the data of the storage means, so that the control means, the storage value from the storage means In addition to determining the control value of the operation mode corresponding to the read stored value (hereinafter, referred to as a phase control amount), the phase control amounts of all the operation modes are determined from the stored values, and the electric control is performed for each operation mode. Since the blower is controlled, the phase control amount can be changed flexibly without redevelopment of control elements such as microcomputers, and all operation modes can be performed with the minimum storage capacity. The possible setting the phase control amount, the capacity of the storage means can be efficiently used.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
An electric blower for sucking dust, control means for controlling the electric power supplied to the electric blower by a plurality of operation modes in which electric power supplied to the electric blower is different, and storage means capable of writing data, The means is configured to set the power supply of the electric blower in a plurality of operation modes according to the data of the storage means. It can respond flexibly without redevelopment.

In the invention according to claim 2 of the present invention, the storage means stores data corresponding to power supplied to the electric blower in at least one operation mode, so that the storage means has a small capacity. Can be realized.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the control means sets the power supply to the electric blower in another operation mode based on the power supply to the electric blower in at least one operation mode. Therefore, the control unit reads, from the storage unit, data corresponding to the power supplied to the electric blower in the specific operation mode, determines the phase control amount in the specific operation mode, and performs the entire operation based on the read data. The phase control amount of the mode is determined, and the electric blower is controlled so that the predetermined supply power is obtained with the phase control amount determined in each operation mode. Therefore, the supply of the electric blower in all the operation modes can be performed by changing only one data. The power can be changed.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electric blower for sucking dust, state detecting means for detecting an operation state of a vacuum cleaner, and an electric blower for the electric blower according to an output of the state detecting means. Control means for controlling the supply power of the electric blower, and storage means capable of writing data, wherein the control means controls the supply power of the electric blower corresponding to a plurality of outputs of the state detection means according to the data of the storage means. Since the setting mode is set, the control unit reads, from the storage unit, data for determining power supply to the electric blower corresponding to the output of the state detection unit, determines a phase control amount from the data, Since the supply power of the blower is controlled to be the supply power corresponding to the output of the state detection means, when changing the supply power control characteristic of the electric blower with respect to the output of the state detection means, , Without redevelopment of the control device such as a microcomputer, it is possible to flexibly.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, since the storage means stores data corresponding to the power supplied to the electric blower corresponding to at least one of the outputs of the state detection means, The capacity of the means can be realized with a small capacity.

In the invention according to claim 6 of the present invention, the control means further includes another output of the state detecting means based on power supplied to the electric blower corresponding to at least one of the outputs of the state detecting means. The control means reads, from the storage means, data corresponding to the power supply to the electric blower corresponding to the specific output of the state detecting means, and sets the specific output. In addition to determining the amount of phase control, based on the read data, all the phase control amounts corresponding to other outputs are determined, and the power supplied to the electric blower is controlled according to the output of the state detection means. Need only store at least one piece of data, and by changing one piece of data, all the phase control amounts corresponding to the output of the state detecting means can be changed.

In the invention according to claim 7 of the present invention, since the storage means is a nonvolatile storage means, even if the power is turned off,
The stored contents can be retained.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, the state detection means is at least one of a dust sensor, a pressure sensor, and a current sensor. As for the power control characteristics, for the current sensor and the pressure sensor, for example, the power supply control characteristics of the electric blower according to the air volume can be flexibly changed, and the storage means can be realized with a small capacity.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, a determination value for determining the power to be supplied to the electric blower is stored in the storage means based on the output of the state detecting means, and the control means stores the determination value in accordance with the stored value. The control means reads the data for determining the determination value for the output of the state detection means corresponding to the specific phase control amount corresponding to the supply power of the electric blower, from the storage means, The determination value corresponding to the specific phase control amount is determined, and all the determination values corresponding to the phase control amounts for the outputs of the other state detection units are determined, and the power supplied to the electric blower is determined according to the output of the state detection unit. Since the control is performed, all the determination values can be changed by changing the specific determination value.

[0019]

(Embodiment 1) Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The same parts as those in the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 22 denotes nonvolatile storage means for storing in advance a storage value for determining a control value for controlling the electric blower 2 (hereinafter, referred to as a phase control amount).
Is control means for controlling the electric blower 2 with the power of the operation mode determined by the hand operation unit, that is, the phase control amount, based on the stored value stored in the storage means 22.

The operation of the above configuration is as follows.

As shown in FIG. 2, the operation mode of the hand operation unit 5 is set to three positions of "weak", "standard", and "strong", and the phase control amount at the time of "weak" by the control means 23 is T.
Then, the phase control amount at the time of “standard” is T−ΔT1 (ΔT1 in this embodiment is a phase control amount corresponding to a supply power of 400 W).
The phase control amount at the time of “strong” is T1−ΔT2 (ΔT2 is a phase control amount equivalent to 700 W in the present embodiment).
The smaller the value of the phase control amount, the larger the power.

The storage means 22 previously stores a phase control amount T corresponding to "weak".

The control means 23 reads the stored value T stored in the storage means 22 and sets it as a "weak" phase control amount. Initially, the power due to the "weak" phase control amount is 20
Assuming 0 W, “standard” is 600 W (200 + 400
W), “Strong” is 900 (200 + 700 W).

As described above, the control means 23 receives the signal of the operation mode determined by the hand operation unit 5 and, based on the phase control amount corresponding to each operation mode, that is, the electric power, controls the electric blower 2.
Control.

Next, the stored value stored in the storage means 23 is represented by T
If it is changed to 2 (a phase control amount equivalent to 300 W), “standard” becomes 700 W (300 + 400 W) and “strong” becomes 1000 W (300 + 700 W).

Since only the "weak" phase control amount is stored in the storage means 22, it can be stored with a small capacity. As described above, the power in each operation mode can be changed simply by changing the stored value. You can change the settings.

Further, since the storage means 22 is constituted by nonvolatile storage means, the stored value can be retained even when the power is turned off.

Since △ T1 and △ T2 are fixed, T
Is changed, a slight error occurs with respect to the absolute value of the target power. However, if ΔT1 and ΔT2 are set near the target power, the error can be minimized. Also, for example, "strong"
When it is desired to give priority to the accuracy of the power, the "strong" phase control amount can be stored in the storage means 22, and the "standard" and "weak" phase control amounts can be determined from the "strong" phase control amount. .

In this embodiment, the storage means 22
Although the phase control amount corresponding to the "weak" power is stored as it is as the storage value to be stored in the storage unit 23, the storage unit 23 stores the basic amount. Needless to say, a configuration having a shift amount of “strong” may be used.

(Embodiment 2) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3, 4, and 5. FIG.
Components having the same configuration as in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 15 denotes state detecting means for detecting a state when the user operates the vacuum cleaner to perform cleaning. In this embodiment, the state detecting means 15 passes through the air passage 13 by cleaning. A dust sensor for detecting dust 14 will be described as state detection means 15. The dust sensor 31 stores a phase control amount corresponding to the least dust level among the phase control amounts of the electric blower 2 set according to the level of the number of dust 14 detected by the dust sensor 15. A storage unit 32 determines the phase control amounts of all levels from the stored value of the storage unit 31, determines the level based on the number of dust 14 from the dust sensor 15, determines the phase control amount, and determines the phase control amount of the electric blower 2. Control means for performing automatic operation.

The operation of the above configuration is as follows.

The control means 32 has four levels of judgment values from level 0 (when there is no dust 14) to level 3 (when there is a lot of dust) for the number of dust 14 detected by the dust sensor 15. In addition, the electric blower 2 is controlled with a phase control amount corresponding to each level.

The storage means 31 previously stores a phase control amount T0 corresponding to level 0, and the control means 32 reads the stored value and stores the phase control amount T0 of level 0 (power 20
0W).

As shown in FIG. 4, the control means 32 sets each level to ΔT for the level 0 phase control amount.
1 (200W), @ T2 (400W), @ T3 (600
W), the phase control amount T1 for level 1 = T0−ΔT1 (power 400 W), and the phase control amount T2 for level 2 = T0−ΔT2 (power) 600), the phase control amount T3 for level 3 = T0−
ΔT3 (power 800 W) is set.

The control means 32 determines the number of
When the amount of dust 14 is small, the power is small, and when the amount of dust 14 is large, the power is large. The power (phase control amount) of the electric blower 2 is varied according to the amount of the dust 14, and the automatic operation is performed with the optimum power.

Next, when the value stored in the storage means 31 is changed from the phase control amount equivalent to 200 W to the phase control amount equivalent to 300 W (+100 W), the phase control amount for each level uniformly increases by +100 W. The entire power table can be shifted only by changing the zero phase control amount.

Since △ T1, △ T2, and △ T3 are fixed, if T0 is changed, a slight error occurs with respect to the absolute value of the target power, but △ T1, △ T near the target power.
By setting 2, .DELTA.T3, the error can be minimized. Further, for example, when priority is given to the accuracy of the power of level 3, the phase control amount of level 3 is stored in the storage unit 31, and
The phase control amounts at level 2, level 1, and level 0 can be determined from the phase control amount at level 3.

In this embodiment, the storage means 31
The phase control amount corresponding to the power of level 0 is stored as it is as the storage value to be stored in the storage unit 31. However, the storage unit 31 stores the basic component, and the control unit 32 controls the level 0, level 1, and level with respect to the basic component. Needless to say, a configuration having shifts of level 2 and level 3 may be employed.

In this embodiment, the state detecting means 1
Although the dust sensor 5 is used, the same applies to the case where the phase control amount is determined by the current detecting means for detecting the current of the electric blower 2 which changes depending on the cleaning state or the pressure detecting means for detecting the pressure to perform the automatic operation. is there.

When the state detecting means 15 is performed by using current detecting means or pressure detecting means, for example,
When the supply power (phase control amount) is varied stepwise with respect to the air flow, the phase control amount with respect to the output of the current detection means or the pressure detection means is controlled by the phase control of the first-stage power W in FIG. The amount T is stored in the storage means 31, and the power W1 of the second stage is stored.
Assuming that the phase control amount of T- △ T1 and the phase control amount of the third-stage power W2 are set to T- △ T2, as described above, the stored value T is changed to The levels of W, W1, and W2 of the control can be shifted as a whole.

(Embodiment 3) Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The first
Components having the same configurations as those of the embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 15 denotes a dust sensor as state detection means for detecting a state when the user operates the vacuum cleaner to perform cleaning. Reference numeral 41 denotes a dust sensor.
Is storage means for storing a judgment value 0 (judgment value of level 0 and level 1) among judgment values for judging a level (level 0 to level 3) based on the number of dust 14 detected by Based on the storage value stored in the storage means 41, a determination value for determining the level of the large amount of dust 14 passing through the ventilation path 13 is set, the level is determined, and the phase control amount of the electric blower 2 is determined. Control means.

The operation of the above configuration is as follows.

The control means 42 performs four-stage determination of the number of dust 14 detected by the dust sensor 15 from level 0 (when there is no dust 14) to level 3 (when there is much dust). The setting of the judgment value is made by the judgment value 0 (judgment value of level 0 and level 1) stored in the storage means 41 in advance.
Is read, and a determination value 0 is set, and a determination value 1 having a relative value of $ N1 and $ N2 with respect to the determination value 0, respectively.
(Level 1 and level 2 determination values) and level 2 (level 2 and level 3 determination values) are set, and a phase control amount T1 corresponding to level 0 is stored. This stored value is read via the means 24, and the phase control amount of level 0 (power 200W) is set.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the stored value stored in the storage means 41 is 2 counts (the number of dust 14 passing per unit time), the judgment value 0 is 2 counts. If the judgment value 1 is set to 5 counts and the judgment value 2 is set to 10 counts, when the storage value of the storage means 41 is changed to 4 counts, the judgment value 1 becomes 7 counts and the judgment value 2 becomes 12 counts. Each is updated.

This count number corresponds to the detection sensitivity of the dust 14 passing through the ventilation path 13, and the smaller the count number, the higher the sensitivity. By changing the count corresponding to the determination value 0 stored in the storage means 41 in this manner, the overall sensitivity can be shifted, and the variable timing of the power supplied to the electric blower 2 with respect to the number of dust 14 Can also be fine-tuned.

[0049]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
An electric blower for sucking dust, control means for controlling the electric power supplied to the electric blower by a plurality of operation modes in which the electric power supplied to the electric blower is made different, and storage means capable of writing data; Can set the supply power of the electric blower in a plurality of operation modes according to the data of the storage means, and can flexibly change the supply power of the electric blower for each operation mode.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the storage means stores data corresponding to the power supplied to the electric blower in at least one operation mode, the capacity of the storage means can be reduced. It can be realized with capacity.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the control means sets the supply power of the electric blower in another operation mode based on the supply power to the electric blower in at least one operation mode. In addition, it is possible to flexibly change the power supplied to the electric blower in all the operation modes, and to realize a small capacity of the storage means.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the electric blower for sucking the dust, the state detecting means for detecting the operation state of the cleaner, and the electric blower for the electric blower according to the output of the state detecting means are provided. Control means for controlling the supply power and storage means for writing data are provided, and the control means controls the electric blower with supply power corresponding to a plurality of outputs of the state detection means according to the data in the storage means. The supply power characteristics of the electric blower can be flexibly changed according to the output of the detection means.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the storage means stores data corresponding to the power supplied to the electric blower corresponding to at least one of the outputs of the state detection means. The capacity can be realized with a small capacity.

According to the invention described in claim 6 of the present invention, the control means further comprises a control unit for controlling all other state detection means based on power supplied to the electric blower corresponding to at least one of the outputs of the state detection means. Since the supply power of the electric blower corresponding to the output is determined and controlled, the entire supply power characteristic of the electric blower with respect to the output of the state detection means can be flexibly changed, and the capacity of the storage means is realized with a small capacity. can do.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, since the storage means is a nonvolatile storage means, data can be retained even when the power is turned off.

According to the invention described in claim 8 of the present invention, the state detecting means is at least one of a dust sensor, a pressure sensor, and a current sensor.
For the dust sensor, the control characteristic of the power supply of the electric fan according to the dust can be changed flexibly, and for the current sensor and the pressure sensor, for example, the control characteristic of the power supply of the electric fan according to the air volume can be flexibly changed. Can be realized with a small capacity.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the judgment value for determining the power to be supplied to the electric blower is stored in the storage means based on the output of the state detecting means, and the control means stores the electric blower value in accordance with the stored value. Therefore, the supply power characteristics of the electric blower can be flexibly changed according to the output of the state detection means.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a vacuum cleaner according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a phase control amount setting of the vacuum cleaner.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a vacuum cleaner according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a phase control amount setting of the vacuum cleaner.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of setting a phase control amount by a current detection unit and a pressure detection unit of the vacuum cleaner.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a vacuum cleaner according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for setting a judgment value by a dust sensor of the vacuum cleaner.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a conventional vacuum cleaner.

FIG. 9 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a dust sensor mounting portion of the vacuum cleaner.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Electric blower 5 Hand operation unit 22 Storage means 23 Control means

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An electric blower for sucking dust, control means for controlling the electric power supplied to the electric blower in a plurality of operation modes in which electric power supplied to the electric blower is different, and storage means for writing data. An electric vacuum cleaner, wherein the control means sets supply power of the electric blower in a plurality of operation modes according to data in the storage means. 2. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the storage means stores data corresponding to power supplied to the electric blower in at least one operation mode. 3. The control unit sets the supply power of the electric blower in another operation mode based on the supply power to the electric blower in at least one operation mode.
Vacuum cleaner as described. 4. An electric blower for sucking dust, state detecting means for detecting an operation state of the cleaner, and control means for controlling electric power supplied to the electric blower in accordance with an output of the state detecting means. And a storage device capable of writing data, wherein the control device sets supply power of the electric blower corresponding to a plurality of outputs of the state detection device in accordance with the data in the storage device. 5. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 4, wherein the storage means stores data corresponding to power supplied to the electric blower corresponding to at least one of the outputs of the state detection means. 6. The control means sets the supply power of the electric blower corresponding to another output of the state detection means on the basis of the supply power to the electric blower corresponding to at least one output of the state detection means. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 5. 7. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the storage means is a nonvolatile storage means. 8. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 4, wherein the state detecting means is at least one of a dust sensor, a pressure sensor, and a current sensor. 9. A storage unit stores a determination value for determining the power supply to the electric blower based on an output of the state detection unit, and the control unit controls the power supply to the electric blower based on the stored value. The vacuum cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 8.