JP2002017633A - Electric vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inexpensive electric vacuum cleaner with an improved efficiency in collecting dust capable of obtaining the optimum input of a motor- driven blower to the amount of dust collection in a short time from the start of operation. SOLUTION: A current from a current detecting circuit to detect a current flowing through the motor-driven blower is detected. On the basis of the detected current value, the phase-point arc angle of an electric motor for a rotating brush is changed to improve efficiency in collecting dust.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional example in which the suction force can be controlled, there is an electric vacuum cleaner disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-95877.
This vacuum cleaner is, as shown in FIG.
Current sensor 101 for detecting zero current, full-wave rectifier 10
Current detection circuit 10 composed of two and smoothing capacitor 103
4, an amplifying circuit 106 including an operational amplifier 105 for amplifying the output of the current detection circuit 104, and an electric blower 10
A phase control circuit 107 for controlling the number of rotations of 0 and a microcomputer 109 are provided. The microcomputer 109 controls the AC power supply 1 by the phase control circuit 107 based on the output of the amplification circuit 106 so that the power supplied to the electric blower 100 becomes constant.
A phase firing angle of 08 is controlled. As means for stopping the power supply to the motor for driving the rotating brush, a structure in which a micro switch is provided in the suction port body and the switch is turned off when the suction port body is separated from the floor surface is generally used. Are known.

[0003]

According to the above prior art, the amount of air to be sucked in is reduced due to the start of cleaning by placing the suction port on a carpet or a change in the amount of dust in the dust bag, and the load on the electric blower 100 is reduced. When it becomes light, the current value decreases.
The current detection circuit 104 and its amplification circuit 106 capture this subtle current change. Since the operational amplifier 105 of the amplifier circuit 106 is an inverting amplifier, the output signal increases. Therefore, the microcomputer 109 increases the phase firing angle so as to increase the current value of the electric blower 100, and attempts to restore the current value of the electric blower 100 to the original value.

[0004] The phase firing angle is accelerated when dust is in the dust collecting bag, but when cleaning is completed and cleaning is started again, the current value of the electric blower is again detected at a certain phase firing angle by the current detection circuit. There is a problem that it is necessary to perform the detection again, and it takes time to make the input constant. Further, there is a problem that the dust collection efficiency does not increase much only by controlling the input of the electric blower. Furthermore, the function of stopping the rotating brush when the suction port body separates from the floor is necessary for the safety of the user, but since a micro switch is required,
There is a problem that it becomes expensive.

An object of the present invention is to obtain an optimum input of an electric blower for a dust collection amount in a short time from the start of operation.
Another object is to provide an inexpensive vacuum cleaner having improved dust collection efficiency.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above objects, the present invention is directed to an electric blower provided in a main body of a vacuum cleaner, a current detecting circuit for detecting a current flowing through the electric blower, and a suction device. A rotating brush provided in the mouth, a rotating brush motor for driving the rotating brush, a brush phase variable circuit for varying a phase firing angle of an AC power supply supplied to the rotating brush motor, and the brush A control circuit for controlling the phase of the rotating brush via a phase variable circuit. When the output of the current detection circuit is larger than a set value, the control circuit controls the phase firing angle so as to reduce the rotation speed of the rotating brush, and when the output of the current detection circuit is smaller than a target value, The phase firing angle of the brush phase variable circuit is varied so as to increase the rotation speed of the rotating brush.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electric blower provided in the main body of the vacuum cleaner, a current detecting circuit for detecting a current flowing through the electric blower, a rotary brush provided in the suction port, and A rotating brush motor for driving the brush; a brush phase variable circuit for varying a phase firing angle of an AC power supply supplied to the rotating brush motor; and a control circuit for controlling rotation and stop of the rotating brush. . The control circuit obtains a difference between the current value of the current value of the current detection circuit and the current value of the current measurement value. When the absolute value of the difference exceeds a set value, the rotation of the rotating brush is determined by the difference.・
Switching the stop, when the suction port body is in contact with the floor surface, the rotating brush is rotated, when separated from the floor surface, so that the rotating brush stops, if the absolute value of the difference does not exceed the set value, Maintain the operating state of the rotating brush.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, an embodiment of a vacuum cleaner according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. <Overall Configuration of Vacuum Cleaner> FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the overall configuration of a vacuum cleaner to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a pipe configuration of the vacuum cleaner. A suction port 4 is formed in the front part of the vacuum cleaner main body 3 composed of the upper main body 1 and the lower main body 2, and an electric blower 5 is provided in the vacuum cleaner main body 3,
A dust collecting chamber 8 is provided between the electric blower 5 and the suction port 4 for accommodating a dust collecting bag 7 attached to a mount 6, and a clamp 12 for attaching and detaching the dust collecting bag 7 to and from the dust collecting chamber 8 is provided. I have.
Above the electric blower 5, a control circuit section 9 in which electronic components and the like are mounted on a circuit board is provided. In addition, a cover 10 is provided on the front surface of the upper body 1 so as to be openable and closable in order to replace the dust bag 7. Note that a pair of left and right wheels 11 rotatably provided on the lower main body 2 is attached.

A suction hose 15 is detachably attached to the suction port 4 through a main body pipe 13, and a hand pipe 14 is connected to an end of the suction hose 15 on the opposite side. As shown in FIG. 2, a suction port 17 is connected to the hand pipe 14 via an extension pipe 16.
A rotary brush 18 and a motor 19 for driving the rotary brush are provided in the suction port 17, and an operation unit 20 is provided in the hand pipe 14. <First Embodiment> FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of a control circuit section in a vacuum cleaner according to the present invention. The control circuit unit 9 of the electric vacuum cleaner includes a microcomputer (hereinafter abbreviated as a microcomputer) 21 as a means for controlling the entire circuit, a current detection circuit 22 for detecting a current of the electric blower 5, and an electric blower 5. The power supply circuit 27 includes a phase variable circuit 23 for varying the phase firing angle of the supplied AC power supply, storage means 24 for storing the phase firing angle.

Next, the operation of the control circuit section 9 of the vacuum cleaner will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the storage means 24 of the phase firing angle is set in advance.
The phase firing angle at the time of the last cleaning is stored. The microcomputer 21 operates through the power supply circuit 27 when power is input from an outlet. When the user turns on the "ON" switch of the operation unit 20 to operate the electric blower 5, the microcomputer 21 confirms that the "ON" switch is ON (step S1), and cleans the previous time from the storage unit 24. Of the phase firing angle at the time of performing (Step S)
2). Then, the electric blower 5 is driven through the phase variable circuit 23 so as to start the operation from the phase firing angle, and the operation is started (step S3).

The current detection circuit 22 detects and samples the current signal of the electric blower 5 and sends it to the microcomputer 21 (step S4). The microcomputer 21 checks whether the current signal is a set value (step S5). If it is the set value, the phase firing angle is left as it is, and if it is not the setting value, the phase firing angle is changed so that the power supplied to the electric blower 5 is constant (step S6). Specifically, if the current signal is smaller than the set value, the amount of air to be sucked in is small, so that the phase firing angle is advanced to increase the rotation speed of the electric blower 5. If the electric signal is larger than the set value, the amount of air to be sucked is large, so that the phase firing angle is delayed to lower the rotation speed of the electric blower 5.

The microcomputer 21 checks whether the user has turned off the "ON" switch (step 7), and continues to control the phase firing angle until the "ON" switch is turned off (steps S4 to S4). S7). When the "ON" switch is turned off, the microcomputer 21 stops the operation of the electric blower 5 (step S9).

In this way, by storing the optimum phase firing angle at the time of the previous cleaning in the storage means, the operation can be started from the phase firing angle when the operation is started. Optimum input of the electric blower to is obtained from the start of operation. During the operation, since the above-described phase control is performed on the electric blower 5, an optimum input is always obtained. <Second Embodiment> FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the control circuit section in the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention. The control circuit unit 9 is almost the same as that of the first embodiment, except that a reset switch 25 is connected to a microcomputer. When the reset switch 25 is turned on, the microcomputer 21 resets the information stored in the storage unit 24.

If the dust collection amount has changed significantly compared to the previous time, for example, if the dust collection bag 7 has been replaced after the previous cleaning, the phase ignition stored in the storage means as it is in the first embodiment as in the first embodiment. The use of a corner may take a long time to find an optimal input of the electric blower 5 for the dust collection amount. Therefore, when the dust collection amount changes greatly from the previous time, the user turns on the reset switch 25 to reset the information stored in the storage unit 24. After the phase firing angle is once returned to the initial state, the electric blower is operated.

The operation of the control circuit section 9 of the second embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the user turns on the reset switch 25 and the microcomputer 21 confirms it (step S11), the initial phase firing angle stored in the ROM of the microcomputer 21 is read (step S12). If the reset switch 25 is off, the phase firing angle at the time of the previous cleaning is read from the storage means 24 (step 13). When the user turns on the "on" switch, the microcomputer 21 confirms that the "on" switch is on (step S14), and starts operation of the electric blower 5 at the read phase firing angle (step S1).
5). Hereinafter, Steps 16 to 21 are the same as Steps S4 to S9 described above, and a description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, when the amount of collected dust greatly changes compared to the previous time, the reset switch 25 is turned on, and the operation is started from a predetermined initial phase firing angle, so that the electric power with respect to the amount of collected dust is reduced. An optimum input of the blower 5 can be obtained in a short time from the start of operation. <Third Embodiment> FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the control circuit unit 9 in the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention. The control circuit unit 9 of the vacuum cleaner includes a microcomputer 21 that controls the entire circuit, a current detection circuit 22 that detects the current of the electric blower 5, and an electric motor 19 that drives the rotating brush 18 of the suction opening 17. The power supply circuit 27 includes a phase variable circuit 26 that varies the phase firing angle of the AC power supplied to the AC power supply.

The control circuit 9 controls the rotary brush 18 of the suction opening 17 according to the input load of the vacuum cleaner. Regarding the operation of the control circuit unit 9 of the third embodiment,
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the user turns on the "ON" switch of the operation unit 20, the microcomputer 21 confirms that the "ON" switch is ON (step S31), and starts the operation of the electric blower 5 (step S31). S32). The current detection circuit 22 detects and samples the current signal of the electric blower 5 and
1 (step S33). The microcomputer 21 checks whether the current signal is a set value (Step S34). If it is the set value, the phase firing angle of the rotating brush motor 19 is kept as it is, and if it is outside the set value, the phase firing angle is changed to be the set value (step S35). Specifically, if the current is smaller than the set value, the phase firing angle is advanced to increase the rotation speed of the rotating brush 19. If the current is larger than the set value, the phase firing angle is delayed to reduce the rotation speed of the rotating brush 19.

The microcomputer 21 checks whether the user has turned off the "ON" switch (step 36), and continues to control the phase firing angle until the "ON" switch is turned off (steps S33 to S33). S36). When the "ON" switch is turned off, the microcomputer 21 stops the operation of the electric blower 5 (step S37).

As described above, when the current signal of the electric blower 5 is out of the set value, the rotating brush driving motor 19
Is changed to control the rotation speed of the rotating brush. For example, in the case of a heavy load such as a carpet, the amount of air to be taken in decreases, and the current value of the electric blower 5 decreases. This change is read, the phase firing angle is advanced, and the rotation speed of the rotating brush 18 is increased. When the load is light, such as when lifted, the amount of air to be taken in increases, and the current value of the electric blower 5 increases. This change is read, the phase firing angle is delayed, and the rotation speed of the rotating brush 18 is reduced. Thus, the electric blower 5
The dust collection efficiency can be increased by changing the rotation speed according to the input load.

Another operation of the control circuit unit 9 according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to a flowchart of FIG. This operation relates to on / off control of the rotating brush. The microcomputer 21 confirms that the “ON” switch is ON (step S41), and the electric blower 5
Is started (step S42). Current detection circuit 2
2 detects the current signal of the electric blower 5, samples it, and sends it to the microcomputer 21 (step S43). This is defined as a first current signal. After the set time lag (Step S44), the second current signal is sampled (Step S45). The microcomputer 21 calculates the difference between the first current signal and the second current signal as described below (step S4).
6). Difference = first current signal−second current signal This difference represents the magnitude of the change of the current signal at a set time, that is, the magnitude of the load change of the electric blower 5. The microcomputer 21 determines whether the absolute value of the difference is larger than a set value. If it is smaller, the process returns to step S43 to start sampling the current signal again. If it is larger, it is determined whether the difference is positive or negative (step S48). If it is positive, the rotating brush 18 is rotated, and if it is negative, the rotating brush 18 is stopped. The operation from step 43 to step S51 is repeated until the operation is stopped (step S52) after confirming that the "ON" switch is turned off (step 51).

Consider a case where the suction port body 17 is lifted from a carpet. The current signal of the electric blower 5 changes from small to large, and as shown in step S48, the absolute value of the difference exceeds the set value, and the difference becomes negative. Therefore, as shown in step S49, the microcomputer 21 stops the rotating brush. Conversely, when the suction port 17 is lowered from the raised state to the carpet, the current signal of the electric blower 5 changes from large to small, exceeds the set value as shown in step S48, and the difference becomes positive. Therefore, step S
As indicated by 50, the microcomputer 21 rotates the rotating brush. Thus, when the suction port 17 is separated from the floor without using a micro switch in the suction port 17, the rotating brush 18
Is stopped and returned to the floor, the rotating brush 18 is rotated. <Fourth Embodiment> FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a fourth embodiment of the control circuit section in the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention. The control circuit unit 9 of the vacuum cleaner has a structure in which the first embodiment and the third embodiment are combined, and includes a microcomputer 21 that controls the entire circuit and a current detection circuit that detects the current of the electric blower 5. 22, a phase variable circuit 23 for varying the phase firing angle of the AC power supply supplied to the electric blower 5
Storage means 24 for storing the phase firing angle, a phase variable circuit 26 for varying the phase firing angle of the AC power supplied to the rotating brush motor 19, and a power supply circuit 27.

The operation of the control circuit section 9 of the fourth embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Step S61 to step S64 and step S6
8 to step S70 correspond to steps S1 to S1 of the first embodiment.
The operation is the same as that in step S4 and steps S7 to S9, and the description is omitted.

First, it is checked in step 65 whether the sampled current signal is a set value.
The phase firing angle of the electric blower 5 is changed so that the current signal becomes a set value (step S66). That is, the electric blower 5
The phase firing angle is controlled so that the power supplied to the power supply becomes constant. If the current signal is smaller than the set value, the amount of air to be sucked in is small, so that the phase firing angle is advanced to increase the rotation speed of the electric blower 5. If the electric signal is larger than the set value, the amount of air to be sucked is large, so that the phase firing angle is delayed to lower the rotation speed of the electric blower 5.

Accordingly, the phase firing angle of the rotary brush motor 19 is changed (step S67). That is, if the current is smaller than the set value, the input phase firing angle is advanced to increase the rotation speed of the rotating brush 19. If the current is greater than the set value,
The rotation speed of the rotating brush 19 is reduced by delaying the input phase firing angle. Eventually, as the current signal of the electric blower 5 approaches the set value, the rotation speed of the rotating brush 19 also approaches a predetermined value. The number of rotations of the rotating brush 19 for each current value is set in advance so that the dust collection efficiency is maximized.

For example, in the case of a heavy load such as carpet, the amount of air to be sucked in decreases, and the current value of the electric blower 5 decreases. This change is read, the firing phase and the firing angle of the electric blower 5 are advanced so that the input becomes constant, and the rotation speed of the electric blower 5 is increased. At the same time, the rotation angle of the rotating brush 18 is increased by advancing the phase firing angle of the rotating brush motor 19. Eventually, when the power supplied to the electric blower 5 reaches a predetermined value, the rotation speed of the rotating brush 18 also returns to the predetermined value. in this way,
The dust collection efficiency can be increased by changing the rotation speed of the rotating brush 18 according to the amount of air to be sucked.

[0026]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the current flowing through the electric blower is detected, and the phase firing angle of the rotary brush motor in the suction port is controlled in accordance with the detected current, so that the amount of air sucked by the input load is large. Decreases, the number of revolutions can be increased, and if the input load is small and the amount of air to be taken in increases, the number of revolutions can be reduced to increase dust collection efficiency.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the absolute value of the difference between the previous measurement value and the current measurement value of the current signal exceeds a set value, the rotation of the rotary brush is switched between positive and negative according to the difference, and suction is performed. When the mouth is in contact with the floor, the rotating brush rotates, and when the body is separated from the floor, the rotating brush stops.If the absolute value of the difference does not exceed the set value,
Maintain the operating state of the rotating brush. This makes it possible to stop the rotating brush when the suction body is separated from the floor surface and to rotate the rotating brush when the suction body is returned to the floor surface without using an expensive microswitch in the suction body. Can be lowered.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an overall configuration of a vacuum cleaner to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a pipe configuration of the vacuum cleaner.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of a control circuit unit in the electric vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a control circuit unit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the control circuit unit in the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a control circuit unit according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the control circuit unit in the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a control circuit unit according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating another operation of the control circuit unit according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a fourth embodiment of the control circuit unit in the electric vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a control circuit unit according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing an example of a control circuit in a conventional vacuum cleaner.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 5 electric blower 9 control circuit section 17 suction port body 18 rotating brush 19 rotating brush motor 21 microcomputer 22 current detection circuit 23, 26 phase variable circuit 24 storage means 25 reset switch 27 power supply circuit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An electric blower provided in a main body of a vacuum cleaner, a current detection circuit for detecting a current flowing through the electric blower, a rotating brush provided in a suction body, and a driving brush for driving the rotating brush. A rotating brush motor, a brush phase variable circuit that varies a phase firing angle of an AC power supply supplied to the rotating brush motor, a control circuit that controls the phase of the rotating brush via the brush phase variable circuit, When the output of the current detection circuit is larger than a set value, the control circuit controls the phase firing angle so as to reduce the rotation speed of the rotating brush, and the output of the current detection circuit is smaller than a target value. In the vacuum cleaner, a phase firing angle of the brush phase variable circuit is varied so as to increase a rotation speed of the rotating brush. 2. An electric blower provided in a main body of the electric vacuum cleaner, a current detection circuit for detecting a current flowing through the electric blower, a rotary brush provided in a suction opening, and a drive for driving the rotary brush. A rotating brush motor, a brush phase variable circuit that varies a phase firing angle of an AC power supply supplied to the rotating brush motor, and controlling the phase of the rotating brush via the brush phase variable circuit, A control circuit for controlling rotation and stop of the brush, wherein the control circuit controls the phase firing angle so as to reduce the rotation speed of the rotating brush when the output of the current detection circuit is larger than a set value. If the output of the current detection circuit is smaller than the target value, the phase control of the rotary brush is performed by changing the phase firing angle of the brush phase variable circuit so as to increase the rotation speed of the rotary brush. The rotation / stop control calculates a difference between the current value of the current value of the current detection circuit and the current value of the current measurement value. If the absolute value of the difference exceeds a set value, the rotation brush is determined if the difference is positive. Rotate the, if negative, stop the rotating brush, switch the rotation and stop of the rotating brush, when the suction port body is in contact with the floor surface, the rotating brush rotates, and when separated from the floor surface, An electric vacuum cleaner, wherein the rotating brush is stopped, and when the absolute value of the difference does not exceed a set value, the operating state of the rotating brush is maintained.