JP2006204519A - Vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an vacuum cleaner in which a motor-driven blower is surely protected. <P>SOLUTION: When a control means 14 judges that the motor-driven blower 2 is under operation, the control means 14 determines whether or not power to be supplied to the motor-driven blower 2 is interrupted through the input of a zero-cross waveform. When the power to be supplied to the motor-driven blower 2 is interrupted for prescribed time or shorter, an inrush current is prevented from flowing to the motor-driven blower 2 at the restoration of the power by lowering the input of the motor-driven blower 2 at the restoration of the power, and the motor-driven blower 2 is surely protected. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner provided with a control means for controlling driving of an electric blower.

Conventionally, this type of electric vacuum cleaner includes a vacuum cleaner body that houses an electric blower. Moreover, the vacuum cleaner body contains control means having a microcomputer for controlling the driving of the electric blower. Furthermore, a power cord for supplying power to the electric blower and the control means is provided in the cleaner body so that it can be pulled out. In addition, if the plug at the tip of this power cord is connected to a commercial AC power outlet provided on the wall, etc., the microcomputer is reset and the electric blower is stopped, and in this state the worker is connected to the vacuum cleaner body. By operating a predetermined setting button on the hand operating section, the electric blower is controlled to a predetermined operation mode by the control means, and the electric vacuum cleaner is driven (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent No. 2930116 (page 5)

  By the way, during the cleaning operation, the power cord may be caught by an obstacle or the like, and the plug may be unexpectedly disconnected from the outlet, so that the voltage may not be supplied to the electric blower and the control means for a predetermined period.

  However, in this type of vacuum cleaner, a capacitor is provided on the power supply side of the microcomputer in order to prevent malfunctions due to power charging and noise, and even if the plug is disconnected from the outlet, the capacitor is charged. For this reason, the voltage of the microcomputer of the control means cannot be reduced immediately. In this state, when power is restored, for example, when an operator inserts the plug that has been removed, the microcomputer does not reset, and the electric blower restarts in its original operating state. There is a problem that an electric current flows and a load may be applied to the electric blower more than necessary.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a point, and it aims at providing the vacuum cleaner which can protect an electric blower reliably.

  In the present invention, the control means for controlling the driving of the electric blower reduces the input of the electric blower when the electric power is restored when the electric power supplied to the electric blower is interrupted for a predetermined time or more.

  According to the present invention, when the electric power supplied to the electric blower is cut off for a predetermined time or less, an inrush current flows through the electric blower when the electric power is restored by reducing the input of the electric blower when the electric power is restored. And the electric blower can be reliably protected.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a vacuum cleaner main body. The vacuum cleaner main body 1 collects dust sucked together with intake air generated by driving an electric blower 2 housed in a dust collection pack (not shown) that can be attached and detached. Dust.

  The vacuum cleaner main body 1 has a main body suction port 3 for sucking air from the outside. An elongated substantially cylindrical hose body 4 that is flexible and can be bent is connected to the main body suction port 3. At the tip of the hose body 4, a hand operation unit 5 that can select an operation mode of the electric blower 2 is provided. The hand operating section 5 is provided with a gripping portion 6 that is gripped by an operator when cleaning, and projects the electric blower 2 in the cleaner body 1 in a plurality of drive modes. A plurality of setting buttons 7 for setting are provided.

  Further, an elongated and substantially cylindrical extension tube 8 that can be extended and retracted is detachably connected to the distal end of the hand operation unit 5. Furthermore, a floor brush 9 serving as a suction port for sucking dust on the carpet is detachably connected to the tip of the extension pipe 8, for example, placed on a carpet on the floor of the room. ing.

  Next, the internal configuration of the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  In the vacuum cleaner main body 1, a parallel circuit of the electric blower 2 and the triac 11, the power supply unit 12, and the zero-cross generation circuit 13 as the power supply detection means is electrically connected to the commercial AC power source e. The control means 14 which consists of a microcomputer (microcomputer) which controls the rotation speed of the electric blower 2 is electrically connected to this gate.

  The triac 11 is a bidirectional control element and controls the phase of the electric blower 2 by a pulse signal from the control means 14.

  The power supply unit 12 rectifies and smoothes the electric power from the commercial AC power supply e and supplies it to the control means 14, and a power supply capacitor 15 is connected to the control means 14. The capacitor 15 also has a function of preventing malfunction of the control means 14 due to noise, and for example, a large capacity electrolytic capacitor is used.

  Further, the zero-cross generation circuit 13 detects the zero-cross of the commercial AC power source e every predetermined time, for example, every 1/100 seconds, generates a zero-cross waveform that becomes a reference at the time of phase control of the electric blower 2, and inputs it to the control means 14 To do.

  Furthermore, the control means 14 includes a timer (not shown) and the like, is electrically connected to the setting button 7 of the hand operation unit 5, and is driven by the voltage charged in the capacitor 15. The control means 14 drives the electric blower 2 by transmitting a predetermined pulse signal to the gate of the triac 11 at a timing according to the operation mode set by the setting button 7.

  Next, the cleaning operation according to the above embodiment will be described.

  First, the worker sequentially connects the hose body 4, the extension pipe 8, and the floor brush 9 to the main body suction port 3 of the cleaner body 1.

  Further, when the operator pulls out a power cord (not shown) from the cleaner body 1 and connects it to an outlet (not shown), and then grips the grip 6 and operates a predetermined setting button 7, the setting button 7 is set. A pulse is supplied from the control means 14 to the gate of the triac 11 according to the operation mode, and the electric blower 2 is driven at a predetermined operation mode, that is, at a predetermined rotation speed by phase control.

  Next, the operator grips the grip portion 6 and causes the floor brush 9 to run forward and backward on the floor surface to suck in dust on the floor surface.

  The dust sucked together with air from the floor brush 9 sequentially passes through the floor brush 9, the extension pipe 8 and the hose body 4, and then is guided to the main body suction port 3 of the cleaner body 1. Is collected in a dust collection pack housed in

  The air in which the dust is collected is sucked into the electric blower 2 to become exhaust air, and is exhausted from an exhaust port (not shown) of the cleaner body 1 to the outside.

  Here, the control according to the embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, the control means 14 determines whether or not the electric blower 2 is operating (step 1).

  In step 1, when the control means determines that the electric blower 2 is not operating, the process returns to step 1, and when the control means 14 determines that the electric blower 2 is operating, the zero cross waveform is input. It is judged by the control means 14 whether it is carried out (step 2). This zero cross waveform detection is also used for phase control.

  In this step 2, when the control means 14 determines that the zero cross waveform is input, the process returns to step 1, and when the control means 14 determines that the zero cross waveform is not input, the control means 14 The time is measured by a timer, and the control means 14 determines whether or not a predetermined time (T seconds), for example, 1 second or 10 seconds has elapsed since the zero cross waveform is not input (step 3).

  In step 3, when the control means 14 determines that T seconds have not elapsed since the zero cross waveform is not input, the control means 14 determines whether the zero cross waveform is input (step 4). If the control means 14 determines that the zero cross waveform has not been input in step 4, the process returns to step 3. If the control means 14 determines that the zero cross waveform has been input in step 4, the control means 14 The input is reduced to a predetermined value set in advance, the electric blower 2 is re-driven (soft start) (step 5), and the process returns to step 1.

  That is, when the zero cross waveform is not input and the zero cross waveform is input again within T seconds, the electric blower 2 is soft-started.

  Further, as the threshold T seconds, a value smaller than the reset time of the microcomputer based on the time constant by the capacitor 15 is set.

  On the other hand, if the control means 14 determines in step 3 that more than T seconds have elapsed since the zero-cross waveform is not input, it is assumed that the commercial AC power source e has completely dropped, and the microcomputer is forcibly reset. The electric blower 2 is forcibly stopped (step 6).

  As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, when the power supplied to the electric blower 2 is interrupted for a predetermined time or less due to an abnormality in the commercial AC power source e or the plug of the power cord being disconnected, the power By lowering the input of the electric blower 2 at the time of recovery and soft-starting, it is possible to prevent the inrush current from flowing into the electric blower 2 at the time of power recovery, and to reliably protect the electric blower 2.

  Moreover, when the electric power supplied to the electric blower 2 is cut off for a predetermined time, the electric blower 2 is forcibly stopped, so that electric current is supplied to the electric blower 2 when the electric power is restored after the predetermined time has elapsed. The electric blower 2 can be protected more reliably without being allowed to flow.

  Moreover, by using the timer of the control means 14 for measurement, it is possible to perform soft start or forced stop without causing temporal variation.

  In particular, the electrolytic capacitor used as the capacitor 15 has a relatively large variation in capacitance from product to product. Therefore, when the commercial AC power source e is shut off for a predetermined time or less, the charge voltage of the capacitor 15 is sufficiently reduced. Since the time until the microcomputer is reset varies, the electric blower 2 can be reliably protected by soft-starting or forcibly stopping in a time shorter than the time until the microcomputer is reset.

  That is, for example, when about 10 seconds have passed after the power cord plug is unplugged from the outlet, and the power cord plug is plugged into the outlet again, in the conventional vacuum cleaner, the electric blower 2 is caused by variations in the capacity of the capacitors. However, in the above-described embodiment, such re-driving can be prevented and not only can the electric blower 2 be protected, but also the operator may mistakenly consider it as a failure and send it out for repair. Can also be prevented.

  Furthermore, the vacuum cleaner draws the main body of the vacuum cleaner 1 on the floor, so that the power cord is caught on an obstacle and the outlet is unexpectedly disconnected during cleaning, and the power supply from the commercial AC power source e is temporarily stopped. Therefore, the reliability of the electric vacuum cleaner can be improved by protecting the electric blower 2 as described above when the supply of electric power is interrupted.

  In the above-described embodiment, a configuration in which the control for forcibly stopping the electric blower 2 is eliminated is also possible.

  In addition, as means for detecting the interruption of the power supply, a configuration other than the zero cross generation circuit 13 can be used.

  Furthermore, the details of the vacuum cleaner are not limited to the above configuration.

It is a block diagram which shows the vacuum cleaner of one embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows a vacuum cleaner same as the above. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a vacuum cleaner same as the above.

Explanation of symbols

1 Vacuum cleaner body 2 Electric blower
14 Control means

Claims (2)

A vacuum cleaner body containing an electric blower,
Control means for controlling the drive of the electric blower,
The said control means reduces the input of the said electric blower at the time of electric power recovery, when the electric power supplied to the said electric blower is interrupted for the predetermined time or less. The electric vacuum cleaner characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the control unit stops the electric blower when the electric power is restored when the electric power supplied to the electric blower is cut off for a predetermined time.

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