JP2007029490A - Self-propelled cleaner and its program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the automatic cleaning by a self-propelled cleaner in a situation of controlling the scattering of the dust or the pollen in a cleaning range. <P>SOLUTION: The self-propelled cleaner is equipped with a humidifier 10, a communication means 11 to execute the communication, a humidity detection means 8 to detect the humidity in the cleaning range and a humidification judgment means 9 to judge whether the humidifier 10 is actuated or not, starts the humidifier 10 through the communication means 11 when the humidity in the cleaning range is low at the start of the cleaning, and starts the automatic cleaning after the humidity reaches the preset judgment value. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a self-propelled cleaner and a program thereof.

  Conventionally, in self-propelled vacuum cleaners, when air is dry, dust and pollen are likely to rise into the air during automatic cleaning, so in order to perform automatic cleaning while suppressing dust and pollen scattering, The self-propelled cleaner body is equipped with a humidity sensor and humidifier that measures the current humidity state. If the humidity in the cleaning area is less than or equal to the preset humidity, the humidifier mounted on the self-propelled cleaner body There was means (for example, refer to Patent Document 1) for performing automatic cleaning while operating.

  FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the self-propelled cleaner described in Patent Document 1. In FIG. 5, the self-propelled cleaner is a cleaning brush 16 for cleaning the device body 1, a driving motor 4 for traveling, and an obstacle sensor 5 such as an ultrasonic sensor or a distance measuring sensor for detecting a wall surface or an obstacle. Are connected to a humidity sensor 7 for detecting the current humidity state. Based on the information acquired from the obstacle sensor 5, the obstacle detection means 6 for detecting an obstacle and the humidity information acquired from the humidity sensor 7 The humidity detecting means 8 for detecting the current humidity, the humidifying device 10 for humidifying, and the control means 2 for controlling the cleaning brush 16 and the drive motor 4 are provided.

When the humidity in the cleaning area is lower than a preset humidity based on the humidity detected by the humidity detecting means 8 during the automatic traveling, the self-propelled cleaner configured as described above is configured as the humidifier. The automatic cleaning is carried out while operating 10.
JP 2004-350801 A

  However, the conventional means is intended to effectively use the water generated inside the self-propelled cleaner by a fuel cell or the like. In a self-propelled cleaner equipped with a normal battery, It is necessary to supply water for humidification inside the self-propelled vacuum cleaner manually, and it is necessary to install a large water storage container to fully humidify the cleaning area. Therefore, there is a problem that automatic cleaning may end before the cleaning area is sufficiently humidified.

  Therefore, in order to solve the above-described conventional problems, the present invention has means for communicating with a humidifier provided outside, detects the humidity of the cleaning area at the start of automatic cleaning, and if it is lower than a preset humidity An object of the present invention is to provide a self-propelled cleaner that operates the humidifier via the communication means and starts automatic cleaning after reaching a predetermined determination humidity.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, the self-propelled cleaner of the present invention includes a communication unit that communicates with a humidifier, a humidity detector that detects humidity in a cleaning area, and whether to operate the humidifier. And a humidifying determination means.

  Thereby, the self-propelled cleaner of the present invention, when the humidity obtained from the humidity detection means is lower than the determination humidity preset in the humidification determination means at the start of automatic cleaning, the communication means via the communication means By transmitting an operation start instruction to the humidifying device, the humidifying device is operated, and automatic cleaning can be started after reaching a predetermined determination humidity.

  The self-propelled cleaner of the present invention can detect the humidity of the cleaning area at the start of automatic cleaning, operate the humidifier when the humidity is low, and start automatic cleaning after reaching the optimum humidity Therefore, it is possible to perform automatic cleaning in a sufficiently humid state without installing a large water storage device or ending automatic cleaning before sufficiently humidifying the cleaning area. It becomes possible to perform automatic cleaning in an optimum state in which the pollen application is suppressed.

  1st invention is provided with the communication means which communicates with a humidification apparatus, the humidity detection means which detects the humidity of a cleaning area | region, the humidification determination means which determines whether the said humidification apparatus is operated, and a control means, When the control unit starts cleaning, if the humidity obtained from the humidity detection unit is lower than the determination humidity preset in the humidification determination unit, the control unit transmits an operation start instruction of the humidifier via the communication unit, Since cleaning can be started after reaching a predetermined determination humidity, the cleaning can be performed in a state where sufficient humidity is given so as to suppress dust and pollen dispersion.

  In particular, the self-propelled cleaner according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a cleaning start time adjusting unit that adjusts a preset cleaning start time, and the humidifying determination unit determines whether the humidity is determined during the cleaning. When it is detected that there is an area with low humidity, the cleaning area where there is variation in humidity is configured by starting the cleaning after the cleaning delay time set in advance in the cleaning start time adjusting means when the next cleaning starts. In this case, cleaning can be performed in a state where sufficient humidity is given to suppress dust and pollen dispersion.

  In a third aspect of the invention, in particular, in the cleaning region where there is a variation in humidity by providing the cleaning delay time according to the difference between the current humidity and the judgment humidity in the cleaning start time adjusting means of the second invention. However, it is possible to perform cleaning by selecting an optimum cleaning delay time according to the difference between the current humidity and the judgment humidity.

  In particular, the fourth aspect of the present invention is the self-propelled cleaner of any one of the first to third aspects, further comprising external setting means, wherein the determination humidity and the cleaning delay time are arbitrarily set and changed. Can do.

  In particular, the fifth invention is a program for executing all or one of the functions of the first to fourth self-propelled cleaners, and uses all or part of the present invention using a general-purpose computer or server. Can be easily realized.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a self-propelled cleaner according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, a suction motor 3 that cleans the device body 1, a drive motor 4 that travels, an obstacle sensor 5 such as an ultrasonic sensor or a distance measuring sensor that detects a wall surface or an obstacle, and a humidity in a cleaning area. Is connected to the humidity sensor 7, and the device body 1 is based on the obstacle detection means 6 for detecting an obstacle based on the information acquired from the obstacle sensor 5 and the humidity information acquired from the humidity sensor 7. Humidity detection means 8 for detecting the current humidity, humidification determination means 9 for determining whether or not to operate the humidifier 10 based on current humidity information obtained from the humidity detection means 8, and humidification determination means 9 The control unit 2 controls the suction motor 3 and the drive motor 4 based on the output of the shell, the communication unit 11 communicates with the humidifier 10, and the time measuring unit 12 that measures the current time. Here, it is assumed that the humidifying device 10 has a communication function so that communication with the communication unit 11 can be performed, and a cleaning start time is set in advance in the time measuring unit 12.

  The operation / action of the self-propelled cleaner configured as described above will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, when the current time measured by the time measuring means 12 coincides with the cleaning start time preset in the time measuring means 12 (step 1), the humidity detecting means 8 acquires the current humidity information from the humidity sensor 7. Then, the current humidity is calculated from the acquired humidity information, and the calculated current humidity is transferred to the humidification determining means 9 (step 2). The humidification determination means 9 compares the current humidity acquired from the humidity detection means 8 with a predetermined determination humidity, and notifies the control means 2 of the determination result (step 3). Based on the determination result acquired from the humidification determination unit 9, the control unit 2 notifies the communication unit 11 of the activation request for the humidification device 10 when the current humidity of the cleaning area is low (step 4), and the communication unit 11 transmits an activation request to the humidifier 10 (step 5).

  After transmitting the activation request to the humidifying device 10, when the control means 2 obtains a determination result that the current humidity is higher than the determination humidity from the humidification determining means 9 (step 6), the suction motor 3 and the drive motor 4 are turned on. The obstacle detection means 8 detects an obstacle based on the information acquired from the obstacle sensor 7 and controls the drive motor 4 so as to avoid the obstacle. Do.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, when it is detected that the humidity of the cleaning area is low, the operation of the humidifier can be started, and automatic cleaning can be started after reaching a preset determination humidity. Therefore, automatic cleaning can be performed in a state where sufficient humidity is given so as to suppress dust and pollen dispersion.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the cleaning start timing may not only use the cleaning start time preset in the time measuring means 12, but also may input an automatic cleaning start instruction by direct external input. To do. Further, the humidifying device 10 may transmit a stop signal via the communication means 11 at the start of automatic cleaning, and may transmit a stop signal via the communication means 11 after completion of automatic cleaning. And

(Embodiment 2)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is the same as FIG. 1 showing the first embodiment, but includes a cleaning start time adjusting means 13 for adjusting a preset cleaning start time, a storage unit 14 and an external setting means 15. Here, it is assumed that the cleaning start time adjusting unit 13 is set in advance with a cleaning delay time from when the humidification determination unit 9 determines that the current humidity is higher than the determination humidity to when actual automatic cleaning starts. .

  Now, in such fairness, the second embodiment is configured to include the cleaning start time adjusting means 13 and the storage unit 14 with respect to the first embodiment.

  The operation / action of the self-propelled cleaner configured as described above will be described below with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

  First, as shown in the flow of FIG. 3, when the current time measured by the time measuring means 12 coincides with the cleaning start time preset in the time measuring means 12 (step 1), the control means 2 is automatically cleaned. The start instruction is notified, and the humidity detection means 8 acquires the current humidity information from the humidity sensor 7, calculates the current humidity from the acquired humidity information, and passes the calculated current humidity to the humidification determination means 9 (step 2). . The humidification determination means 9 compares the current humidity acquired from the humidity detection means 8 with a predetermined determination humidity, and notifies the control means 2 of the determination result (step 3).

  Based on the determination result acquired from the humidification determination unit 9, the control unit 2 notifies the communication unit 11 of the activation request for the humidification device 10 when the current humidity of the cleaning area is low (step 4), and the communication unit 11 transmits an activation request to the humidifier 10 (step 5).

  After transmitting the activation request to the humidifying device 10, when the control means 2 obtains a determination result that the current humidity is higher than the determination humidity from the humidification determining means 9 (step 6), the suction motor 3 and the drive motor 4 are turned on. (Step 7), the obstacle detection means 8 detects an obstacle based on the information acquired from the obstacle sensor 7, and automatically cleans the cleaning area while controlling the drive motor 4 so as to avoid the obstacle. Do.

  During the automatic cleaning, when the control unit 2 acquires a determination result that the current humidity is lower than the determination humidity from the humidification determination unit 9 as shown in the flow of FIG. 4 (step 8), the control unit 2 stores the result. The determination result is stored in the unit 14 (step 9).

  Next, at the start of the next automatic cleaning (step 10), after the humidifier 10 is activated, when the determination result that the current humidity is higher than the determination humidity is obtained from the humidification determination means 9 (step 11), The control unit 2 acquires the previous determination result from the storage unit 14 (step 12), and if there is a cleaning area where the humidity is lower than the determination humidity during the previous automatic cleaning (step 13), the control unit 2 goes to the time measuring unit 12 When a delay start instruction is notified and the time measuring means 12 acquires the delay start instruction from the control means 2, the time measuring means 12 acquires a cleaning delay time from the cleaning start time adjusting means 13, and the current time measured inside the time measuring means 12. The new cleaning start time is calculated and set by adding the acquired cleaning delay time to (step 14). When the current time measured by the time measuring means 12 coincides with the cleaning start time (step 15), the control means 2 is notified of an automatic cleaning start instruction, the suction motor 3 and the drive motor 4 are controlled, and automatic Cleaning is started (step 16).

  As described above, in the present embodiment, when it is detected during the automatic cleaning that there is a region where the humidity is lower than the determination humidity, the cleaning start time adjusting unit is set at the start of the next automatic cleaning. Automatic cleaning can be started after the preset cleaning delay time has elapsed, so automatic cleaning is performed with sufficient humidity in the cleaning area where there is variation in humidity in order to prevent dust and pollen from spreading. It becomes possible.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the cleaning start timing may not only use the cleaning start time set in advance in the time measuring means 12, but also may directly input an automatic cleaning start instruction by external input. To do. Further, the humidifying device 10 may transmit a stop signal via the communication means 11 at the start of automatic cleaning, and may transmit a stop signal via the communication means 11 after completion of automatic cleaning. And

(Embodiment 3)
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the third embodiment, the cleaning start time adjusting unit 13 of the second embodiment is configured to provide a cleaning delay time corresponding to the difference between the current humidity and the determination humidity.

  As a result, the device body 1 can perform automatic cleaning by selecting an optimal cleaning delay time in accordance with the magnitude of the difference between the current humidity and the determination humidity in a cleaning region where the humidity varies. For example, in the cleaning start time adjusting unit 13, when the difference between the determination result stored in the storage unit 14 and the determination humidity is within 2%, 5 minutes is selected as the cleaning delay time, and the determination humidity and If the difference is within 2% to 5%, 10 minutes is selected as the cleaning delay time. If the difference from the judgment humidity is 5% or more, 15 minutes is selected as the cleaning delay time, and the time measuring means is selected. 12 can be delivered.

(Embodiment 4)
Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. The fourth embodiment is configured to include an external setting unit 15 compared to the third embodiment.

  As a result, the apparatus body 1 can arbitrarily set and change the determination humidity preset in the humidification determination means 9 and the cleaning delay time preset in the cleaning start time adjustment means 13 via the external setting means 15. It becomes possible.

  In the present embodiment, the external setting unit 15 may be realized by communication.

(Embodiment 5)
Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, the control means 2, the failure detection means 6, the humidity detection means 8, the humidification determination means 9, the communication means 11, the time measurement means 12, the cleaning start time adjustment means 13, This is a program for executing all or part of the functions of the storage unit 14 and the external setting means 15.

  According to this embodiment, all or part of the present invention can be easily realized using a general-purpose computer or a server.

  As described above, the self-propelled cleaner according to the present invention detects the humidity in the cleaning area at the start of automatic cleaning, and when the humidity is low, operates the humidifier via the communication means to reach the optimum humidity. Automatic cleaning can be started later, and can be applied to a device cooperation system via a network.

Block diagram of the self-propelled cleaner in Embodiment 1 of the present invention Block diagram of self-propelled cleaner in Embodiments 2 to 5 of the present invention Flowchart for explaining the operation of the first embodiment Flowchart for explaining the operation of the second embodiment Block diagram of a self-propelled cleaner equipped with a conventional humidifier

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Apparatus main body 2 Control means 3 Suction motor 4 Drive motor 5 Obstacle sensor 6 Obstruction detection means 7 Humidity sensor 8 Humidity detection means 9 Humidification determination means 10 Humidification apparatus 11 Communication means 12 Time measurement means 13 Cleaning start time adjustment means 14 Storage part 15 External setting means

Claims (5)

A traveling means, a cleaning means, a communication means for communicating with the humidifying device, a humidity detecting means for detecting the humidity of the cleaning area, a humidifying determining means for determining whether to operate the humidifying device, and a control means. The control means transmits an operation start instruction of the humidifier through the communication means when the humidity obtained from the humidity detection means is lower than the judgment humidity preset in the humidification judgment means at the start of cleaning. A self-propelled cleaner that starts cleaning after reaching the determination humidity. A cleaning start time adjusting means for adjusting a preset cleaning start time is provided, and when the humidification determining means detects that there is a region where the humidity is lower than the determined humidity during cleaning, the cleaning starts at the next cleaning start. The self-propelled cleaner according to claim 1, wherein cleaning is started after a cleaning delay time preset in the time adjusting means has elapsed. The self-propelled cleaner according to claim 2, wherein the cleaning start time adjusting means can set and change the cleaning delay time according to the difference between the current humidity and the determination humidity. The self-propelled cleaner according to claims 1 to 3, further comprising an external setting unit, wherein the determination humidity and the cleaning delay time can be arbitrarily set and changed. The program for making a computer perform the function of all or one part of the self-propelled cleaner of any one of Claims 1-4.