JP2007167496A - Self-propelled cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a self-propelled cleaner, which informs users that a garbage collecting means gets full of garbage, prevents troubles by malfunctions and is user-friendly. <P>SOLUTION: When a dust collecting container gets full of garbage during cleaning as the garbage is scraped up with a rotating brush 7 and inhaled with air inside of a brush cover 6 and air pressure inside of the brush cover 6 increases to a predetermined value or more, an elastic film member 20 pushes a pressing part 15d of a leaf switch 15, contact points 15e, 15f contact each other, the leaf switch 15 turns on, then, the self-propelled cleaner suspends travel motion and cleaning and informs the user with light and sound. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a self-propelled cleaner that performs cleaning while automatically traveling.

  Conventionally, a self-propelled cleaner has been developed that automatically runs and cleans floor dust while avoiding obstacles. There is a type in which dust on the floor is stored in a dust collection container of a self-propelled vacuum cleaner, and when the garbage in the dust collection container is full, the user is automatically notified of the fact.

  As a means for detecting that the garbage in such a self-propelled vacuum cleaner is full, for example, infrared rays are passed in advance at a certain height of a transparent dust collecting container, and the dust is collected in the dust collecting container. In order to detect when the garbage is full, it has been developed by detecting that the infrared light has blocked the garbage.

In addition, as a thing related to this invention, the vacuum cleaner which notifies a user that the garbage of a dust container is full is disclosed by the following patent documents 1, 2, and 3, respectively.
JP 2004-283217 A JP-A-11-332801 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-241265

  However, with the above-mentioned method for detecting that the garbage is full, the dust adheres to the inner surface of the dust collection container or the transparent part of the dust collection container becomes cloudy before the garbage becomes full. There was a problem that the infrared ray was blocked, and it was falsely detected that the garbage was not full, but it was full. Due to this erroneous notification, it has become difficult for the user to handle.

  In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a self-propelled vacuum cleaner that allows the user to surely know that the garbage in the garbage storage means is full, eliminates the trouble of malfunctioning, and is easy to handle. The purpose is to do.

In order to achieve the above object, a self-propelled cleaner of the present invention comprises a brush that is rotationally driven, a cover that covers the brush, and air suction means, and the air suction means collects air inside the cover as dust. In the self-propelled vacuum cleaner that sucks through the storage means, whereby the dust scraped up by the brush is sucked and stored up to the dust storage means,
Detection means for detecting that the air pressure inside the cover has increased to a predetermined value or more while the air suction means is sucking the air inside the cover, and when the detection means detects, the self-propelled cleaner has a predetermined operation. And a control means for performing the above.

  According to such a configuration, the user can surely know that the dust in the dust storage means is full, and there is no inconvenience due to a malfunction, and it is easy to handle.

As a more specific configuration of the present invention, a brush that is rotationally driven, a cover that covers the brush, and an air suction means are provided, and the air suction means causes the air inside the cover to pass through the dust storage means. In the self-propelled vacuum cleaner that sucks and thereby the dust scraped up by the brush is sucked and stored to the dust storage means,
An elastic film member attached to the cover so as to close a hole formed in the cover and protrude outward from the cover, a switch having a metal member facing the cover, and the air suction means sucks air inside the cover. Control means for causing the self-propelled cleaner to perform a predetermined operation when the elastic film member is deformed and one of the metal members is pressed against the other metal member and the switch is turned on from off. You can do it.

  According to the self-propelled cleaner of the present invention, the user can surely know that the garbage in the garbage storage means is full, and there is no inconvenience due to malfunction, and it becomes easy to handle.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a self-propelled cleaner according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic side sectional view of a self-propelled cleaner according to the present invention.

  The self-propelled cleaner 1 according to the present invention includes a driven wheel 2 at the front and drive wheels 3 at the left and right. The drive wheel 3 is rotationally driven by a drive wheel motor (not shown) via a gear (not shown). At a position between the driven wheel 2 and the driving wheel 3 in the front-rear direction, a brush 7 having a shape extending left and right is provided. The brush 7 is rotationally driven by a brush motor (not shown) through a belt and a pulley (not shown). A brush cover 6 that partially covers the brush 7 is attached to the main body base 4. The brush cover 6 has a cylindrical shape extending to the left and right with an opening in the vicinity of a portion where the brush 7 is in contact with the floor surface. Further, the brush cover 6 is attached so as to block the lower part of the hole part of the suction port 4a projecting upward from the main body base 4, and a lattice-like hole is formed in a part of the brush cover 6 covering the lower part of the hole part of the suction port 4a Part 6a is formed. A duct 5 is connected above the suction port 4a. The hole of the duct 5 is connected to the hole of the suction port 4a. The dust collection container 8 is attached to the main body base 4 so that one end of the duct 5 is inserted into a hole formed in front of the dust collection container 8. A filter 9 is attached behind the dust collection container 8. And the main body cover 11 is attached to the main body base 4 so that the suction inlet 4a, the duct 5, and the dust collecting container 8 may be covered. A lattice-shaped hole 11a is formed behind the main body cover 11, and the blower 10 is attached to the main body cover 11 so as to cover the hole 11a. The blower 10 has a suction motor and a fan (not shown).

  FIG. 2 shows an electrical block configuration of the self-propelled cleaner according to the present invention. However, only the parts related to the present invention are shown, and sensors for avoiding obstacles are omitted. The operation unit 14 is for operating the self-propelled cleaner, and includes buttons and the like. The leaf switch 15 will be described later. The drive wheel motor 17 is a motor that rotationally drives the drive wheel 3 as described above. The brush motor 18 is a motor that rotationally drives the brush 7 as described above. The suction motor 19 included in the blower 10 rotationally drives the fan included in the blower 10 and sucks air. The LED 13 emits light, and the speaker 16 emits sound to notify the user. The control unit 12 is composed of a microcomputer or the like and controls each unit.

  The configuration around the leaf switch 15 will be described with reference to the schematic side sectional view of FIG. In the brush cover 6, a hole 6 b is formed in a portion outside the portion that covers the lower portion of the hole of the suction port 4 a as described above. The elastic film member 20 formed of an elastic film such as silicon rubber has a shape including a tube portion 20a, a hemispherical portion 20b at one end of the tube portion 20a, and a flange portion 20c at the other end of the tube portion 20a. Then, the hemispherical portion 20b and the tube portion 20a are inserted from the inside of the hole portion 6b, the flange portion 20c is brought into contact with the inner surface of the brush cover 6, the hole portion 6b is closed, and a part protrudes outside the brush cover 6. The elastic membrane member 20 is attached to the brush cover 6.

  The leaf switch 15 is configured such that opposing metal plates 15b and 15c penetrate and are fixed to the insulating main body 15a. A contact 15e is formed in the middle of the metal plate 15b, and a contact 15f is formed in the middle of the metal plate 15c so as to face the contact 15e. A pressing portion 15d is attached to the tip of the metal plate 15c. Then, lead wires (not shown) are connected to the end portions 15g and 15h of the metal plates 15b and 15c in the direction opposite to the contact 15e and the contact 15f with the main body 15a interposed therebetween. This lead wire is connected to the control unit 12.

  Then, the hemispherical portion 20b of the elastic membrane member 20 presses the pressing portion 15d of the leaf switch 15, the metal plate 15c is deformed in a direction approaching the metal plate 15b, and the contact point 15e and the contact point 15f come into contact with each other. The leaf switch 15 is arranged and fixed to the main body base 4 (not shown in FIG. 3).

  The operation of the self-propelled cleaner according to the present invention having the above configuration will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When the cleaning start button of the operation unit 14 is pressed, the control unit 12 receives the operation signal, and the control unit 12 sends drive signals to the drive wheel motor 17, the brush motor 18, and the suction motor 19. Then, the drive wheel motor 17 starts the rotational drive of the left and right drive wheels 3, and the self-propelled cleaner 1 starts running. Further, the brush motor 18 starts to rotate the brush 7, the suction motor 19 starts to rotate the fan of the blower 10, and the self-propelled cleaner 1 starts cleaning (step S1).

  Thereafter, the control unit 12 controls the drive wheel motor 17 based on a detection signal from a sensor (not shown), and the self-propelled cleaner 1 travels while avoiding an obstacle. Further, by the rotation of the fan of the blower 10, the air inside the brush cover 6 is sucked through the path of the hole 6a, the suction port 4a, the duct 5, the dust collecting container 8, the filter 9, and the hole 11a and discharged to the outside. . As a result, the dust scraped from the floor surface by the rotation of the brush 7 is sucked together with the air through the hole 6a, the suction port 4a, and the duct 5 and stored in the dust collecting container 8.

  Then, the control unit 12 periodically checks the on / off state of the leaf switch 15 (step S2). At the first check when almost no dust is collected in the dust collection container 8, the air suction amount by the blower 10 is large, so the air pressure inside the brush cover 6 is smaller than the atmospheric pressure outside the brush cover 6, and the difference is large. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the hemispherical portion 20b of the elastic membrane member 20 is recessed in the brush cover 6 inner side, the pressing portion 15d of the leaf switch 15 is not pressed, and the contact 15e and the contact 15f are separated from each other. And the leaf switch 15 is turned off. Therefore, it is determined in step S2 that the leaf switch 15 is not on (N in step S2), the process proceeds to step S3, and running and cleaning are continued. When cleaning is continued, dust gradually accumulates in the dust collecting container 8, the air suction amount gradually decreases, the air pressure inside the brush cover 6 gradually increases, and the hemispherical portion 21b of the elastic body 21 It will be transformed back to its original shape.

  When the above steps S2 and S3 are repeated and the cleaning progresses, the dust in the dust collecting container 8 is filled up and the air pressure inside the brush cover 6 increases to a predetermined value or more, as shown in FIG. The hemispherical portion 20b presses the pressing portion 15d of the leaf switch 15 due to the deformation, the contact 15e and the contact 15f come into contact, and the leaf switch 15 is turned on from off. Therefore, it is determined in step S2 that the leaf switch 15 is on (Y in step S2), and the process proceeds to step S4.

  In step S <b> 4, the control unit 12 sends a stop signal to each of the drive wheel motor 17, the brush motor 18, and the suction motor 19. Then, the drive wheels 3, the brushes 7, and the fans of the blower 10 stop rotating, and the self-propelled cleaner 1 stops running and cleaning.

  Next, in step S <b> 5, the control unit 12 sends a predetermined light emission signal to the LED 13 and a predetermined audio signal to the speaker 16. Then, the LED 13 emits light in a predetermined pattern, the speaker 16 emits a predetermined sound, and informs the user that the dust in the dust collecting container 8 is full.

  According to such a self-propelled cleaner, the user can surely know that the dust in the dust collection container is full, and the troublesomeness caused by erroneous notification is eliminated and the handling becomes easy.

  In the above embodiment, the dust collecting container 8 is used as the dust storage means. However, the filter 9 may be positioned behind the paper pack using a replaceable paper pack as the dust storage means.

These are the schematic side sectional drawings of the self-propelled cleaner concerning the present invention. These are figures which show the electrical block structure of the self-propelled cleaner which concerns on this invention. These are schematic sectional side views which show the structure around a leaf switch. These are schematic sectional side views which show the structure around a leaf switch. These are flowcharts which show the operation | movement procedure of the self-propelled cleaner which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Self-propelled cleaner 2 Driven wheel 3 Drive wheel 4 Main body base 4a Suction port 5 Duct 6 Brush cover 6a Hole 6b Hole 7 Brush 8 Dust collection container 9 Filter 10 Blower 11 Main body cover 11a Hole 12 Control part 13 LED
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 Operation part 15 Leaf switch 15a Body part 15b Metal plate 15c Metal plate 15d Press part 15e Contact 15f Contact 15g Tip part 15h Tip part 16 Speaker 17 Drive wheel motor 18 Brush motor 19 Suction motor 20 Elastic film member 20a Pipe part 20b Hemisphere part 20c Buttocks

Claims (3)

A brush that is driven to rotate, a cover that covers the brush, and an air suction unit are provided, and the air suction unit sucks air inside the cover through the dust storage unit, and thereby the brush is scraped up. In a self-propelled cleaner in which trash is sucked and stored up to the trash storage means,
An elastic film member attached to the cover so as to close a hole formed in the cover and protrude outward from the cover, a switch having a metal member facing the cover, and the air suction means sucks air inside the cover. Control means for causing the self-propelled cleaner to perform a predetermined operation when the elastic film member is deformed and one of the metal members is pressed against the other metal member and the switch is turned on from off. A self-propelled vacuum cleaner characterized by A brush that is driven to rotate, a cover that covers the brush, and an air suction unit are provided, and the air suction unit sucks air inside the cover through the dust storage unit, and thereby the brush is scraped up. In a self-propelled cleaner in which trash is sucked and stored up to the trash storage means,
Detection means for detecting that the air pressure inside the cover has increased to a predetermined value or more while the air suction means is sucking the air inside the cover, and when the detection means detects, the self-propelled cleaner has a predetermined operation. A self-propelled vacuum cleaner comprising: a control means for performing the operation. A brush that is driven to rotate, a cover that covers the brush, and an air suction unit are provided, and the air suction unit sucks air inside the cover through the dust storage unit, and thereby the brush is scraped up. In a self-propelled cleaner in which trash is sucked and stored up to the trash storage means,
An elastic membrane member attached to the cover so as to close a hole formed in the cover and protrude outward from the cover, and an air pressure inside the cover is predetermined while the air suction means sucks air inside the cover A detecting means for detecting that the elastic film member has been increased to a value equal to or greater than a value, and a control means for causing the self-propelled cleaner to perform a predetermined operation when the detecting means detects. A self-propelled vacuum cleaner.

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