JP2007252409A - Vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vacuum cleaner capable of stabilizing the read of the set drive state of a motor-driven blower. <P>SOLUTION: When the read probability of a plurality of current values from a hand substrate part 18 read within prescribed time by a read means lowers to a prescribed value or below, a voltage to be applied from a power source means to the hand substrate part 18 is elevated by a voltage switching means. A current to the side of the hand substrate part 18 is increased, and the read in the read means of the drive state of the motor-driven blower set by a setting button is stabilized. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner provided with operation means for setting a driving state of an electric blower.

  Conventionally, this type of vacuum cleaner includes a vacuum cleaner main body that houses an electric blower and a control unit that controls the drive of the electric blower. The vacuum cleaner body is provided with a main body suction port that communicates with the suction side of the electric blower, and a hose body, an extension pipe, and a floor brush as a suction port body are sequentially connected to the main body suction port. In addition, a hand operating part as an operating part is provided at the tip of the hose body at the connecting part with the extension pipe.

  The hand operating unit is provided with a gripping portion that is gripped by an operator, and the gripping portion is provided with a plurality of setting buttons for setting the operation mode of the electric blower by the operator's operation. Is provided with a substrate such as an FPC electrically connected to the control means via a pair of signal lines provided on the hose body.

  The circuit board is connected in series with the constant impedance connected between the signal lines and a plurality of switches that are opened and closed by the operation of each setting button, and is connected between the signal lines corresponding to each operation mode of the electric blower. A normally open operating impedance is provided.

Further, the control means includes power supply means for applying a predetermined constant voltage between the signal lines, reads a current value from the substrate with respect to the constant voltage applied by the power supply means, and based on the read current value, The operation mode of the electric blower set by the setting operation is determined to control the driving of the electric blower (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP-A-6-165746 (page 2-4, FIG. 1)

  However, in the above vacuum cleaner, an unstable oxide film is formed over time at the contact point of the operation impedance, or a phenomenon such as migration or whisker occurs, resulting in an extra impedance component. The current value read by the reading means becomes unstable due to such an excessive impedance component, and the set operation mode cannot be recognized, or the set operation mode is erroneously recognized and erroneously determined. There is a problem that a problem may occur.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a point, and it aims at providing the vacuum cleaner which can stabilize the reading of the drive state of the set electric blower.

  The present invention provides a control means for controlling the operation of the electric blower, a pair of signal lines electrically connected to the control means, and a current value which is electrically connected to these signal lines and changes impedance by changing impedance. And operating means for setting the driving state of the electric blower, and the control means reads power supply means for applying a voltage to the operating means, and reads a current value from the operating means for the voltage applied by the power supply means. And a determination means for determining the operation of the electric blower set by the operation means based on the current value read by the reading means, and the power supply means operates when the read probability of the current value by the reading means is a predetermined condition. Voltage switching means for increasing the voltage applied to the means.

  According to the present invention, when the reading probability of the current value by the reading means is a predetermined condition, the voltage applied from the power supply means to the operating means is increased by the voltage switching means, thereby increasing the current to the operating means side. The reading by the reading means of the set driving state of the electric blower can be stabilized.

  Hereinafter, the structure of the vacuum cleaner of the 1st Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated with reference to drawings.

  In FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a vacuum cleaner body. The vacuum cleaner body 1 separates dust sucked together with intake air generated by driving an electric blower 2 housed in a paper pack (not shown) to collect dust. It is a vacuum cleaner. The cleaner body 1 is provided with swirling wheels and traveling wheels (not shown) so that the cleaner body 1 can travel on the floor as a surface to be cleaned.

  Further, a main body inlet 3 for sucking air from the outside is opened at the front portion of the cleaner body 1. 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 operating unit 5 is provided that can select a plurality of operation modes of the electric blower 2 such as strong, medium, weak, and stopped. The hand operating section 5 is provided with a gripping portion 6 that is gripped by an operator when cleaning, and is provided with a plurality of flexible electric blowers 2 and the like. A plurality of setting buttons 7 for setting the driving mode are provided.

  Further, an elongated and substantially cylindrical extension tube 8 that can be expanded and contracted 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 distal end of the extension pipe 8, for example, placed on a carpet on the floor of the room. ing. Therefore, the floor brush 9 communicates with the suction side of the electric blower 2 through the extension pipe 8, the hose body 4, and the main body suction port 3.

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

  In the floor brush 9 (FIG. 3), there is provided a motor 15 as a driving means for driving a power brush which is a rotary cleaning body as a rotating unit (not shown). The motor 15 is inserted into the extension pipe 8. Via the signal lines 16 and 17, it is electrically connected to a hand board part 18 as an operating means provided in the hand operation part 5 (FIG. 3), and this hand board part 18 is connected to the hose body 4 (FIG. 3). Is electrically connected to a control means 24 provided in the cleaner body 1 and controlling the drive of the electric blower 2 and the motor 15 through signal lines 21, 22, and 23 inserted in a spiral shape in the wall portion. ing.

  The signal lines 16 and 17 are electrically connected to the signal lines 22 and 23 by connecting the extension tube 8 to the hand operating unit 5.

  The signal lines 21 and 23 are electrically connected to the signal line 22 via the impedance 25.

  The signal line 22 is a common line that is electrically connected to ground.

  The signal lines 21, 22, 23, etc. are formed with impedances 26 such as the impedance of the signal lines themselves and the contact impedance.

  The hand board portion 18 is, for example, an FPC, and is continuously connected between the signal lines 21 and 22 with a constant impedance 27, a plurality of operation impedances 28 corresponding to the operation mode of the electric blower 2, and each of these operation impedances 28 And a normally-open switch 29 provided.

  The constant impedance 27 is for determining whether or not the hose body 4 is connected to the cleaner body 1 by generating a current in response to the application of voltage from the control means 24 side.

  As for the operation impedance 28, by closing (short-circuiting) the switch 29 accompanying the operation of the setting button 7 (FIG. 3), a parallel circuit with the constant impedance 27 is formed between the signal lines 22 and 23, and the voltage from the control means 24 side. Is applied to change the current value corresponding to the operation mode of the electric blower 2 or the motor 15, so that the setting signal corresponding to each operation mode is sent to the signal lines 21, 22 or the signal lines 22, 23. Is generated.

  The switch 29 is composed of a switch pattern portion (not shown) that is patterned and separated from the hand substrate portion 18 by metal, for example, and carbon provided on the setting button 7 (FIG. 3) side. By pressing and flexibly deforming, the carbon is closed by electrically short-circuiting between the switch pattern portions, and when the setting button 7 is restored and deformed, the carbon is separated from the switch pattern portion. Established.

  On the other hand, the control means 24 includes a power supply means 31 for applying a voltage to the hand board section 18, a power supply means 32 for supplying power to the electric blower 2 and the motor 15, and a hand board section based on the voltage applied by the power supply means 31. Based on the current value read by the reading means 33 and the current value read by the reading means 33, the operation of the electric blower 2 set by the hand board portion 18 is determined via the setting button 7 (FIG. 3). Determination means 34, main control means 35 for controlling driving of electric blower 2 and motor 15, and voltage switching means capable of increasing and decreasing the voltage applied from impedance means 27 to power source 31. 36.

  The power source means 31 outputs a part of the power supplied from the power source e via the power cord 41 that can be derived from the vacuum cleaner body 1 to the hand substrate 18 side as a constant voltage via the signal lines 21 and 22. It is.

  The power supply means 32 outputs a part of the electric power supplied from the power source e to the electric blower 2 and outputs it to the motor 15 through the signal lines 22 and 23.

  The reading means 33 is electrically connected to the signal line 21 through the impedance 42 and is also electrically connected to the ground, and the combined impedance with the constant impedance 27, the operation impedance 28, the impedance 26, etc. It is indirectly read by the current value from the substrate unit 18 and output to the determination means 34. The reading means 33 is configured to read the current value a predetermined number of times in a predetermined time, for example, 5 times or 0.1 times in 0.1 seconds.

  The determination unit 34 is electrically connected to the reading unit 33 and the ground, and has a plurality of threshold ranges set in advance corresponding to the connection of the hose body 4 to the cleaner body 1 and the respective operation modes. Depending on which threshold range the read current value output from the reading means 33 is included, whether the hose body 4 is connected to the cleaner body 1 or the operation mode set by the operator Can be output to the main control means 35 as a determination signal. Further, the determination unit 34 determines that the reading has failed when the reading current value output from the reading unit 33 is not included in any of the preset threshold ranges, and the reading probability is mainly determined. This is output to the control means 35.

  The main control means 35 controls the driving of the electric blower 2 or the motor 15 via the power supply means 32 based on the determination signal determined by the determination means 34. Further, the main control means 35 controls the power supply means 31 by the voltage switching means 36 when a predetermined condition, that is, when the reading probability output from the determination means 34 is less than a predetermined value, for example, when reading fails three times in succession. The control is switched so as to increase the voltage applied to the proximal substrate 18.

  Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Note that each circled number in the flowchart represents a step number.

  First, at the time of cleaning, the control means 24 determines whether or not the power plug of the power cord 41 is connected to the power source e (step 1).

  If it is determined in step 1 that the power cord 41 is not connected to the power source e, step 1 is continued, and if it is determined that the power cord 41 is connected to the power source e, the cleaner body The control means 24 determines whether the hose body 4 is connected to 1 (step 2).

  In step 2, the connection of the hose body 4 is determined by reading the current from the hand substrate 18 by the voltage applied to the hand substrate 18 from the power supply means 31 by the reading means 33. That is, when the hose body 4 is not connected to the cleaner body 1, no current flows, and when the hose body 4 is connected to the cleaner body 1, current always flows through the impedance 27. Therefore, when the read current value exceeds a predetermined threshold value set in advance, the determination means 34 can determine that the hose body 4 is connected to the cleaner body 1.

  In step 2, when it is determined that the hose body 4 is not connected to the cleaner body 1, the process returns to step 2 and when it is determined that the hose body 4 is connected to the cleaner body 1. Controls the power supply switching means 36 and the like so that the voltage applied from the power supply means 31 to the hand substrate 18 becomes a normal voltage, for example, 15V (step 3).

  Next, one of the switches 29 is closed by the operator operating the setting button 7, and this closing changes the combined impedance on the hand board part 18 side. Therefore, the power supply means 31 changes the hand board part 18. The current value on the side of the local substrate 18 with respect to a predetermined constant voltage applied to the surface changes in response to a change in impedance, and the changed current value is repeatedly read a predetermined number of times within a predetermined time by the reading means 33. Thus, the impedance change is read (step 4).

  In step 4, the determination means 34 determines the set operation mode based on the read current value. That is, it is determined whether the reading determination is successful (step 5).

  In step 5, when the read current value is not included in the preset threshold range within the predetermined number of repetitions, the reading is unsuccessful, so the main control means 35 sends a signal to the power supply switching means 36. The output voltage is increased by the power source switching means 36 from the power source means 31 to the base board 18 to a limit below the standard safe voltage, for example, about 40 V (step 6), and the process returns to step 4. .

  At this time, the determination unit 34 sets a preset threshold range for determining the operation mode based on the current value read by the reading unit 33 to a preset voltage increase threshold range corresponding to the increased voltage. Switch.

  On the other hand, if the read current value is included in the preset threshold range within the predetermined number of repetitions in step 5, the reading is successful, and the set operation mode is stored in the control means 24. (Step 7), the operation of the electric blower 2 is set by controlling the power supplied from the power supply means 32 to the electric blower 2 corresponding to this operation mode.

  Here, when the set operation mode is the cut mode, the electric blower 2 is stopped and the process returns to Step 1 (Step 8). When the set operation mode is other than the cut mode, the electric blower is set. 2 is switched to the operation mode, and the process returns to step 4 (step 9).

  As described above, in the above embodiment, when the reading probability of the current value by the reading unit 33 is reduced to a predetermined condition, specifically, the reading probability of a plurality of current values read within a predetermined time is reduced to a predetermined value or less. In addition, the voltage applied from the power supply means 31 to the hand substrate 18 is raised by the voltage switching means 36.

  For this reason, the inflow of current to the local substrate 18 continuously increases due to the increased voltage, unstable oxide film at each contact, silver migration where silver grows at the contact, tin plating at the contact, etc. Since the elements affecting the impedance, such as whiskers that cause a short-circuit and cause a short circuit, or an increase in contact resistance due to oxidation or wear of the contacts of the switch 29, are removed, the drive state reading means of the set electric blower 2 is read. The reading with 33 can be stabilized.

  That is, even when the operator presses the setting button 7, the operation of the electric blower 2 is not switched. When the operator repeatedly presses the setting button 7, the control means 24 controls the setting button 7 according to the above control. By stabilizing the reading of the setting signal by the operation 7, the operation mode of the electric blower 2 can be switched reliably.

  Here, although it is possible to increase the voltage applied to the hand substrate 18 in advance, if the voltage on the hand substrate 18 is constantly increased, the migration phenomenon is accelerated or consumption at each impedance 27 and 28 is increased. Only when there is a problem in reading the current value in the reading means 33, the power is unnecessarily increased, or there is a problem with the durability of the contact point of the switch 29. The configuration of the above embodiment for increasing the voltage is advantageous.

  In the above embodiment, the voltage applied from the power supply means 31 to the hand substrate 18 is increased between step 7 and step 8 as in the other embodiment shown in the flowchart of FIG. The control means 24 determines whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed (step 11). If it is determined that the predetermined time has elapsed, the voltage applied to the local substrate unit 18 is returned to the normal voltage (step 12). It is also possible to control it. In this case, in addition to the effect of the above-described embodiment, acceleration of the migration phenomenon and increase in power consumption at the local substrate 18 due to the high voltage applied to the local substrate 18 over a long period of time. Further, the problem of the durability of the contacts in the switch 29 or the like is less likely to occur, and the reading of the set driving state of the electric blower 2 by the reading means 33 can be further stabilized.

  In each of the above embodiments, the predetermined condition of the current value reading probability for increasing the voltage applied from the power supply means 31 to the hand substrate 18 can be set to various other conditions.

  Further, the electric vacuum cleaner is not limited to the canister type, and may be a self-propelled electric vacuum cleaner, for example, or an upright type in which the floor brush 9 is directly formed on the lower surface of the vacuum cleaner body 1 or a handy Even molds can be used correspondingly.

It is a block diagram which shows the vacuum cleaner of one embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the control means of a vacuum cleaner same as the above. It is a perspective view which shows a vacuum cleaner same as the above. It is a flowchart which shows control of a vacuum cleaner same as the above. It is a flowchart which shows control of other embodiment of a vacuum cleaner same as the above.

Explanation of symbols

1 Vacuum cleaner body 2 Electric blower
18 On-board part as operating means
21, 22 Signal line
24 Control means
31 Power supply means
33 Reading means
34 Judgment means
36 Voltage switching means

Claims (3)

A vacuum cleaner body containing an electric blower,
Control means provided in the cleaner body, for controlling the operation of the electric blower,
A pair of signal lines that are detachably provided in the vacuum cleaner body and are electrically connected to the control means;
An operation means that is electrically connected to these signal lines and changes the current value by changing the impedance to set the driving state of the electric blower,
The control means includes
Power supply means for applying a voltage to the operating means;
Reading means for reading a current value from the operation means with respect to a voltage applied by the power supply means;
Determination means for determining the operation of the electric blower set by the operating means based on the current value read by the reading means;
A vacuum cleaner comprising: voltage switching means for increasing a voltage applied from the power supply means to the operation means when the reading probability of the current value by the reading means is a predetermined condition. 2. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the voltage switching unit increases the voltage when a reading probability of a plurality of current values read by the reading unit within a predetermined time decreases to a predetermined value or less. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the voltage switching means restores the voltage after a predetermined time elapses after the voltage is raised.

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