JP2008220799A - Vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vacuum cleaner having a function of detecting the length of an attachment and controlling a supply capability to an electric blower 1. <P>SOLUTION: When extension wands 12 are connected to the tip of a hose 11, a loss detection means 4 detects a signal according to the length of the extension wands 12. An electric blower control means 2 controls the supply capability to the electric blower 1 according to the detection signal of the loss detection means 4. Even if the air volume loss of the attachment including the extension wands 12 and the hose 11 is varied, the lowering of the air volume is covered by the correction of the supply capability to execute the cleaning at a prescribed air volume. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner having a function of controlling current and power of a device in a state where an attachment is used.

  In general, many floor moving type (canister type) vacuum cleaners as shown in FIG. 5 are widely used, and various types of cleaning surfaces are cleaned by connecting attachments in a form suitable for cleaning various places. Do.

  For example, when cleaning a crosspiece, an extendable extension pipe 52 is attached to the tip of a hose 51 attached to the cleaner body 50, and the length of the extension pipe 52 is adjusted according to the height of the crosspiece. I do. Similarly, when cleaning is performed by attaching a floor nozzle 53 or the like to the tip of the extension pipe 52, the length of the extension pipe 52 is adjusted according to the distance to the cleaning surface.

The literature which controls by the cleaning state includes the following, for example.
JP 2001-157655 A

  However, when the attachment is attached as shown in FIG. 5, pressure loss is generated by these attachments, leading to a reduction in the suction force, but the degree is proportional to the length of the attachment.

  For example, the loss of the former state is large between the use state in which the extension tube 52 is most extended and the use state in which the extension tube 52 is most contracted. That is, there is a problem that the suction force decreases in proportion to the length of the attachment.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and provides a vacuum cleaner that has a function of detecting the amount of airflow reduction in an attachment and controlling the power supplied to the electric blower according to the loss of the airflow reduction.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, the vacuum cleaner of the present invention incorporates an electric blower for sucking dust, an electric blower control means for controlling the electric blower, and these electric blowers and electric blower control means. Loss detection that detects a signal corresponding to a decrease in the air volume of the attachment and outputs the detection signal to the electric blower control means, including a vacuum cleaner main body, an attachment including a hose and an extension pipe attached to the vacuum cleaner main body Means for varying the power supplied to the electric blower according to the detection signal of the loss detection means, so that the loss according to the amount of air flow reduction (loss amount) at the attachment Supply power for correcting the amount is obtained.

  In the present invention, the loss detection means detects a signal corresponding to the amount of airflow reduction (loss) in the attachment, and controls the power supplied to the electric blower so as to compensate for the loss. A predetermined air volume that does not affect the air flow can be obtained, and cleaning can be performed without reducing the suction force.

  The first invention includes an electric blower for sucking dust, electric blower control means for controlling the electric blower, a vacuum cleaner main body incorporating these electric blowers and electric blower control means, and an attachment to the vacuum cleaner main body. An attachment including a hose and an extension pipe, and a loss detection means for detecting a signal corresponding to a decrease in the air volume of the attachment and outputting the detection signal to the electric blower control means, and detecting the loss detection means It is a vacuum cleaner that varies the electric power supplied to the electric blower according to the signal, and electric power corresponding to the amount of air flow reduction (loss) at the attachment is obtained, and the electric blower is controlled by the electric power. Since the air volume is corrected, even if the air volume loss of the attachment fluctuates, the air volume can be cleaned with a predetermined air volume.

  According to the second invention, in the first invention, since the attachment itself is provided with a loss amount setting means capable of setting the amount of air flow reduction in the attachment, the loss amount of the attachment can be easily set.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electric blower for sucking dust, electric blower control means for controlling the electric blower, a vacuum cleaner main body incorporating the electric blower and the electric blower control means, and an attachment to the vacuum cleaner main body. An extension pipe fitted to the hose, and a loss detection means for detecting a signal corresponding to the length of the extension pipe and outputting the detection signal to the electric blower control means. It is a vacuum cleaner that varies the power supplied to the electric blower according to the detection signal, the electric power according to the length of the extension pipe is obtained, and the electric power is supplied to the electric blower for control. The decrease in the air volume is corrected, and even if the length of the extension pipe is changed, the air volume can be cleaned with a predetermined air volume.

  4th invention provides the hose mounting | wear detection means which detects whether the hose is mounted | worn with the vacuum cleaner main body in the structure of any one invention of 1-3, The said hose is from the said vacuum cleaner main body. Since the power supply to the electric blower can be reduced when it is removed, cleaning is performed with a predetermined air volume to compensate for the loss of air volume due to the length of the extension pipe when cleaning work is performed. It is possible to reduce wasteful power consumed when the actual cleaning state is not achieved.

  According to a fifth invention, in any one of the first to fourth inventions, the loss detection means is configured to be effective only when the hose is attached to the cleaner body, so that the cleaning work is performed. In the case of performing the cleaning, it is possible to perform the cleaning with a predetermined air volume while compensating for the loss of the air volume due to the length of the extension pipe, and it is possible to reduce the power consumed when the actual cleaning state is not achieved.

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

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 (a) is an external view of the entire vacuum cleaner, and FIG. 1 (b) is a broken line in FIG. 1 (a). FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an intake port portion 10a surrounded by a circle, and FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram of the vacuum cleaner.

  1 and 2, 1 is an electric blower that generates suction air for sucking dust, 2 is an electric blower control means for controlling the electric blower 1, and 4 is an amount of air flow reduction depending on the length of the extension pipe 12. Loss detecting means for detecting the loss of the hose, 5 is a hose attachment detecting means for detecting whether or not the hose 11 is connected to the cleaner body 10, and 6 is an arithmetic processing means, both of which are the cleaner body 10 Built in.

  The extension tube 12 has a narrow tube 12a inside, and the length of the narrow tube 12a extending from the inside can be set to be extendable and retractable, and the loss amount setting means 3 is built in the narrow tube 12a.

  One end of the hose 11 is attached to the air inlet 10a of the cleaner body 10, and the other end is connected to the extension pipe 12 as an attachment. The dust sucked by the floor nozzle 13 attached to the tip of the extension pipe 12 Is used as a means for guiding to the cleaner body 10. Further, the hose 11 is embedded with wiring for connecting the loss amount setting means 3 in the extension pipe 12 and the loss detection means 4 in the cleaner body 10 and is also used as a signal transmission means.

  Next, the loss amount setting means 3 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  3A and 3B are diagrams for explaining the expansion and contraction operation of the extension pipe according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3A is a front view showing a partial cross-sectional structure of the extension pipe, and FIG. It is an expanded sectional view of the part A shown with the broken line in (a). 4 is a view for explaining the expansion and contraction operation of the extension pipe. FIG. 4 (a) is an external view seen from the upper surface of the extension pipe, and FIG. 4 (b) is a view in FIG. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of the part B shown with a broken line.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in the present invention, a rack 12b built in along the narrow tube 12a, a pinion 12c meshing with the rack 12b, and a plurality of gears configured to have a gear ratio of 1:20 with the pinion 12c. This loss amount is obtained by incorporating a mechanism for transmitting the movement amount of the thin tube 12a to the lever knob 20a of the rotary variable resistor 20 (the resistance value changes in the range of 10 kΩ to 30 kΩ) in the thin tube 12a in 12d to 12h. Setting means 3 is configured.

  With the above-described configuration, the resistance value changes according to the length of the extension tube 12 by moving the rotational position of the lever knob 20a in conjunction with the length of the extension tube 12 when it is used. That is, the resistance value corresponding to the length of the extension pipe 12 is output from the loss amount setting means 3 as the amount of airflow reduction.

  Reference numeral 4 denotes loss detection means, which uses a 10 kΩ fixed resistor in the present invention.

  The hose attachment detection means 5 is specifically configured using a micro switch 9 and detects whether the hose 11 is attached to the cleaner body 10. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, whether or not the hose 11 is attached by operating the lever 9 a of the microswitch 9 provided in the air inlet 10 a of the cleaner body 10 with the connection pipe 11 a provided in a part of the hose 11. Can be detected. The lever 9a of the micro switch 9 provided in the air inlet 10a in the cleaner body 10 is configured to protrude into the opening. When the hose 11 is attached to the vacuum cleaner main body 10, the lever 9a of the micro switch 9 is operated by the connection pipe 11a, so that the micro switch 9 is in the on state, but the hose 11 is connected to the vacuum cleaner main body 10. If it is removed from the lever, the lever 9a of the micro switch 9 is not operated, so that the micro switch 9 is turned off.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the output of the loss amount setting means 3 provided in the extension pipe 12 is transmitted to the cleaner body 10 via the hose 11, but the extension pipe 12 is not connected to the hose 11. In other words, since the signal of the loss amount setting means 3 is not output to the cleaner body 10, the presence or absence of connection of the extension pipe 12 can be detected based on the presence or absence of the signal of the loss amount setting means 3.

  The outputs of the loss amount setting unit 3, the hose attachment detection unit 5 and the loss detection unit 4 are input to the arithmetic processing unit 6.

  The arithmetic processing means 6 is connected to the electric blower control means 2 so that the electric blower control means 2 can output the following supply power to the electric blower 1 according to the state of the hose 11 attached or the loss amount setting means 3. The control signal to be output to is preset.

When hose is not installed: 300W
When only hose is installed: 900W
When the extension tube is the shortest: 950 W: Resistance value: 10 kΩ
When the extension tube is the longest: 1000 W ... Resistance value 30 kΩ
About the vacuum cleaner comprised as mentioned above, the operation | movement is demonstrated below. Based on the detection state, the operations in each state are organized as follows.

(I) When the hose 11 is not attached to the vacuum cleaner main body 10 The output of the hose attachment detection means 5 can detect that the hose 11 is not attached, and power supplied from the arithmetic processing means 6 to the electric blower 1 Is output to the electric blower control means 2.

(II) When the hose 11 is attached to the vacuum cleaner body 10 (i) When the extension pipe 12 is not connected to the hose 11 Since the signal from the loss amount setting means 3 (10 kΩ to 30 kΩ) is not input, the loss The output of the detection means 4 becomes 0 V, and this is input to the arithmetic processing means 6 so that it can be detected that the extension pipe 12 is not connected, and a control signal for supplying power to the electric blower 1 is 900 W. Output to.

(Ii) When the extension pipe 12 is connected to the hose 11 with the shortest state, a signal from the loss amount setting means 3 (10 kΩ) is input, and the output of the loss detection means 4 is 5 V · 10 kΩ / (10 kΩ + 10 kΩ) = 2 .5V
This is input to the arithmetic processing means 6, and it can be detected that the length of the extension pipe 12 is in the shortest state. Then, the arithmetic processing means 6 outputs to the electric blower control means 2 a value obtained by increasing the electric power by a loss corresponding to this length (electric power 50 W), that is, a control signal for supplying 950 W to the electric blower 1. To do.

(Iii) When the extension pipe 12 is in the longest state and connected to the hose 11 The signal from the loss amount setting means 3 (30 kΩ) is input, and the output of the loss detection means 4 is 5 V · 10 kΩ / (30 kΩ + 10 kΩ) = 1 .25V
This is input to the arithmetic processing means 6, and it can be detected that the length of the extension pipe 12 is in the shortest state. Then, the arithmetic processing means 6 outputs to the electric blower control means 2 a value obtained by increasing the electric power by a loss corresponding to this length (power 100 W), that is, a control signal for supplying electric power to the electric blower 1 to 1000 W. To do.

(Iv) When the extension pipe 12 has an arbitrary length and is connected to the hose 11 The loss amount setting means 3 outputs 10 kΩ to 30 kΩ depending on the expansion / contraction length of the extension pipe 12, so that the loss detection means 4 The output from the power supply changes within a range of 1.25V to 2.5V depending on the expansion / contraction length of the extension tube 12, and the output voltage becomes larger as the extension / contraction length of the extension tube 12 is shorter.

  The arithmetic processing means 6 calculates according to the output of the loss detection means 4 and outputs a control signal for increasing the supply power corresponding to the loss in the extension pipe 12 to the electric blower control means 2.

  As described above, in the electric vacuum cleaner according to the present invention, when the hose 11 is attached to the cleaner body 10 and an attachment such as the extendable extension tube 12 is connected to the tip of the hose 11, the extension tube 12 is connected. It is possible to output a resistance value corresponding to a decrease in the air volume by the loss amount setting means 3 that varies the resistance value according to the length of the air, and detect the output by the loss detection means 4. And the arithmetic processing means 6 calculates the amount of airflow reduction based on the detection signal of the loss detection means 4, and drives the electric blower control means 2 with the calculation output. Then, the electric blower control means 2 can control the power supplied to the electric blower 1 to correct the suction loss of the electric blower 1, and the cleaning performance does not deteriorate.

  When the hose 11 is not attached to the cleaner body 10, it is detected by the hose attachment detection means 5 that it is not in an actual cleaning state, and the loss detection means 4 is detected according to the detection signal of the hose attachment detection means 5. At the same time, the arithmetic processing means 6 can output a control signal for reducing the supplied power to the electric blower control means 2 to reduce the supplied power to the electric blower 1.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the attached hose can be considered as an attachment, and the resistance component of the wiring built in the hose depends on the length of the hose. It is possible to obtain a constant air volume by correcting the loss of the hose itself.

  The vacuum cleaner of the present invention can correct a loss of the attached hose to obtain a constant air volume, and can be used as an upright vacuum cleaner popular in Europe and the United States in addition to a floor moving vacuum cleaner. Can also be widely applied.

The figure which shows the external appearance of the vacuum cleaner which shows embodiment of this invention ((a) The external view of the vacuum cleaner, (b) The expanded sectional view of the inlet part 10a enclosed with the broken line of Fig.1 (a) ) Circuit block diagram of the vacuum cleaner Front view for explaining expansion and contraction operation of extension tube for vacuum cleaner ((a) Front view showing partial sectional structure of extension tube, (b) Part A shown by broken line in FIG. (Expanded cross section) The figure for demonstrating the expansion-contraction operation | movement of the extension pipe | tube for the vacuum cleaner ((a) The external view seen from the upper surface of the extension pipe | tube, (b) The internal structure of the part B shown with the broken line in the same figure (a) Figure showing External view of conventional vacuum cleaner

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electric blower 2 Electric blower control means 3 Loss amount setting means 4 Loss detection means 5 Hose attachment detection means 6 Arithmetic processing means 10 Vacuum cleaner main body 11 Hose (attachment)
12 Extension pipe (attachment)

Claims (5)

An electric blower for sucking dust, an electric blower control means for controlling the electric blower, a vacuum cleaner body incorporating the electric blower and the electric blower control means, and a hose and an extension pipe attached to the vacuum cleaner body And a loss detection unit that detects a signal corresponding to a decrease in the air volume of the attachment and outputs the detection signal to the electric blower control unit, and the electric motor according to the detection signal of the loss detection unit A vacuum cleaner that varies the power supplied to the blower. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, further comprising a loss amount setting unit configured to output a signal corresponding to a length of the attachment to the loss detection unit. An electric blower for sucking dust, an electric blower control means for controlling the electric blower, a vacuum cleaner body incorporating the electric blower and the electric blower control means, and a hose attached to the vacuum cleaner body And a loss detection means for detecting a signal corresponding to the length of the extension pipe and outputting the detection signal to the electric blower control means, and according to the detection signal of the loss detection means A vacuum cleaner that varies the power supplied to the electric blower. A hose attachment detecting means for detecting whether or not the hose is attached to the vacuum cleaner body is provided, and when the hose is detached from the cleaner body, the power supplied to the electric blower can be reduced. Item 4. The vacuum cleaner according to any one of Items 1 to 3. The vacuum cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the loss detection means is configured to be effective only when a hose is attached to a vacuum cleaner body.

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