JP2009018074A - Vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make self-propelled drive by driving wheels respond to pulling a vacuum cleaner body inch by inch. <P>SOLUTION: A vacuum cleaner has a plurality of auxiliary wheels (wheels) 6 and a traveling unit 11, and includes a wheel base 7 rotatably connected to the lower surface of the vacuum cleaner body 1 through a turning connecting portion 12, wherein an operation force-detecting means 18 detects user's force to pull the vacuum cleaner body 1 mounted on the wheel base 7, a machine body rotation-determining means 30 determines a change in direction of travel between a connecting port for a hose 2 and the center of the wheel base 7, and determines only the direction of travel within a predetermined range as pulling in the direction of travel to execute the self-propelled drive. Therefore, the convenient vacuum cleaner is configured such that when pulling is not determined as pulling in the direction of travel, it becomes necessary only to rotate the vacuum cleaner body 1 on the wheel base 7, and only when a pulling force is detected in the direction of travel, the self-travelled drive is executed without putting a burden on the user in pulling the vacuum cleaner body inch by inch. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner having a self-propelled function, and more particularly to control for improving usability by a self-propelled function for operation by reducing the drawing power of the vacuum cleaner.

The purpose of a vacuum cleaner with a self-propelled function is to reduce the burden of the user on the routing of the vacuum cleaner, but as one of the challenges, there is whether to follow the routing more and perform self-running . As a means for solving this problem, several inventions have been considered so far. For example, the invention described in Patent Literature 1 detects the angle of the hand portion of the hose connected to the vacuum cleaner main body and detects the positional relationship of the predetermined portion of the pipe so that the main body falls within the predetermined range. Control to reduce the operation load by controlling the left and right drive wheels by detecting the hose lead-out direction with respect to the floor surface.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-314569

  According to these inventions, it is necessary to provide the sensor in the hose part, but there is a possibility that the handling will become somewhat rough in character, and there is a problem in durability from the viewpoint of dropping impact etc. there were. In addition, hose routing was not a suitable method for routing irregularly and smallly in high places, low places and narrow parts.

  In order to solve these problems, the present invention arranges the structure in the vacuum cleaner main body part, and controls the self-propelled function after allowing the vacuum cleaner main body to turn freely so as not to interfere with irregular and fine routing. Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum cleaner with good operability.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, the vacuum cleaner of the present invention is connected to a vacuum cleaner main body including an electric blower and a dust collection chamber communicating with the electric blower, and a connection port established in the vacuum cleaner main body. The hose communicates with the dust collection chamber, and has a plurality of wheels on a substantially outer peripheral portion, and is rotatable with the cleaner body through a rotary connection provided on the lower surface of the cleaner body. A substantially disk-shaped wheel base connected in a state, and a driving means that is provided on the lower surface of the cleaner body and that passes through a hole provided in a substantially central portion of the wheel base, and includes an electric motor or the like. A driving wheel, an operation force detecting means for detecting an operation force of a user trying to route the vacuum cleaner body, a pulling direction when the vacuum cleaner body is routed, that is, an approximate center of the connection port of the hose and the wheel base Aircraft rotation judgment that judges changes in the direction of travel line connecting parts And when the operating force detection means detects the operating force, the self-propelled driving by the driving wheel is performed only when the traveling direction line is within a predetermined range for a predetermined time. It is.

  According to the electric vacuum cleaner of the present invention, the main body of the vacuum cleaner is freely rotatable on the wheel base, and is self-propelled only when it detects the pulling force in the traveling direction without imposing a burden on the user with a small amount of routing. By performing the control, a highly usable vacuum cleaner can be provided.

  The first invention communicates with the dust collection chamber by being connected to a vacuum cleaner body incorporating an electric blower and a dust collection chamber communicating with the electric blower, and a connection port established in the vacuum cleaner body. A substantially disc-shaped wheel having a plurality of wheels on a hose and a substantially outer peripheral portion and connected to the cleaner body in a rotatable state via a rotation connecting portion provided on a lower surface of the cleaner body A driving wheel provided with a driving means comprising an electric motor or the like provided on a lower surface of the vacuum cleaner main body and passing through a hole provided in a substantially central portion of the wheel base; An operation force detecting means for detecting an operation force to be routed, and a pulling direction when the cleaner body is routed, that is, a change in a traveling direction line connecting a connection port of the hose and a substantially central portion of the wheel base is determined. Airframe rotation determining means, and the operating force detecting means is operated. When the force is detected, only when the traveling direction line is within a predetermined range for a predetermined time, self-propelled driving by the drive wheel is performed, and the cleaner body rotates on the wheel base. Provide a vacuum cleaner that has a self-propelled function that is easy to use by performing self-propelled control only when it detects a pulling force in the direction of travel without being burdened on the user with a small amount of routing. be able to.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the rotation connecting portion according to the first aspect of the present invention is constituted by a plurality of rotation wheels, and at least one of the rotation wheels is provided with a rotation detection means including an encoder, etc. When the operation force detection means detects that the user has pulled the cleaner body, the cleaner body moves more than a predetermined angle with respect to the wheel base within a predetermined time by the output from the rotation detection means. The change in the angle of the direction of travel line is judged to determine whether or not self-propelled driving is performed by the drive wheels, and the vacuum cleaner body rotates on the wheel base. It is free to determine the force of pulling in the direction of travel by judging the rotation status of the main body of the vacuum cleaner on the wheel base without burdening the user with small patrolling, and can self-propelled. So easy to use It is possible to provide an electric vacuum cleaner have with the self-propelled function.

  3rd invention sets it as the structure which supports the several wheel with which the wheel base lower part of 1st or 2nd invention was equipped in the state which can rotate freely with respect to a wheel base, and also rotation with respect to the wheel base of the said wheel A wheel angle detector that detects the angle of each wheel relative to the wheel base, and a wheel travel detector that determines the rotation of the wheel relative to the floor surface. Judgment means judges the angle change of the traveling direction line by judging the angular difference between the wheels relative to the wheel platform and the running state of the wheel platform with respect to the floor surface, and whether or not to perform self-propelled driving by the drive wheels. By judging the rotation status of the main body of the vacuum cleaner and the wheel base with respect to the floor surface, it is possible to determine the pulling force in the direction of travel and perform self-running. Good self-propelled aircraft It is possible to provide a vacuum cleaner with.

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

(Embodiment 1)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, each component will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is an external view of a vacuum cleaner according to the present invention. Reference numeral 1 denotes a vacuum cleaner body, to which a hose 2 is connected via a connection port 9. 3 is an operating means provided at the tip of the hose 2, and the user can set the suction force of the vacuum cleaner by operating the operating means 3. Reference numeral 4 denotes an extension pipe that connects the hose 2 and the floor suction tool 5. Connected to the bottom of the vacuum cleaner body 1 is a turntable 7 on which four auxiliary wheels (wheels) 6 made of casters are arranged.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the electric vacuum cleaner main body 1 and the wheel base 7 viewed from the substantially bottom direction, and four auxiliary wheels 6 are arranged on the outer periphery of the bottom part of the wheel base 7. Reference numeral 11 denotes a traveling unit composed of the traveling roller 10 and the like, and the traveling roller 10 is fixed at a substantially center of gravity position 8 at the bottom of the vacuum cleaner main body 1 in the same direction as the main body drawing direction of the hose 2. With this configuration, when the cleaner body 1 is routed, the traveling direction line connecting the connection port 9 and the center of gravity of the wheel base 7 and the direction of the traveling roller 10 are the same, and the angle with respect to the floor surface is determined by the direction of the traveling roller 10. can do. Moreover, the rotation connection part 12 is provided in the lower part of the cleaner main body 1 by 3 point | piece structure, and the cleaner main body 1 exists in the state which can be rotated with respect to the wheel base 7. FIG.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the vacuum cleaner 1 and the base 7. The vacuum cleaner body 1 includes an electric blower 14 and a dust collection chamber 15 communicating with the electric blower 14. Further, the hose 2 is connected to the dust collection chamber 15 through the connection port 9. At this time, the connection port 9 is provided with operating force detecting means 18 for detecting that the hose 2 constituted by a micro switch or the like is pulled.

  FIG. 4 is a system configuration block diagram of the vacuum cleaner of the present invention. When it is confirmed that the operation is instructed by the operation means 3 as a vacuum cleaner, the control means 13 outputs a signal to the electric blower driving means 16 constituted by a bidirectional thyristor or the like to drive the electric blower 14. The travel unit 11 includes a drive motor 19 which is a drive means driven by a drive motor control means 17 constituted by a switching element and the like, and a speed reduction means 20 which rotationally drives the drive shaft 21 by reducing the rotational output of the drive motor 19. And a traveling roller 10 that rotates in accordance with the rotation of the drive shaft 21 and causes the electric vacuum cleaner main body 1 to self-run. Here, when the drive motor 19 is stopped, the clutch 22 is disconnected at the same time by the clutch control means 23 composed of an actuator or the like so that the traveling roller 10 can freely rotate (idle). It is easy to rotate. Further, there is a main body rotation detecting means 25 constituted by an encoder or the like that synchronizes with the rotation of the rotation connecting portion 12 that is a connecting portion between the cleaner body 1 and the wheel base 7. Further, the auxiliary wheel 6 has a wheel angle detecting means 27 for detecting the angle of the auxiliary wheel with respect to the traveling roller 10 constituted by a potentiometer and the like, and a wheel running detecting means 28 for detecting the rotation of the auxiliary wheel 6 constituted by a Hall IC. From the output of the wheel angle detecting means 27 and the output of the wheel traveling means 28, the wheel traveling determining means 29 determines the traveling state of the wheel base 7. The body rotation determining means 30 determines whether or not to perform the self-running function of the cleaner body 1 and the wheel base 7 from the output of the operating force detecting means 18 and the output of the main body rotation detecting means 25 or the output of the wheel traveling determining means 29. When self-running is performed, a signal is sent to the drive motor drive means 17 to drive the drive motor 19 and a signal is sent to the clutch connection means 23 to connect the clutch 22.

  The operation of each component described above will be described with reference to FIGS.

  When the user pulls the hose 2 to move the cleaning place, the buckle portion of the hose 2 pushes the micro switch constituting the operation force detection means at the connection port 9, and a signal enters the machine body rotation determination means 30. At a predetermined time (for example, 0.5 seconds) from this time point, the main body rotation detecting means 25 composed of an encoder or the like that synchronizes with the rotation of the rotation connecting portion 12 is used as shown in FIG. If the signal for determining that the angle R with respect to 7 is rotating less than a predetermined amount (e.g., corresponding to 5 degrees) is sent to the airframe rotation determining means 30, the airframe rotation determining means 30 is It is determined that the user is trying to pull the vacuum cleaner main body 1 in the direction of travel, not a rotation with respect to the wheel base 7, and a signal is output to the drive motor drive means 17 to drive the drive motor 19. The drive motor 19 drives and tries to drive the drive shaft 21 via the speed reduction means 20. At the same time, the airframe rotation determining means 30 outputs a signal so that the clutch connecting means 23 is connected to the clutch 22. An actuator is configured in the clutch connection means 23, and a drive shaft 21 is connected to transmit the output of the speed reduction means 20 to the traveling roller. Thus, the cleaner body 1 and the wheel base 7 move forward in response to the user's pull. The driving time is performed only for a predetermined time, and the body rotation determination means 30 repeats the determination every time for continuous pulling. Conversely, if the angle R of the cleaner body 1 with respect to the wheel base 7 is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount, it is determined that the user is not trying to pull the cleaner body 1 but is trying to rotate it on the spot. Then, a signal is sent so that the clutch 22 is not connected to the clutch connecting means 23, and the drive motor 19 is not driven by the drive motor drive means 17, so that the clutch 22 is removed when unnecessary. It is easy to route without driving the motor 19, wasteful power consumption can be suppressed, and usability can be improved. At this time, when the clutch 22 is not connected, the traveling roller 10 is configured by a spring (not shown) or the like so as to be higher than the auxiliary wheel 6 with respect to the floor surface, and the clutch 22 is connected by the drive motor 19. In the case of driving, it is possible to perform the drawing more easily by adopting a configuration in which the actuator is lowered so that a sufficient grip can be obtained with respect to the floor surface by the operation of the actuator.

  Further, when it is desired to rotate the cleaner body 1 depending on the type of the floor surface, the wheel base 7 may be rotated together with the cleaner body 1 on the spot. First, the auxiliary wheel 6 is configured with a wheel angle detecting means 27 composed of a potentiometer. As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the auxiliary wheel 6 has a certain direction (for example, the direction of the traveling roller 10). Then, the angles r1, r2, r3, r4 of the respective auxiliary wheels are detected. When the user tries to pull the vacuum cleaner main body 1 in the traveling direction, the angles r1 to r4 show substantially the same angle as shown in (a), but when the user wants to make a rotational movement, as shown in (b). In r1 to r4, there is a large difference in angle (for example, it is determined whether straightness can be determined based on whether it is 90 degrees or more).

  Further, since there is a wheel trend detection means 28 for detecting the rotation of the auxiliary wheel composed of a Hall IC or the like in the auxiliary wheel, the wheel travel determination means 29 is configured to calculate the difference between the rotation of the auxiliary wheel 6 and the angle difference between the auxiliary wheels. Judging from the signal of the detection means 28 and the signal of the wheel angle detection means 27, it is judged whether the wheel base 7 is going to rotate on the spot or moving in the traveling direction, and a signal is sent to the expected rotation judgment means 30 . Based on this information, the machine body rotation determining means 30 controls the clutch 22 and the drive motor 19 to determine whether or not the drive by the drive motor 19 of the cleaner body 1 is pulled in the traveling direction of the user. It is possible to improve the usability.

  By judging the output of the main body rotation detecting means 25 and the output of the wheel running judging means 29 according to the angle between the cleaner body 1 and the wheel base 7, whether or not the pulling of the cleaner body 1 is in the traveling direction is more determined. It can also be judged with certainty.

  It should be noted that the purpose may be the same even if the types of sensors and judgment criteria in the above embodiment are different. For example, rotation detection or angle detection using an optical sensor or a plurality of magnets may be performed.

  As described above, the present invention is a useful technique for a high-value-added, high-function vacuum cleaner that reduces fatigue during cleaning.

External appearance perspective view around the electric vacuum cleaner according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention The external perspective view from the bottom diagonal direction of the vacuum cleaner Cross section of the vacuum cleaner The block diagram which shows the system configuration of the vacuum cleaner Rotation operation explanatory drawing of the lower part of the vacuum cleaner body (A) The same top view when the wheel base of the vacuum cleaner goes straight (b) The same top view when the wheel base rotates

Explanation of symbols

1 Vacuum Cleaner Body 2 Hose 6 Auxiliary Wheel (Wheel)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 9 Connection port 10 Traveling roller 11 Traveling unit 12 Rotation connection part 17 Drive motor control means 18 Operating force detection means 19 Drive motor 20 Deceleration means 21 Drive shaft 22 Clutch 23 Clutch connection means 25 Main body rotation detection means 27 Wheel angle detection means 28 Wheel running detection means 29 Wheel running judgment means 30 Airframe rotation judgment means

Claims (3)

A vacuum cleaner main body incorporating an electric blower and a dust collection chamber communicating with the electric blower, a hose communicating with the dust collection chamber by being connected to a connection port established in the vacuum cleaner main body, and a substantially outer peripheral portion And a plurality of wheels, and a substantially disk-shaped wheel base connected to the vacuum cleaner body in a rotatable state via a rotary connection provided on the lower surface of the vacuum cleaner body, and the vacuum cleaner A driving wheel provided with a driving means made of an electric motor or the like provided on a lower surface of the main body and penetrating a hole provided in a substantially central portion of the wheel base, and a user tries to draw the cleaner main body Operation force detection means for detecting operation force, and body rotation determination for determining a change in a pulling direction when the vacuum cleaner main body is routed, that is, a direction of a traveling direction line connecting a connection port of the hose and a substantially central portion of the wheel base And the operation force detecting means generates the operation force. When issued, the vacuum cleaner in which the traveling direction line only if the fall predetermined time within a predetermined range, and performs self-propelled by the drive wheel. The rotation connecting portion is composed of a plurality of rotation wheels, and at least one of the rotation wheels is provided with rotation detection means including an encoder or the like, and the machine body rotation determination means is cleaned by the user by the operation force detection means. When it is detected that the machine body has been pulled, it is determined whether or not the cleaner body has moved more than a predetermined angle with respect to the wheel base within a predetermined time by the output from the rotation detection means. 2. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein a change in the angle of the direction line is determined, and whether or not self-propelled driving by the driving wheel is performed is determined. A plurality of wheels provided at the lower part of the wheel base are configured to support the wheel base so as to be rotatable with respect to the wheel base, and further configured by a potentiometer or the like that interlocks with the rotation of the wheel with respect to the wheel base. A wheel angle detecting means for detecting an angle with respect to the wheel, and a wheel traveling judging means for judging the rotation of the wheel composed of a Hall IC or the like with respect to the floor surface. 3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining whether or not self-propelled driving by driving wheels is performed by determining a change in an angle of a traveling direction line by determining a traveling state of the wheel base with respect to the floor surface. Electric vacuum cleaner.

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