JP2009240696A - Vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vacuum cleaner equipped with cord reel equipment which is suitable for the miniaturization of a vacuum cleaner body and can employ a long power cord while controlling an increase in weight. <P>SOLUTION: The cord reel equipment 11 loaded in the vacuum cleaner body includes a cord reel 12, a rotation hoop 15, a gear interlocking mechanism 21, and a power spring 25. The cord reel 12 is rotatably formed for the winding and drawing out of the power cord 14. The rotation hoop 15 is rotatably arranged in the neighborhood of the side face of the cord reel 12. The rotation of the rotation hoop 15 and the cord reel 12 is interlocked by the gear interlocking mechanism 21. The power spring 25 energizes the cord reel 12 in the winding direction of the power cord 14 by connecting its movable end with the rotation hoop 15. When the power cord 14 is rolled round, the movable end of the power spring 25 is rotated together with the rotation hoop 15 with fewer rotation than that of the cord reel 12 by the gear interlocking mechanism 21. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electric vacuum cleaner including a cord reel device that winds a power cord around a cord reel by a biasing force of a spring.

  Conventionally, one end of the mainspring spring is fixed to the rotating shaft of the cord reel, and the other end of the mainspring spring is fixed to the side surface of the cord reel, and the cord reel is always energized in the direction in which the power cord is wound by the mainspring spring A cord reel device for a vacuum cleaner is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In this cord reel device, when the cord reel makes one revolution, the other end of the mainspring spring fixed to the side surface of the cord reel also makes one revolution. That is, the other ends of the cord reel and the spring spring are rotated by the same angle.

  Further, according to Patent Document 1, a pulley is rotatably supported on a side surface of a cord reel, and both ends of a spring are fixed to the pulley and the rotation shaft of the cord reel, respectively. There is also known a cord reel device of an electric vacuum cleaner in which a winding amount of a spring spring to be returned is wound around a pulley so that a winding torque is substantially constant.

Even in this cord reel device, the other end of the cord reel is the same as that fixed to the side surface of the cord reel via a pulley. The same angle is rotated.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-8333 (page 1, right column, lines 2-7, FIG. 5, column for means for solving the problem, column for action, column for example, FIG. (Fig. 4)

  The length of the power cord of the cord reel device installed in the vacuum cleaner currently provided in Japan is approximately 5 m, and a vacuum cleaner having a power cord longer than this, for example, 10 m or more is provided. Absent. The longer the power cord, the wider the range in which the main body of the vacuum cleaner can be moved while the cord is still connected to the outlet, so that even if the floor area is large indoors, the power cord can be cleaned without replacing the outlet. This is preferable.

  However, following the configuration of the conventional cord reel device, for example, when a long power cord of 10 m or longer can be wound, there are the following problems.

  The longer the power cord is, the longer the power cord cannot be wound up unless the number of rotations of the cord reel is increased accordingly. For this reason, in the cord reel device in which the other end of the cord reel and the spring spring is rotated by the same angle as described above, the number of windings of the spring spring that urges the cord reel in the direction of winding the power cord increases. The spring must be made large. When the mainspring spring has a large diameter in this way, not only does the cost of the mainspring spring increase, but it also requires more space for incorporating the cord reel device into the cleaner body. Is not suitable.

  Further, as the mainspring spring has a large diameter, the weight of the mainspring spring increases and the cord reel device becomes heavier. Moreover, the longer the power cord length, not only increases the weight of the cord, but also increases the frictional resistance between the drawn power cord and the indoor floor surface. Must be increased. Therefore, since it is necessary to increase the plate | board thickness of a mainspring spring, it will not be avoided that the weight of a mainspring spring increases in connection with it, but a cord reel apparatus will become heavy. Naturally, the weight of the main body of the vacuum cleaner on which such a heavy cord reel device is mounted increases. For this reason, a large force is required for a cleaning operation such as an operation of pulling the cleaner body along the indoor floor surface or an operation of lifting and moving the cleaner body, which is not preferable.

  The objective of this invention is providing the vacuum cleaner provided with the cord reel apparatus which is suitable for size reduction of a vacuum cleaner main body, and can use a long power cord, suppressing the increase in a weight.

  According to the present invention, a cord reel that is rotatable for winding and unwinding a power cord and a rotating wheel that is rotatably disposed near the side surface of the reel are interlocked by a gear interlocking mechanism, and the power cord The movable end of the mainspring spring that urges the cord reel in the winding direction is connected to the rotating wheel, and when the power cord is wound, the movable end is less than the rotation of the cord reel together with the rotating wheel by the gear interlocking mechanism. The cord reel device that is rotated is mounted on the main body of the cleaner.

  According to the present invention, there is no need to make the mainspring spring long and large in accordance with the length of the power cord even though a long power cord can be used. Accordingly, a vacuum cleaner suitable for downsizing the vacuum cleaner body can be provided.

  A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  Reference numeral 1 in FIG. 1 indicates a vacuum cleaner body of the vacuum cleaner. The vacuum cleaner main body 1 has wheels (not shown) for freely moving along a floor surface, which is a room to be cleaned. A suction air passage means (not shown) is connected to the dust suction port 2 provided at the front portion of the cleaner body 1. The suction air passage means includes a flexible dust suction hose whose one end is inserted and connected to the dust suction port 2, an extension pipe connected to the tip of the hose, and a suction mouth connected to the tip of the extension pipe. And.

  A grip portion is formed at the tip of the dust suction hose, and the user can grip it and move the suction port along the surface to be cleaned via the extension tube. The cleaner body 1 can be moved along the surface to be cleaned.

  When an electric blower (not shown) built in the cleaner body 1 is operated, dust on the surface to be cleaned is sucked into the dust suction port 2 together with air through the suction air passage means. The vacuum cleaner main body 1 is provided with dust separation means (not shown) for separating the sucked dust-containing air into air and dust, and a dust collecting part (not shown) for collecting dust separated from the air. It has been. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 3 denotes an exhaust part provided at the rear part of the cleaner body 1. Exhaust gas discharged from the electric blower is discharged outside the cleaner body 1 through the exhaust part 3. In addition, the code | symbol 4 in FIG. 1 has shown the handle part formed, for example in the front-end part of the cleaner body 1, and can hold the handle part 4 and can carry the cleaner body 1. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cord reel device 11 mounted on the cleaner body 1 is disposed inside the rear portion of the cleaner body 1. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cord reel device 11 includes a cord reel 12, a power cord 14, a rotating wheel 15, a gear interlocking mechanism 21, and a spring 25.

  The cord reel 12 is formed by connecting frame plates 12b having a diameter larger than that of the cylinder 12a on both sides in the axial direction of the circular cylinder 12a. The frame plate 12 b forms the side surface of the cord reel 12. The cord reel 12 is rotatably supported by a fixed shaft 13 disposed through the central portion thereof. The cord reel 12 is formed in a size capable of winding the power cord 14 having a length exceeding 5 m, for example, 10 m to 20 m.

  One end of the power cord 14 having the length is fixed to the cord reel 12, and the power cord 14 has a plug 14a (see FIG. 3) at the other end. As shown in FIG. 1, the plug 14 a is always disposed outside the cleaner body 1. The power cord 14 is wound or fed around the cord reel 12 as the cord reel 12 rotates.

  The one end of the power cord 14 is connected to a slip ring device (not shown) disposed in the cleaner body 1 adjacent to one frame plate (left frame plate in FIG. 2) 12b of the cord reel 12. Power is supplied to the electric blower (not shown) and its control unit via the power cord 14 and the slip ring device.

  The rotating wheel 15 is rotatably supported by the fixed shaft 13 penetrating through the center portion thereof, and is disposed in the vicinity of the other frame plate (the right frame plate in FIG. 2) 12b of the cord reel 12. The rotating wheel 15 has a concave shape with one open side, and the open side faces the other frame plate 12 b of the cord reel 12. The diameter of the rotating wheel 15 is smaller than the diameter of the cord reel 12.

  The rotating wheel 15 and the cord reel 12 are interlocked by a gear interlocking mechanism 21. The gear interlocking mechanism 21 includes a reel side gear portion 22, a rotating wheel side gear portion 23, and an intermediate gear 24.

  The reel side gear portion 22 is composed of a spur gear attached to the central portion of the outer surface of the other frame plate 12 b that forms the side surface of the cord reel 12. When the frame plate 12b is made of synthetic resin or light metal, the reel side gear portion 22 can be provided integrally with the molding. The diameter of the reel side gear portion 22 is smaller than the diameter of the rotating wheel 15.

  The rotating wheel side gear portion 23 is composed of an internal gear integrally formed on the inner peripheral portion of the rotating wheel 15. The rotating wheel side gear portion 23 is larger than the diameter of the reel side gear portion 22.

  The intermediate gear 24 is a spur gear having a smaller diameter than the reel side gear portion 22. The intermediate gear 24 is rotatably supported by an idler shaft 16 projecting from the inner surface of the rotating wheel 15, and meshed with the reel side gear portion 22 and the rotating wheel side gear portion 23, respectively. In the present embodiment, one intermediate gear 24 is used, but it is also possible to connect the reel side gear portion 22 and the rotating wheel side gear portion 23 using a plurality of intermediate gears 24.

  The gear interlocking mechanism 21 having the above-described configuration is covered with a rotating wheel 15, and a reel-side gear portion 22 is disposed at an inner center portion of the rotating wheel 15. In the present embodiment, each gear part of the gear interlocking mechanism 21 and the rotating wheel 15 are made of synthetic resin to reduce the weight.

  The mainspring spring 25 biases the cord reel 12 in the winding direction of the power cord 14, and fixes one end to the fixed shaft 13, and the movable end 25 a formed of the other end to the outer surface of the rotating wheel 15. It is connected to a spring receiver 17 (see FIG. 3) projecting from the outer surface of the rotary wheel 15 so as to be adjacent to the outer surface. The mainspring spring 25 has a torque capable of winding the power cord 14 fed out from the cord reel 12 by increasing the plate thickness. The diameter of the mainspring spring 25 when it is maximally slack is smaller than the diameter of the rotating wheel 15 as shown in FIGS.

  The movable end 25 a of the spring 25 connected to the spring receiver 17 is rotated together with the rotating wheel 15 as the power cord 14 is wound and fed. This rotation is not the same rotation as that of the cord reel 12, but a gear interlocking mechanism so that the cord reel is rotated more than once, for example, more than once, for example, four times with respect to one rotation of the movable end 25a and the rotating wheel 15. A gear ratio of 21 is defined.

  In addition, the code | symbol 31 in FIG. 1 has shown the brake release button of the brake mechanism. The brake mechanism is provided to stop the rotation of the cord reel 12 as the drawing force disappears in a state where the power cord 14 is pulled out to an arbitrary length. The brake release button 31 is provided to enable automatic winding of the power cord 14 so that the brake force of the brake mechanism is not applied to the cord reel 12 while it is pressed down.

  When the power cord 14 is pulled out from the cleaner body 1, the cord reel 12 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 3 and the power cord 14 is fed out from the cord reel 12. At the same time, the rotating wheel 15 interlocked with the rotation of the cord reel 12 via the gear interlocking mechanism 21 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 3, so that the spring spring is rotated as the movable end 25a is rotated together with the rotating wheel 15. 25 is tightened.

  In order to wind the power cord 14 around the cord reel 12 after cleaning is completed, the brake release button 31 may be pushed down. As a result, the mainspring 25 is loosened from the tightened state, and the movable end 25a is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 3 together with the rotating wheel 15, and the rotation of the rotating wheel 15 is interlocked via the gear interlocking mechanism 21. The cord reel 12 to be rotated is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 3, and the power cord 14 is wound around the cord reel 12.

  In this case, when the movable end 25a of the mainspring spring 25 rotates once together with the rotating wheel 15, the cord reel 12 interlocked with the rotation exceeds the rotation by the gear interlocking mechanism 21 according to the gear ratio of the mechanism, for example, 4 It is rotated. That is, the rotation of the cord reel 12 when the power cord 14 is wound is more than the rotation of the movable end 25a of the mainspring spring 25 and the rotating wheel 15 rotating together with this, and conversely, the movable end 25a and the rotating wheel 15 are rotated. The rotation is less than the rotation of the cord reel 12.

  Therefore, although the power cord 14 is 10 m or longer, the length of the mainspring spring 25 that biases the cord reel 12 in the winding direction can be shortened. Since the length of the mainspring spring 25 is short in this way, in order to obtain the torque necessary for winding the power cord 14 having a length of 10 m or more, the mainspring spring can be obtained even if the thickness of the mainspring spring 25 is increased. The diameter of 25 is not so large.

  Therefore, by using the power cord 14 having a length of 10 m or more, the range in which the cleaner body 1 can be moved can be expanded while the plug 14a of the power cord 14 is connected to an outlet (not shown). Thereby, even if the floor surface which is an indoor surface to be cleaned is wide, cleaning can be performed without replacement of the power cord 14 with respect to the outlet.

  Moreover, in order to obtain the number of rotations of the cord reel 12 corresponding to the length of the power cord 14 drawn out of the cleaner body 1 as described above, the rotation of the movable end 25a of the mainspring spring 25 is obtained. Instead of increasing the rotation of the movable end 25a with respect to the rotation of the cord reel 12 by the gear interlocking mechanism 21, the mainspring spring 25 can be shortened to have a small diameter. Therefore, the cost of the mainspring 25 can be reduced, and the space for incorporating the cord reel device 11 into the cleaner body 1 can be reduced, which is suitable for downsizing the cleaner body 1.

  In addition, since the mainspring spring 25 has a small diameter, the thickness of the mainspring spring 25 is increased in order to obtain a necessary torque, but the cord reel device 11 provided with this can be lightened. Thereby, it is possible to suppress an increase in the weight of the cleaner body 1 on which the cord reel device 11 is mounted due to the mainspring spring 25. Therefore, since it becomes unnecessary to require a large force for the cleaning operation such as the operation of pulling the cleaner body 1 along the indoor floor surface or the operation of lifting and moving the cleaner body 1, it is easy to handle.

  A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Since the second embodiment is the same as the first embodiment except for the items described below, the same components as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as those of the first embodiment, and description thereof is omitted.

  In the second embodiment, the fixed shaft 13 is a dedicated shaft for the cord reel 12, and the rotating wheel 15 is rotatably supported by another fixed shaft 40 dedicated thereto. The other fixed shaft 40 is provided in parallel to the fixed shaft 13 at a position separated in the radial direction of the fixed shaft 13.

  Furthermore, in the second embodiment, the gear interlocking mechanism 41 that interlocks the cord reel 12 and the rotating wheel 15 is configured as a direct connection type that does not use an intermediate gear. That is, the gear interlocking mechanism 41 includes the reel-side gear portion 22 provided on the cord reel 12 as described in the first embodiment, and the rotating wheel-side gear portion 42 provided on the peripheral portion of the rotating wheel 15, for example, the outer peripheral portion. And is formed. The reel side gear portion 22 and the rotating wheel side gear portion 42 are directly meshed with each other.

  It is possible to form the rotating wheel side gear portion 42 on the inner peripheral portion of the rotating wheel 15 and directly mesh with the reel side gear portion 22, but the rotating wheel side gear portion as in the present embodiment. It is preferable that 42 is an external gear in that the rotating wheel 15 can be reduced in diameter and weight.

  In the second embodiment, a spring spring 25 that urges the cord reel 12 in the winding direction of the power cord 14 is disposed inside the rotating wheel 15. In this case, the mainspring 25 has one end fixed to the other fixed shaft 40 and a movable end (not shown) composed of the other end connected to a spring receiver (not shown) protruding from the inner surface of the rotating wheel 15. Is provided. The mainspring 25 is wound in a direction opposite to the winding direction of the first embodiment because the gear interlocking mechanism 41 does not use an idler gear.

  Configurations other than those described above are the same as those in the first embodiment, including configurations not shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Therefore, also in the second embodiment, the problem of the present invention can be solved for the reason described in the first embodiment.

  Moreover, the spring can be protected by covering the mainspring spring 25 with the concave rotating wheel 15. In addition, since the mainspring spring 25 is housed in the rotary wheel 15, the width of the protruding portion from the frame plate 12b indicated by the dimension L1 in FIG. 4 and, by extension, the cord reel device indicated by the dimension L2 in FIG. This is preferable in that the width of 11 can be reduced and miniaturization of the apparatus can be promoted.

  In addition, although each said embodiment was comprised as mentioned above, this invention is not restrict | limited to these. For example, the present invention can be applied to a vacuum cleaner including a cord reel device having a power cord of 5 m or less, and in this case, the spring spring can be reduced in size and weight.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The perspective view which shows the vacuum cleaner which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention, and has notched some. The schematic cross section which shows the cord reel apparatus with which the vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1 is provided. The schematic side view which shows the cord reel apparatus of FIG. The schematic cross section which shows the cord reel apparatus with which the vacuum cleaner which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention is provided. The schematic side view which shows the cord reel apparatus of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vacuum cleaner main body, 11 ... Cord reel apparatus, 12 ... Cord reel, 12a ... Frame board (side surface of cord reel), 14 ... Power cord, 15 ... Rotating wheel, 17 ... Spring support, 21 ... Gear interlocking mechanism, 22 ... reel side gear part, 23 ... rotating wheel side gear part, 24 ... intermediate gear, 25 ... mainspring spring, 25a ... movable end

Claims (5)

In a vacuum cleaner with a cord reel device mounted on the vacuum cleaner body,
The cord reel device is
A cord reel provided rotatably for winding and unwinding of the power cord;
A rotating wheel rotatably disposed near the side surface of the cord reel;
A gear interlocking mechanism for interlocking the rotation of the rotating wheel and the cord reel;
The movable end connected to the rotating wheel urges the cord reel in the winding direction of the power cord, and the movable end is rotated by the gear interlocking mechanism when the power cord is wound. A mainspring spring that is rotated together with the ring less than the rotation of the cord reel;
The vacuum cleaner characterized by comprising.   The gear interlocking mechanism is provided on the cord reel and is rotated integrally with the cord reel, and a reel-side gear portion having a larger diameter than the reel-side gear portion and provided on the rotating wheel. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the vacuum cleaner is formed of at least one intermediate gear that connects the gear portions.   The gear interlocking mechanism is provided on the cord reel and is rotated integrally with the cord reel, and the reel-side gear portion has a larger diameter than the reel-side gear portion and is provided on a peripheral portion of the rotating wheel. 2. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the electric vacuum cleaner is formed of a rotating wheel side gear portion meshed with the side gear portion.   The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 3, wherein the rotating wheel has a concave shape with one side surface opened, and the mainspring spring is disposed inside the rotating wheel.   The length of the said power cord is 10m-20m, The vacuum cleaner as described in any one of Claim 1 to 4 characterized by the above-mentioned.

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