JP2010029270A - Vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a low-cost vacuum cleaner capable of efficiently sucking fine dust floating in the air simultaneously with the cleaning of a floor surface or the like in a simple structure and suppressing adverse effects on a human body, and which is excellent in handleability. <P>SOLUTION: The vacuum cleaner includes a hose provided with a suction tool for a floor for sucking dust or the like on the floor surface, and a cleaner body 1 having a first suction port 4 connected to the hose and housing a dust collecting box 23 and a motor-driven blower 40 communicating with the first suction port 4 on the inside. The cleaner body 1 is provided with a second suction port 14 which is communicating with an opening 26 provided on the dust collecting box 23 and sucks the fine dust floating in the air, and the opening 26 of the dust collecting box 23 is provided with an air path switching valve for adjusting the opening area of the opening 26. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner, and more particularly to a vacuum cleaner having a function of simultaneously sucking fine dust floating in the air during cleaning of a floor surface or the like.

When cleaning with an electric vacuum cleaner, dust, pollen, allergens, dust, etc. adhering to or on the floor surface, carpet, etc. are sucked into the vacuum cleaner body together with air to remove the dust. The pollen, allergen, dust, etc. (hereinafter referred to as fine dust) on the floor or carpet may be re-scattered into the air by walking of the person who is cleaning or exhausting from the vacuum cleaner body.
Because these re-scattered fine dust continues to float near the floor for a long time, in particular, infants with low mouth and nose positions inhale fine dust that has floated, causing hay fever, atopic dermatitis, etc. May be one of the causes of developing allergies.

  In order to solve such problems, an electric air cleaner for cleaning and a cleaning fan are provided in the main body of the cleaner, and an outside air intake air having a filter for the outside air on the upper surface of the cleaner body and sucking out the outside air by the cleaning fan. There is an electric vacuum cleaner that is provided with an outlet and an air exhaust port for discharging the air removed by the outdoor air filter so that the cleaning electric blower and the cleaning blower are driven simultaneously (for example, see Patent Document 1). .

JP 2004-113468 A (page 4, FIG. 2)

  The vacuum cleaner of the cited document 1 is a cleaning fan and a clean exhaust for sucking floating fine dust separately from a cleaning electric blower for sucking dust on the floor etc. and a main body outlet having a cleaning filter. Since an outside air exhaust port with a filter is provided to create a cleaning airflow separately from the normal cleaning airflow, the structure is complex and requires many parts, which makes it heavy and large in size There is a problem that the cost increases as well.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has a simple structure, efficiently sucking fine dust floating in the air simultaneously with cleaning of the floor surface, etc., and suppressing adverse effects on the human body. The purpose is to provide a low-cost and easy-to-use electric vacuum cleaner.

  The vacuum cleaner according to the present invention has a hose provided with a floor suction tool for sucking dust or the like on the floor surface, and a first suction port to which the hose is connected, and the first suction is provided inside. A vacuum cleaner main body containing a dust collection box and an electric blower that communicates with the mouth, and the vacuum cleaner main body communicates with an opening provided in the dust collection box to suck fine dust floating in the air. And an air passage switching valve for adjusting the opening area of the opening is provided at the opening of the dust collection box.

  According to the present invention, since a dedicated blower and filter for sucking airborne fine dust are not required, the vacuum cleaner body can be reduced in size and weight, and the cost can be reduced. Can do.

[Embodiment 1]
1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a vacuum cleaner main body of an electric vacuum cleaner according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the vacuum cleaner main body of FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the main part of FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view in the width direction of the air passage connection port and air passage opening / closing portion of FIGS. FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of the operation of the air passage opening / closing section of FIG. In the following description, the left side in FIG. 1 is referred to as a front side or upstream side, and the right side is referred to as a rear side or downstream side.

  In FIG. 8 showing the overall configuration of the electric vacuum cleaner according to the present invention, reference numeral 1 denotes a vacuum cleaner main body comprising a lower case 2, an upper case 3, an upper lid 10 and the like, and a dust collection box, an electric blower and the like to be described later are accommodated therein Then, one end of a bellows-like hose 45 is detachably connected to the hose connection port 4 provided on the front side, and the hand handle 46 provided on the other end of the hose 45 is connected to the floor at the tip. An extension pipe 47 to which the suction tool 48 is connected is detachably connected.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a hose connection port 4 (first suction port) is provided on the front side of the lower case 2 constituting the vacuum cleaner main body 1, and a gate type is further formed on the front portion thereof. A handle 5 is provided, and an exhaust port 6 is provided on the rear side. Reference numeral 7 denotes a plurality of wheels (casters) provided on the lower surface of the lower case 2.

  The upper lid 10 includes a lid main body 11 and a decorative plate 12 provided integrally therewith, and a rear side is attached to the upper case 3 by a hinge 13 so as to be freely opened and closed. Further, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a second suction port 14 is provided between the front side of the decorative plate 12 and the lid body 11. An air passage connection port 15 communicating with the second suction port 14 is provided via an air passage 16 between the plate 12 and the plate 12. Reference numeral 17 denotes a lock release button provided on the upper lid 10.

  In addition, a lattice-like partition wall 20 is provided in the vicinity of the center of the lower case 2 and the upper case 3 in the front-rear direction, and a dust collection chamber 21 is provided on the front side of the partition wall 20 on the rear side. Is provided with an electric blower chamber 22. A dust collection box 23 is detachably accommodated in the dust collection chamber 21, and the dust collection box 23 is locked and stood on the upper surface of the dust collection box 23 when the dust collection box 23 is accommodated in the dust collection chamber 21 and brought down. A handle 24 is provided that can be unlocked and can draw out the dust collection box 23 upward.

  Reference numeral 25 denotes an air passage opening / closing portion provided on the top plate of the dust collection box 23, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, facing the air passage connection port 15 provided in the upper lid 10 when the upper lid 10 is closed. , Having an opening 26 constituting an air passage from the second suction port 14 to the dust collection box 23, and a knob 29, which slides along guide rails 27 provided on both sides of the opening 26. The plate-shaped air path switching valve 28 that opens and closes the opening 26 is configured to adjust the opening area (air path) of the opening 26 by holding the knob 29 and sliding the air path switching valve 28 left and right. It has become. Reference numeral 30 denotes a filter provided integrally on the downstream side of the dust collection box 23.

  Further, an electric blower 40 is installed in the electric blower chamber 22 so as to face the partition wall 20, and a cord reel 41 is rotatably provided below the electric blower 40. Although not shown, the electric blower chamber 22 is provided with a control unit.

Next, the operation of the vacuum cleaner provided with the vacuum cleaner body 1 configured as described above will be described. At this time, it is assumed that the opening 26 of the air passage opening / closing portion 25 is closed by the air passage switching valve 28 as shown in FIG.
Pull out the power cord (not shown) wound around the cord reel 41 of the vacuum cleaner main body 1 and connect it to a commercial power source, position the floor suction tool 48 on the floor surface, and turn on the power switch of the hand handle 46 To do. As a result, the electric blower 40 is driven to generate an air flow (hereinafter referred to as a first air flow), and air containing dust and the like is sucked from the floor suction tool 48, and the extension pipe 47, the hand handle 46, and the hose. After 45, it is sucked into the vacuum cleaner body 1.

  As shown by solid line arrows in FIG. 1, the air containing dust and the like sucked into the vacuum cleaner body 1 is sucked into the dust collection box 23 and collides with the filter 30, and most of the dust and the like is separated from the air. Then, the fine dust remaining in the dust collection box 23 is trapped by the filter 30 to become clean air, and after cooling the electric blower 40, the control unit, etc., it is discharged from the exhaust port 6 to the outside.

  7A, when the opening 26 is opened by sliding the air passage switching valve 28 of the air passage opening / closing portion 25, the first arrow indicated by the solid line arrow is generated by the suction force of the electric blower 40. Along with the air flow, the dust collection box 23 passes from the second suction port 14 provided in the upper lid 10 through the air passage 16, the air passage connection port 15, and the opening portion 26 of the air passage opening / closing portion 25, as indicated by a broken line arrow. An air flow to the inside (hereinafter referred to as a second air flow) is generated.

This second air flow sucks fine dust such as pollen, allergen and fine dust floating around the vacuum cleaner body 1 and is filtered by the filter 30 through the dust collection box 23 to become clean air. It merges with the first air flow and is discharged to the outside. Therefore, when it is considered that the indoor air is contaminated by fine dust, the opening 26 of the air passage opening / closing section 25 is opened to generate a second air flow, and is floated in the room from the second suction port 14. What is necessary is just to suck in the fine dust.
When the inside of the dust collection box 23 is filled with dust or the like, the upper lid 10 is opened, the handle 24 is raised, the lock is released, the dust collection box 23 is pulled upward, the dust etc. is discarded and collected again. Set in the dust chamber 21.

By the way, when the opening 26 of the air passage opening / closing part 25 is opened to generate the second air flow, the air volume of the first air flow is reduced by that amount, and dust such as the floor surface by the floor suction tool 48 or the like. The suction power of is reduced.
Therefore, the user considers the floor surface and the dirty state of the room air and the like, as shown in FIG. 7B, the user switches the air path switching valve 28 of the air path opening / closing section 2 to, for example, the opening 26. By moving to the vicinity of the center, the opening area of the opening 26 is adjusted to about 50% (half open). Thereby, the air volume (attraction | suction force) of a 1st air flow and a 2nd air flow can be adjusted according to the dirt state of a floor surface etc. or indoor air.

  In the above description, the opening degree (opening area) of the opening portion 26 of the air passage opening / closing portion 25 has been shown to be adjusted to two stages of full opening and full closing, or three stages of full opening, full closing, and half opening. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the opening of the opening 26 may be adjusted in four steps or more depending on the floor surface and the dirty state of the room air. In addition, when the air path switching valve 28 is moved in the width direction of the opening 26 and the opening degree is adjusted, for example, a protrusion and a concave portion that engages with the projection so that the air path switching valve 28 does not move by the cleaning operation. It is desirable to provide simple locking means consisting of

According to the present embodiment, a branch air passage is provided in the first air flow that sucks dust or the like on the floor surface, and the second air flow for sucking fine dust floating in the air is generated. As a result, there is no need to provide a dedicated cleaning fan or filter for generating the second air flow. For this reason, a simple structure can be used to suck in fine dust floating in the air while cleaning the floor surface. Can prevent adverse effects on the human body. Further, the vacuum cleaner body 1 can be reduced in size and weight, and the cost can be reduced.
In addition, the air volume of the second air flow can be adjusted in two steps or more in consideration of the dirty state of the floor surface and the dirty state of the room air, so that an easy-to-use vacuum cleaner can be obtained. it can.

[Embodiment 2]
9 is a longitudinal sectional view of the vacuum cleaner main body of the electric vacuum cleaner according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention, FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of the main part of FIG. 9, and FIG. 11 is the air passage connection port and air passage opening / closing of FIG. It is sectional drawing of the width direction of a part. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals.
In the present embodiment, the upper lid 10 is provided with, for example, a micro switch 18 which is a switching valve position detecting means for detecting the position of the air path switching valve 28 of the air path opening / closing section 25. A part of the actuator 19 or the actuator 19 is located in the air passage connection port 15.

FIG. 11 (a) shows a case where the opening 26 of the air passage opening / closing portion 25 is switched to the two stages of full opening or full closing by the air passage switching valve 28, and the microswitch 18 is connected to the air passage connection port 15. At one end in the left-right direction (the right end is shown in the figure), a part of the end is located in the airway connection port 15.
Now, when the air path switching valve 28 is retracted and the upper lid 10 is closed when the opening 26 is fully open, the micro switch 18 operates (ON or OFF) against the knob 29 of the air path switching valve 28. Therefore, it is detected that the opening 26 is fully open.

  When the air path switching valve 28 moves forward and the opening 26 is in the fully closed state, the knob 29 is positioned at the left end in the figure, and the micro switch 18 does not operate even when the upper lid 10 is closed. It is detected that the part 26 is in a fully closed state. If the micro switch 18 is provided at the left end of the air passage connection port 15, the micro switch 18 does not operate when the opening 26 is fully opened, and operates when the opening 26 is fully closed.

FIG. 11B shows a case where the opening 26 is switched to the three stages of full opening, full closing, and half opening by the air path switching valve 28, and the two micro switches 18 a and 18 b are connected to the air path connection port 15. Are provided at two locations, one end in the left-right direction and approximately the center.
When the opening 26 is fully open or fully closed, the state of the opening 26 is detected by the micro switch 18a as in the case of FIG. 11A, and when the opening 26 is half open, the micro Detection is performed by the switch 18b.

  When the micro switch 18 detects that all or part of the opening 26 of the air passage opening / closing section 25 is opened, the detection signal is sent to the control section. The control unit adjusts (increases) the power supplied to the electric blower 40 according to the opening of the opening 26, and suppresses the reduction in the suction force of the floor suction tool 48, and thus the air flow rate of the first air flow, The suction force of dust and the like by the floor suction tool 48 is maintained.

  When the microswitch 18 detects that the air path switching valve 28 is in a mode in which all or a part of the opening 26 is opened and the fine dust is sucked from the second suction port 14, the control unit For example, an indicator lamp such as an LED provided on the upper lid 10 is turned on to notify the user of the current mode. In this case, you may make it light an indicator lamp corresponding to the opening degree (for example, full open or half open) of the opening part 26. FIG. Note that a buzzer may be sounded instead of the indicator lamp or in combination with the indicator lamp.

  According to the present embodiment, by closing the upper lid 10, the switching valve position detecting means 18 detects the presence / absence and opening state of the air passage opening / closing part 26, and the power supplied to the electric blower 40 according to the opening state Is automatically adjusted so as to suppress a decrease in the air volume of the first air flow. Even in the mode of sucking floating fine dust from the second suction port 14, the floor suction tool 48 is used. The suction force of dust and the like can be maintained.

  In addition, as described above, when the switching valve position detecting means 18 detects the opening of the opening 26, the indicator lamp is turned on, or the buzzer is sounded instead of the indicator lamp or in combination with the indicator lamp. Therefore, the user can suck the fine dust from the second suction port 14 by opening all or a part of the opening 26 without opening the top cover 10. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a convenient vacuum cleaner.

[Embodiment 3]
FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view in the width direction of the air passage connection port and the air passage opening / closing portion of the cleaner body of the electric vacuum cleaner according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals.
In the first and second embodiments, the case where the air passage switching valve 28 for opening and closing the opening 26 of the air passage opening / closing portion 25 is manually moved is shown. However, in the present embodiment, the air passage switching valve 28 is automatically moved. And the opening area of the opening 26 is set.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, for example, a rack 32 is provided on the lower surface of the air path switching valve 28 and meshes with the rack 32 in the dust collection box 23, and is driven by a drive unit 34 such as a stepping motor. The switching valve driving means 31 is configured by providing a driven pinion 33. For example, by operating a button provided on the hand handle 46 of the hose 45, the drive circuit of the drive unit 34 is turned on and off.

In the above description, the case where the air passage switching valve 28 is moved by the driving means 31 including the rack 32 and the pinion 33 has been described. For example, a solenoid iron core is connected to the air passage switching valve 28 and voltage is applied to the solenoid. Thus, other driving means such as moving the air path switching valve 28 may be used.
Also in the present embodiment, as in the case of the second embodiment, information on the amount of movement of the air passage switching valve 28 by the driving means 31 (the size of the opening area of the opening 26) is sent to the control unit, Based on this information, the control unit can adjust the power supplied to the electric blower 40 to suppress a decrease in the air volume of the first air flow.

  According to the present embodiment, by operating the hand handle or the like while the upper lid 10 is closed, the air passage switching valve 28 is moved to fully open or close the opening 26 or to stop at an arbitrary position. Since the opening area of the opening 26 can be arbitrarily set, it is convenient and easy to use. It is more convenient if the movement amount of the air path switching valve 28 (opening degree of the opening 26) is displayed on the upper lid 10, the handle 46, or the like.

[Embodiment 4]
FIG. 13: is a top view of the upper cover of the vacuum cleaner main body of the vacuum cleaner concerning Embodiment 4 of this invention. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals.
In the present embodiment, a dust sensor 35 that detects the amount of fine dust floating in the air is provided around the vacuum cleaner body 1 of the electric vacuum cleaner according to the third embodiment.

In FIG. 13, reference numeral 35 denotes a dust sensor provided on the upper cover 10 of the cleaner main body 1, in which a light projecting unit 36 and a light receiving unit 37 are arranged at a predetermined distance. For example, when the dust switch provided on the hand handle 46 is turned on, the light projecting unit 36 always projects constant light to the light receiving unit 37, and the light receiving unit 37 receives this light and receives the received light information. Send to control unit.
When the air between the light projecting unit 36 and the light receiving unit 37 is contaminated by floating fine dust, the light from the light projecting unit 36 is scattered, so that the amount of light received by the light receiving unit 37 is attenuated. This attenuation of the amount of light corresponds to air contamination.

  In the present embodiment configured as described above, when the received light amount from the light receiving unit 37 of the dust detector 35 sent to the control unit is lower than the reference received light amount set in advance in the control unit, therefore, in the air When there is a lot of fine floating dust, the control unit sends a signal to the driving means 31 of the air passage switching valve 28 of the air passage opening / closing portion 25 of the cleaner body 1 according to the third embodiment, and the opening area of the opening portion 26 is increased. The drive means 31 is driven so that the air flow is large (when the air is large, the opening area is large, and when the dirt is small, the opening area is small) corresponding to the air dirt (the amount of fine dust). The path switching valve 28 is moved to automatically adjust the opening area of the opening 26.

If the air contamination detected by the dust sensor 35 is reduced, the opening area of the opening 26 is automatically reduced. If the air contamination is less than the set value, the air passage switching valve 28 closes the opening 26. Thus, the second air flow can be generated efficiently.
Also in the present embodiment, as in the case of the second embodiment, the dust supply power to the electric blower 40 is automatically increased in accordance with the opening state of the opening 26 of the air passage opening / closing section 25, and the first It is possible to suppress a decrease in the air volume of the air flow 1.

In the above description, the dust sensor 35 is provided on the upper cover 10 of the cleaner body 1. However, the installation location is not limited to this, and airborne fine dust is detected around the cleaner body 1. It may be provided at other locations as long as it is possible.
Moreover, although the case where the fine dust which floats in the air with the photoelectric dust sensor 35 which consists of the light projection part 36 and the light-receiving part 37 was detected was shown, the dust sensor of another structure may be used.

  According to the present embodiment, the air path switching valve 28 is moved according to the amount of airborne fine dust, the opening area of the opening 26 is automatically adjusted, and the electric blower 40 is supplied to the opening area corresponding to the opening area. Since the power supply is automatically optimized, the user can automatically and efficiently suck dust on the floor surface and fine dust floating in the air without any operation. Therefore, a convenient vacuum cleaner can be obtained.

  In the above description, the case where the present invention is implemented in the illustrated vacuum cleaner is shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can also be implemented in vacuum cleaners having other structures.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the vacuum cleaner main body of the vacuum cleaner which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is an external appearance perspective view of the state which open | released the upper cover of the cleaner body of FIG. It is a top view of the upper cover of FIG. It is a perspective view of the upper cover of FIG. It is an enlarged view of the principal part of FIG. It is sectional drawing of the width direction of the air path connection port and air path opening / closing part of FIGS. It is effect | action explanatory drawing of the air path opening / closing part of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the whole structure of the vacuum cleaner which concerns on this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the vacuum cleaner main body of the vacuum cleaner which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is an enlarged view of the principal part of FIG. It is sectional drawing of the width direction of the air path connection port and air path opening / closing part of FIG. It is sectional drawing of the width direction of the air path connection port and air path opening / closing part of the cleaner body of the vacuum cleaner which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a top view of the upper cover of the vacuum cleaner main body of the electric vacuum cleaner concerning Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vacuum cleaner main body, 2 Lower case, 3 Upper case, 4 Hose connection port (1st suction port), 10 Upper cover, 14 2nd suction port, 15 Air path connection port, 18 Air path switching valve position detection means ( Microswitch), 20 partition, 21 dust collection chamber, 22 electric blower chamber, 23 dust collection box, 25 air channel opening / closing unit, 26 opening, 28 air channel switching valve, 30 filter, 31 driving means, 35 dust sensor, 40 Electric blower, 45 hose, 47 extension pipe, 48 floor suction tool.

Claims (7)

A hose provided with a floor suction tool for sucking dust or the like on the floor surface, and a dust collection box or electric motor that has a first suction port to which the hose is connected and communicates with the first suction port. A vacuum cleaner body containing a blower,
The vacuum cleaner main body is provided with a second suction port that communicates with the opening provided in the dust collection box and sucks fine dust floating in the air, and the opening of the dust collection box has an opening of the opening. An electric vacuum cleaner provided with an air path switching valve for adjusting an area.   The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the second suction port is provided in an upper cover of the cleaner body.   The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the opening provided in the dust collection box has its opening area switched to two or more stages by the air path switching valve.   An air path switching valve detection means for detecting the position of the air path switching valve is provided, and the position of the air path switching valve detected by the air path switching valve detection means is notified by an indicator lamp or a buzzer. The vacuum cleaner in any one of claim | item 1-3.   5. A vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein said dust collection box is provided with driving means for moving said air path switching valve.   6. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 5, wherein a dust sensor is provided in the vacuum cleaner body, the driving means is driven based on detection information of the dust sensor, and the air path switching valve is moved.   The electric vacuum cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the electric power supplied to the electric blower is adjusted according to the position of the air path switching valve.

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