JP2010057748A - Vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vacuum cleaner having improved characteristics for disassembling running wheels from a body case and for rotation of the running wheels with respect to the body case, and to reduce manufacturing cost. <P>SOLUTION: Each of the running wheel 38 is formed by slidably inserting a bearing part 52 of an inner wheel 43 from the inside of the body case 24 into a bearing 41 of a body and by inserting a shaft 62 of an outer wheel 44 from the outside of the body case 24 into the bearing part 52. The manufacturing cost is reduced by simplifying constitution of molds of the inner wheels 43 and the outer wheels 44. The characteristics for disassembling the running wheels 38 from the body case 24 is improved. The characteristics for rotation of the running wheels 38 with respect to the body case 24 is improved by forming the inner wheels 43 using a member having higher slip characteristics than that of the outer wheels 44. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner provided with traveling wheels that enable a main body case to travel.

Conventionally, a canister type vacuum cleaner has a dust collection chamber and an electric blower chamber defined in a hollow body case, and an electric blower is disposed in the electric blower chamber, and the suction side of the electric blower is a dust collection chamber The dust collecting chamber is configured by attaching a dust collecting unit such as a paper pack or a dust collecting cup. Large-diameter traveling wheels for allowing the main body case to travel on the floor, which is a surface to be cleaned, are rotatably disposed on both sides of the main body case. This traveling wheel is formed with a traveling wheel shaft projecting from the center of a circular traveling wheel body, and a claw projecting from the outer peripheral edge of the distal end of the traveling wheel shaft. And this driving | running | working wheel is attached to the main body case by inserting a nail | claw part in the main body case side (for example, refer patent document 1).
Japanese Patent No. 3189349 (page 2-3, FIG. 1)

  However, in the above vacuum cleaner, when the traveling wheel is molded from synthetic resin, an undercut occurs in the claw portion, so the molding die must be a slide structure, and the mold structure becomes complicated. Not only is the cost high, but it is difficult to obtain the rotating property of the traveling wheels, and once attached to the main body case, there is a problem that it is not easy to remove the traveling wheels from the main body case.

  The present invention has been made in view of such points, and an object thereof is to provide a vacuum cleaner that improves the disassembly from the main body case of the traveling wheel and the rotation with respect to the main body case while suppressing the manufacturing cost. And

  The present invention provides a cylindrical bearing portion in which a traveling wheel that allows the main body case to travel is inserted from the inner side of the main body case into the main body side bearing so as to be slidable in the circumferential direction, and outward of the bearing portion. An inner ring that is positioned and has a retaining portion that prevents the main body case from falling off, a cylindrical shaft portion that is inserted into the bearing portion of the inner ring from the outside of the main body case, and a surface to be cleaned outside the main body case And an outer ring that is integrally attached to the inner ring, and the inner ring is formed of a member that is more slippery than the outer ring.

  According to the present invention, the cylindrical bearing portion of the inner ring is slidably inserted from the inside of the main body case into the main body side bearing, and the cylindrical shaft portion of the outer ring is inserted into the bearing portion from the outer side of the main body case. By configuring the traveling wheels, it is possible to simplify the configuration of the molds of the inner ring and the outer ring to reduce the manufacturing cost, improve the disassembly of the traveling wheel from the body case, and make the inner ring more than the outer ring. By forming with a member having high slipperiness, it is possible to improve the rotation of the traveling wheel with respect to the main body case.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

  In FIG. 4, reference numeral 11 denotes a vacuum cleaner. The vacuum cleaner 11 is a so-called canister type vacuum cleaner that can run on a floor surface to be cleaned.

  And this vacuum cleaner 11 has the pipe part 12 and the vacuum cleaner main body 13 to which this pipe part 12 is connected so that attachment or detachment is possible.

  The pipe part 12 includes a connection pipe part 15 whose front end side is bent forward with respect to a base end side connected to the cleaner body 13, and a flexible hose body 16 communicating with the front end side of the connection pipe part 15. A hand operating part 17 provided on the front end side of the hose body 16, an extension pipe 18 detachably connected to the front end side of the hand operating part 17, and a hand attached to the front end side of the extension pipe 18 And a floor brush 19 as a suction port to be connected.

  A grip portion 21 is formed on the hand operation portion 17 so as to protrude toward the hose body 16, and a plurality of setting buttons 22 for operation are arranged on the grip portion 21.

  The vacuum cleaner main body 13 includes a main body case 24. The main body case 24 includes a lower case 25 whose upper side is open, an upper case 26 attached to cover the upper rear side of the lower case 25, and a lower case 25. A lid 27 that can open and close the upper front side of the case 25 is provided. An electric blower chamber (not shown), a cord reel chamber (not shown), and a main dust collection chamber 33 are partitioned inside the main body case 24, and the electric blower 34 is disposed in the electric blower chamber. A cord reel device is disposed in the room, and a dust collecting device that is a centrifugal separator such as a paper pack that is a dust collecting bag or a cyclone separating device in the main body dust collecting chamber 33, that is, a dust collecting cup is not shown. The dust collecting part is detachably arranged.

  On both sides of the lower case 25, as shown in FIG. 1, cylindrical body-side bearings 41 for rotatably supporting the traveling wheels 38, 38 for traveling are provided in a substantially horizontal shape toward the outside. Protrusively formed.

  Each traveling wheel 38 includes an inner ring 43 attached from the inner side of the lower case 25 of the main body case 24, an outer ring 44 attached from the outer side of the lower case 25 of the main body case 24, and a cover 45 attached to the outer side of the outer ring 44. It is configured in combination.

  The inner ring 43 is formed of a member such as polyacetal (POM) such as a synthetic resin having good slipping and impact resistance. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. A substantially cylindrical bearing portion 52 protrudes coaxially and integrally at the center of the inner ring main body 51 as a portion, and a convex portion 53 slidably contacts the inner side surface 25a of the lower case 25 at the outer peripheral portion of the inner ring main body 51. Projecting integrally with the bearing 52 in the same direction. Further, on the inner side of the bearing portion 52, a screwing portion 55 that is a fixed portion is formed so as to be coaxial with the bearing portion 52 with respect to the inner ring main body 51, and a plurality of, for example, around the screwing portion 55, for example, Cylindrical boss portions 56 which are insertion portions as four fitting portions are formed to be spaced apart from each other at substantially equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and between these screwing portions 55 and each boss portion 56 is for reinforcement. It is connected by a rib portion 57 which is a connecting portion. Therefore, the inner ring 43 is entirely formed along the axial direction with respect to the inner ring main body 51, such as the bearing portion 52, the convex portion 53, the screwing portion 55, the boss portion 56, and the rib portion 57. In other words, the inner ring 43 is not formed with a structure such as a protrusion or a recess along only the direction intersecting the axial direction.

  The inner ring main body 51 has an outer diameter dimension larger than the inner diameter dimension of the main body side bearing 41. For this reason, the inner ring 43 is prevented from coming off from the lower case 25 when attached from the inside of the lower case 25.

  The bearing portion 52 has an outer diameter that is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the main body side bearing 41, and is inserted into the main body side bearing 41 so as to be slidable (rotatable) in the circumferential direction. That is, the outer peripheral surface 52a of the bearing portion 52 is a slidable contact surface that can be slidably contacted with the inner peripheral surface 41a of the main body side bearing 41.

  The convex portion 53 has a tip 53a formed in a spherical shape with a convex cross section, and is configured to come into linear contact with the inner side surface 25a of the lower case 25. Therefore, in the inner ring 43, only the tip 53a of the convex portion 53 is in sliding contact with the inner side surface 25a, and the inner ring main body 51 is separated from the inner side surface 25a.

  The screwing portion 55 is formed in a boss shape, and has a screw hole 55a in which a screw shaft portion 59a of a screw 59 as a fixing means is screwed in a central portion. Further, the screwing portion 55 is set to a protruding amount substantially equal to the bearing portion 52 with respect to the inner ring main body 51.

  Each boss portion 56 is a rotation preventing portion for preventing the inner ring 43 and the outer ring 44 from rotating in the circumferential direction, and protrudes from the bearing portion 52 and the screwing portion 55 with respect to the inner ring main body 51.

  The rib portion 57 is a plate-like portion that is formed radially from the outer peripheral portion of the screwing portion 55 along the radial direction of the inner ring 43 and extends along the axial direction of the inner ring 43. The protrusion amount is set to be approximately equal to that of the screwing portion 55.

  On the other hand, the outer ring 44 is formed to have a larger outer shape and volume than the inner ring 43 by a member such as polypropylene (PP) which is relatively soft and has good cushioning properties, and is shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. As shown in the plan view, a substantially cylindrical shaft portion 62 projects integrally and coaxially at the center of the disc-shaped outer ring body 61 in plan view, and a grounding portion 63 that contacts the floor is pivoted on the outer periphery of the outer ring body 61. A rib 64 that is a reinforcing portion for reinforcement is formed in a cylindrical shape at a position between the shaft portion 62 and the grounding portion 63 of the outer ring main body 61 while projecting integrally in the same direction as the portion 62. In addition, a round hole-shaped screw hole 65 for screwing the inner ring 43 and the outer ring 44 with a screw 59 is opened on the inner side of the shaft portion 62, and a round hole shape is formed around the screw hole 65. A plurality of, for example, four to-be-fitted parts, that is, to-be-inserted holes 66 serving as inserted parts are opened. Therefore, the outer ring 44 is entirely formed along the axial direction with respect to the outer ring main body 61, such as the shaft portion 62, the grounding portion 63, the rib 64, the screw hole 65, and the insertion hole 66. In other words, the outer ring 44 is not formed with a structure such as a protrusion or a recess along only the direction intersecting the axial direction.

  The outer ring main body 61 has an outer diameter dimension that is larger than the inner diameter dimension of the main body side bearing 41 and larger than the distance from the lower end of the lower case 25 to the central axis of the main body side bearing 41.

  The shaft portion 62 has an outer diameter that is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the bearing portion 52 of the inner ring 43 and is inserted into the bearing portion 52.

  The grounding portion 63 is formed so as not to protrude from the shaft portion 62 with respect to the outer ring main body 61, and the outer peripheral surface 63a is grounded to the floor surface. Note that the ground portion 63 may be formed by integrally molding a member such as an elastic synthetic resin such as an elastomer into a tire shape. In this case, the tire portion becomes the ground contact portion.

  The rib 64 is formed coaxially with the shaft portion 62 and the grounding portion 63 in the vicinity of the central portion between the shaft portion 62 and the grounding portion 63.

  The screw hole 65 is formed at a position corresponding to the screwing portion 55, and the screw shaft portion 59a of the screw 59 is inserted therein. Further, the screw hole 65 is a recess formed along the axial direction of the outer ring 44 (thickness direction of the outer ring main body 61) on the outer surface 61a of the outer ring main body 61, that is, the surface opposite to the inner ring 43 (main body case 24). Located in 68. The recess 68 is for fitting the screw head 59b of the screw 59.

  Each insertion hole 66 is formed in a number corresponding to each boss portion 56 of the inner ring 43, and the tip side of these boss portions 56 is inserted. These insertion holes 66 are formed so as to penetrate the outer ring main body 61 in the thickness direction, but the inner side surface 61b of the outer ring main body 61, that is, the inner ring 43 (the main body case 24) so as not to penetrate the outer ring main body 61. ) Side surface may be formed in a concave shape.

  The cover 45 is a decorative cover that covers the screw head 59b and the recess 68 of the screw 59, and is formed of a member such as a synthetic resin. It is formed to project to the 44 side, and these claw portions are detachably fixed to the outer ring 44 by being locked to locking recesses (not shown) formed on the outer surface 61a of the outer ring 44. Has been.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the lid 27 can open and close the main body dust collecting chamber 33, and has a main body suction port 69 opened upward. The main body suction port 69 communicates with the main body dust collection chamber 33, and the base end portion of the hose body 16 of the pipe portion 12 is detachably connected thereto.

  The electric blower chamber is covered with a lower case 25 and an upper case 26 shown in FIG. 4, and is formed at the rear part in the main body case 24. Exhaust air from the electric blower 34 is supplied to the main body through an exhaust port (not shown). Exhaust to the outside of the case 24 is possible.

  In addition, the electric blower 34 operates in a predetermined operation mode set by the setting button 22 so as to suck dust together with air through the pipe portion 12. The electric blower 34 is arranged in the electric blower chamber with the front side as the suction side and the rear side as the exhaust side. The electric blower 34 may be at least partially covered with, for example, a cover body.

  The main body dust collection chamber 33 communicates with the suction side of the electric blower 34 through a communication hole (not shown), and communicates with the outside of the main body case 24 through the main body suction port 69.

  Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.

  When attaching the traveling wheel 38 to the main body case 24, first, the bearing portions 52 of the inner rings 43 are inserted from the inner sides of the main body side bearings 41 of the lower case 25 of the main body case 24.

  In this state, each outer ring 44 is inserted from the outside of both side portions of the lower case 25 of the main body case 24 into the bearing portion 52 where the shaft portion 62 is exposed to the outside of the main body side bearing 41. At this time, each boss portion 56 of each inner ring 43 is aligned with each insertion hole 66 of the outer ring 44, and each boss portion 56 is inserted into the insertion hole 66.

  Thereafter, from the outer side of each outer ring 44, the screw shaft part 59a of the screw 59 is inserted into the screw hole 65 and tightened to be screwed into the screw hole 55a of the screwing part 55 of the inner ring 43, whereby the inner ring 43 And the outer ring 44 are fixed to each other. At this time, in the inner ring 43, the tip 53a of the convex portion 53 comes into contact with the inner side surface 25a of the lower case 25.

  Then, the cover 45 is attached from the outside of each outer ring 44 by engaging each claw portion with each locking recess of the outer ring 44, and each traveling wheel 38 is completed.

  Thereafter, the electric blower 34, the cord reel, and the like are sequentially arranged in the lower case 25, and the upper case 26 and the lid 27 that are separately assembled are fixed to the lower case 25, thereby completing the cleaner body 13.

  At the time of cleaning, the operator opens the lid 27 of the cleaner body 13, attaches the dust collecting part to the main body dust collection chamber 33, and closes the lid 27. At this time, the operator communicates and connects the hose body 16 to the upper body suction port 69 via the connection pipe portion 15, and sequentially connects the extension pipe 18 and the floor brush 19 to the distal end side of the hose body 16. .

  Further, the operator pulls out the power cord from the cleaner body 13 and connects the tip side to an outlet (not shown).

  When the operator grips the grip portion 21 and operates the predetermined setting button 22, the electric blower 34 is driven according to the operation mode set by the setting button 22, so that the worker By gripping 21 and running the floor brush 19 back and forth on the floor surface, dust is sucked together with air from the front end side of the floor brush 19 by the negative pressure by the electric blower 34.

  The air sucked together with dust from the floor brush 19 is sucked into the dust, and is carried to the dust collector through the extension pipe 18 and the hose body 16 (connection pipe section 15) from the main body suction port 69 to the dust collector. Dust is collected.

  Thereafter, the suction air is sucked into the electric blower 34, passes through the electric blower 34, becomes exhaust air, and is discarded from the exhaust port of the main body case 24 to the outside of the cleaner main body 13.

  When cleaning is completed and the electric vacuum cleaner 11 is stored, the electric blower 34 is stopped.

  Thereafter, the operator removes the plug portion of the power cord from the outlet and operates a predetermined cord winding button to wind the power cord around the cord reel device and store it in the main body case 24.

  Further, when the dust collected in the dust collecting part has accumulated a predetermined amount or more, the operator opens the lid 27 of the cleaner body 13. When the dust collection unit is a paper pack or the like, the dust collection unit is discarded together with the collected dust, a new dust collection unit is attached to the main body dust collection chamber 33, and the lid 27 is closed. When the dust collection part is a dust collection cup or the like, only the collected dust is discarded, the dust collection part is attached to the main body dust collection chamber 33 again, and the lid 27 is closed.

  As described above, in the above-described embodiment, the bearing portion 52 of the inner ring 43 is slidably inserted into the main body side bearing 41 from the inside of the lower case 25 of the main body case 24, and the main body case 24 is inserted into the bearing portion 52. The running wheel 38 was configured by inserting the shaft portion 62 of the outer ring 44 from the outside of the wheel. That is, the entire inner ring 43 and outer ring 44 are formed only by a structure along the axial direction, and the traveling wheel 38 is configured by combining the inner ring 43 and the outer ring 44.

  For this reason, each die of the inner ring 43 and the outer ring 44 is configured by a cavity and a core that open in the axial direction of each of the inner ring 43 and the outer ring 44, so that undercut does not occur in each die. Simplify the mold configuration to reduce manufacturing costs, extend the life of the mold, and at the time of disposal compared to the case where the running wheel is locked to the body case with a claw or the like It is possible to improve the disassembly of the traveling wheel 38 from the body case 24 at the time of repair or repair, and the inner ring 43 in which the outer peripheral surface 52a of the bearing portion 52 can be in sliding contact with the inner peripheral surface 41a of the main body side bearing 41. By forming the member with a slipperiness higher than that of the outer ring 44, the rotation of the traveling wheel 38 with respect to the main body case 24 can be improved.

  Specifically, by forming the inner ring 43 serving as the shaft of the traveling wheel 38 from polyacetal or the like having good slipping and impact resistance, it is possible to obtain good rotational performance and impact resistance of the traveling wheel 38. By forming the outer ring 44 that contacts the floor surface with relatively soft polypropylene, etc., it is possible to generate a running sound generated by the contact between the grounding portion 63 and the floor surface and a side slip between the grounding portion 63 and the floor surface. Can also be suppressed, and the grounding portion 63 can hardly damage the floor surface.

  In addition, the inner ring 43 smaller than the outer ring 44 is formed of relatively expensive polyacetal, and the outer ring 44 larger than the inner ring 43 is formed of relatively inexpensive polypropylene, so that each material is reversed, Compared to the case where the entire traveling wheel 38 is formed of polyacetal, the material cost can be suppressed.

  Moreover, by forming the outer ring 44 from polypropylene, compared to the case of forming the outer ring from polyacetal, it is easier to perform integral molding when molding a tire portion such as an elastomer on the outer peripheral side of the ground contact portion 63, and the productivity is improved. Become good.

  Further, by providing the inner ring 43 with a convex portion 53 whose tip 53a side contacts the inside of the lower case 25 of the main body case 24, the contact area between the inner ring 43 and the main body case 24 can be reduced. The sex can be further improved.

  In the above-described embodiment, the inner ring 43 and the outer ring 44 may appropriately have a structure such as an arbitrary protrusion or recess along the axial direction, in addition to the above configuration.

  Further, the convex portion 53 may be formed continuously along the outer peripheral portion of the inner ring main body 51 in addition to being continuously formed over the entire outer peripheral portion of the inner ring main body 51.

  Furthermore, the inner ring 43 may be configured not to form the convex portion 53.

  The details of the vacuum cleaner main body 13 are not limited to the above configuration.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the running wheel vicinity of the vacuum cleaner of one embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the outer ring | wheel of a traveling wheel same as the above. It is a perspective view which shows the inner ring | wheel of a traveling wheel same as the above. It is a perspective view which shows a vacuum cleaner same as the above.

Explanation of symbols

11 Vacuum cleaner
24 Body case
34 Electric blower
38 Wheel
41 Body side bearing
43 Inner ring
44 Outer ring
51 Inner ring body as a retaining part
52 Bearing
53 Convex
62 Shaft
63 Grounding section

Claims (2)

A body case,
An electric blower housed in the body case;
A traveling wheel that enables the body case to travel;
The main body case includes a cylindrical main body side bearing on a side portion,
The traveling wheel is
A cylindrical bearing portion that is slidably inserted in the main body side bearing from the inside of the main body case in the circumferential direction, and a retaining portion that is located outside the bearing portion and prevents the main body case from coming off. An inner ring with
A cylindrical shaft portion inserted from the outside of the main body case into the bearing portion of the inner ring, and an outer ring that is integrally attached to the inner ring, and includes a grounding portion that can be grounded to the surface to be cleaned outside the main body case. And
The vacuum cleaner, wherein the inner ring is formed of a member having higher slipperiness than the outer ring. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the inner ring includes a convex portion whose tip side contacts the inside of the main body case.

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