JP2014217500A - Vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a convenient vacuum cleaner capable of setting the optimum illuminance of illumination means in accordance with the kind of a cleaned surface by mounting the illumination means for improving dust visibility on a suction tool.SOLUTION: A vacuum cleaner includes: a cleaner body 1 incorporating an electric blower 2 for generating suction air; a suction tool 3 having illumination means 10 for irradiating a cleaned surface and sucking dust; an electric motor 8 for driving a rotary brush 7 incorporated in the suction tool 3; a hose 6 whose one end is connected to the cleaner body 1; an extention pipe 4 where one end is connected to the other end of the hose 6 and the other end is connected to the suction tool 3; control means 14 for controlling power supply to the illumination means 10; and current detection means 15 for detecting the value of a current to be supplied to the electric motor 8. The control means 14 discriminates the kind of the cleaned surface on the basis of the output of the current detection means 15 and varies the amount of power supply to the illumination means 10 in accordance with the discriminated kind of the cleaned surface.

Description

  The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner.

  Conventionally, in order to improve the visibility of dust on a surface to be cleaned, a suction tool provided with illumination means for illuminating the surface to be cleaned has been proposed. (For example, Patent Document 1)

JP-A-5-245084

  However, the conventional technology does not have a configuration that can adjust the illuminance of the illumination means according to the type of the surface to be cleaned.For example, the surface to be cleaned with large unevenness such as a carpet has insufficient illuminance and dust In some cases, the surface to be cleaned with insufficient visibility, such as flooring, is irradiated with excessive illuminance, and wasteful power may be consumed.

  The present invention solves the above-described conventional problem, and determines the type of the surface to be cleaned and varies the illuminance of the illumination means mounted on the suction tool according to the determined type of the surface to be cleaned. Thus, it is possible to set an optimum illuminance according to the type of the surface to be cleaned, and to provide an easy-to-use vacuum cleaner that is excellent in energy saving.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, the vacuum cleaner of the present invention has a vacuum cleaner body that includes an electric blower that generates suction air, and an illumination unit that irradiates the surface to be cleaned, and sucks dust. A tool, an electric motor that drives a rotating brush built in the suction tool, a hose with one end connected to the cleaner body, one end connected to the other end of the hose, and the other end connected to the suction tool An extension tube, a control means for controlling the power supply to the illumination means, and a current detection means for detecting a current value supplied to the electric motor, wherein the control means provides an output of the current detection means. The type of the surface to be cleaned is determined based on this, and the amount of power supplied to the illuminating means is varied according to the determined type of the surface to be cleaned.

  Thereby, since the illumination intensity of an illumination means can be optimally adjusted according to the kind of to-be-cleaned surface, the easy-to-use vacuum cleaner excellent in energy saving can be provided.

  According to the vacuum cleaner of the present invention, the illuminance of the illumination means mounted on the suction tool can be optimally adjusted according to the type of the surface to be cleaned. Can be provided.

The perspective external view of the electric vacuum cleaner in Embodiment 1 of this invention Control block diagram in the same embodiment Circuit configuration diagram of cleaning surface discrimination method of electric vacuum cleaner in the same embodiment Explanatory drawing of the electric current detection method of the to-be-cleaned surface discrimination method of the vacuum cleaner in the same embodiment A graph showing the relationship between the type of surface to be cleaned and the illuminance of the illumination means in the same embodiment A graph showing the relationship between the type of surface to be cleaned and the illuminance of the illumination means in the same embodiment

  1st invention has the vacuum cleaner main body which incorporates the electric blower which generate | occur | produces a suction wind, the illuminating means which irradiates a to-be-cleaned surface, the suction tool which attracts | sucks dust, and the rotating brush built in the said suction tool An electric motor driving one end, a hose having one end connected to the cleaner body, an extension tube having one end connected to the other end of the hose and the other end connected to the suction tool, and power to the lighting means Control means for controlling supply and current detection means for detecting a current value supplied to the electric motor, wherein the control means determines the type of the surface to be cleaned based on the output of the current detection means, and determines The amount of power supplied to the illuminating means is varied according to the type of surface to be cleaned.

  Thereby, since the illumination intensity of an illumination means can be optimally adjusted according to the kind of to-be-cleaned surface, the easy-to-use vacuum cleaner excellent in energy saving can be provided.

  In the second invention, in particular, the amount of power supplied to the illumination means by the control means of the first invention is P, the current value detected by the current detection means is V, and the current value V can be set in advance. A threshold value VTH is provided, and when the current value V is less than VTH, the power supply amount P is P1, and when V is VTH or more, P is P2, and P1 <P2.

  This makes it possible to determine the type of surface to be cleaned with a simple set value, and the illuminance of the discrimination illumination means can be optimally adjusted according to the type of surface to be cleaned. Machine can be provided.

  The third invention is characterized in that the maximum value of the power supply amount P that can be set in advance is PMAX, the maximum value of the current value V is V, and the power supply amount P is expressed by the following equation: It is.

  Thereby, since the illumination intensity of an illumination means can be finely adjusted according to the kind of to-be-cleaned surface, more optimal illumination intensity can be set and the user-friendly vacuum cleaner excellent in energy saving can be provided. .

  In particular, the fourth invention controls two electric power lines that supply AC power from the cleaner body of the third invention to the electric motor, and the electric blower provided on the hose and the operation of the electric motor. And two signal lines for transmitting an operation signal emitted from the operation unit to the control means, one of the two signal lines being one of the two signal lines. The power line is a common line with one side on one side, and the impedance of the common line is used as a current detection means.

As a result, the current value of the motor can be detected using the impedance, and therefore the current value of the motor can be detected with a simple and inexpensive configuration without providing a dedicated circuit for detecting the current value of the motor. it can.

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

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a perspective external view of a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a control block diagram according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, the cleaner body 1 includes an electric blower 2 that generates suction air, and is provided with a dust collection chamber 20 that collects dust contained in the suction air. In addition, there is a hose 6 that is detachably connected to the vacuum cleaner main body 1, and this hose 6 has a hand control section 5, and suction forces such as various operation modes (for example, “strong”, “weak”, “off”). ) Can be selected. At the tip of the hose 6, there is an extension tube 4 that is detachably connected. Further, at the tip of the extension tube 4, a suction tool 3 that contacts the surface to be cleaned and can suck dust is also detachably connected. Yes.

  The suction tool 3 incorporates an electric motor 8 and a rotating brush 7 that has the effect of rotating the rotational force of the electric motor 8 through a belt 9 and scuffing up dust on the surface to be cleaned. Moreover, the illumination means 10 for irradiating a to-be-cleaned surface is incorporated in the right-and-left front-end | tip part of a floor nozzle.

  Next, the control method of the vacuum cleaner in this Embodiment is demonstrated using FIG.

  In FIG. 2, the first bidirectional thyristor 12 is an element that controls the power supplied to the electric blower 2, the second bidirectional thyristor 13 is an element that controls the power supplied to the electric motor 8, and the control means 14 is It is a control means for controlling the electric power supplied to the electric blower 2 and the electric motor 8.

  The control means 14 is constituted by a microcomputer, for example. The control means 14 detects the zero cross of the commercial power supply, and controls the phase of the first bidirectional thyristor 12 and the second bidirectional thyristor 13 in synchronization with the zero cross as the operation of the control means. The electric power supplied to the electric blower 2 and the electric motor 8 is controlled.

  Reference numeral 17 denotes an illumination power source constituted by a switching power source or the like for supplying power to the illumination means 10, and is configured to supply power from a power supply line to the electric motor 8.

  The current detection means 15 is a current detection means for detecting the current flowing through the electric motor 8, and the control means 14 determines the surface to be cleaned based on the current value detected by the current detection means 15, and the determined surface to be cleaned is detected. A signal is sent to the illumination power source 17 according to the type, and the amount of power supplied to the illumination means 10 is varied.

  Next, in particular, FIG. 3 shows a circuit configuration diagram regarding a path for controlling the electric motor 8.

  First, as a path for supplying electric power to the electric motor 8, an electric power supply line 18 is disposed in the suction tool 3, the extension pipe 4, and the hose 6, and the hose 6 controls the signal of the hand operation unit 5. One side of the signal path for transmitting to the means 14 and one side of the power supply line 18 are configured in common.

The hand operating unit 5 includes three switches SW1, SW2, and SW3. The SW1 is a “stop switch” for shifting to the “stop mode” for stopping the power supply to the electric blower 2 and the electric motor 8, and SW3 is In order to maximize the suction power and scraping power, the “strong mode” is controlled to maximize the power supply to the electric blower 2 and the electric motor 8, and the power supply used when quietness is given priority is lowered. “Strong / weak switch” that switches “weak mode” each time it is operated, SW2 shifts to “automatic mode” that automatically switches the power supplied to the electric blower 2 and the electric motor 8 according to the discrimination result of the surface to be cleaned It is set as an “auto switch”.

  Resistors r1, r2, r3, and r4 are provided before and after SW1, SW2, and SW3. When V1 changes due to a change in the combined resistance when SW1, SW2, and SW3 are operated, the control unit 14 determines which switch. Is operated, the mode is switched to the mode corresponding to the operated switch, and the supplied power is controlled.

  About the vacuum cleaner comprised as mentioned above, the operation | movement and an effect | action are demonstrated below.

  First, how the control means 14 detects the current flowing through the electric motor 8 will be described.

  In FIG. 3, the signal of the hand operation unit 5 is input as the signal V1 to the control unit 14, and the resistances r 1, r 2, r 3, and the like of the hand operation unit 5 that become valid by pressing any of SW 1, SW 2, SW 3 The voltage obtained by dividing Vdd by r4 and the resistance R on the cleaner body 1 side is input, and the phase control of the electric blower 2 and the electric motor 8 is performed according to the voltage corresponding to the operated switch, and the suction capacity is The control or scraping force is controlled.

  For example, when SW2 is pressed, the signal voltage of V1 is

  It becomes. Here, the hose resistances r0 and r shown in FIG. 3 are present on the signal line V1, but the control means 14 triggers the second bidirectional thyristor 12 at timing T1 as shown in FIG. The phase of the electric power supplied to the motor 8 is controlled, and the switch is determined for the signal voltage of V1 at the timing T2 during the trigger-off period. At this timing, the current flowing in the signal path is very small and is set in the relationship r, r0 << R, r0, r1, r2, so that the voltage drop at r and r0 is negligible. r, r0 = 0Ω, and V1 is

It is possible to determine that SW2 is pressed as the switch state of the hand operation unit 5.

  Further, V1 when the hand operating unit 5 is not pressed at all is

It becomes.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 3, one side of the signal path is configured to be common (common line in FIG. 3) with one side of the power supply line 18 for supplying power to the electric motor 8, and the control means 14 The voltage V1 is also determined at timing T3 after the electric motor 8 is triggered.

  At this time, the second bidirectional thyristor 13 is in a state of supplying power to the electric motor 8, and a current I of several hundred mA to several A flows through the power supply line 18, for example, Vdd = 5 When [V], r = 2Ω and I = 0.5A, r × I = 1 [V], and the voltage (r × I) at both ends of the hose resistance r on the common line side is large in signal voltage. The V1 voltage after the motor 8 is triggered on is based on the GND of the control means 14 in a state where the hand operating unit 5 is not operated,

  However, since the current I flows on the common line side and does not flow in the path where the signal path V1 is input to the control means 14, r0 can be set to r0 = 0Ω as described above. ,

  Thus, in a state where the hand operating unit 5 is not operated, a waveform as shown in FIG. 4 appears in V1 in a form in which a voltage corresponding to the AC current I is superimposed on the signal shown in (Expression 2). Since the current I is an AC current, as a change component of V1 by the current I,

  V1 becomes a relationship expressed as a function of the current I. By using the resistance component of the hose 6 and determining the V1 when the operating portion is not operated at the timing T3 with respect to the zero cross, the control means 14 can detect the current flowing through the electric motor 8.

  In this way, by using the impedance of the power supply line 18 as the current detection means 15, it can be realized with a simple and inexpensive configuration without providing a dedicated circuit for detecting the current value of the electric motor 8.

  When electric power is supplied to the electric motor 8 and the rotating brush 7 rotates, it contacts the surface to be cleaned and scrapes up dust on the surface to be cleaned. At this time, if the surface to be cleaned is a hard surface such as flooring, the mechanical load resistance that the rotating brush 7 receives from the surface to be cleaned when the rotating brush 7 is in contact is relatively small. In addition, the load resistance is increased on the surface to be cleaned such that the suction tool 3 tends to sink into the hair and the contact area with the rotating brush 7 increases. Therefore, the current I flowing through the electric motor 8 is small in the flooring and large in the carpet, so that the type of the surface to be cleaned can be determined according to the detected value of V1.

  Next, how to vary the amount of power supplied to the illumination means 10 mounted on the suction tool 3 according to the determined type of the surface to be cleaned will be described.

  First, a method of discriminating two types of surfaces to be cleaned, such as flooring and carpet, and adjusting the power supply amount to the illumination means 10 in two steps will be described.

  A discrimination threshold VTH (for example, VTH = 2.0 V) that can be set in advance is provided for V1 detected from the current I flowing through the electric motor 8. If the power supply amount from the illumination power supply 17 to the illumination means 10 is P, when V1 <VTH, the type of the surface to be cleaned is determined to be flooring, and the power supply amount P to the illumination means 10 is P1 ( For example, P1 = 10 mA), and when V1 ≧ VTH, it is determined as a carpet, and P is changed to P2 (for example, P2 = 15 mA). At this time, P1 <P2 is set. FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship between V1 and P.

  By adopting such a configuration and control, the illumination means 10 increases the illuminance on the surface to be cleaned, which has many irregularities such as carpets, and the light of the illumination means 10 is difficult to reach, and the visibility of dust is poor. Since the illuminance can be suppressed for a surface to be cleaned which is relatively easy to receive light and has good visibility of dust, it is possible to provide an easy-to-use vacuum cleaner with excellent energy savings.

  In addition, it is thought that there are many types of surfaces to be cleaned, such as carpets with different lengths of tatami mats and hairs, as well as flooring and one type of carpet. In general, the longer the bristles are, the more uneven the surface to be cleaned, the greater the contact area with the rotating brush 7 and the greater the load resistance, so the current flowing through the motor 8 also increases proportionally. Further, the light of the illumination means 10 becomes harder to reach as the unevenness becomes larger, and the visibility of dust is lowered. From the above relationship, it is considered effective to control the power supply amount P to the illumination means 10 as in the following equation.

Here, PMAX is a maximum power supply amount that can be set in advance (for example, PMAX = 20
mA), V1MAX is the maximum value of the detected current value that can be set in advance. In addition, the graph showing the relationship between P and V1 in (Formula 8) is shown in FIG. As can be seen from FIG. 6, control is performed to increase the power supply amount P to the illumination means 10 in proportion to the current flowing through the electric motor 8.

  By taking such a control method, the illuminance of the illuminating means 10 can be appropriately adjusted with respect to various surfaces to be cleaned, so that it is possible to provide an easy-to-use vacuum cleaner that is more energy efficient. .

  As described above, the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention is equipped with an illuminating unit that improves the visibility of dust in the suction tool, and is easy to use because the illuminance of the optimal illuminating unit can be set according to the type of the surface to be cleaned. It can be applied to various vacuum cleaners for home use, business use, and store use.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vacuum cleaner body 2 Electric blower 3 Suction tool 4 Extension pipe 6 Hose 7 Rotating brush 8 Electric motor 10 Illumination means 14 Control means 15 Current detection means

Claims (4)

  A vacuum cleaner main body including an electric blower for generating suction air, an illuminating means for irradiating the surface to be cleaned, a suction tool for sucking dust, and an electric motor for driving a rotating brush built in the suction tool; One end connected to the cleaner body, one end connected to the other end of the hose, the other end connected to the suction tool, and control means for controlling power supply to the lighting means And a current detection means for detecting a current value supplied to the electric motor, wherein the control means determines the type of the surface to be cleaned based on the output of the current detection means, and the type of the determined surface to be cleaned A vacuum cleaner that varies the amount of power supplied to the illuminating means according to the above.   A power supply amount supplied to the illumination unit by the control unit is P, a current value detected by the current detection unit is V, a preset threshold VTH is provided for the current value V, and the current value V is less than VTH. 2. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the power supply amount P is P1, and when V is VTH or more, P is P2, and P1 <P2. 2. The electric cleaning according to claim 1, wherein a preset maximum value of the power supply amount P is PMAX, a maximum value of the current value V is VMAX, and the power supply amount P is expressed by the following equation. Machine.

  Two operating power lines for supplying AC power from the vacuum cleaner body to the electric motor, a hand operating section having a switch provided on the hose for controlling the electric blower and the driving operation of the electric motor, and the operating section Two signal lines for transmitting operation signals emitted from the control means to one of the two power lines as a common line with one of the two power lines. The electric vacuum cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein an impedance of the common line is used as a current detection means.

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