JP2014223162A - Autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner which can clean corner parts which tend to remain non-cleaned without providing a complicated mechanism and/or performing complicated control, and which has high cleaning performance for the corner parts.SOLUTION: The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner includes: an autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner body; a left driving wheel and a right driving wheel each provided to the undersurface of the body and rotationally driven independently; obstruction detection means detecting obstructions around the body; and control means autonomously controlling the driving means on the basis of information from the obstruction detection means. The curvature radius of a front-side curved surface as a mainly moving direction of curved surfaces forming the outer periphery of the body is larger than the curvature radius of a back-side curved surface, and also the width of the front-side curved surface is narrower than the width of the back-side curved surface.

Description

  The present invention relates to an autonomously traveling vacuum cleaner.

  An autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner is a cleaner which adds a drive device for self-propelled to a vacuum cleaner, and cleans it while moving autonomously with this drive device. Autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaners autonomously determine a traveling route and clean the cleaning area, but are required to clean the cleaning area evenly, and various traveling controls have been proposed.

  In addition to running control that evenly cleans the entire cleaning area, various things have been proposed for running control that cleans up to the vicinity of a wall along a wall or at a corner formed by two intersecting walls. .

  For example, in Patent Document 1, a mechanism may be attached in which the arm extends and contracts so that the brush reaches the corner. In this case, for example, the arm is maximized at the center of the rotation operation. It is controlled to extend. "

JP 2006-26028 A

  However, in the case of Patent Document 1, when an obstacle is detected and the traveling direction is changed, there is a case where an arm protruding from the autonomous traveling cleaner body contacts the obstacle or gets caught by the obstacle. Also, when changing the direction of travel at the corner formed by two intersecting walls, etc., it is necessary to rotate at a position far from the corner if it is rotated so as to prevent contact with the wall. The brush that rotates first cannot reach, and a mechanism for expanding and contracting the arm that supports the brush is required, which is complicated.

  Moreover, it is necessary to control the extension of the arm in accordance with the rotation operation of the main body, which further complicates. Further, since the vacuum cleaner collects dust and dust, it may become impossible to operate if dust or dust accumulates on the movable part or the expansion / contraction mechanism, which is not desirable.

  Therefore, the present invention provides an autonomously traveling vacuum cleaner that can clean corners with an easy mechanism and easy control.

  An autonomously traveling cleaner body, a left driving wheel and a right driving wheel which are provided on the lower surface of the main body and are independently driven to rotate, obstacle detection means for detecting obstacles around the body, and the obstacle An autonomously traveling vacuum cleaner comprising a control means for autonomously controlling the drive means based on information from an object detection means, wherein the cleaner is mainly moved among the curved surfaces forming the outer periphery of the main body. The curvature radius of the front curved surface as a direction is larger than the curvature radius of the rear curved surface, and the width of the front curved surface is narrower than the width of the rear curved surface.

  Further, the left driving wheel and the right driving wheel are located behind the center of the main body in the front-rear direction.

  According to the configuration of the present invention, the side brush can easily reach the corner, and the corner can be cleaned more neatly.

The perspective view from the upper side of the autonomous running type vacuum cleaner of Example 1. FIG. The bottom view of the autonomous running type vacuum cleaner of Example 1. FIG. The left sectional view of the autonomous running type vacuum cleaner of Example 1. The fragmentary sectional view showing the inside of the autonomous running type vacuum cleaner of Example 1. The block diagram which shows the control apparatus of the autonomous running type vacuum cleaner of Example 1. FIG. The figure which shows the driving | running locus | trajectory of a reflective driving | running | working pattern. The figure which shows the driving | running locus | trajectory of a parallel driving | running | working pattern. The figure which shows the driving | running | working locus | trajectory of a wall-side traveling pattern. The main body schematic diagram of the autonomous running type vacuum cleaner of Example 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation at the time of direction change in the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation during corner cleaning in the first embodiment. The main body schematic diagram of the autonomous running type vacuum cleaner of Example 2. FIG. The main body schematic diagram of the autonomous running type vacuum cleaner of Example 3. FIG.

  Embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 101 of Example 1 is demonstrated using FIGS. FIG. 1 is an external view of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 101 according to the present embodiment from obliquely above, FIG. 2 is a bottom view showing a bottom surface, and FIG. 3 is viewed from the left when cut at a substantially center in the width direction. Sectional drawing, FIG. 4, the top view which looked at the inside of a main body from upper direction, FIG. 5 is the block diagram of a control apparatus.

  The autonomously traveling vacuum cleaner 101 is a device that cleans the interior of a room by collecting dust while traveling autonomously in the room. The main structures are an upper case 2a, a lower case 2b, and a bumper 3 constituting the main body 1 shown in FIG. 1, and left and right drive wheels 4a for autonomous running provided on the bottom surface of the lower case 2b shown in FIG. 4b, a suction port 5 for collecting dust from the floor, side brushes 6a and 6b disposed on the left and right front sides of the lower case 2b, and a control device 7 (not shown) housed inside the main body.

  The bumper 3 is provided with a mechanism that can swing in the front-rear direction in front of the main body 1, supported by two bumper springs 8 a and 8 b from the lower case 2, and swings rearward by a pressing force from the front. When released, it returns to its original position by the force of the spring. The bumper springs 8 a and 8 b are thin metal plate springs, which are fixed to the left and right sides of the outer front surface of the lower case 2, extend in the direction of the outer peripheral side surface of the main body 1, and contact the bumper 3. The bumper springs 6a and 6b are bent at their tips so that the bumper 3 can swing smoothly, and are in contact with the inner surface of the bumper 3 at the curved portions. In addition, the two bumper springs 8a and 8b are separated from and touch the bumper 3 so that the bumper 3 can swing smoothly regardless of whether the pressing force is applied from the left or right side as well as the pressing force from the front of the bumper 3. Yes. As shown in FIG. 4, the right side of the bumper 3 swings more greatly when the pressing force is applied from the right side of the bumper 3, and the left side of the bumper 2 swings more greatly when the pressing force is applied to the bumper 3 from the left side. It is desirable to contact the inner surface of the bumper near 45 ° in front of 1. By doing so, for example, when a pressing force is applied from the right side, the right bumper spring 8a is easily bent, but the left bumper spring 8b is difficult to be bent, and the bumper 3 is received at the curved end portion. The right side swings more.

  Bumper sensors 9 a and 9 b that detect the movement of the bumper 3 are fixed to the left and right of the lower case 2. The bumper sensors 9a and 9b are microswitches, and the movable contact side of the microswitch is in contact with the bumper convex portions 3a and 3b provided on the left and right sides of the bumper 3. When the bumper 3 is pushed rearward, the contact of the micro switch comes into contact, and it is detected that the pressing force is acting on the bumper 3. Thereby, the presence or absence of an obstacle is detected. The bumper sensor 9a is on the right side, and is detected when a pressing force is mainly applied to the right side of the bumper 3, and the bumper sensor 9b is detected on the left side, and is mainly detected when a pressing force is applied to the left side of the bumper 3. When a pressing force is applied near the center of the bumper 3, both the bumper sensors 9a and 9b detect it, and it can be seen that the pressing force is applied near the center. The bumper sensors 9a and 9b are installed so that the right bumper sensor 9a is inclined from the front to the right outside and the left bumper sensor 9b is inclined from the front to the left outside so that both the pressing force from the front and the pressing force from the side can be detected. Is preferable. In addition, it is desirable that the bumper convex portions 3a and 3b protrude obliquely inward along with the bumper sensors 9a and 9b. The bumper protrusions 3a and 3b are provided on the rear side of the position where the bumper springs 8a and 8b are in contact with each other, so that the bumper sensors 9a and 9b can easily react even when a pressing force is applied from the side surface. For example, when a pressing force is applied from the right side, the bumper 3 receives a pressing force behind the position where it contacts the bumper spring 8a, and the bumper 3 moves to the left and rotates clockwise around the bumper spring 8a. Therefore, the bumper 3 moves more greatly on the rear side than the position in contact with the bumper spring 8a. In order to detect the movement, it is desirable to detect it behind the bumper spring 8a, and the bumper convex part 3a should be provided behind the bumper spring 8a.

  The lower case 2 has two independent drive wheels 4a and 4b symmetrically. By driving the two drive wheels 4a and 4b independently of each other, it is possible to go straight, reverse, and rotate. The surfaces of the drive wheels 4a and 4b are covered with uneven rubber or an elastomer material, which makes it difficult to slip when traveling.

  The driving wheels 4a and 4b receive power from the traveling motors 11a and 11b via speed reducers 10a and 10b each composed of a plurality of stages of gears. The reduction gears 10a and 10b are preferably bevel gears in order to reduce running noise. In particular, the gears in the first stage from the traveling motors 11a, 11b having a high rotational speed have a great effect of reducing noise, and therefore it is desirable that the gears be inclined. Traveling motor encoders 38a and 38b (FIG. 5) are attached to the traveling motors 11a and 11b, respectively, so that the rotational speed and the rotational angle can be known, and the moving speed of the main body can be determined from the diameters of the speed reducers 10a and 10b and the drive wheels 4a and 4b. Know the distance traveled. The drive wheels 4a and 4b, the travel motors 11a and 11b, and the speed reducers 10a and 10b are a single unit on the left and right, and this unit is attached to the lower case 2 via a suspension (not shown). Yes. In order for the autonomously traveling cleaner 101 to smoothly get on and off the level difference during traveling, it is necessary to maintain the state where the driving wheels 4a and 4b are in contact with the traveling surface as much as possible. The suspension causes the driving wheels 4a and 4b to move up and down. Can be swung. In addition, a total of three auxiliary wheels 12a, 12b, and 12c are provided on the left and right of the bottom surface of the lower case 2 on the front and rear sides. The auxiliary wheel 12a in front of the bottom surface is mounted lower than the other auxiliary wheels 12b and 12c. On a flat floor, the auxiliary wheel 12a in front of the bottom surface and the driving wheels 4a and 4b support the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner. The bottom surface of the case 2 is maintained at a height of about 10 mm from the floor surface. Further, when riding on a step or the like, the front is lifted, and the auxiliary wheels 12b and 12c provided on the left and right behind the bottom face come into contact with the floor surface, so that the step can be smoothly overcome.

  Near the center of the autonomously traveling vacuum cleaner, there is a suction port 5 that is opened in a substantially rectangular shape with respect to the floor surface. The suction port 5 is located in the vicinity of a straight line connecting the center of the drive wheel 4a and the center of the drive wheel 4b. A suction brush 13 is incorporated in the suction mouth 5, and the suction brush 13 is rotated by a suction brush motor 14, so that dust on the floor surface can be efficiently scraped.

  An opening 5a is provided in the upper rear part of the suction port 5, and a dust collecting part is formed on the rear side. The dust collecting part is composed of a dust collecting case 15 and a dust collecting filter 16. The dust collection case 15 has an opening at a position facing the opening 5a, and is connected by packing between the openings. The dust collected from the suction port 5 is guided to the dust collection case 15 through the opening 5a. A dust collection filter 16 that is located behind the dust collection case 15 and also serves as a wall behind the dust collection case 15 separates air and dust, accumulates the dust in the dust collection case 15, and collects the air into the dust collection filter 16. To pass. The dust collecting case 15 can be detached by opening the lid 17 provided on the upper case 1.

  In addition, an electric blower 18 is provided behind the dust collection filter 16 in the approximate center in the body width direction. The electric blower 18 is disposed in the lower case 2b via an elastic body. By virtue of the elastic body, vibration generated by the electric blower 18 is hardly transmitted to the upper case 2a and the lower case 2b that form the outline of the main body 1, and vibration noise is reduced. A suction force is generated by the electric blower 18, and dust on the floor is sucked from the suction port 5, passes through the dust collection case 15, is dammed by the dust collection filter 16, and is collected in the dust collection case 15. Then, only air is sucked into the electric blower 18, discharged from the side surface of the electric blower 18, and exhausted to the outside of the main body from a lattice-like exhaust port 19 provided behind the lower case 2 b.

  The exhaust port 19 is made of a lattice-shaped plastic, and a hole through which air is formed by the lattice is formed so as to be directed obliquely upward to the rear. Therefore, the exhaust from the electric blower 18 is exhausted obliquely rearward and upward so as not to wind up dust on the floor.

  Further, side brushes 6a and 6b are rotatably provided on the bottom surface of the lower case 2b on the front side of the drive wheels 4a and 4b. These side brushes 6a and 6b are composed of three bundles of brushes, and these three bundles of brushes are attached to the brush holders 20a and 20b radially at substantially equal intervals. The brush holders 20a and 20b are rotatably attached to the bottom surface of the lower case 2b. The rotation shafts of the brush holders 20a and 20b are connected to the side brush motors 22a and 22b via the speed reducers 21a and 21b. Rotated. Further, the brushes of the side brushes 6a and 6b are inclined so as to be lower toward the tip, and the tip is in contact with the floor surface. The side brush 6a and the side brush 6b rotate in directions opposite to each other, and when viewed from above, the right side brush 6a rotates counterclockwise and the left side brush as viewed from above so that dust on the front side is fed into the suction port 5. 6b rotates clockwise.

  Further, the length of the brushes of the side brushes 6a and 6b is a length that reaches a corner (A portion in FIG. 4) formed when surrounded by a rectangle that substantially circumscribes the central portion of the front width of the main body 1 (horizontal direction). Have However, it is desirable that all the hairs of the brush have short hairs instead of long hairs. Long hair reaches the corner and can scavenge accumulated dust, but it is too long for the wall (side wall) close to the side of the main body 1 (part B in FIG. 4), so the hair bends greatly. There is a case where it faces upward along the wall surface and does not come into contact with the floor surface, and dust on the wall cannot be scraped off. Therefore, it is desirable to have not only long hairs but also short hairs. Further, in the present embodiment, it is constituted by three bundles of brushes, but it may be two bundles, four bundles or five bundles, and the lengths may be different for each bundle. Moreover, the side brush which extended the hair over the perimeter of the side brush holders 20a and 20b may be used instead of putting it into a plurality of bundles, and in that case, the hairs having different lengths are arranged over the entire circumference. Alternatively, the short hair region and the long hair region may be arranged separately.

  In this embodiment, two side brushes are provided on the left and right, but only one of the right and left sides may be provided. In the present embodiment, the brush is composed of a bunch of straight hairs, but may be composed of curled, bent, or meandering hairs. In the case of straight hair, as mentioned above, the situation where it does not contact the floor surface may occur near the side of the main body 1, but in the case of hair that is bent in advance or meandering, the bent portion is the center. By bending, it is possible to prevent the hair tips from separating from the floor surface. Moreover, in order to make it hard to get entangled with the hair leg etc. of a carpet, it is desirable that the front end side of a brush bends or bends in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the side brushes 6a and 6b.

  Further, the side brush holders 20a and 20b are made of a substantially circular resin harder than the brush, and have a size that fits inside the outer periphery of the main body 1. However, it is desirable that the side brush holders 20a and 20b reach as close to the outer periphery of the main body 1 as possible. The side brushes 6a and 6b are for scraping out dust. Since the brushes of the side brushes 6a and 6b in this embodiment are long, the brushes are easily bent and the performance of scraping off the dust tends to be weak. Therefore, it is desirable to enlarge the side brush holders 20a and 20b so as to shorten the brush portion as much as possible and to reduce the deflection of the brush. However, if it protrudes outside the outer periphery of the main body 1, the rotating side brush holders 20 a and 20 b may come into contact with an obstacle or the like to be damaged, so that they are stored inside the outer periphery of the main body 1.

  Further, although the main body 1 is autonomously moved by the drive wheels 4a and 4b, in order to prevent the main body 1 from colliding with an obstacle such as a wall of a room or furniture, a plurality of distance measuring sensors 23a are provided from the front surface to the side surface of the main body 1. ~ 23g are provided. In the present embodiment, a total of seven distance measuring sensors 23a to 23g are provided, one on the front of the main body (23d) and three on the left and right sides of the main body. These distance measuring sensors 23a to 23g are distance measuring sensors using infrared rays, and include a light emitting unit that emits infrared rays and a light receiving unit that receives reflected light that is reflected by the infrared rays and reflected back from the object. It is a sensor that measures the distance to the reflected object by detecting the intensity of the light. These distance measuring sensors 23 a to 23 g are arranged at different angles toward the outside in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the lower case 2, and detect the distance through the bumper 3. Therefore, the bumper 3 is made of a resin or glass capable of transmitting infrared rays at least in the vicinity of the distance measuring sensors 23a to 23g. Further, in order to reduce the noise of distance measurement by the distance measuring sensors 23a to 23g, the resin or glass that allows the infrared rays of the bumper 3 to pass therethrough has a characteristic of blocking visible light having a shorter wavelength than the infrared rays. Is preferable.

  The detection directions of the distance measuring sensors 23a to 23g are different from each other. Specifically, the distance measuring sensor arranged on the side surface is provided so as to face the side surface. It is not necessary for all the distance measuring sensors to be in different directions, but the center sensor and the sensor located on the most side need to be in different directions, so that at least three different directions can be detected. In addition, autonomously traveling vacuum cleaners often go straight forward, and it is important to monitor the front, and in particular, the distance measuring sensors 23a to 23g are installed within about 50 degrees to the left and right of the front front of the main body. It is desirable to install the distance measuring sensors 23b to 23f so as to face the front of the outer periphery of the main body 1 rather than the normal direction.

  In addition, it is desirable that the distance measuring sensors 23a to 23g be located at substantially the center in the height direction of the autonomous traveling cleaner 101. If it is too low, the floor surface may be judged as an obstacle, and if it is too high, the bottom surface of the bed or sofa may be judged as an obstacle, and it may not be able to enter the space below and be cleaned.

  Further, the distance measuring sensors 23a to 23g are not the type that detects the intensity of the reflected light, but may be the type that measures the light receiving position of the reflected light at the light receiving unit and measures the distance from the position to the object. Alternatively, visible light may be used. In the case of a distance measuring sensor using visible light, the bumper 3 needs to be made of a resin that can transmit visible light. Further, a distance measuring sensor using ultrasonic waves may be used instead of the infrared sensor. In the case of an ultrasonic sensor, the bumper 3 needs to be perforated so that ultrasonic waves can pass. Further, these sensors may be combined.

  Further, in order to grasp the distance to the obstacle by the distance measuring sensors 23a to 23g and appropriately avoid the distance, it is desirable that the sensor outputs of the distance measuring sensors 23a to 23g change according to the distance. Instead of a binary sensor that determines only the presence or absence, it is desirable to change continuously or in multiple stages.

  A plurality of floor surface ranging sensors 24 a to 24 c that measure the distance to the floor are provided on the lower surface of the lower case 2. 24b is provided on the front side of the lower case 2, and 24a and 24c are provided downward in front of the driving wheels 4a and 4b and in the vicinity of the outer periphery thereof. These floor surface ranging sensors 24a to 24c are also distance measuring sensors using infrared rays, and each has an infrared light emitting portion and a light receiving portion. These floor surface ranging sensors 24a to 24c measure the distance to the floor surface and are provided to detect a large step such as a staircase in the advancing direction to prevent the main body from falling from the step. ing. If the step is small, even if it falls, it can get over the step again and continue cleaning, but if it falls at a step larger than the step that can not be overcome, it can not return to the original floor surface, Cleaning will end in the middle. In order to avoid such a situation, it is necessary to find a step that is larger than the step that cannot be overcome and continue to travel so as not to fall. Specifically, the purpose is to detect a level difference of about 30 mm. Therefore, the floor distance measuring sensors 24a to 24c only need to be able to distinguish between less than 30 mm and 30 mm or more, and therefore, the sensor output value may be a binary change sensor instead of a sensor that continuously changes according to the distance.

  The upper case 1 has a display panel 25, a start button 26 for instructing the start and end of cleaning, a travel mode selection button 27 for changing the travel mode of autonomous travel, and a power button 28. The display panel 25 is composed of a plurality of LEDs and a 7-segment display, and displays an operation state and the like.

  Based on the instructions from these operation buttons 26 to 28 and the information from the plurality of sensors described above, the control device 7 controls the travel motors 11a and 11b, the suction brush motor 14, the electric blower 18, and the side brush motors 22a and 22b. To drive. A block diagram showing the configuration of the control device 7 is shown in FIG.

  The control device 7 is configured on the control board 31, and travel motor drive devices 33 a and 33 b that rotate the travel motors 11 a and 11 b, an electric blower drive device 34 that rotates the electric blower 18, and a suction brush that rotates the suction brush motor 14. Side brush motor drive devices 36a and 36b for rotating the side brush motors 22a and 22b, and a display panel drive device 37, which are controlled by the microcomputer 32. Further, the microcomputer 32 includes bumper sensors 9a and 9b, distance measuring sensors 23a to 23g, floor surface distance measuring sensors 24a to 24c, traveling motor encoders 38a and 38b for detecting the rotation of the traveling motors 11a and 11b, and a traveling motor. Current measuring devices 39a and 39b for driving motors that measure the currents 11a and 11b, current measuring device 40 for electric blower, current measuring device 41 for motor for suction brush, current measuring devices 42a and 42b for motor for side brush, operation buttons 26 to 28 are connected.

  These sensor values and current values are input to the microcomputer 32, and each time the microcomputer 32 determines the situation and gives an instruction to each drive device. Each current value detects the locked state of various motors, and if the motor is energized in the locked state, the motor may be damaged, and is used for control to prevent this.

  The lower case 2 has a battery storage 51 between the drive wheels 4a and 4b and the auxiliary wheel 12a, and includes a battery 52 for supplying electric power to the inside. The battery 52 and the battery storage unit 51 are arranged so as to be approximately at the center in the left-right direction of the lower case 2. As the battery 52, a secondary battery that can be reused by charging is used. Electric power is supplied to each driving device, each sensor, and the control device 7 by the battery 52, and autonomous running and cleaning are performed.

  The autonomously traveling vacuum cleaner 101 having such a configuration is mainly used in a room, and automatically cleans the room on behalf of a person. While traveling autonomously, dust and dust on the floor are scraped by the suction brush 13 and simultaneously sucked by the electric blower 18 and collected from the suction mouth 5 of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 101 to the dust collecting case 15. At this time, by rotating the side brushes 6a and 6b inward, dust and dust outside the suction port 5 can be moved to the front of the suction port 5, and more dust and dirt can be collected.

  The state of autonomous traveling is shown in FIGS. 6-8 is a figure which shows a room from upper direction, The shelf 55 is arrange | positioned at the upper right of the room, and the sofa 56 is arrange | positioned at the approximate center of the left side. These shelves 55 and sofas 56 are obstacles for the autonomously traveling cleaner 101. Moreover, the dotted line in the figure shows the traveling locus of the autonomous traveling cleaner 101.

  FIG. 6 shows a reflective traveling pattern in which cleaning is performed while changing the advancing direction when contacting or approaching a wall or an obstacle. This traveling pattern is a traveling pattern suitable for cleaning the entire room. Walls and obstacles are detected by the distance measuring sensors 23a to 23g and the bumper sensors 9a and 9b, and when they come into contact or approach a predetermined distance or less, the travel motors 11a and 11b are controlled so as to move away from them. Specifically, when a wall or an obstacle is detected, the traveling motors 11a and 11b are stopped, and then the traveling motors 11a and 11b are rotated in opposite directions to rotate the main body 1 on the spot to change the direction. To do. The angle at which the direction is changed varies depending on the size of the obstacle, the position from the main body 1, and the like, and is also changed randomly. After the direction change, the vehicle is moved forward. When walls or obstacles are detected again, the traveling motors 11a and 11b are similarly controlled to change the direction. It is desirable that the angle for changing the direction at this time is different from the angle for changing the previous direction. If the direction is changed at the same angle, depending on the arrangement of obstacles, the same place may be visited many times. To avoid this, it is better to change the angle at which the direction is changed randomly. .

  FIG. 7 shows a parallel traveling pattern in which cleaning is performed while moving the traveling direction in parallel when contacting or approaching a wall or an obstacle. This traveling pattern is also a traveling pattern suitable for cleaning the entire room. If a wall or an obstacle is detected, the traveling motors 11a and 11b are stopped, then the traveling motors 11a and 11b are rotated in opposite directions, and the main body 1 is rotated about 90 degrees on the spot. After that, when the distance corresponding to the width of the suction port 5 is advanced, it is stopped and the main body 1 is further rotated about 90 degrees on the spot. This operation moves to a position shifted laterally by the width of the suction port 5 as compared to before detecting a wall or an obstacle, and the traveling direction is opposite. From this state, the vehicle is moved forward again, and when walls and obstacles are detected, the traveling motors 11a and 11b are similarly controlled to change directions, and the inside of the room is regularly cleaned in parallel.

  Further, FIG. 8 shows a running locus when cleaning the wall of the room, and shows a running pattern of the wall that cleans along the walls and obstacles. The vehicle is run while maintaining the state in which the side surface of the main body 1 is separated from the wall or obstacle by about 15 mm. In this travel pattern, while the main body 1 is moved forward, the travel motor 11a, so that the distance to the wall or obstacle is made constant by the distance measurement sensor 23a or 23g arranged near the side surface among the distance measurement sensors 23a to 23g. 11b is controlled.

  A specific explanation will be given on the assumption that the vehicle is running clockwise around the wall. First, the travel motors 11a and 11b are stopped when the walls are detected by the distance measuring sensors 23a to 23g and the bumper sensors 9a and 9b, and the main body 1 is positioned near the walls. Thereafter, the traveling motors 11a and 11b are rotated in opposite directions to rotate the main body on the spot. At this time, the distance measuring sensor 23g on the left side of the main body 1 is rotated until the wall can be detected, so that the left side of the main body 1 is adjacent to the wall. Thereafter, both travel motors 11a and 11b are rotated in the forward direction to advance. At this time, the distance measuring sensor 23g is moved forward while adjusting the speeds of the traveling motors 11a and 11b so that the predetermined value is obtained. When the value of the distance measuring sensor 23g is larger than the predetermined value, the main body 1 is moving away from the wall. Therefore, the right traveling motor 11a is rotated faster than the left traveling motor 11b so that the main body 1 moves forward to the left. Move closer to. On the contrary, when the value of the distance measuring sensor 23g is smaller than the predetermined value, the main body 1 is approaching the wall, so the left traveling motor 11b is rotated faster than the right traveling motor 11a, and the main body 1 moves forward to the right. And keep away from the wall. In addition, since the closer the distance between the main body 1 and the wall can improve the cleaning performance at the wall, it is preferable to increase the rotational speed of the right traveling motor 11a for a very short time. Further, when changing the direction of the main body 1 while traveling near the wall, only the rotational speed of one of the left and right traveling motors 11a and 11b may be increased or decreased. One of the rotation speeds may be increased and the other may be decreased. By such control, the main body 1 moves forward while changing its direction from right to front and from left to right, and travel along the wall becomes possible.

  The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 101 has at least two traveling patterns, either the reflective traveling pattern or the parallel traveling pattern, and the near-wall traveling pattern. In particular, the user indicates the traveling pattern. The automatic mode when the cleaning is performed without performing the cleaning is a traveling mode combining at least these two traveling patterns. Further, without combining traveling patterns, a rapid mode aimed at quickly cleaning the entire room due to the reflective traveling pattern; a polite mode aimed at carefully cleaning the room due to the parallel traveling pattern; and There are also three individual travel modes, a wall-side mode for the purpose of thoroughly cleaning the dust collected by the wall-side travel pattern. These travel modes can be selected with a travel mode selection button 27.

  Conventionally, such an autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 101 cleans corners by changing direction at the corners while traveling along the walls in the case of the near-wall traveling pattern or parallel traveling pattern. Specifically, when a wall (front wall 112) is detected on the front side of the main body 1 while traveling with the side surface of the main body 1 adjacent to the wall (side wall 111), the main body 1 is stopped before the front wall 112, and the main body 1 is stopped. 1 is rotated about 90 degrees on the spot, and the corner is allowed to pass along the front wall 112, but the corner is cleaned by the side brushes 6a and 6b when passing through the corner. .

  However, when the outer shape of the main body 1 is made circular so that it does not contact the side wall 111 and the front wall 112 when the direction is changed, the corner formed when surrounded by a rectangle that substantially circumscribes the circular main body 1 is the outer periphery of the main body 1. The brushes of the side brushes 6a and 6b provided in the vicinity of 45 degrees obliquely forward of the main body 1 cannot reach the corner and can be cleaned only to the front of the corner. Furthermore, even before the corner, cleaning may be insufficient depending on the direction of the stop in the vicinity of the corner of the main body 1. As described above, when traveling near the wall, it is not moving forward without changing the traveling direction while staying adjacent to the side wall 111, but the traveling direction is shifted to the front right and front left in order to adjust the distance to the side wall 111. Moving forward while changing. Therefore, the direction of the main body 1 when the front wall 112 is detected and stopped, that is, the direction of the drive wheels 4a and 4b may be inclined rather than parallel to the side wall 111. The distance from the tip of 6a, 6b to the corner is further increased, resulting in insufficient cleaning.

  When the brushes of the side brushes 6a and 6b are lengthened to reach the corners to reach the side brushes 6a and 6b, the brushes of the side brushes 6a and 6b are stepped on the drive wheels 4a and 4b. The rotation of 4b is stopped, which hinders running. Therefore, the lengths of the brushes of the side brushes 6a and 6b are long enough not to be stepped on the drive wheels 4a and 4b, and are difficult to reach the corners.

  Therefore, in order to improve the corner cleaning performance, it is important to bring the side brushes 6a and 6b closer to the corners. As in Patent Document 1, the side brush itself is moved away from the main body, and the side brush is moved. It has been proposed to approach the corner. However, it is necessary to provide a complicated mechanism to separate the side brushes or to perform complicated control to move the side brush. In addition, since the vacuum cleaner collects dust and dirt, it may become impossible to operate if dust or dirt accumulates on the movable part or the telescopic mechanism, which is not desirable. In addition, if it is complicated, the number of parts increases accordingly, so that the cost may increase. Therefore, in order to improve the cleaning performance of the corners while improving the reliability and low cost of the operation by making the complicated mechanism and control as described above easier, the shape of the main body 1 is not circular. Instead, the side brushes 6a and 6b are brought close to the corners by making the shape close to the corners.

  However, simply considering that the shape of the main body 1 is close to the corner, it becomes easy to come into contact with the wall when the direction is changed. For example, when the main body shape is rectangular, the corner of the main body can be substantially matched with the corner, but if the direction is changed from that state, the corner near the corner contacts the front wall 112. In order to avoid this, it is necessary to retract the main body 1 backward greatly. Furthermore, the corner at the back of the main body 1 comes into contact with the side wall 111 when the direction is changed. In order to avoid this, it is necessary to keep the main body 1 away from the side wall 111. However, since the directions of the drive wheels 4a and 4b are not directed to the side, they are lowered obliquely, but this time the front corner is the side wall 111. The main body 1 cannot be directed diagonally. Therefore, complicated control is required to avoid the side wall 111. As described above, when the shape of the main body 1 is simply brought close to the corner, the cleaning performance can be improved, but a problem arises in the running performance.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, among the curved surfaces forming the outer periphery of the main body 1, the curvature radius of the front curved surface, which is mainly the moving direction, is set larger than the curvature radius of the rear curved surface. The front curved surface extends from the center front of the main body to the left and right around 45 degrees, and the width thereof is narrower than the width of the rear curved surface. By adopting such a shape, the outer periphery of the main body 1 can be brought closer to the corner formed when the main body 1 is surrounded by a rectangle that circumscribes the main body 1. In addition, since the outer periphery of the main body 1 approaches the wall direction, the side brushes 6a and 6b can be more reliably delivered to the corners, and the corners can be further cleaned.

  The shape of the main body 1 of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically showing the outer peripheral shape of the main body 1. As shown in FIG. 9, the outer periphery of the main body 1 has a front arc C1, a rear arc C3, a right front arc C2, and a left front arc. C4 is roughly divided into four curved surfaces.

  The rear arc C3 is a semicircle having a radius of curvature of 160 mm. The front arc C1 is a 190 mm arc whose center is at the same position as the rear arc C3 and has a larger radius of curvature than the arc C3. Further, the arc of the front arc C1 does not expand to a semicircular shape, but is narrower than the diameter of the rear arc C3, that is, the width of the main body 1, and is about 45 in the diagonally forward direction from the front of the arc C1. In other words, it extends to the vicinity of straight lines L1 and L2 connecting the center of the arc C1 and the corners formed when surrounded by a rectangle substantially circumscribing the main body 1. Therefore, the length of the main body 1 in the front-rear direction is 350 mm, and the lateral width is 320 mm. The arcs C2 and C4 forming the right front side and the left front side connect the front arc C1 and the rear arc C3, respectively. In order to make it difficult to come into contact with a wall or an obstacle at the time of turning, it is desirable that the respective arcs C1 to C4 are smoothly connected so as not to form corners. In particular, if there is a concave portion in the connecting portion, a thin obstacle may be caught in the concave portion, and the direction may not be changed clockwise or counterclockwise. Therefore, the circular arc C1 and the circular arc C2, and the circular arc C1 and the circular arc C4 are smoothly connected by an arc smaller than the circular arc C1. The centers of the arcs C2 and C4 on the left and right front sides are provided on a substantially extended line connecting the end of the arc C3 on the rear side and the center of the arc C3, and the arcs C2 and C3 and the arcs C4 and C3 are connected. The tangents of the arcs at the points to be performed are substantially the same, and the respective arcs are smoothly connected.

  In this embodiment, the arcs C2 and C4 on the left and right front sides are arcs having the same curvature, but arcs having different curvatures may be used. Further, in the present embodiment, the arcs C2 and C4 are both single arcs, but may have a shape in which a plurality of arcs having different curvatures are connected, or a spline curve shape using a polynomial. Further, the arcs C2 and C4 may be straight lines instead of curves. Even in these cases, it is desirable that the arcs C2 and C4 or the portions corresponding to the arcs C2 and C4 are connected by an arc smaller than the arc C1 so as to be smoothly connected to the arc C3.

  The distance to the corner formed when surrounded by a rectangle that substantially circumscribes the main body 1 made of the outer peripheral shape as described above is compared to the distance to the corner that is formed when enclosed by a rectangle that substantially circumscribes the circle. Get closer. The horizontal width of the main body 1 is the diameter of the rear arc C3, and the distance to the corner can be reduced by a portion narrower than the horizontal width when a virtual circular shape is drawn with the radius of curvature of the front arc C1. More specifically, the distance L1 to the corner of the circular shape with the radius Rf is expressed by Equation 1, where the radius of the front arc as in this embodiment is Rf, and the radius of the rear arc is Rb. The distance L2 to the corner in the shape obtained is expressed by Equation 2.

  Comparing Equations 1 and 2, it can be seen that when (Rb / Rf) is smaller than 1, that is, when Rf is larger than Rb, the distance L2 to the corner is shorter than L1. However, the front arc C1 needs to extend to the arc C1 in the vicinity of 45 degrees to the left and right, more precisely, to the vicinity of the straight lines L1 and L2 connecting the center and corners of the front arc C1.

  As another way of viewing, if a small arc C3 on the rear side is considered as a reference, a radius of the rear arc, that is, a virtual circle S1 having a radius of half the width of the main body 1 is drawn in accordance with the front surface of the main body 1. In this example, it can be considered that the front side of the main body 1 has a left and right oblique 45 ° vicinity outside the virtual circle S1. However, the arc C1 extends only to the vicinity of 45 degrees obliquely forward, the width of the main body 1 of the present embodiment is the same as the horizontal width of the virtual circle S1, and the distance to the corner is the same as that of the virtual circle S1. is there. Therefore, even if the shape of the main body 1 of the present embodiment is compared with the virtual circle S1, it can be seen that the distance from the outer periphery of the main body to the corner is closer. Therefore, by making the shape of the main body 1 as described above, the side brush holders 20a and 20b, which are the rotation centers of the main body 1 and the side brushes 6a and 6b, can be brought closer to the corner, and the corner cleaning performance can be improved. Can be improved.

  Moreover, compared with the case where the main body shape is a rectangle, the rectangle can make the distance to the corner closer. However, as described above, in the case of the rectangle, the rear corner contacts the side wall 111 when the direction is changed. For this reason, it is necessary to keep a distance from the side wall in advance at the time of running near the wall, it is difficult to bring the main body close to the corner, and corner cleaning and wall-side cleaning may be insufficient.

  Further, since the area of the gap between the main body and the obstacle is greatly different between the case where the obstacle is approached obliquely and the case where the obstacle is approached from the front, the cleaning performance is likely to vary. In particular, when approaching the obstacle diagonally, the area of the gap between the main body and the obstacle is wide, and the cleaning performance near the obstacle is lowered. However, when the front of the main body 1 is a large arc and extends to approximately 45 degrees obliquely forward of the main body 1 as in the present embodiment, the main body and the obstacle are separated depending on whether the obstacle is approached obliquely or from the front. The area of the gap between the two is not greatly different, the cleaning performance is less likely to vary, and the cleaning performance in the vicinity of the obstacle does not deteriorate even when approaching the obstacle from an angle.

In addition, when the body shape is rectangular, when the obstacle is approached obliquely, the corner easily comes into contact with the obstacle, and it is easy to give a strong impact force to the obstacle. Since the front is a large arc, the impact on the obstacle can be reduced.
The traveling performance, which is a problem due to the shape of the main body 1 that is not circular, will be considered by taking the direction change at the corner as an example. As for the corner, the corner is detected by detecting the front wall 112 forward while running near the wall. Although the corner cleaning will be described later, after the corner cleaning is finished, the main body 1 is turned and travels along the front wall 112 along the wall. In this direction change, the left and right drive wheels 4a and 4b are rotated in opposite directions at the same speed, so that the main body 1 is rotated on the spot around the center point of the straight line between the left and right drive wheels 4a and 4b. Rotate to change direction.

  However, in this embodiment, the curvature radius of the front arc C1 is made larger than that of the rear arc C3 so that the main body 1 approaches the corner, and the outer peripheral shape is not circular, so that the direction as described above If converted, there is a risk of contact with surrounding walls. For example, the center in the left-right direction of the main body 1 and the center in the front-rear direction (the total length of the main body 1 is 350 mm in total including the radius of curvature 190 mm of the arc C1 on the front side and the radius of curvature 160 mm of the arc C3 on the rear side). When the main body 1 is rotated with the rear position as the rotation center, the rotation center is located in front of the center of the arc C1 on the front side, and when rotated clockwise, the left front side of the main body 1, that is, the arc C1 The vicinity of the left end easily comes into contact with the front wall 112. This is because the end of the arc C1 is outside the arc having a radius from the rotation center to the front surface of the main body 1 (175 mm).

  In addition, the rear arc C3 is easily brought into contact with the side wall 111 as well. The distance from the rotation center to the side surface of the main body 1 is a radius of 160 mm of the rear arc C3, but the distance from the rotation center to the outer periphery of the main body just behind (the center of the arc C3) is 175 mm. This is because the distance to the 15 mm side wall 111 becomes narrower when rotated 90 degrees longer by 15 mm.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, the center point of the straight line connecting the left and right drive wheels 4a and 4b, which is the center of rotation, is positioned at the center of the front arc C1 and the approximate center of the arc C3. Specifically, while the total length of the main body 1 is 350 mm, the center of rotation is a position 190 mm behind the front of the main body 1 and is positioned rearward of the front-rear center of the total length of the main body 1.

  FIG. 10 shows a schematic diagram when rotating with such a position as the center of rotation. Since there is an arc C1 that forms the front outer periphery of the main body 1 on an arc having a radius (190 mm) from the center of rotation to the front of the main body 1 (the center of the arc C1), it rotates without contacting the front wall 112. Can be made. In other words, at the time of turning, the front side of the main body 1 can be rotated with a radius of curvature that is the same as or close to the curvature radius of the curved surface on the front side of the main body 1, and the front side of the main body 1 is less likely to contact the front wall 112. Yes. Further, the distance from the rotation center to the side surface of the main body 1 is 160 mm, and the distance from the rotation center to the arc C3 forming the rear outer periphery of the main body 1 is also 160 mm. Can do.

  As described above, the center of the front arc C1 and the center of the rear arc C3 are set to substantially the same position, and the drive wheels 4a and 4b are provided at positions that are substantially equidistant from the left and right, thereby forming the corners. The direction can be changed without touching obstacles such as the front wall 112 and the side wall 111. Further, it can be seen that the present embodiment has a main body shape that is not easily touched not only in the direction change at the corners but also in the direction change for avoiding obstacles such as walls in one direction during reflection running and parallel running.

  In order to detect obstacles, ranging sensors 23a to 23g are provided, but some of the ranging sensors 23a to 23g are provided to make it difficult for the obstacles to come into contact with each other during traveling and turning. Is preferably arranged in the vicinity of the connection point between the arc C1 of the main body 1 and the arcs C2 and C4. These connection points are arcs having different radii and are places where the shape of the main body 1 changes greatly, and are easy to touch during traveling and turning. Therefore, in this embodiment, it is desirable to arrange the distance measuring sensor 23b near the right connection point and the distance measuring sensor 23f near the left connection point.

  Further, when the center of the arc C3 on the rear side of the main body 1 and the center of rotation are substantially in the same position as in the present embodiment, the rear of the main body 1 is difficult to come into contact when the direction is changed. There is no need to arrange it, and it can be configured at low cost.

  Further, the shape of the main body 1 of the present embodiment is such that the vicinity of 45 degrees forward obliquely approaches the corner and the side brushes 6a and 6b are also moved obliquely forward compared to the circular shape, and the drive wheels 4a and 4b. The side brushes 6a and 6b are less likely to be stepped on the drive wheels 4a and 4b during travel, and smooth travel is possible. Further, by arranging the left and right drive wheels 4a, 4b behind the center in the front-rear direction of the main body 1 as in this embodiment, the distance from the side brushes 6a, 6b is further increased, and the side brushes 6a, 6b are driven. It is preferable that the wheels 4a and 4b are not stepped on.

  The corner cleaning by such an autonomous traveling type cleaner will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 shows a case where the vehicle is traveling clockwise along the wall.

  First, FIG. 11A shows a state where the main body 1 is moved along the side wall 111 and is running near the wall. At this time, the distance measuring sensor 23g on the side surface is mainly used to advance while controlling the traveling motors 11a and 11b so as to keep the distance between the side wall 111 and the main body 1 substantially constant. At this time, the side brushes 6a and 6b are rotated at a speed of about 300 revolutions per minute, which is the same speed as in the reflective traveling and the parallel traveling, and the dust near the wall is collected toward the suction port.

  Next, FIG. 11 (b) approaches the front wall 112, which is different from the side wall 111, in front of the main body 1, detects the front wall 112 by the distance measuring sensors 23 a to 22 f or the bumper sensors 9 a and 9 b, and is a corner. Is detected and stopped. The tips of the side brushes 6a and 6b reach the corner, and this state is maintained for 1 to 5 seconds, and the dust 113 at the corner is scraped out. At this time, it is desirable to rotate the side brushes 6a and 6b at a higher speed in order to scrape out the dust 113 more efficiently, and the side brushes 6a and 6b are rotated at a speed of about 400 revolutions per minute.

  Subsequently, the main body 1 is swung left and right while rotating the side brushes 6a and 6b as shown in FIGS. 11C and 11D in order to scrape out the dust 113 at the corner more reliably. When the corner 1 is detected and stopped, the direction of the main body 1, that is, the direction of the drive wheels 4a and 4b is not parallel to the side wall 111 but is directed to the right front and left front. The distance to is not the shortest, and the tip of the side brush 6b may not reach the corner. Therefore, the main body 1 is alternately rotated clockwise and counterclockwise in small increments. First, the main body 1 is rotated about 30 degrees to the left, which is the corner side, and then rotated about 60 degrees clockwise, thereby swinging it about 30 degrees left and right. Even if the direction of the main body 1 when the corner portion is detected and stopped is not parallel to the side wall 111 and the side brush 6b moves away from the corner by this swinging operation, the position of the side brush 6b Can move toward the corner, the tip of the side brush 6b reaches the corner, and dust 113 at the corner can be scraped out. This swinging operation is performed about 10 seconds in a cycle of about 0.5 seconds, for a total of about 5 seconds. During the swinging operation, the side brushes 6a and 6b are rotated at a speed of about 400 revolutions per minute during the reflective traveling and faster than during the parallel traveling.

  When the side brush 6b is swung very fast with respect to the rotation of the side brush 6b, the brush of the rotating side brush 6b may not come close to the corner while the swinging operation is reciprocated once. It is desirable that the brush of the side brush 6b be brought close to the corner at least once during one reciprocation of the swinging operation. In consideration of the number of bundles of the side brush 6b and the rotational speed, the cycle of the swinging operation is desired. Is considered necessary for about 0.2 seconds or more. In addition, if the period of the swinging operation is lengthened, the number of times the brush of the side brush 6b comes close to the corner can be increased. However, by frequently changing the direction of the side brushes 6a and 6b, unevenness of the floor surface, etc. In order to scrape the side brushes 6a, 6b with different angles at a frequent angle against dust that is difficult to be scraped off by simply hitting the side brushes 6a, 6b from one direction, it is not a slow swinging motion. It is desirable to rock at a period of less than a second.

  In addition, although dust is scraped out over time, in order to clean the entire room within the limited battery capacity of the battery 52, it is better that the time staying in the same place is short. For this purpose, the dust scraping operation at the corners described above is at least more than the average time required for the autonomously traveling vacuum cleaner 101 to rotate 90 degrees at the time of turning, and the opposite walls and walls constituting the room It is desirable that the time is less than or equal to the time required for the autonomous traveling cleaner 101 to make one reciprocation between the two, and it is desirable that the time is approximately 2 to 20 seconds. In this embodiment, the rocking is performed by about 30 degrees clockwise and counterclockwise, but the rocking may be performed at a smaller angle in order to shorten the time of the rocking operation efficiently.

  After dusting out the corners for a predetermined time in this manner, at least the distance measuring sensor 23g on the left side is monitored so that the traveling direction is substantially parallel to the front wall 112 as shown in FIG. The main body 1 is rotated about 90 degrees clockwise. After that, the side brushes 6a and 6b return to a speed of about 300 revolutions per minute, which is the same speed as in the reflective running and the parallel running, and continue to run near the front wall 112.

  In the present embodiment, the operation when traveling clockwise against the wall is shown. However, in the case of counterclockwise rotation, the distance sensor 23a on the right side is mainly used to travel along the wall and the rotation direction of the main body 1 is changed. Conversely, the corners are cleaned by the right side brush 6a.

  Further, the above-mentioned corner cleaning operation does not necessarily need to be the series of operations described above. For example, the corner cleaning operation may be started immediately after reaching the corner, or conversely the swing operation may be stopped without performing the swing operation. Just hold on. Further, although the rotation speeds of the side brushes 6a and 6b are increased at the corners, they may not be increased, and the rotation speeds may be changed according to the condition of the floor surface.

  Further, regarding the corner cleaning, the corner cleaning operation described above may be performed not only during the traveling near the wall or during parallel traveling but also when it is determined that the corner is during the reflective traveling.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the center positions of the drive wheels 4a and 4b are arranged at the center of the front arc C1 and the center of the rear arc C3 of the main body 1, but the front side is not limited to this position. It may be on the front side of the center of the arc C1. Even if the positions of the drive wheels 4a and 4b are moved forward, the shape of the main body does not change, so the corner cleaning performance is the same. However, it is necessary to move backward once when the direction changes. However, this embodiment is configured with a large arc on the front side, and the radius of rotation is smaller than the case where the main body shape is a square with the width of the main body as one side. Time and power consumption during conversion can be reduced. However, if the center of rotation is farther to the front than the center of the main body 1, the distance to be retracted when changing the direction becomes longer than when the main body shape is square. Therefore, it is desirable to provide the center of rotation at a position where the distance to be retracted is shorter than when the main body shape is square, that is, at a position rearward from the front surface of the main body 1 by a half of the lateral width of the main body 1. Therefore, the center position of the drive wheels 4a and 4b is desirably provided at a position behind the front surface of the main body 1 and a distance half the width of the main body 1.

  In particular, the center positions of the drive wheels 4a and 4b are not limited to the positions of the present embodiment, and the distances from the both ends of the front arc C1 and the center on the rear arc C3 are equal. By arranging the centers of the drive wheels 4a and 4b, the minimum radius of rotation of the main body 1 can be reduced, and the direction change in a narrow place is facilitated.

  Therefore, the direction can be changed without greatly retreating, and the position of the center of the drive wheels 4a and 4b is in front of the center of the arc C1 on the front side and from the front surface of the main body 1 in order to reduce the minimum radius of rotation. It is desirable to arrange it behind the distance of half the width of the main body 1.

  However, in the case where the driving wheels 4a and 4b are arranged as described above, the corner is cleaned by bringing the main body 1 close to the front wall 112 and cleaning the corner with the side brush as described above, and then retracting the main body 1. To change direction. At that time, the main body 1 is moved backward so as not to contact the front wall even when the main body 1 rotates, that is, the center of the driving wheels 4a and 4b is separated from the front wall 112 by the radius of the front arc C1. In addition, the side wall 111 is also made to run along the wall a little wider in advance so that the arc C3 on the rear side of the main body 1 does not come in contact with the side wall 111, or obliquely or away from the side wall 111 before changing direction. It is better to retract in an arc. Further, it is desirable to detect and control surrounding obstacles with the distance measuring sensors 23a to 23g even during the direction change so as not to contact the front wall 112 or the like. In addition to the distance measuring sensors 23a to 23g, it is also desirable to arrange a distance measuring sensor behind the main body 1 to detect and control an obstacle.

  When the arc C1 is not a circular arc but a straight line, the front half of the main body 1 has a substantially rectangular shape, so that the obstacle approaches from the corner and comes into contact with the obstacle unless the obstacle is approached from the front. This is undesirable. Even if the corner portion is an arc, it is not desirable because it is an arc having a small radius of curvature and a small contact area, which is likely to give a strong impact force to the obstacle. Furthermore, since the area of the gap between the main body and the obstacle is greatly different between when approaching the obstacle obliquely and when approaching from the front, the cleaning performance tends to vary. In particular, when approaching the obstacle diagonally, the area of the gap between the main body and the obstacle is wide, and the cleaning performance near the obstacle is lowered. Further, when the main body 1 is swung in the corner cleaning, the corner portion comes into contact with the front wall 112 frequently, which is not desirable. Therefore, it is desirable that the front surface of the main body 1 has an arc shape.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the curvature of the arc C1 on the front side of the main body 1 is made larger than the curvature of the arc C3 on the rear side, and the vicinity of 45 degrees forward and left of the main body 1 is outside the arc whose diameter is the horizontal width of the main body 1. By forming it with a large arc that protrudes, the main body 1 can be brought close to the corner, the side brushes 6a and 6b can easily reach the corner, and the corner cleaning performance is improved.

  That is, according to the configuration of the present embodiment, by making the curvature radius of the front curved surface out of the curved surfaces forming the outer periphery of the main body larger than the curvature radius of the rear curved surface, The distance between the outer shell and the corner that can be formed when surrounded by a rectangle that circumscribes the center of the width of the front of the main body (horizontal direction) can be reduced, and the front side of the main body close to the corner is near 45 degrees diagonally. By providing the side brush, the side brush can easily reach the corner, and the corner can be cleaned. This is an effect obtained by making the shape of the main body different from a circular shape, and it is not necessary to provide a complicated mechanism or to perform complicated control, and the corner can be cleaned with an easy mechanism and control. .

  Next, Example 2 will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, the main body 1 can be brought closer to the corner than in the first embodiment, and the corner can be cleaned more. The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 102 of the present embodiment is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment, and different points will be described. FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing the outer shape of the autonomously traveling cleaner 102 of this embodiment.

  In the present embodiment, the lateral width is 320 mm as in the first embodiment, and the rear arc C3 is a semicircle having a curvature radius of 160 mm, but the front arc C1 has a curvature radius of 205 mm. Is a main body shape that is 15 mm larger. Further, as in the first embodiment, the arc of the front arc C1 does not extend to a semicircular shape, but is smaller than the diameter of the rear arc C3, that is, the width of the main body 1, and is centered on the center of the arc C1. In the vicinity of the straight lines L1 and L2 connecting the center of the arc C1 and the corner formed when surrounded by a rectangle substantially circumscribing the main body 1 in a more precise manner, the spread is about 45 degrees diagonally forward and left and about 90 degrees in total. Has spread.

  Similarly to the first embodiment, the arc C2 is a curved surface forming the right front side surface, and C4 is a curved surface forming the left front side surface, and connects the front arc C1 and the rear arc C3. It is desirable that the respective arcs C1 to C4 are smoothly connected so as not to form corners, and the arcs C2 and C4 are smoothly connected by an arc smaller than the arc C1. In particular, if the connection portion is connected so as to be recessed, a thin obstacle may be caught in the recessed portion, and the direction may not be changed clockwise or counterclockwise. The arcs C2 and C4 are provided on a straight line extending from the end of the rear arc C3 and the center of the arc C3 so that the arcs C2 and C4 are smoothly connected to the rear arc C3. In this embodiment, the arcs C2 and C4 are arcs having the same curvature, but arcs having different curvatures may be used. Further, in the present embodiment, the arcs C2 and C4 are both single arcs, but may have a shape in which a plurality of arcs having different curvatures are connected, or a spline curve shape using a polynomial. Further, the arcs C2 and C4 may be straight lines instead of curves.

  By increasing the radius of curvature of the arc C1 on the front side as described above, it is possible to bring the vicinity of 45 degrees forward of the main body 1 closer to the corner than in the first embodiment, and accordingly, the side brushes 6a and 6b are also closer to the corner. The side brushes 6a and 6b can reach the corner more easily, and the corner cleaning performance can be improved.

  However, although the center of the arc C1 on the front side of the main body 1 and the center of the arc C3 on the rear side of the main body 1 are arranged at substantially the same position in the first embodiment, they are arranged at different positions in this embodiment. Specifically, the center of the front arc C1 is located 15 mm behind the center of the rear arc C3, and the length of the main body 1 in the front-rear direction is 350 mm as in the first embodiment. By positioning the center of the front arc C1 behind the center of the rear arc C3 as described above, the length of the main body 1 in the front-rear direction can be shortened, and the direction can be easily changed even in a narrow region. It is possible to clean a narrow area.

  Further, the centers of the drive wheels 4a and 4b are arranged in the vicinity of the center of the rear arc C3. Thereby, the back of the main body 1 can be rotated without contacting an obstacle such as the side wall 111.

  However, the center position of the drive wheels 4a and 4b is not limited to the above position, and may be the front side from the center of the front arc C1. If it does in this way, the rotation minimum radius of the main body 1 can be made small, a small turn is effective, and the direction change in a narrow place becomes easy.

However, as described in the first embodiment, if the centers of the drive wheels 4a and 4b serving as the rotation center are too far away from the center of the main body 1, the front wheels 112 are easily contacted when the direction is changed. Therefore, it is desirable to dispose more than half the width of the front of the main body 1. Therefore, the center position of the drive wheels 4a and 4b is set so that the direction of rotation can be changed without greatly retreating while reducing the minimum rotation radius. It is desirable to arrange the front side of the arc C1 on the front side of the main body 1 and the rear side of the front surface of the main body 1 by a distance equal to or more than half the width.

  However, when the drive wheels 4a and 4b are arranged at the positions as described above, the corners are cleaned by moving the main body 1 close to the front wall 112 at one end, cleaning the corners, and then reversing the main body 1. I will let you. At that time, the main body 1 is moved backward so as not to contact the front wall even when the main body 1 rotates, that is, the center of the driving wheels 4a and 4b is separated from the front wall 112 by the radius of the front arc C1. Further, the arc C3 on the rear side of the main body 1 does not contact the side wall so that the gap runs in front of the wall a little wider in advance, or a large arc in the obliquely rearward direction so as to leave the side wall when retreating before turning. It is better to retreat while drawing.

  According to the configuration of the second embodiment described above, the length of the side brush can be increased by positioning the drive wheel behind the front surface of the main body from the center in the front-rear direction of the main body. It becomes easy to reach the corner, and the corner can be cleaned more. Further, by positioning the driving wheel behind the front of the main body by a distance that is half the width of the main body, the front side of the main body is moved at a turning radius that is the same as or close to the curvature radius of the curved surface on the front side of the main body when changing direction. It can be rotated and it can be made difficult to contact the obstacle located in front of the main body. This is an effect due to the position of the drive wheel, and the direction change in the vicinity of the corner is facilitated without providing a complicated mechanism or performing complicated control.

  Next, Example 3 will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, the main body 1 can be brought closer to the corner than in the first embodiment, and the corner can be cleaned more. The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 103 of the present embodiment is almost the same as that of the first embodiment, and different points will be described. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing the outer shape of the main body 1 of the autonomously traveling cleaner 103 according to the present embodiment.

  This embodiment is a semicircle having a lateral width of 320 mm and a radius of curvature of the rear arc C3 of 160 mm, as in the first embodiment. However, the arc C1 that is the front curved surface in the first embodiment has three arcs C11 to C11. It is divided into C13. An arc C12 is provided in front of the main body 1, the right side of the arc C12 is connected to the arc C11 and the arc C2, and the left side is connected to the arc C13 and the arc C4, and is connected to the rear arc C3. Each arc is smoothly connected with an arc having a smaller radius of curvature than the arc C12. In particular, if the connection is made so as to be recessed at the connection portion of each arc, a thin obstacle may be caught in the recessed portion, and the direction may not be changed clockwise or counterclockwise, which is not desirable.

  Further, the centers of the drive wheels 4 a and 4 b are arranged at substantially the same position as the center of the arc 3 on the rear side of the main body 1. The centers of the front arcs C11 and C13 are arranged at substantially the same position as the centers of the drive wheels 4a and 4b, and the radius of curvature thereof is 190 mm as in the first embodiment. More precisely, it extends to the vicinity of straight lines L1 and L2 connecting the centers of the arcs C11 and 13 and the corners formed when surrounded by a rectangle substantially circumscribing the main body 1, and from the width of the rear arc C3. It is contained in a narrow area. The center of the arc C12 located in front of the main body 1 is located at the rearmost part of the outer periphery of the main body 1 (the center of the arc C3) behind the centers of the arcs C11 and C13, and the radii of curvature thereof are the arcs C11 and C13. 345 mm, which is larger than the radius of curvature. Therefore, the front surface of the main body 1 is not an extension of an arc in the vicinity of 45 degrees diagonally left and right, but is smoothly connected by an arc having a larger radius of curvature, and has a shape that suppresses the bulge to the front side.

  Due to the above shape, the length of the front and rear of the main body 1 is 5 mm shorter than that of the first embodiment and becomes 345 mm. The horizontal width of the main body 1 is the same as that of the first embodiment, and the vicinity of 45 degrees obliquely in front of the left and right sides of the main body 1 is also formed with the same curvature radius 190 mm as in the first embodiment. By this, the distance from 45 degrees diagonally forward of the main body 1 to the corner can be reduced.

  Thus, by increasing the radius of curvature of the frontal arc C12 that forms the outer periphery of the main body 1 and reducing the bulge of the outer frontal periphery, it is possible to bring the vicinity of 45 degrees forward of the main body 1 closer to the corner than in the first embodiment. In addition, by moving the side brushes 6a and 6b obliquely forward in accordance with this, the side brushes 6a and 6b can reach the corner more easily, and the cleaning performance of the corner can be improved.

  Further, among the distance measuring sensors 23a to 23g arranged in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the main body 1, it is desirable to arrange some of them in the vicinity of the connection point between the circular arcs. Ranging sensor 23b is near the connection point of arc C2 and arc C11, ranging sensor 23c is near the connection part of arc C11 and arc C12, and ranging sensor 23e is near the connection part of arc C12 and arc C13. The sensor 23f is arranged in the vicinity of the connection portion between the arc C13 and the arc C4.

  In the present embodiment, the center of the arc C12 is provided near the center of the arc C3 (near the outer periphery just behind the main body 1), but the center of the arc C12 is not limited to that position, and the radius of curvature is 345 mm. It is not limited to. The arc C12 is an arc that does not swell forward on the extension lines of the arc C11 and the arc C13. Further, the arc C12 is an arc that does not expand to the vicinity of 45 degrees obliquely forward and left of the main body 1. The right end is the arc C11 and the left end is the arc C13. It is a circular arc that is connected smoothly.

  Further, in this embodiment, the arc that forms the curved surface on the front side of the main body 1 is large and is composed of three arcs C11, C12, C13.

  Further, when the arc C12 is not a circular arc but a straight line, the front half of the main body 1 has a substantially rectangular shape, and as long as the obstacle is not approached from the front, it approaches the obstacle from the corner and contacts from the corner. This is undesirable. Even if the corner portion is an arc, it is an arc having a small radius of curvature and a contact area is small at the time of contact. Furthermore, since the area of the gap between the main body and the obstacle is greatly different between when approaching the obstacle obliquely and when approaching from the front, the cleaning performance tends to vary. In particular, when approaching the obstacle diagonally, the area of the gap between the main body and the obstacle is wide, and the cleaning performance near the obstacle is lowered. Further, as described in the first embodiment, when the main body 1 is swung during corner cleaning, the corners come into frequent contact with the front wall 112, which is not desirable. Therefore, it is desirable that the front surface of the main body 1 has an arc shape. However, when the arc C12 is an arc having an infinitely large radius, it can be regarded as a substantially straight line. When the portion corresponding to the arc C12 is a straight line, it is desirable that the straight line portion is short, and it is swung in the corner cleaning operation. It is desirable to make it narrower than the width corresponding to the angle.

  In the present embodiment, the centers of the drive wheels 4a and 4b are arranged at substantially the same position as the center of the arc 3 on the rear side of the main body 1. However, the present invention is not limited to this position. As in the first embodiment, the direction can be changed without greatly retreating, and the centers of the drive wheels 4a and 4b are more forward than the centers of the arcs C11 and C13 on the front side of the main body 1 in order to reduce the minimum radius of rotation. In addition, it is desirable to dispose behind the front surface of the main body 1 by a distance equal to or more than half the width of the main body 1.

  When the drive wheels 4a and 4b are arranged as described above, the corners are cleaned by bringing the main body 1 close to the front wall 112 and cleaning the corners by the side brushes 6a and 6b as in the first embodiment. However, after cleaning the corners, the main body 1 is retracted and then turned to travel along the front wall 112. At that time, the main body 1 is moved backward so as not to contact the front wall 112 even when the main body 1 rotates, that is, the center of the drive wheels 4a, 4b is separated from the front wall 112 by the radius of the front arcs C11, C13.

  As mentioned above, although three embodiments have been shown with respect to the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the three embodiments described above, and includes various modifications. For example, the rear arc C3 may be a substantially arc shape formed by a plurality of arcs. Further, the above-described second and third embodiments may be combined, the front arc C1 may be divided, and the centers of the arcs C11 and C13 may be different from the center of the rear arc C3. Moreover, it is not necessary to include all the above-described configurations.

  In the first to third embodiments, the side brushes 4a and 4b have a length that reaches the corner, but even if the side brush has a length that does not reach the corner, By performing the corner cleaning operation shown in Example 1, it was difficult to remove by dust that could not be scraped due to variations in the orientation of the main body 1 when the corner was detected and stopped, or by minute irregularities on the floor, etc. Since dust can be more reliably removed, it is preferable to perform the corner cleaning operation shown in any of the embodiments.

  As described above, the above-described three embodiments can make the outer peripheral shape of the main body 1 close to the corner while suppressing the deterioration of the running performance, and the side brushes 6a and 6b can easily reach the corner. Corner cleaning is possible without using complicated controls and complicated mechanisms.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Autonomous travel type vacuum cleaner main body 2a Upper case 2b Lower case 3 Bumper 4 Driving wheel 5 Inlet 6 Side brush 23 Distance sensor 101 Autonomous travel type vacuum cleaner 111 Side wall 112 Front wall

Claims (5)

The main body of the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner,
A left driving wheel and a right driving wheel which are provided on the lower surface of the main body and which each independently rotate and drive;
Obstacle detection means for detecting obstacles around the body;
In an autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner comprising control means for autonomously controlling the drive means based on information from the obstacle detection means,
Of the curved surfaces forming the outer periphery of the main body, the curvature radius of the front curved surface, which is mainly the moving direction, is larger than the curvature radius of the rear curved surface, and the width of the front curved surface is the rear side An autonomously traveling vacuum cleaner characterized by being narrower than the width of the curved surface.   2. The center of the arc that forms the front curved surface of the main body is substantially the same as the center of the arc that forms the rear curved surface, or is located behind the center of the arc that forms the rear curved surface. Autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner.   The autonomous traveling cleaner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the left driving wheel and the right driving wheel are located rearward from a center in a front-rear direction of the main body.   The left driving wheel and the right driving wheel are located rearward from a front surface of the main body by a distance that is half the width of the main body and forward from a center of an arc that forms a curved surface on the front side of the main body. The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner of Claim 1 or Claim 2.   It has a side brush that extends outward from the main body diagonally forward of the main body, and the side brush has a length that reaches a corner formed when enclosed by a rectangle that substantially circumscribes the main body. The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to claim 1 or 2.