JP2701499B2 - Self-propelled vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a self-propelled vacuum cleaner having a cleaning function and a moving function.

2. Description of the Related Art At present, the mainstream of domestic vacuum cleaners is a so-called cylinder type vacuum cleaner in which a suction hose having a suction nozzle is led out of a cleaner body having an electric blower.
This type of vacuum cleaner has a feature that the operability of the suction nozzle is good and it is easy to clean every corner.

On the other hand, in the United States and Europe where carpet cleaning is often performed, a so-called upright type vacuum cleaner in which a cleaner body and a suction nozzle are integrated and a rotary brush is provided in the suction nozzle portion is often used. Some vacuum cleaners of this type improve the operability by rotating a roller provided at the bottom of the suction nozzle by a motor so that the cleaner can run on its own.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, the above-mentioned cylinder type vacuum cleaner has a feature that the operability of the suction nozzle is good, but since the suction nozzle and the main body are separated, the main body can be moved. However, there is a problem that the main body or the power cord is caught by an obstacle or the main body is moved by a pulling force.

Regarding the problem of the power cord, with the improvement of battery performance, attempts have been made to install a battery to make it cordless, but the increase in weight is unavoidable, and there is a problem that the cleaner is moving hard. It is more close-up.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily move the suction hose in the direction in which the suction hose is pulled without requiring any force to move the cleaner body, and to smoothly follow the cleaner body.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, a self-propelled cleaner according to the present invention comprises an electric blower, a dust collection chamber, two drive wheels for moving a main body, and independent drive wheels. , A driving means for driving the driving motor, a suction hose led out of the main body, a direction detecting means for detecting a drawing direction of the suction hose from the main body, and an output from the direction detecting means. And a speed setting means for arbitrarily setting the maximum speed of the drive motor.

Operation According to the above configuration, the main body is automatically derived from the suction hose by driving the two drive wheels with the drive motor in accordance with the direction in which the suction hose is led out of the main body by the movement control means detected by the direction detection means. Moving in the direction
In particular, the suction hose can be easily moved in the pulling direction without applying any force. In addition, the maximum speed of the drive motor can be arbitrarily set by the speed setting means according to the walking speed of the operator, so that the movement speed of the cleaner and the walking speed of the operator can be optimized. The smooth movement of the main body of the vacuum cleaner can be performed smoothly.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 and 2, 1 is a main body of the self-propelled cleaner, 2 is an electric blower provided in the main body 1, 3 is the same dust collection chamber,
4 is a filter. Reference numeral 5 denotes a suction hose mounting base provided at the upper part of the main body 1 so as to be freely rotatable in the horizontal direction as indicated by an arrow (a). Connected to the department. Further, a direction detection gear 7 is attached to the suction hose mounting base 5, and rotates integrally with the suction hose mounting base 5. Reference numeral 8 denotes a rotary revolve, to which a connecting gear 9 is attached. The connection gear 9 meshes with the direction detection gear 7, and the direction in which the suction hose 6 is led out is transmitted as the rotation angle of the rotor revolver 8. Above, suction hose mounting base 5,
The direction detecting gear 7, the rotor revolver 8, and the connection gear 9 constitute a direction detecting means. Reference numerals 10 and 11 denote two drive wheels provided on the left and right behind the bottom of the main body 1. Reference numerals 10 'and 11' denote drive gears mounted on inner surfaces of the drive wheels 10 and 11, respectively. The drive wheels 12, 11 are connected via reduction gears 14, 15, and motor gears 16, 17, so that the drive motors 12, 13 independently drive the drive wheels 10, 11, respectively. Reference numeral 18 denotes a follower wheel, which is rotatably attached to the front of the bottom of the main body 1. Reference numeral 19 denotes a circuit unit including a driving unit 20 for driving the driving motors 12, 13, and a movement control unit 21 for controlling the driving unit. Reference numeral 22 denotes a power supply composed of a battery.

The distal end of the suction hose 6 is connected to an extension pipe 23 as shown in FIG.
Is attached. Reference numeral 25 denotes a hand switch for operating the main body 1.

FIG. 4 is a circuit block diagram of the present embodiment, showing the input and output of signals to and from a microcomputer 26 for performing overall control. The input side is the push switch 27 of the rotor revolver 8 and the hand switch 25 and the slide switch.
28 are connected to a bus line 31 via an A / D converter 29 and an input port 30, respectively. The output side includes a PWM wave generation circuit 34, 35 connected to two sets of drive circuits 32, 33 constituting the drive means 20, and a drive circuit 3 for driving the electric blower 2, respectively.
The output port 37 connected to 6 is connected to the bus line 31. As described above, the microcomputer 26, the A / D converter 29, the input port 30, the bus line 31, and the PWM wave generators 34 and 35 constitute the movement control means 21.

The operation of the self-propelled cleaner configured as described above will be described below.

The method of using the self-propelled vacuum cleaner of the present embodiment is basically the same as that of a normal cylinder type vacuum cleaner, in which dust is sucked from the suction nozzle 24 while holding the extension tube 23 in a hand.
When the slide switch 28 is turned on, the electric blower 2 operates,
The dust sucked from the suction nozzle 24 passes through the extension pipe 23, the suction hose 6, and the suction hose mount 5, and is collected in the dust collection chamber 3. To move the cleaner body 1, when the push switch 27 is pressed, the drive motors 12 and 13 operate, and the drive wheel 1
The main body 1 moves as 0 and 11 rotate. At this time, the movement control means 21 controls the rotational speeds of the drive motors 12 and 13 according to the direction in which the suction hose 6 is led out as detected by the direction detection means, as shown in FIG. That is, assuming that the drawing direction of the suction hose 6 is θ (the right direction of the main body 1 is positive) and the rotational speed of the drive motors 12 and 13 is v (the direction in which the main body 1 advances is positive),
When the suction hose 6 is oriented substantially in the straight traveling direction of the main body 1 (near θ = 0), both the drive motors 12 and 13 have v = vMA
It rotates with X and the main body 1 goes straight. For example, suction hose 6
When the direction of derivation becomes right with respect to the main body 1 (θ> 0), the drive motor 13 rotates at vMAX, but the rotation speed of the drive motor 12 becomes lower than vMAX, and the main body 1 performs right rotation drive. Then, theta> theta drive motor 12 when ₀ is inversely rotated, theta = .theta.L
In this case, v = −vMAX, so that the main body 1 rotates rightward in place. Similarly, when the outlet direction of the suction hose 6 is to the left with respect to the main body 1, the main body 1
Performs left rotation or in-place left rotation. By controlling the rotation speed v of the drive motors 12 and 13 in accordance with the magnitude of θ in this manner, the main body 1 always moves in the direction in which the suction hose 6 is drawn out while performing forward movement, right rotation, and left rotation. Therefore, when the push switch 27 is pressed, the main body 1
Will follow in a certain direction of the suction nozzle 24.

The suction hose 6 from which the main body 1 starts rotating in place
Is preferably set in the range of 45 ° to 60 ° in terms of operation, so that the followability of the main body 1 is improved.

FIG. 6 is a circuit block diagram of another embodiment in which speed setting means for arbitrarily setting the maximum speed of the drive motors 12 and 13 is added to the previous embodiment. Reference numeral 40 denotes a volume provided in the hand switch 25, and reference numeral 41 denotes an A / D converter connected thereto, which is connected to the bus line 31 of the microcomputer 26. The microcomputer 26 varies the magnitude of vMAX in FIG. 5 according to the setting of the volume 40. Therefore, the manner of moving the main body 1 is exactly the same as in the previous embodiment, but only the moving speed can be arbitrarily set by operating the volume 40.

Effect of the Invention As described above, the present invention can provide a self-propelled vacuum cleaner with good operability that can easily move the main body in the direction in which the suction hose is pulled with a simple operation, without requiring force. Things. Further, the effect can be more exerted on a heavy vacuum cleaner body equipped with a battery as in the embodiment.

Further, in the self-propelled cleaner according to the present invention, the moving speed of the main body can be arbitrarily set according to the walking speed of the operator. You can get a machine.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a self-propelled vacuum cleaner according to one embodiment of the present invention,
2 is a plan view showing a cross section of a part of the self-propelled cleaner, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a suction hose tip of the self-propelled cleaner, and FIG. 4 is a self-propelled cleaner. Machine circuit block diagram, 5th
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a relationship between a suction hose lead-out direction and a rotation speed of a drive motor, and FIG. 6 is a circuit block diagram of a self-propelled cleaner according to another embodiment. 1 ... body, 2 ... electric blower, 3 ... dust collection chamber, 5 ...
Suction hose mounting base, 6 ... Suction hose, 7 ... Direction detection gear, 8 ... Rotary revolver, 9 ... Connection gear, 10,11 ... Drive wheel, 12,13 ... Drive motor, 20 ... Drive Means, 21... Movement control means.

Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-64-86926 (JP, A) JP-A-58-203736 (JP, A) JP-A-63-234925 (JP, A) JP-A-1-141636 (JP) , A) Real opening 63-71855 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An electric blower, a dust collection chamber, two drive wheels for moving a main body, a motor for independently driving the drive wheels, a drive means for driving the drive motor, and a lead out of the main body. A suction hose, a direction detecting means for detecting a direction in which the suction hose is led out of the main body, and a movement control means for controlling the driving means with an output from the direction detecting means,
A self-propelled cleaner comprising: speed setting means for arbitrarily setting a maximum speed of the drive motor.