JP3003818B2 - Vacuum cleaner brush movement detection device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a brush movement detecting device for an electric vacuum cleaner, in which a brush is connected to the end of a hose connected to a main body of the cleaner to detect the movement of the brush.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional brush movement detecting device of this kind is
As shown in FIG. 6, a rotary shaft 3 rotatably supported by a bearing 7 in a groove 2 of a brush body 1 is fixed to a wheel 4 which rotates in contact with a floor surface. Have been.

A rotary encoder 5 having a plurality of light-shielding plates is fixed to one end of the rotating shaft 3. A transmission-type optical sensor 6 which is turned on or off by the light-shielding plates of the rotary encoder facing the rotary encoder 5. Is arranged.

Next, the operation will be described.

[0005] In the case of cleaning with an electric vacuum cleaner, when an operator operates the hose portion and moves the brush portion, the wheel 4 rotates in contact with the floor surface, and the rotary encoder 5 also rotates integrally with the wheel 4. .

When the rotary encoder 5 rotates, the optical sensor 6 is turned on or off by the light shielding plate of the rotary encoder 5 to detect the movement of the brush unit.

[0007]

Since the conventional brush movement detecting device for a vacuum cleaner is constructed as described above, dust enters through a gap between the rotating shaft 3 and the bearing 7, and the dust causes the optical movement. The light emitting part and the light receiving part of the sensor 6 may become dirty and malfunction. Further, since the rotating shaft 3 is exposed, dust may be entangled with the rotating shaft 3, whereby the rotation of the wheels 4 is not performed smoothly, and the optical sensor 6 malfunctions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and the invention according to claim 1 is a brush movement detecting device of a vacuum cleaner in which dust does not enter the brush body. The purpose is to obtain.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a brush movement detecting device for a vacuum cleaner in which dust is not entangled with a rotating shaft.

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a brush movement detecting device for a vacuum cleaner, comprising: a fixed shaft supported by a brush unit main body; a floor rotatably supported by the fixed shaft; A wheel that rotates in contact with the wheel, a detection unit provided on the wheel, and the wheel stored in the brush unit body
It is located on the back of the wall forming the groove and faces the detecting means in front.
And a detecting means for detecting via the recording wall .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a brush movement detecting device for a vacuum cleaner, wherein a rotating shaft rotatably supported by a bearing on a brush portion main body is fixed to the rotating shaft and comes into contact with a floor surface. The rotary encoder comprises a rotary wheel, a rotary encoder fixed to one end of the rotary shaft, and a plurality of light-shielding plates that rotate integrally with the rotary shaft, and an optical sensor that is turned on or off by each light-shielding plate of the rotary encoder. A brush movement sensor is provided, and a groove is formed concentrically with a hole through which the rotating shaft is inserted so that a part of the bearing is fitted to a side surface of the wheel.

[0012]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a brush movement detecting device for a vacuum cleaner, wherein the cleaning is performed by the vacuum cleaner.
When the operator moves the brush unit by operating the hose unit, the wheel rotates in contact with the floor surface, and the movement of the brush unit is detected by the detection unit detecting the detected unit provided on the wheel. . At this time, since the rotating shaft is fixed to the brush portion main body, a gap is eliminated, and no dust enters the brush portion main body.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a brush movement detecting device for an electric vacuum cleaner, wherein, when cleaning with the electric vacuum cleaner, when an operator operates the hose to move the brush, the wheels come into contact with the floor surface. Then, the rotary encoder also rotates together with the wheel, and the rotation of the rotary encoder turns the optical sensor ON or OFF by the light shielding plate of the rotary encoder, and detects the movement of the brush unit. At this time, the rotary shaft is entirely covered by the wheels and the bearing, so that no dust is involved.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the brush movement detecting device has a fixed shaft 8 fixed to a groove 2 of the brush body 1 by a fixing ring 15 , and the fixed shaft 8 has a floor surface. The wheel 4 that rotates in contact with the wheel is rotatably supported.

On the side surface of the wheel 4, a plurality of magnets 9 as detection means are arranged concentrically with the fixed shaft 8, and the detection means is provided on the brush body 1 at a position facing the magnet 9. And a magnet 11 for regulating the stop position of the wheel 4 are arranged.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

In the case of cleaning with an electric vacuum cleaner, when the operator moves the brush unit by operating the hose unit, the wheel 4 rotates in contact with the floor surface, and the wheel 4 and the magnet 9 also rotate.

When the Hall element 10 detects the magnet 9, its output becomes "H" level, whereby the CPU (not shown) detects the movement of the brush unit.

At this time, since the fixed shaft 8 is fixed to the brush portion main body 1, dust does not enter the brush portion main body 1.

Further, when stopping, the magnet 11 attracts the magnet 9 and does not stop at a delicate position of sensing.

In the above-described embodiment, the description has been made of an example in which the magnet 9 is used as the detected means and the Hall element 10 is used as the detecting means.
As shown in FIG. 4, the reflection plate 12 may be used as the detected means, and the reflection type optical sensor 13 may be used as the detection means. In such a case, it is necessary that a part 1a of the brush portion main body which hits the optical path of the optical sensor 13 is transparent. The position where the reflection plate 12 is provided may be on the side surface of the wheel 4.

Embodiment 2 Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 5 in which the same reference numerals are given to the same parts as those of the conventional apparatus shown in FIG.
, And a rotating shaft 3 rotatably supported by the rotating shaft 3. A wheel 4 that rotates in contact with the floor surface is fixed to the rotating shaft 3.

On both sides of the wheel 4, grooves 4b are formed concentrically with holes 4a through which the rotating shaft 3 is inserted.
A part of the bearing 7 is fitted in the groove 4b. Further, the bearing 7 is made of an oil-impregnated metal or the like, and is held by the holder 14 and arranged in the groove 2 of the brush unit main body 1.

A rotary encoder 5 having a plurality of light-shielding plates is fixed to one end of the rotary shaft 3, and a transmission-type optical sensor which faces the rotary encoder 5 and is turned on or off by the light-shielding plate 5a of the rotary encoder. 6 are arranged.

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

In the case of cleaning with an electric vacuum cleaner, when the operator moves the brush part by operating the hose part, the wheel 4 comes into contact with the floor surface and rotates, and the rotary encoder 5 also rotates integrally with the wheel 4. .

The rotation of the rotary encoder 5 causes the optical sensor 6 to turn on the light shielding plate 5 of the rotary encoder 5.
It is turned ON or OFF by a to detect the movement of the brush unit. At this time, since the entire rotating shaft 3 is covered by the wheels 4 and the bearings 7, there is no possibility that dust is involved.

In the above-described embodiment, only a part of the bearing 7 is located in the groove 4b. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a part of the holder 14 is also formed in the groove formed in the wheel. You may make it fit.

[0031]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the fixed shaft is fixed to the brush portion main body, and the detection means is provided on the wheel rotatably supported on the fixed shaft.
And a groove for accommodating the wheel is formed in the brush body.
Since the detecting means for detecting the detected means is arranged on the back surface of the wall surface to be interposed, there is no gap between the brush unit main body and the fixed shaft, thereby preventing dust from entering the brush unit main body. be able to. In addition, dust etc.
Contact accuracy can be maintained because there is no contact
You.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a groove is provided on the side surface of the wheel so as to be concentric with the hole through which the rotating shaft is inserted, and a part of the bearing is fitted into this groove. It is possible to prevent the shaft from being exposed and to prevent dust from being entangled with the rotating shaft, thereby smoothly rotating the wheel and preventing the optical sensor from malfunctioning.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a brush movement detecting device of a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a detected unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a brush movement detecting device of a vacuum cleaner according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a detected unit according to another embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a brush movement detecting device of a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a brush movement detecting device of a conventional vacuum cleaner.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Brush part main body 3 Rotary shaft 4 Wheel 4a Hole 4b Groove 5 Rotary encoder 6 Optical sensor 7 Bearing 8 Fixed shaft 9 Magnet (Detected means) 10 Hall element (Detecting means) 12 Reflector (Detecting means)

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hironori Taguchi 1728 Komaeda, Hanazono-cho, Osato-gun, Saitama 1 Mitsubishi Electric Home Equipment Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Akihiro Iwahara 1728 Koeda, Hanazono-cho, Osato-gun, Saitama 1 Mitsubishi Electric Home Koji Hasu (72) Inventor Koji Hasu 1728 Koeda, Oaza, Hanazono-cho, Osato-gun, Saitama 1 Mitsubishi Electric Home Equipment Co., Ltd. (72) Yasushi Takanashi 1728 Koeda, Oaza, Hanazono-cho, Osato-gun, Saitama 1 Mitsubishi Electric Home Inside Equipment Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiroshi Takai 1728 Komaeda, Hanazono-cho, Osato-gun, Saitama 1 Mitsubishi Electric Home Equipment Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masafumi Nagata 2--14-40 Ofuna, Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture Mitsubishi Electric Life Systems Research Institute, Inc. (72) Inventor Hiroyo Otsuka 2-14-40 Ofuna, Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Life Systems Research Laboratory Examiner Norihiro Kagami (56) References JP-A-4-193244 ( JP A) Patent flat 4-102424 (JP, A) (58 ) investigated the field (Int.Cl. ^7, DB name) A47L 9 / 04,9 / 28

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A fixed shaft supported by a brush body; a wheel rotatably supported by the fixed shaft and rotating in contact with a floor surface; detected means provided on the wheel; Behind the wall forming a groove for housing the wheel in the body
And a detecting means disposed on the surface for detecting the detected means via the wall surface . 2. A rotating shaft rotatably supported by a bearing on a brush body, a wheel fixed to the rotating shaft and rotating in contact with a floor, and a rotating shaft fixed to one end of the rotating shaft. A rotary encoder composed of a plurality of light-shielding plates that rotate integrally with the rotary encoder, and an optical sensor that is turned on or off by the respective light-shielding plates of the rotary encoder. A brush movement detecting device for a vacuum cleaner, wherein a groove is formed so that a part of the bearing fits into a side surface of the wheel.