JP4128205B2 - Electric vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner, and more particularly to control of an electric blower included in a vacuum cleaner.

  The vacuum cleaner sucks air containing dust with an electric blower, separates the dust from this air, and captures it in the dust collecting section. Then, when the amount of dust trapped in the dust collecting portion increases and the air passage resistance on the suction side of the electric blower increases, the air sucked in decreases, and as a result, the dust suction force decreases. For a vacuum cleaner user, there is a demand for a vacuum cleaner that secures the air volume and has a stable suction force regardless of the amount of dust in the dust collecting portion. Such a vacuum cleaner is described in Patent Document 1. ing.

  What is described in this Patent Document 1 compares a current that fluctuates according to the airflow resistance on the suction side of the electric blower, that is, a current that flows through the electric blower, and a predetermined threshold value. Control to raise and lower the input power step by step.

On the other hand, in household vacuum cleaners, an upper limit is provided for input power for energy saving, and under certain circumstances, it is required to obtain a high suction force within a range not exceeding the upper limit.
JP-A-8-228978

  In the conventional vacuum cleaner, as described in Patent Document 1, in order to ensure the air volume regardless of the amount of dust in the dust collector, the current flowing through the electric blower is compared with a predetermined threshold, Depending on the comparison result, the input power of the electric blower is raised and lowered stepwise to change the suction air volume. When the input power is controlled to be the target value by such a method, for example, the above-described upper limit value is controlled, it is necessary to prepare a large number of current threshold values corresponding to the vicinity of the target value of the input power in advance, and the practical application. In doing so, the memory capacity for storing the threshold value becomes enormous and the cost of the memory element increases. In addition, it is necessary to carry out an enormous experiment in order to determine a large number of threshold values, and the development efficiency of the control device is significantly deteriorated.

  Therefore, the present invention has an object of obtaining a vacuum cleaner that can perform not only control for ensuring the air volume regardless of the amount of dust in the dust collecting section, but also control that the input power becomes a target value. To do.

In order to achieve the above object, an electric vacuum cleaner of the present invention flows through an electric blower that sucks air, a dust collector that traps dust contained in the air sucked by the electric blower, and the electric blower. A switching element that switches current, an air volume detection unit that detects a change in the air volume passing through the dust collection unit, a current detection unit that detects current flowing through the electric blower, and a plurality of control modes are selected. A control unit that drives the switching element by outputting a control signal at an output timing determined by an output timing command value set according to the selected control mode, wherein the plurality of control modes include the air volume detection A first control mode for driving the switching element so as to suppress a change in the air volume using the detection value detected by the unit, and the current detection unit A second control mode for driving the switching element so that the input of the electric blower is maintained at a preset target value using the detected current value that is output, and the control unit includes a target current value A plurality of detected currents that are detected by the current detection unit with the output timing command value for determining the output timing in the control state in the second control mode. the rewritable arithmetic in the erroneous difference according to a value obtained by multiplying the coefficients of the current calculation value calculated by calculating the value or al a predetermined manner and the previous SL current target value, this output timing command value When the output timing threshold is exceeded, the second control mode is switched to the first control mode.

According to the present invention, in a normal use state, not only can a stable suction force be obtained regardless of the amount of dust collected by the dust collecting portion, but the input power can be kept constant in a specific state with a simple configuration , In addition, switching from the second control mode to the first control mode can be performed by simply using the output timing command value and the detected current value calculated for determining the output timing in the second control mode. There is no need to perform advanced processing, the processing load on the control unit is not increased, and the control mode switching processing speed is high .

  Hereinafter, the vacuum cleaner of this invention is demonstrated. First, the configuration of a mobile so-called canister-type vacuum cleaner 20 will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the vacuum cleaner main body 21 has a lower case 22 whose upper surface is opened and an upper case 23 which closes the rear upper surface of the lower case 22 with a bumper 24 sandwiched around the periphery including the front surface. is doing. And the cover body 25 which obstruct | occludes opening of a front side upper surface part is provided so that opening and closing is possible. Further, the lid 25 is formed with a notification unit 40 for notifying the user of the state of the vacuum cleaner 20, for example, the amount of dust. The notification unit 40 includes a light emitting element such as an LED, a sound generation element, and the like.

  The vacuum cleaner main body 21 is provided with a dust collection bag 27 as a dust collection portion on the front side in the interior, and an electric blower 26 is disposed on the back side of the dust collection bag 27 so that the intake air from the electric blower 26 is contained in the dust collection bag 27. The dust collection bag 27 separates dust and collects the dust.

  A swiveling wheel (not shown) that can turn freely is provided on the lower surface on the front side that is the traveling direction of the electric vacuum cleaner main body 21. In addition, a pair of large-diameter driven rear wheels 28 are provided on both rear side surfaces of the vacuum cleaner main body 21.

  A main body suction port 29 that sucks air from the outside is opened at the front center of the vacuum cleaner main body 21. Then, one end of a substantially cylindrical hose body 30 that is extendable and bendable is connected to the main body suction port 29 in communication. The other end of the hose body 30 communicates with the operation unit 31.

  The operation unit 31 is provided with an operation button 32 for selecting the strength / weakness of the operation mode of the electric blower 26 including “OFF”, and a grip portion 33 that is gripped by an operator when cleaning. An extension tube 34 is detachably communicated with the tip of the operation unit 31, and the extension tube 34 and the hose body 30 communicate with each other via the operation unit 31. The extension pipe 34 includes a large diameter pipe 34a and a small diameter pipe 34b inserted into the large diameter pipe 34a, and the entire extension pipe can be expanded and contracted by sliding the small diameter pipe 34b with respect to the large diameter pipe 34a. A suction port body 35 provided with a suction port for sucking dust on the surface to be cleaned is detachably attached to the tip of the extension pipe 34. In such a configuration, the suction port body 35, the extension pipe 34, the hose body 30, and the dust collection bag 27 serve as main air paths.

  Next, the electric blower 26 and the control part 10 which comprise the vacuum cleaner control apparatus 100 are demonstrated based on FIG. In the vacuum cleaner main body 21, an electric blower 26, a control circuit board 101 on which the control unit 10 and the like are mounted are incorporated.

  A motor 5 constituting an electric blower 26 and a switching element for turning on / off the input of the motor 5, for example, a bidirectional thyristor 2, are connected in series to the commercial AC power supply 1 and the current fuse 4. Yes.

  The electric blower 26 mainly includes a motor 5 and a fan 13. The motor 5 is a commutator motor such as a universal motor including an armature 5a having a commutator and field windings 5b and 5c. The fan 13 is a centrifugal fan connected to the rotating shaft of the motor 5.

  The electric vacuum cleaner control device 100 is provided with a current detection unit 3. The current detection unit 3 includes, for example, a current transformer or a shunt resistor, and detects a load current flowing through the motor 5. Since the current flowing through the motor 5 changes according to the amount of air passing through the dust bag 27, the amount of air can be detected by detecting this current. In this embodiment, the current detection unit 3 also serves as an air volume detection unit. The zero cross point of the AC voltage applied to the motor 5 is detected by the zero cross detector 6.

  The control unit 10 includes a microprocessor 7, a memory 8, and an I / O port 9. Among the I / O ports 9, there is a port having an A / D conversion function. The memory 8 stores in advance data such as a control program executed by the microprocessor 7 and necessary constants. The memory 8 is provided with a data storage area and a work area for temporarily storing data from the microprocessor 7.

  The detected current detected by the current detection unit 3 is input to the I / O port 9 after full-wave or half-wave rectification by the rectification unit 11. The I / O port 9 takes in the rectified detection current after A / D conversion. Further, the zero cross detection unit 6 inputs the detected zero cross detection signal to the I / O port 9.

  The vacuum cleaner control device 100 is provided with an A / D reference voltage source 12 and an operation unit 31, and a reference voltage is input from the A / D reference voltage source 12 to the I / O port 9 and an instruction signal from the operation unit 31 Are input to the I / O port 9.

  Then, as described above, the control unit 10a takes in the motor current, takes in the zero cross signal, takes in the A / D reference voltage value, takes in the instruction signal and the like, and is a control terminal of the bidirectional thyristor 2. A control signal is output to the gate terminal.

  In this vacuum cleaner control device 100, a power supply voltage having a waveform shown in FIG. 3A is applied from the commercial AC power supply 1, and the gate terminal of the bidirectional thyristor 2 shown in FIG. 3), the bidirectional thyristor 2 is turned on until the power supply voltage is inverted by the control signal, so that the voltage shown in FIG. 3D is generated between the terminals of the motor 5. To do.

  At this time, a zero-cross detection signal shown in FIG. 3B is input from the zero-cross detection unit 6 to the I / O port 9 of the control unit 10. Further, the current waveform of the motor 5 detected by the current detector 3 and full-wave rectified by the rectifier 11 is as shown in FIG. This waveform is directly input to the control unit 10a as a voltage value, or is smoothed and input to the control unit 10a.

  When the cycle of the AC power supply voltage is Tv (sec) and the time from the zero cross point of the power supply voltage to the output of the control signal of the motor 5 is ta (sec), the conduction angle φa (%) of the bidirectional thyristor 2 is , Φa = {(Tv / 2) −ta} / (Tv / 2) × 100. Hereinafter, the time ta (sec) from the zero cross point of the power supply voltage until the control signal of the bidirectional thyristor 2 is output is referred to as output timing.

  Here, each function which the control part 10a has is demonstrated using FIG. The control unit 10a mainly includes a current capturing unit 71, a control mode selection unit 73 that selects a predetermined control mode, and an output timing determination unit 54.

  The current acquisition unit 71 acquires the current value In of the motor 5 detected from the current detection unit 3 at a predetermined cycle, and passes the current value In to the control mode selection unit 73 and the output timing determination unit 54. Since the current value In with respect to the input power varies depending on the characteristics of the electric blower 26 and the conduction angle φa, the designer of the control unit experimentally grasps in advance under a constant power supply voltage. Thereby, the control part 10a can grasp | ascertain (estimate) input electric power from electric current value In at the time of the actual use whose power supply voltage is constant.

  And the control mode selection part 73 estimates the input electric power of the electric blower 26 from electric current value In, and selects the control mode of the control part 10a corresponding to this estimated input electric power. Then, the output timing determination unit 54 determines the output timing of the control signal of the bidirectional thyristor 2 according to the current value In and the result of the control mode selection unit 73.

  As described above, the control unit 10a selects the control mode set in advance from the current value In of the electric blower 26, determines the output timing ta, and outputs a control signal according to the output timing ta. To do. This output timing ta becomes a control command value for controlling on / off of the bidirectional thyristor 2.

Next, a technique related to the control mode by the control unit 10a will be described. The control unit 10a is a first control mode that suppresses a change in the amount of air passing through the dust collection bag 27 disposed on the front side of the electric blower 26, or a second that adjusts the input power of the electric blower 26 to a predetermined target value. Select one of the control modes.

  First, the first control mode will be described. The data table 16 used by the control unit 10a in the first control mode is stored in the memory 8 in advance. The structure of this data table 16 is shown in FIG. In the first control mode, the current detection unit 3 functions as an air volume detection unit.

  First, in the data table 16, n set values U1, U2, U3,..., Un (where Un <... <U2 <U1 <U1) are output timing values of control signals of the bidirectional thyristor 2. ) Is set. And, as the lower limit current threshold Ig1 corresponding to these output timing values, n thresholds X1, X2, X3,..., Xn (where Xn>...> X3> X2> X1) are similarly set to the upper limit. As the current threshold Ig2, n-1 threshold values Y1, Y2, Y3,..., Yn-1 (where Yn-1>...> Y3> Y2> Y1) are set. As shown in FIG. 6, the magnitude relation between these current threshold values Ig1 and Ig2 is X1 <X2 <Y1 <X3 <Y2 <X4 <Y3 <X5 <Y4 <..., Xn <Yn-1. The lower limit current threshold Ig1 and the upper limit current threshold Ig2 are air volume threshold values corresponding to the output timing values.

  The controller 10a operates in the first control mode when the electric blower 26 is started. The output timing value U1 is set so that the amount of intake air corresponding to the input power of the electric blower 26 is equal to or greater than Q0 in a state where no dust is trapped in the dust bag 27. At this time, for example, the operating point of the electric blower 26 is point A in FIG.

  In this state, the electric blower 26 is driven to start collecting dust, whereby dust is captured in the dust collection bag 27. As dust capture proceeds, the air path resistance of the dust bag 27 increases, and the intake air volume of the electric blower 26 decreases. Along with this, the load of the electric blower 26 is reduced and the current flowing through the motor 5 is reduced, so that the input power gradually decreases from the point A.

  When the current value In becomes equal to or lower than the lower limit current threshold value X1, the control unit 10a changes the output timing value from U1 so that the output timing ta of the control signal to the bidirectional thyristor 2 with reference to the zero cross point is advanced. By changing to U2, the conduction angle of the bidirectional thyristor 2 is increased, and the intake air volume of the electric blower 26 is increased. At this time, the input power of the electric blower 26 increases.

  Thereafter, when dust capture proceeds with the output timing value being U2, the air path resistance of the dust collection bag 27 further increases, and the intake air volume of the electric blower 26 decreases. Thereby, In flowing through the electric blower 26 also gradually decreases.

  When the current value In of the electric blower 26 becomes equal to or lower than the lower limit current threshold value X2, the control unit 10a changes the output timing value from U2 to U3 so that the output timing ta is further advanced, and the bidirectional thyristor 2 The conduction angle is further increased, and the intake air volume of the electric blower 26 is increased. At this time, the input power of the electric blower 26 increases.

  As described above, as the dust trapping in the dust bag 27 proceeds, the current value In of the electric blower 26 becomes the lower limit current threshold values X1, X2, X3, X4,. The output timing value is changed to U1, U2, U3,. And the control part 10a suppresses the fall of the air volume which the electric blower 26 sucks.

  The control method described above is a control that assumes a case where the amount of dust in the dust bag 27 increases, the resistance of the air passage increases, and the input power of the electric blower 26 decreases. On the other hand, when the user is using the dust collector 20, due to a change in the positional relationship between the suction port body 35 and the cleaning surface, a change in the bending angle of the hose body 30, or a change in the dust bias in the dust collection bag 27, The wind path resistance may decrease, and the suction air volume may increase rapidly.

  In this case, for example, when the operating point of the electric blower 26 is at B, that is, when the output timing value is U4, the control unit 10a delays the output timing ta when the current value In becomes equal to or greater than the current threshold Y3. Thus, the output timing value is changed from U4 to U3, the conduction angle of the bidirectional thyristor 2 is reduced, and the intake air volume of the electric blower 26 is reduced. At this time, the input power of the electric blower 26 decreases. In this way, the control unit 10a suppresses an increase in the air volume of the electric blower 26.

  For example, the input power upper limit value of the electric blower 26 is 1 kW. In the case where the input power is in the range of about 700 W to 950 W, when the control unit 10 a performs control to suppress the air volume by the first control mode, the inventor sets the output timing ta and the current thresholds Ig1 and Ig2 to 10 respectively. It was experimentally confirmed that the control with the accuracy required for the user can be executed if about a few are prepared.

  Next, in order for the control unit 10a to adjust the input power of the electric blower 26 to the upper limit value of 1 kW in the first control mode described above, the output timing ta and the current threshold values Ig1, Ig2 are further set to about 50 to 100 units, respectively. The inventor has experimentally confirmed that it is necessary to add. As described above, when the control unit 10a uses the first control mode as described above and adjusts the input power to the upper limit value (target value), it is necessary to make the output timing ta and the current thresholds Ig1 and Ig2 fine. As a result, the capacity of the memory 8 becomes large and the setting becomes complicated.

  Then, next, the 2nd control mode of this invention which is a control method suitable in the vicinity of the input power upper limit value permitted for the electric blower 26 will be described.

In the second control mode, the control unit 10a calculates an error ΔI (= Is−In) between the current value In detected by the current detection unit 3 and the current target value Is. The current target value Is is a value that the designer experimentally calculated in advance from the input power upper limit value of the electric blower 26 and is stored in the memory 8. The control unit 10a determines the output timing ta of the control signal of the bidirectional thyristor 2 according to the error ΔI. The calculation formula of the output timing command value Tp calculated by the control unit 10a is, for example,
Output timing command value Tp
= Previous output timing command value Tp ′ + α · ΔI (1) Equation α: A coefficient.

  Such a second control mode is target value control specialized for adjusting the current value In of the electric blower 26 to the current target value Is. That is, the control unit 10a operating in the second control mode can adjust the input power estimated from the current value In to a predetermined target value. This current target value Is is set in advance as a value corresponding to the input power upper limit 1 kW of the electric blower 26. When the operation starts in the second control mode, the notification unit 40 is lit to notify the user that the operation is in the second control mode.

  In addition, when the amount of dust in the dust collection bag 27 increases and the resistance of the air path further increases during the operation in the second control mode, the control unit 10a performs the following control. The control unit 10a determines that damage to the motor 5 or the like will be caused if the operation of the vacuum cleaner is further continued at the input power upper limit value, and changes the output timing of the control signal to reduce the input power. At the same time, the control unit 10a outputs a notification signal to the notification unit 40, and blinks the notification unit 40 to urge the user to discard the dust in the dust collection bag 27.

  Next, a control flow in which the control unit 10a determines the output timing will be described with reference to FIG. The control unit 10a periodically performs the process shown in FIG. 7 in accordance with a control program stored in advance in the memory 8.

  First, in step S <b> 1, the current capture unit 71 captures the current value In from the current detection unit 3. Next, in step S2, the control mode selection unit 73 determines whether or not the control mode selection unit 73 is currently selecting the first control mode. If the control mode selection unit 73 has selected the first control mode, the output timing determination unit 54 compares the current value In of the electric blower 26 with the current threshold shown in FIG. 5 in step S3. For example, if the output timing value is U4, it is determined whether X4 ≦ In <Y3. When X4 ≦ In <Y3, the output timing determination unit 54 determines without changing the output timing of the control signal in step S5. If X4 ≦ In <Y3 is not satisfied in step S3, in step S4, the output timing determination unit 54 changes the number of stages shown in FIG. 5 up or down by one stage, and in step S5, the output timing of the control signal is Determine. If the control mode selection unit 73 determines in step S2 that it is selecting the second control mode, the output timing determination unit 54 uses the expression (1) in step S6 to determine the output timing command value. Tp is calculated. In step S5, the output timing of the control signal is determined.

  Next, conditions for the control unit 10a to switch its own mode from the first control mode to the second control mode will be described. In the control unit 10a, the output timing value Un shown in FIG. 5 is set in advance as an output timing value for switching the control mode. Then, in a state where the control unit 10a outputs a control signal at the output timing Xn in the first control mode, the control mode selection unit 73 determines that the current value In of the electric blower 26 exceeds the lower limit current threshold value Xn of FIG. When it is determined that the control mode has become smaller (In <Xn), the control mode is switched from the first control mode to the second control mode. This lower limit current threshold value Xn becomes the first switching threshold value. In this manner, the control unit 10a switches its own mode from the first control mode to the second control mode using the current value In that is also the detection value of the air volume detection unit.

Next, conditions for the control unit 10a to switch its own mode from the second control mode to the first control mode will be described. As a switching condition,
Condition (a) : Using current value In Condition (b) : Using output timing command value Tp Condition (c) : Using current value In and output timing command value Tp.
When the condition (a) is adopted as the switching condition, the control unit 10a changes its mode from the second control mode to the first control when the current value In exceeds the current threshold value set in the memory 8 in advance. Switch to mode.
When the condition (b) is adopted as the switching condition, the control unit 10a, when the output timing command value Tp calculated by the expression (1) becomes larger than the output timing threshold value Tw set in the memory 8 in advance. The control unit 10a switches its own mode from the second control mode to the first control mode.
When the condition (c) is adopted as the switching condition, the control unit 10a has a case where the output timing command value Tp calculated by the equation (1) becomes larger than the output timing threshold value Tw set in the memory 8 in advance. When the error ΔI between the current value In and the current target value Is becomes smaller than an error threshold value ΔIq set in advance in the memory 8, the control unit 10a changes its mode to the second control mode. To the first control mode.
The controller 10a may use these conditions singly or in a plurality.

As described above, the vacuum cleaner control device 100 according to the related technology includes the first control mode in which the air volume change is suppressed and the suction force is maintained regardless of the amount of dust captured in the dust bag 27, and the input of the electric blower 26. It is possible to operate while switching between the second control mode for adjusting the electric power to the target value.

Therefore, in the vacuum cleaner control apparatus 100 according to the related technology , the control unit 10a operates in the first control mode at, for example, 950 W or less, operates in the second control mode when the input power exceeds 950 W, and reduces the input power to 1 kW. Suppose that it is set to match. Such a control unit 10a operates in the first control mode when the amount of dust in the dust bag 27 of the vacuum cleaner is small and suction force can be obtained even when the input power is small, and the input power itself is variable. Thus, the change in the air volume of the electric blower 26 is suppressed. For this reason, a vacuum cleaner maintains dust collection performance stably, without consuming useless electric power. Thereafter, when the amount of dust in the dust bag 27 increases and the input power of the electric blower 26 approaches the input power upper limit value such as a law, the vacuum cleaner control device 100 operates in the second control mode, and the input power is Control to match the upper limit. For this reason, with a simple configuration, when the amount of dust in the dust bag 27 has accumulated, the suction force can be quickly increased.

  Further, in the second control mode, the control unit 10a calculates the output timing value Tp of the control signal using the coefficient α, the current value In, and the current target value Is, and controls the target value of the input power of the electric blower 26. I am doing. Therefore, compared with the first control mode, the second control mode is an effective means because the input power can be adjusted to the target value without requiring many constants such as a current threshold. Further, since the air volume detection unit required for the operation in the first control mode is also used as the current detection unit 3 required for the operation in the second control mode, the configuration can be simplified.

  In addition, the switching method from the first control mode to the second control mode described above uses only the current value In and does not require new advanced processing, so that the processing load on the microprocessor 7 is small. Furthermore, the control mode switching processing speed is also fast.

  In addition, the above-described switching method from the second control mode to the first control mode requires a new advanced process only by using the output timing command value Tp and the current value In calculated by the equation (1). Therefore, there is little increase in the processing load of the microprocessor 7, and the control mode switching processing speed is also fast.

  In addition, when the control unit 10a performs its own mode switching using the current value In that can be handled equivalently to the input power and the intake air volume of the electric blower 26, the amount of dust in the dust bag 27 is reduced. Instantly responds to increases and decreases in airway resistance due to increases, changes in the positional relationship between the suction port body 35 and the cleaning surface, changes in the bending angle of the hose body 30, or changes in the dust bias in the dust bag 27, etc. The electric blower 26 can be controlled.

In the related art described so far, the current value In of the electric blower 26 is used as it is. In the first embodiment described below, each time the control unit 10b detects the current value In, the controller 10b calculates the current value In by a method set in advance in consideration of the relationship with the input power, and calculates the current calculation result. Control is performed based on the value Ix. As this calculation, a calculation with a heavy processing load is not used.

  Each function of the control part 10b which performs control based on this electric current calculation value is demonstrated using FIG. This control unit 10b is obtained by adding a current calculation unit 72 to the control unit 10a shown in FIG.

  The current acquisition unit 71 acquires the current value In of the motor 5 detected by the current detection unit 3 at a predetermined cycle, and passes the current value In to the current calculation unit 72. The current calculation unit 72 calculates a current value In by a preset method, and calculates a current calculation value Ix. The current calculation value Ix is set so as to change according to the increase or decrease of the input power of the electric blower 26. Then, the current calculation unit 72 passes the current calculation value Ix to the control mode selection unit 73 and the output timing determination unit 54. The control mode selection unit 73 confirms the mode of the control unit 10b itself and switches the control mode as necessary. Then, the output timing determination unit 54 determines the output timing of the control signal of the bidirectional thyristor 2 according to the current calculation value Ix and the result of the control mode selection unit 73.

  Here, an example of calculating the current calculation value Ix from the current value In will be described. The current capturing unit 71 captures the current value In at a cycle of 0.2 msec, for example, under a 50 Hz AC power supply. That is, the current value In is taken 100 times during one cycle (20 msec) of the power supply voltage. Then, the current value In is sequentially added to calculate the current calculation value Ix (= ΣIn). If this Σ operation cycle is one cycle of the power supply voltage, 100 times of In are added. The current calculation value Ix is a value that changes according to the input power of the electric blower 26 and the increase or decrease of the air volume.

  The current calculation value Ix calculated by this Σ operation is reduced even if the current value In during a certain sampling is affected by noise due to power supply noise or the like. Therefore, the accuracy and reliability of the input control of the electric blower 26 can be ensured. Note that it is also possible to multiply the current value In by the weighting coefficient β and add them according to the timing of taking in the current value In. Thus, in the present embodiment, it is also possible to use the current calculation value Ix calculated from the current value In.

In the above-described embodiment, the timing determination unit 54 obtains the current threshold Ig1 or Ig2 from the output timing value at that time and the data table 16 on the memory 8 shown in FIG. The present invention is not limited to this data table method. When the output timing determination unit 54 sets the first stage lower limit current threshold value to X1, the nth stage lower limit current threshold value Xn is
Xn = X1 + K. (N-1) .timing value... Xn = X1 + K.times. (2).
K is a proportional coefficient, and is a value determined in advance by experiments or the like.

  Further, the intervals Un-U (n-1) = ΔUn, the current threshold intervals Xn−X (n−1) = ΔXn, and Yn−Y (n−1) = ΔYn are constant intervals. There is no need, and it may be set in consideration of the use of the vacuum cleaner 20 or the characteristics of the electric blower 26.

Next, the vacuum cleaner control apparatus 110 of 2nd embodiment is demonstrated using FIGS. 9-11. As shown in FIG. 9, the vacuum cleaner control device 110 rotates the motor 5 using a DC power source 61 such as a secondary battery as a power source. The motor 5 is connected in series with a switching element for turning on / off its input, for example, a MOSFET 62.

Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the output timing determination unit 64 constituting the control unit 10 c includes a PWM signal generation unit 65. A known method is used as a method for generating the PWM signal. When the power supply voltage of the DC power supply 61 is applied, when the PWM signal having the cycle Pc (sec) as shown in FIG. 10B is supplied from the control unit 10c to the gate terminal of the MOSFET 62, the MOSFET 62 becomes tc. (Sec) Turns on and the motor 5 rotates. Here, the duty Du of the PWM signal is
Du = tc / Pc (Equation 3)
As the duty Du increases, the input power of the electric blower 26 increases.

  Therefore, the control unit 10c can change the output timing of the control signal of the MOSFET 62 by changing the duty Du of the PWM signal. Therefore, in the vacuum cleaner control device 110, the duty Du is called the output timing. The output timing value in FIG. 5 and the output timing command value in the equation (1) are set assuming the duty Du.

  In addition, as the motor 5 which comprises the electric blower 26 of the vacuum cleaner control apparatus 110, not only a commutator motor but a brushless DC motor is applicable.

Next, the vacuum cleaner of 3rd embodiment is demonstrated. The vacuum cleaner of this embodiment includes a fixed type vacuum cleaner installed between walls, a ceiling, a roof, or under the floor, and a central type electric appliance having a plurality of air intakes in one dust collecting portion. It is a vacuum cleaner. FIG. 12 shows an example of the relationship between the intake air volume of the electric blower and the input power when such a vacuum cleaner is driven. This vacuum cleaner also has a large input power of the electric blower, and once it is started, it continues to operate for a long time. Therefore, the control unit performs a break-in operation at the start. When the running-in operation is normal, the control unit shifts to a normal operation.

  Further, the control unit 10c outputs a notification blink signal to the notification unit 40 when the control unit 10c is in the second control mode in the control pattern shown in FIG. This notification blinking signal indicates to the user that the dust collection amount is increasing before the dust collection amount of the dust collection bag 27 increases and the suction performance limit is reached, without setting a special notification threshold. I can inform you.

Next, a fourth embodiment will be described. The vacuum cleaner of each embodiment described above uses the current detection unit necessary for the control in the second control mode as the air volume detection unit necessary for the control in the first control mode, but in this embodiment, As shown in FIG. 13, a pressure detector 81 is used as an air volume detector.

The pressure detector 81 detects a pressure that changes in accordance with the amount of dust captured in the dust bag 27. Specifically, the pressure between the suction side of the electric blower 26 and the dust bag 27 is detected. A data table similar to that shown in FIG. 5 is stored in the memory 8a of the control unit 10d. However, in the data table of the present embodiment, a lower limit pressure threshold and an upper limit pressure threshold are set corresponding to each output timing. Control in the first control mode and switching from the first control mode to the second control mode are performed based on the output from the pressure detection unit 81. Switching from the control and the second control mode in the second control mode to the first control mode and other operations are those cheating forward to the embodiments described above.

  In addition, the processing performed by the current capturing unit 71, the current calculation unit 72, the control mode selection unit 73, and the output timing determination unit 54 of the control units 10a, 10b, and 10c described so far is stored in the memory 8. The present invention is not limited to the case where it is executed by installed software, and the function formed by the software may be provided as hardware and executed.

The perspective view which shows the structure of the vacuum cleaner which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the structure of the vacuum cleaner control apparatus which concerns on the related technique of this invention. The figure which shows the voltage of each part in the related technology , an electric current, and a signal waveform. The figure explaining the functional block of the control part of the related technology . The figure which shows the structure of the data table used with the related technique . The graph which showed the relationship between the intake air volume of an electric blower, and input electric power when driving the vacuum cleaner of the related technology . The flowchart which shows the control mode switching process which the microprocessor of the related technology performs. The figure explaining the functional block of the control part of 1st embodiment. The figure which shows the structure of the vacuum cleaner control apparatus which concerns on 2nd embodiment. The figure which shows the voltage and signal waveform of each part in the embodiment. The figure explaining the functional block of the control part of the embodiment. The graph which showed the relationship between the intake air volume of an electric blower, and input electric power when driving the vacuum cleaner of 3rd embodiment. The figure which shows the structure of the vacuum cleaner control apparatus which concerns on 4th embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

2 Switching element 3 Current detector (air flow detector)
10a Control unit 26 Electric blower 27 Dust collection bag (dust collection unit)
81 Pressure detector (air volume detector)

Claims (1)

An electric blower that sucks air, a dust collection unit that captures dust contained in the air sucked by the electric blower, a switching element that switches a current flowing through the electric blower, and an air volume that passes through the dust collection unit An air volume detection unit that detects a change in the current, a current detection unit that detects a current flowing through the electric blower, and any one of a plurality of control modes, and an output timing command value set according to the selected control mode A control unit for driving the switching element by outputting a control signal at the determined output timing,
The plurality of control modes are detected by a first control mode for driving the switching element so as to suppress a change in the air volume using a detection value detected by the air volume detection unit, and the current detection unit. A second control mode for driving the switching element so that the input of the electric blower is maintained at a preset target value using a detected current value;
The control unit includes a memory that stores a current target value, a coefficient, and an output timing threshold value. In the control state in the second control mode, the output timing command value that determines the output timing is set as the current detection value. arithmetic in accordance with a value obtained by multiplying the coefficient error of the current calculation value before Symbol current target value calculated by calculating a plurality of detected current values or al a predetermined manner detected in parts together, vacuum cleaner, characterized in that switching from the when the output timing command value exceeds the output timing threshold second control mode to said first control mode.

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