JP4190318B2 - Self-propelled vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a self-propelled cleaner.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Recently, self-propelled vacuum cleaners for home use have appeared and have been released. Self-propelled vacuum cleaners usually have a flat cylindrical shape, and are equipped with moving means such as wheels and distance detection means to walls and obstacles while moving around the room without any difficulty. Can be cleaned automatically.
[0003]
However, since these preceding self-propelled cleaners mainly perform cleaning by sucking dust at the suction port at the lower part of the main body, it is not possible to clean the corners of the room that cannot be reached by the wall or the main body. There is a problem.
[0004]
Therefore, in Patent Document 1, cleaning is performed by sliding a slidable floor nozzle installed behind the lower part of the main body up and down and left and right according to the floor surface, thereby improving dust collection efficiency and cleaning the wall. A method of enhancing is disclosed.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-16190
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, even in the example of Patent Document 1, since the floor nozzle is provided at the rear lower part of the main body, cleaning at the wall is effective to some extent, but it is very difficult to clean the corner of the room. There is.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a self-propelled cleaner that can efficiently clean an area that the main body cannot reach, such as a corner of a room.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a self-propelled cleaner of the present invention includes a moving means for moving a main body having a circular outer periphery on a floor surface of a cleaning area, and an electric blower that is provided in the main body and generates a dust suction airflow. And a main body suction port that opens on the bottom surface of the main body, and a movable nozzle that has a sharp-shaped or right-angled tip and is housed inside the outer periphery of the main body and is rotatable in a direction parallel to the floor surface. And a rotating mechanism of the movable nozzle, and a nozzle suction port formed as desired on the floor surface at the tip of the movable nozzle, when cleaning the central portion in the cleaning area, the movable nozzle, The tip is directed toward the center of the main body and the circular arc portion is accommodated along the outer periphery of the main body, and the movable nozzle is rotated 180 ° when cleaning the wall or corner in the cleaning area. The tip of the Characterized in that, characterized in that to protrude outward from the outer periphery of the body.
[0010]
An impact mitigation mechanism is provided that urges the rotating shaft of the movable nozzle to the outside of the main body so as to be slidable. Thus, even when the movable nozzle collides with a wall or the like, the movable nozzle retracts to the inside of the main body, so that the impact applied to the main body can be reduced.
[0011]
Furthermore, the rotating shaft of the movable nozzle also serves as a suction pipe, or a suction hose is coaxially inserted into the rotating shaft of the movable nozzle. Thereby, the said impact relaxation mechanism can be constructed | assembled compactly.
[0012]
And it travels on the wall side based on the detection information of the nozzle distance sensor provided in the said movable nozzle, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. Thereby, it becomes possible to reduce an error rather than traveling along the wall with only the main body distance sensor.
[0014]
The movable nozzle is detachably provided. Thereby, it becomes possible to use the cleaning tool which differs in a form according to the condition of the floor surface, and fine and fine cleaning can be realized.
[0015]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a self-propelled cleaner according to the present invention as seen from the side. The main body 1 of the self-propelled cleaner P is a dome-shaped disk.
[0016]
A main body suction port 2 is provided on the bottom surface 1 a of the main body 1. The self-propelled cleaner P performs cleaning by mainly sucking floor dust from the main body suction port 2. Further, a pair of left driving wheel 3a and right driving wheel 3b for traveling and steering the main body are provided on the bottom surface 1a of the main body 1 so as to face each other with the main body suction port 2 interposed therebetween. Each drive wheel 3a, 3b is rotationally driven by a pair of drive wheel drive motors (not shown).
[0017]
In addition, the bottom surface 1a of the main body 1 is cut out in an arc shape passing through both ends of the arc and the center of the circle so as to leave a surrounding arc of about three quarters, and a wall and a ceiling are provided in that portion, A recess 4 is formed at the bottom of the main body 1 so as to open to the main body side surface 1b. A fan-shaped movable nozzle 5 to be described later is rotatably attached to the ceiling surface 4 a of the recess 4 together with the rotary shaft 6. Auxiliary wheels 7 are provided on the bottom surface 1a of the main body 1 and the bottom surface 5a of the movable nozzle 5, respectively. The auxiliary wheel 7 is a ball-shaped caster and freely rotates so that the main body 1 can smoothly travel along the movement of the left and right drive wheels 3a and 3b. In addition, although the example which uses two ball-shaped auxiliary | assistant wheels 7 in the figure is shown, you may change a number and a shape according to the weight of the main body 1, a size, and a shape.
[0018]
In addition, a body distance sensor 9 such as an ultrasonic sensor or an infrared sensor is provided around the body 1 to detect obstacles around the body, thereby grasping the position of the surrounding obstacles. The main body 1 can freely travel in the room by a combination of forward movement, backward movement, turning, and stopping operation.
[0019]
Next, the attachment state of the main body 1 and the movable nozzle 5 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the main body 1 with the movable nozzle 5 removed, as viewed from below. On the ceiling surface 4 a of the recess 4, an oval slide hole 8 that is long in the radial direction is provided in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the main body 1. The rotation shaft 6 is inserted through the slide hole 8.
[0020]
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the movable nozzle 5 as seen from the upper surface (a) and the bottom surface (b). The movable nozzle 5 has a fan-like flat body shape, and an arc connecting the side portions 52 and 52 extending radially from the front end portion 51 located at the center of the fan at a predetermined central angle, and both side portions 52 and 52. A portion 53 is provided.
[0021]
The angle of the tip 51 of the movable nozzle 5 needs to be a right angle or an acute angle smaller than that. This is because the corners of the room usually have a right angle and need to have a tip shape with the same or smaller angle.
[0022]
A plurality of nozzle distance sensors 10 are provided along the ridge portion of the tip portion 51, that is, the side portion 52 of the upper surface 5 b of the movable nozzle 5. Specific examples of this sensor include a proximity sensor suitable for mainly measuring a short distance, a contact switch, a reflective infrared sensor, and the like. By using this nozzle distance sensor 10, it becomes possible to reduce the error as compared with traveling along the wall based only on the information of the main body distance sensor 9.
[0023]
Further, a short cylindrical connection port 11 is provided in the vicinity of the center of the arc portion 53 so that the rotating shaft 6 is fitted therein. A nozzle suction port 12 having a chamfered tip 51 is formed along the side 52 on the bottom surface 5 a of the movable nozzle 5. The self-propelled cleaner P performs cleaning by sucking dust on the floor surface from the nozzle suction port 12 in addition to the main body suction port 2.
[0024]
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the rotating mechanism of the movable nozzle 5 as viewed from the inside of the main body 1, and FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view thereof. The rotating shaft 6 has a cylindrical shape integrally having a driven pulley 13 at the upper end, and a hollow portion 14 penetrates in the axial direction. On the ceiling surface 4 a of the recess 4 on the main body 1 side, a pair of guide rails 15, 15 and a pair of steps facing each other with the guide rails 15, 15 sandwiched along the length direction of the oval slide hole 8. Portions 16 and 16 are provided.
[0025]
Further, a U-shaped slide plate 17 is slidably mounted on the guide rail 15. A shaft hole 18 having substantially the same diameter as the outer diameter of the rotary shaft 6 is provided in the center of the slide plate 17, and a drive pulley 20 that is driven to rotate by a rotary shaft drive motor (not shown) adjacent to the shaft hole 18. Is fixed. A pair of protrusions 19 and 19 are provided on both sides along the sliding direction of the slide plate 17.
[0026]
Then, the slide plate 17 is placed on the guide rail 15, the springs 22 are respectively attached to the pair of step portions 16 and the projecting portions 19, and the rotary shaft 6 is inserted into the shaft hole 18 and the slide hole 8 with the driven pulley 13 facing up. The belt 21 is suspended between the drive pulley 20 and the driven pulley 13. Thereby, the rotating shaft 6 is urged | biased to the outer side (direction of arrow F) of the main body 1 so that a slide to the inner side of the main body 1 is possible.
[0027]
Then, the connection hose 23 is connected between the nozzle suction port 12 and an electric blower (not shown) provided in the main body 1 through the connection hose 23 inserted through the hollow portion 14 of the rotating shaft 6 and rotated. The movable nozzle 5 is attached to the main body 1 by fitting the connection port 11 of the movable nozzle 5 to the lower end of the shaft 6. Since the connection hose 23 is located inside the rotating shaft 6, that is, in the cavity portion 14, the impact mitigation mechanism of the movable nozzle 5 can be constructed in a compact manner. Further, the connecting hose 23 is twisted in accordance with the rotation of the movable nozzle 5, so that the movable nozzle 5 can be rotated while maintaining the degree of sealing to the nozzle suction port 12. The same effect can be obtained by dividing the connecting hose and connecting the upper and lower ends of the rotating shaft 6 so that the rotating shaft 6 also serves as a suction pipe.
[0028]
The movable nozzle 5 is housed in the recess 4 such that the tip 51 faces the center of the main body 1 and the arc portion 23 extends along the circumference around the main body 1. Thus, the tip 51 can be protruded by rotating 180 ° together with the rotating shaft 6 so that the nozzle suction port 12 faces the outside of the main body 1.
[0029]
FIG. 9 is an enlarged plan view thereof. As described above, the rotary shaft 6 is urged to the outside of the main body 1 (in the direction of arrow a) by the spring 22, and the movable nozzle 5 is pushed out of the main body 1. The rotary shaft 6 can slide along the length direction of the slide hole 8, and when the main body 1 cleans a wall or a corner, when the movable nozzle 5 collides with the wall, the spring 22 extends, and the direction of the arrow b The rotary shaft 6 slides. This sliding mechanism alleviates the impact and stress when the movable nozzle 5 comes into contact with the wall, and prevents the movable nozzle from damaging the wall, damaging the obstacle by pushing it down, or wearing the movable nozzle 5 itself. can do.
[0030]
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a control system of the self-propelled cleaner. The main body distance sensor 9 and the nozzle distance sensor 10 are connected to a control unit 25 composed of a microcomputer. The control unit 25 individually controls the left drive wheel drive motor 24a and the right drive wheel drive motor 24b that rotate and drive the left and right drive wheels 3a and 3b based on the detection signals of the distance sensors 9 and 10, respectively.
[0031]
That is, when the main body 1 moves forward (direction X in FIG. 6), the control unit 25 moves backward (direction Y in FIG. 6) so that both drive wheels 3a and 3b rotate simultaneously in the forward direction. In this case, the left and right drive wheel drive motors 24a and 24b are controlled at the same rotational speed so that both drive wheels 3a and 3b rotate simultaneously in opposite directions. Further, when the main body 1 turns, the left and right drive wheel drive motors 24a and 24b are reversely controlled so that the drive wheels 3a and 3b rotate in different directions, or one of them stops and the other rotates. In addition, the left and right drive wheel drive motors 24a and 24b are controlled with different rotational speeds.
[0032]
The distance information detected by the main body distance sensor 10 is converted into map information of the cleaning area by the control unit 25 and stored in the memory 26. And the control part 25 can operate the rotating shaft drive motor 27 as needed, and can rotate and move the movable nozzle 5 by accessing this memory 26. FIG.
[0033]
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of cleaning travel of the main body 1. The self-propelled cleaner P first cleans the central portion of the room, that is, other than the wall and corners. For example, as shown in FIG. 8A, the main body 1 starts from the point A, finds the wall of the room using the main body distance sensor 9, and moves straight to the wall to shift by the width of its own vehicle along the wall. It reverses and performs a repetitive movement that goes straight in the opposite direction to the opposite wall. Then, when the point D is reached and the area on the right side of the departure point A is cleaned, the process returns to the departure point A and the area on the left side is cleaned. By repeating this operation, it is possible to uniformly perform cleaning other than the wall and corners.
[0034]
Then, based on the detection information of the main body distance sensor 10, the control unit 25 determines, for example, the inversion point as a wall and performs room mapping, and stores the map information in the memory 26. At this time, a point where the distance corresponding to the shift width cannot be secured between the outer periphery of the main body 1 and the obstacle or the wall surface, such as the points B to F, is determined as the corner and stored in the memory 26. .
[0035]
In addition, it is also possible to employ | adopt the method of running at random from a wall toward a wall like a conventionally well-known self-propelled cleaner, and cleaning the whole room as a result.
[0036]
When the self-propelled cleaner P finishes cleaning the central portion of the room, the movable nozzle 5 is rotated 180 ° to cause the nozzle suction port 12 to protrude to the outside of the main body 1 and close to the wall (outside of the room or obstacle) Start cleaning the vicinity of the object) and corners. For example, as shown in FIG. 8B, the wall and corners are cleaned while circling along the wall. At this time, the self-propelled cleaner P circulates along the wall mainly relying on the information of the nozzle distance sensor 10. As a result, it becomes possible to suck up dust at the walls and corners of the room that could not be cleaned in the past.
[0037]
The movable nozzle 5 may be detachable and replaceable from the rotating shaft 5. For this reason, for example, a cleaning tool such as a soft mop is used instead of the movable nozzle 5 for flooring, and a nozzle is used with a hard bristle brush for a carpet. Is possible. In addition, by using a nozzle that is narrower than the movable nozzle 5, it is possible to clean a narrow portion that cannot be reached by the main body 1, such as a gap between the chase and the wall.
[0038]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, by projecting the movable nozzle whose tip portion has a right angle or less acute angle, it is possible to clean a wall or a corner of a room that could not be cleaned conventionally.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a self-propelled cleaner according to the present invention as viewed from the side.
FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the main body of the self-propelled cleaner as seen from the bottom.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the movable nozzle of the self-propelled cleaner as viewed from the top surface (a) and the bottom surface (b).
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the movable nozzle rotation drive mechanism of the self-propelled cleaner as viewed from the inside of the main body.
FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the rotational drive mechanism.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a state in which a tip of a movable nozzle of the self-propelled cleaner is protruded to the outside of the main body as viewed from above.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a control system of the self-propelled cleaner.
FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing an example of cleaning traveling of the self-propelled cleaner.
FIG. 9 is an enlarged plan view near the movable nozzle of the self-propelled cleaner.
[Explanation of symbols]
P Self-propelled vacuum cleaner 1 Body 2 Body suction port 3 Traveling wheel 5 Movable nozzle 6 Rotating shaft 8 Slide hole 9 Body distance sensor 10 Nozzle distance sensor 12 Nozzle suction port 51 Tip of movable nozzle

Claims (5)

A moving means for moving a circular body on the floor surface of the cleaning area, an electric blower that is provided in the main body and generates a dust suction airflow, a main body inlet opening in the bottom surface of the main body, and a tip portion A movable nozzle that is an acute or right-angle fan shape and is housed inside the outer periphery of the main body so as to be rotatable in a direction parallel to the floor surface, a rotating mechanism of the movable nozzle, and a tip of the movable nozzle A nozzle suction port formed as desired on the floor surface, and when cleaning the central portion in the cleaning region, the movable nozzle is arranged such that its tip portion faces the center of the main body and the arc portion thereof is the main body. When the wall and corners in the cleaning area are cleaned, the movable nozzle is rotated 180 ° so that its tip protrudes outward from the outer periphery of the main body. Characterized by Hashishiki vacuum cleaner. Self-propelled cleaner according to claim 1, characterized in that a shock absorbing mechanism for urging the rotation axis of the movable nozzle to the outside of the slidably said body. The self-propelled cleaner according to claim 2 , wherein the rotary shaft of the movable nozzle also serves as a suction pipe, or a suction hose is coaxially inserted into the rotary shaft of the movable nozzle. The self-propelled cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the self-propelled cleaner is configured to travel near a wall based on detection information of a nozzle distance sensor provided in the movable nozzle. The self-propelled cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the movable nozzle is detachably provided.

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