JP5224447B2 - Cleaning device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a robot that automatically moves and cleans a surface of an object to be cleaned made of a plate-like nonmagnetic material such as a glass window or a magnetic material such as an automobile body.

Conventionally, various techniques have been disclosed for manual window cleaning devices using magnets. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-350682 magnetically adheres to a first cleaning member that is operated so as to move along one surface of a glass window or a mesh, and the first cleaning member via the glass or the mesh, and the first cleaning. A second cleaning member that follows the member and moves along the other surface of the glass window or the net described above. A cleaning device is known in which a cleaning unit that slides on the surface of a glass window or a net by movement of the first cleaning member and the second cleaning member is provided on the first cleaning member and the second cleaning member, respectively. Since the first cleaning member must be operated manually, it is particularly inconvenient when it is necessary to clean a high part that is out of reach, and it is necessary to continue the cleaning operation with the hand raised. Because of this, it was a work that was painful and easily fatigued physically. In addition, this known apparatus has a moving roller for both the first cleaning member and the second cleaning member. However, in this case, since the roller moves in only one direction, there is a problem in movement after wiping one row. It was.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-36588 is known as an automatic cleaning device. In this publicly known document, it is a washing device that walks while sucking the wall surface with a suction cup and cleans the walls and windows of high-rise buildings, the outer walls of large ships, and the inner walls of large tanks. Becomes complicated, expensive, and large in size. Furthermore, since it takes time to move, there is a problem that the working time becomes long.
JP 2000-350682 A JP-A 64-36588

  The cleaning device of the present invention is an inexpensive automatic cleaning device that can easily perform cleaning work without physical fatigue or pain of the operator even at a high part that cannot be reached by a conventional manual window cleaner. It is an object to provide a compact structure, and it is an object to provide a cleaning device that can be easily used not only for high-rise buildings but also for windows of ordinary homes such as apartments.

 Further, in the present invention, when the object to be cleaned is formed of a magnet adsorbing material, the driven object is not used, and the object to be cleaned can be adsorbed only by the main body of the cleaning device. It is also possible to automatically clean.

In a cleaning apparatus main body having a suction means for an object to be cleaned, a moving means on the surface of the object to be cleaned, and a cleaning means for the object to be cleaned, the suction means uses magnetic force, and the moving means becomes a driving wheel and a driving wheel. The power supply means and the control means for the power supply means, the cleaning means moving to the contact position and the non-contact position with respect to the object to be cleaned, and the control of the cleaning means moving means It has the means.

In the case where the object to be cleaned is made of a plate-like non-magnetic material such as a glass window, the adsorption means is provided between a follower having a rotating body that can rotate in at least three free directions and the main body of the cleaning device. It is advisable to make it attract by mutual magnetic force.

Furthermore, it is preferable that the suction means has a suction force adjusting means.

Further, the cleaning apparatus main body has at least one rotating body rotatable in a free direction with respect to the surface to be cleaned and a pair of left and right driving wheels, and the driving wheels have driving means capable of rotating independently on the left and right. Good.

Position determining means for determining the position of the object to be cleaned in the cleaning apparatus main body and inclination determining means for determining the perpendicularity to the traveling direction of the cleaning apparatus main body are provided in the cleaning apparatus main body. The power supply unit may be controlled based on at least output information from the position determination unit and the inclination determination unit.

Furthermore, based on the output information from at least the position determining means, whether the cleaning device body is a cleaning necessary condition, it has one of the cleaning condition judging means cleaning is unnecessary state, the cleaning state determining means, cleaning When it is determined that it is necessary, the cleaning means is moved to the contact position of the object to be cleaned, and when the cleaning state determination means determines that the cleaning is unnecessary, the cleaning means is moved to the non-contact position of the object to be cleaned . rather good to have a control means for moving the further enters the cleaning operation after the washing device body is once moved to the upper right or upper left position of the object to be cleaned, when performing cleaning operation, above the washing apparatus body When the position determining means detects that the cleaning means has traveled straight at the contact position with the object to be cleaned and has reached the end of the object to be cleaned, the cleaning means first moves to the non-contact position of the object to be cleaned. From the above cleaning equipment When the body is constructed as to perform the turning operation of 90 degrees it has good.

Further, when the object to be cleaned is made of a plate-like non-magnetic material such as a glass window, the cleaning object is disposed on the cleaning surface of the object to be cleaned, and at least three rotating bodies that can rotate in the free direction. A cleaning device main body, and a driving body that is disposed on the non-cleaning surface of the object to be cleaned and has moving means on the non-cleaning surface, and the cleaning device main body and the driving body are interposed via the object to be cleaned. The cleaning device main body is configured to be attracted to each other by a magnetic force and to move with the movement of the driving body. The driving body moving means includes driving wheels, power supply means to the driving wheels, and power supply means. It is good to have the control means.

Further, it is preferable that the cleaning means has a moving mechanism that moves to a contact position and a non-contact position with respect to the object to be cleaned, and the moving mechanism is driven by a remote control means provided in the driver.

Since the cleaning device of the present invention can automatically perform cleaning operations, it is easy to automatically clean even high parts that are out of the reach of manual window cleaners, without the physical fatigue and pain of the operator. It can be used even in places that are out of the reach of humans or in dangerous places. Furthermore, since it has a cheap and compact structure, it can be used easily not only in high-rise buildings but also in ordinary household windows such as apartments. Further, in the present invention, when the object to be cleaned is formed of a magnet adsorbing material, the driven object is not used, and the object to be cleaned can be adsorbed only by the main body of the cleaning device. It is also possible to automatically clean.

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

First, the configuration of an apparatus for automatically cleaning an object to be cleaned such as a window glass will be described. First, the main body of the cleaning apparatus is shown in FIG.

The main body of the cleaning device is configured by adsorbing a driven body (FIG. 2) and a magnet with a glass surface interposed therebetween. The main body of the cleaning device has driving means and moves on the window plane. Further, the follower is provided with a mechanism that can move freely, and is restrained by the magnetic force from the cleaning device main body, and therefore moves according to the movement of the cleaning device main body.

A configuration example of the cleaning apparatus main body will be described. In the cleaning apparatus main body of FIG. 1, the magnet 1 exists near the rear wheel 2. When viewed in the lateral direction, the rear wheel 2 is preferably in contact with the surface to be cleaned of the window glass 14 as shown in FIG. In addition, this magnet 1 arrange | positions a south pole and a north pole so that it may become a pair which attracts | sucks in a washing | cleaning apparatus main body and a follower.

The magnet 1 may be a permanent magnet or an electromagnet. Further, the location of the magnet 1 may be inside the rear wheel 2 or outside. However, the magnetic force adjustment mechanism 15 is required depending on the thickness and material of the window glass 14 that is the object to be cleaned. As a mechanism for adjustment, a means for adjusting the distance between the magnets 1 is provided in the cleaning device main body or the follower. This movement may be manually moved by a mechanical part such as a screw, or the movement may be controlled by the motor 4 or the like. Further, in the case of an electromagnet, it may be controlled by controlling the energization power, or an adsorption force sensor may be used as information on which this control is based. Further, it may be possible to manually adjust the suction force sensor and the indicator on the follower side. Generally, since the magnetic force is inversely proportional to the square of the distance, the distance between the driven body and the cleaning apparatus main body may be detected. In this case, since the object to be cleaned is the window glass 14 , distance detection is possible. Even when the surface to be cleaned is a magnetic body other than the window glass 14 , adjustment is possible by measuring the height of the vehicle with a distance sensor or the like. The driving wheel (rear wheel 2 ) is made of a material having a high frictional force such as rubber or silicon. As the front wheel 3 , a caster or a face caster that can roll on either side parallel to the surface to be cleaned such as the window glass 14 is used.

In this embodiment, if the driving wheel (rear wheel 2) is driven independently on the left and right, when the left and right wheels are rotated in the same direction, the vehicle travels straight, and when it rotates in another direction, the vehicle turns. It can be made smaller and turn on the spot is possible. As another driving method, the rear wheel 2 may be driven by a single motor and the front wheel 3 may be steered for control. In that case, if the driving wheel of the rear wheel 2 is a differential gear, the behavior at the time of turning is stabilized.

For the motor 4, a geared motor is used. The cleaning device main body can stick to the window wall surface due to the ground frictional force of the rear wheel 2 . For this reason, in order to stop, the rear wheel 2 must be fixed so as not to rotate. When the gear ratio is high, even if a force from the rear wheel 2 is applied, it is not necessary to pass electricity to keep the motor 4 stationary, so the gear ratio is set high. Alternatively, when the gear ratio is set to be low, a method in which a high frictional force serving as the stopper 23 is protruded separately from the rear wheel 2 is also conceivable. The stopper 23, as to float the rear wheel 2 in advance so as to come to protrude in the direction of the ground plane to the ground plane of the rear wheel 2 in the vertical direction. It's like jacking up a car. Place a material with high frictional force such as rubber on this grounding surface. However, if the rear wheel 2 is lifted too much, the distance of the magnet 1 will be increased, so adjustment is made so that the magnetic force is within the working distance.

Motor 4 for driving wheels is controlled from the control microcomputer 5 via the motor driving circuit 6. Further, the cleaning device main body has a tank 7 for cleaning liquid or the like containing cleaning liquid or cleaning water, and is supplied to a cleaning sponge 9 or the like. As a supply method, a small pump or the like may be used, or it may be automatically sucked out using a capillary phenomenon. Moreover, you may make it a system which sucks up with a pump at the time of use via a tube on the lower side, without mounting cleaning liquid.

The cleaning liquid is floated by a sponge or brush (sponge etc. 9 ) and the dirt is finally wiped off by the wiper 8. Further, in the movement, the driving amount is controlled by the control microcomputer 5 using a distance sensor 10 such as a photoelectric sensor or an ultrasonic sensor. The sponge 9 or the like may be fixed as it is, or the sponge 9 or the like itself may have a cylindrical shape and the shape with the sponge 9 attached thereto may be rotated.

The shape of the main body of the cleaning device should be rounded so as not to collide as much as possible when rotating. Further, since the driven body does not need to be driven, the rear wheel 2 is fixed by a bearing 12 or the like.

In this case, since the drive unit is a left and right independent drive, the rear wheel 2 of the driven body is not the same shaft but a left and right independent shaft. Wipers, etc. 8 and sponge 9 is a cleaning implement by cleaning implement lifting mechanism 16 in advance so as to able to control detachment of the cleaned surface.

Cleaning method, as shown in FIG. 4, the direction of the case, the cleaning start position by the cleaning device main body thereof when upper right to perform for example a washing from the right side facing the left side. A cleaning device such as a wiper 8 is in contact with the window glass 14 at the right end. The distance from the upper side of the window glass 14 is detected by the distance detection sensor 10, and the motor 4 is controlled so that the detection amount does not increase or decrease. For example, when the detection amount decreases, the vehicle is approaching the window glass 14 , and therefore, it turns to the left. For left and right independent driving, the left rear wheel 2 may be slightly stopped to perform control.

In this way, the straight traveling of the cleaning apparatus main body is performed by the motor control using the distance detection sensor 10 . When the front distance detection sensor 10 detects that the main body of the cleaning device has moved to the left end of the window glass 14 , first, the wiper etc. 8 is lifted so that it does not interfere with turning, and the right wheel advances and the left wheel rotates backward. To turn 18 degrees 90 degrees counterclockwise. The 90-degree turn can be determined, for example, by detecting with the distance detection sensor 10 on the left side of the cleaning apparatus main body and searching for a place where the distance becomes the lowest position and stopping. As the output pattern of the distance sensor, the distance first increases, and when the 45-degree turning angle is passed, it enters the decreasing direction again, and the minimum position becomes the 90-degree turning position. Thus to, by in situ pivoted Teka et cleaning, it is possible to minimize the amount of movement of the device. Further, since the motor consumes electric power when rising from the bottom to the top, it leads to power saving. Normally , the cleaning apparatus main body is set at the bottom and once moved to the upper right or upper left position, and then enters the above operation.

In the present invention, when the object to be cleaned is formed of a magnet adsorbing material, the driven object is not used, and the object can be adsorbed to the object to be cleaned only by the main body of the cleaning device. It is possible to automatically clean the inside of the ship and various tanks.

In the present invention, when all power sources are provided on the driving body side, and a mechanism for raising the wiper on the driven body side with a magnet is provided. As shown in FIG. 5, the driven body 25 is driven by the drive body 24 in the same manner as in the first embodiment, but the driven body 25 includes the wiper 8 and the sponge 9 and the like. By rotating the follower wiper lifting / lowering motor 26 on the body 24 side, the cleaning tool is controlled by utilizing the attractive force of S and N and the repulsive force of N and N (S and S). Here, a cleaning device may be provided on the driving body 24 side as in the first embodiment, and both surfaces may be cleaned simultaneously. The merit in this case is that all power sources are arranged inside the room to improve the ease of supplying power and to prevent the adhesion of outdoor dirt to the electric circuit part and sensor part. is there.

In the present invention, both the driving body side and the driven body have a moving mechanism to move the contact and non-contact positions of the cleaning device and its power, and the movement of the wiper on the driven body side by the transmission from the main CPU on the driving body side, A system that can be performed by communicating with the follower. The communication may be performed using an infrared LED or may be performed wirelessly.

In the present invention, the main body device has a camera, and the camera can take a picture of the window glass, and the image processing of the captured image can judge the degree of dirt on the window glass. A system that can determine the condition and perform intensive cleaning of dirty places until the windows are clean. For example, a white panel is prepared on the opposite side with a camera and small light. The captured image will be white when there is no dirt, but if it is dirty, , The attached part becomes black. Judge by its amount. Alternatively, a system that can determine the degree of dirt on a window by using photoelectric sensors arranged in a row instead of an image. Data can be acquired by irradiating the photoelectric sensor from one direction of the window and preparing a reflective material such as a mirror on the opposite side through the window. Further, it can be determined that the larger the acquired value is, the cleaner the state is and the smaller the acquired value is, the dirty state. This degree needs to be configured in advance.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be widely used for business use and home use as a cleaning apparatus that automatically cleans an object to be cleaned such as a window glass.

It is a reference diagram of a cleaning apparatus main body showing an example of an embodiment of the present invention. It is a reference figure of the follower which shows an example of an embodiment of the invention. It is a reference figure which shows an example of embodiment of the state which has arrange | positioned the washing | cleaning apparatus of this invention to the window glass. It is a reference figure which shows an example of the washing | cleaning method of the washing | cleaning apparatus of this invention. It is a reference figure which shows an example of other embodiment of the state which has arrange | positioned the washing | cleaning apparatus of this invention to the window glass.

Explanation of symbols

1 magnet 2 rear wheel 3 front wheel 4 motor 5 controlling microcomputer 6 motor driving circuit 7 cleaning solvent tank 8 wipers etc. 9 sponge 10 distance sensor 11 drives the body 12 such as bearings 13 driven device body 14 windowpane 15 force adjusting mechanism 16 Cleaning tool elevating mechanism 17 Traveling path 18 90-degree turn 19 180-degree turn 21 magnet N pole 22 magnet S pole 23 Stopper 24 Drive body 25 Follower 26 Follower wiper lifting motor 27 Follower wiper grounding 28 Follower wiper non- When grounding

Claims (4)

In a cleaning apparatus main body having an adsorption means for an object to be cleaned, a moving means on the surface of the object to be cleaned, and a cleaning means for the object to be cleaned, the attracting means uses magnetic force, and the moving means is a driving wheel and a driving wheel. Power supply means and a control means for the power supply means,
Position determining means for determining which position of the object to be cleaned is located in the cleaning apparatus main body, the power supply means is controlled based on at least output information of the position determining means,
Moving means of the cleaning means in which the cleaning means moves to the contact position and the non-contact position with respect to the object to be cleaned;
A cleaning state based on at least output information from the position determination means, whether the cleaning device main body is in a cleaning-needed state where the cleaning device main body starts cleaning by straight traveling, or whether the cleaning device main body is in a cleaning-free state in which the cleaning device main body rotates. Having a determining means, when the cleaning state determining means determines that the cleaning is necessary, the cleaning means is moved to the contact position of the object to be cleaned, and when the cleaning state determining means determines that the cleaning is unnecessary, the cleaning is performed. A cleaning apparatus characterized by having a control means for moving means of the cleaning means for moving the means to a non-contact position of the object to be cleaned The cleaning device main body has at least one rotor and a pair of left and right driven wheels rotatable free direction with respect to the surface to be cleaned, the drive wheel is able to have a rotatable drive means right and left independently The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1. In the case where the object to be cleaned is made of a plate-like nonmagnetic material such as a glass window, the attraction means includes at least three followers having a rotating body that can rotate in a free direction and the cleaning apparatus main body. cleaning apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the ing from the suction force by the magnetic force of. When the object to be cleaned is made of a plate-like non-magnetic material such as a glass window, the cleaning apparatus main body having at least three rotating bodies that can rotate in a free direction and the non-cleaning surface of the object to be cleaned are arranged, It comprises a driving body having a moving means on the non-cleaning surface, and the cleaning device main body and the driving body are attracted to each other by magnetic force through the object to be cleaned, and the driving body moves as described above. cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the cleaning device main body Ru is movable.

Images