JP6325251B2 - Electric vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Description

  Embodiments according to the present invention relate to a vacuum cleaner.

  A vacuum cleaner including a secondary battery is known as a power source for an electric blower.

JP 2005-13460 A

  A conventional vacuum cleaner equipped with a secondary battery that can be attached to the main body of the vacuum cleaner sends a regular pulse confirmation signal from the main body of the vacuum cleaner to the secondary battery. It was verified whether or not a secondary battery was connected.

  In this conventional vacuum cleaner, since the pulse-shaped confirmation signal is always continuously transmitted, the power of the secondary battery is always wasted.

  Therefore, the present invention proposes a vacuum cleaner that saves power by checking whether or not a regular secondary battery is attached to the vacuum cleaner body.

In order to solve the above-described problems, a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a vacuum cleaner body in which a secondary battery is detachable, and is driven by electric power stored in the vacuum cleaner body and supplied from the secondary battery. An electric blower that generates suction negative pressure, and transmits a confirmation signal to the secondary battery only when the secondary battery is mounted on the vacuum cleaner body by being activated by the power of the secondary battery, and A connection determination unit that verifies the match between the received signal acquired from the secondary battery and the verification information, and the connection determination unit that is activated by the power of the secondary battery matches the received signal and the verification information A control unit that permits the driving of the electric blower when it is confirmed, and prohibits the driving of the electric blower in other cases.

The perspective view which shows the external appearance of the vacuum cleaner which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The block diagram which shows the vacuum cleaner which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows the secondary battery recognition control of the vacuum cleaner which concerns on this embodiment.

  Embodiment of the vacuum cleaner which concerns on this invention is described with reference to FIGS. 1-3.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present embodiment is a so-called canister-type vacuum cleaner. The vacuum cleaner 1 includes a vacuum cleaner main body 2 that can run on the surface to be cleaned, a tube portion 3 that is detachable from the vacuum cleaner main body 2, a secondary battery 4 as a power source that is removable from the vacuum cleaner main body 2, It has. The vacuum cleaner body 2 and the pipe portion 3 are fluidly connected.

  The secondary battery 4 is a lithium ion battery and includes a protection circuit (not shown) that avoids overcharge and overdischarge.

  The vacuum cleaner main body 2 includes a main body case 5, a pair of wheels 6 provided on both the left and right sides of the main body case 5, and a detachable dust separating and collecting portion 7 disposed in the front half of the main body case 5. And an electric blower 8 housed in the latter half of the main body case 5, a main body control device 9 that mainly controls the electric blower 8, and a power cord 11 that guides power to the secondary battery 4.

  The vacuum cleaner main body 2 drives the electric blower 8 with the electric power supplied from the secondary battery 4, and causes the negative pressure generated by the drive of the electric blower 8 to act on the pipe portion 3. The vacuum cleaner 1 sucks air containing dust (hereinafter referred to as “dust-containing air”) from the surface to be cleaned through the pipe portion 3, separates the dust from the dust-containing air, and collects the separated dust. And accumulates and exhausts the separated air.

  A main body connection port 12 is provided in the front portion of the main body case 5. The main body connection port 12 is a fluid inlet of the cleaner body 2, and fluidly connects the pipe portion 3 and the dust separation and dust collection portion 7. A connecting mechanism (not shown) to which the secondary battery 4 is mechanically connected is provided on the back surface of the main body case 5.

  The wheel 6 is a large-diameter traveling wheel and supports the cleaner body 2.

  The dust separating and collecting unit 7 separates dust from the dust-containing air flowing into the cleaner body 2, collects and accumulates it, and sends clean air from which dust has been removed to the electric blower 8. The dust separation and collection unit 7 may be a centrifugal separation method or a filtration separation method.

  The electric blower 8 is driven by electric power supplied from the secondary battery 4. The electric blower 8 sucks air from the dust separating and collecting part 7 and generates negative pressure (suction negative pressure).

  The main body control device 9 includes a microprocessor (not shown) and a storage device (not shown) that stores various arithmetic programs executed by the microprocessor, parameters, and the like. The storage device stores a plurality of preset operation modes. The plurality of operation modes set in advance are related to the magnitude of the operation output of the electric blower 8 and correspond to user operations accepted by the pipe section 3. Different input values (input values of the electric blower 8) are set in the respective operation modes. The main body control device 9 selectively selects an arbitrary operation mode corresponding to the operation content from a plurality of preset operation modes in accordance with the operation of the user accepted by the pipe unit 3 from the storage unit. The electric blower 8 is controlled according to the read operation mode.

  The power cord 11 is detachable from the cleaner body, and supplies power to the secondary battery 4 from a wiring plug connector (not shown, so-called outlet). A plug 14 is provided at the free end of the power cord 11. The secondary battery 4 is charged via the power cord 11.

  The pipe part 3 sucks dust-containing air from the surface to be cleaned by the negative pressure acting from the cleaner body 2 and guides it to the cleaner body 2. The pipe portion 3 is fluidly connected to the connecting pipe 19 as a joint that is detachably connected to the cleaner body 2, a dust collecting hose 21 that is fluidly connected to the connecting pipe 19, and the dust collecting hose 21. Connected hand operating tube 22, gripping part 23 protruding from hand operating tube 22, operating part 24 provided on gripping part 23, and extension tube detachably connected to hand operating tube 22 25 and a suction port body 26 detachably connected to the extension pipe 25.

  The connection pipe 19 is a joint that is detachably connected to the main body connection port 12, and is fluidly connected to the dust separating and collecting part 7 through the main body connection port 12.

  The dust collection hose 21 is a long and flexible substantially cylindrical hose. One end of the dust collection hose 21 (here, the rear end) is fluidly connected to the connection pipe 19. The dust collecting hose 21 is fluidly connected to the dust separating and collecting part 7 through the connecting pipe 19.

  The hand operation tube 22 relays the dust collection hose 21 and the extension tube 25. One end portion (here, the rear end portion) of the hand operation tube 22 is fluidly connected to the other end portion (here, the front end portion) of the dust collecting hose 21. The hand operating tube 22 is fluidly connected to the dust separating and collecting part 7 through the dust collecting hose 21 and the connecting tube 19.

  The grip portion 23 is a portion that the user grips with his / her hand to operate the vacuum cleaner 1. The grip portion 23 protrudes from the hand operation tube 22 in an appropriate shape that can be easily gripped by the user.

  The operation unit 24 includes a switch associated with each operation mode. Specifically, the operation unit 24 includes a stop switch 24 a associated with the operation stop operation of the electric blower 8, a start switch 24 b associated with the operation start operation of the electric blower 8, and power supply to the suction port body 26. And a brush switch 24c associated with each other. The stop switch 24 a and the start switch 24 b are electrically connected to the main body control device 9. The user of the vacuum cleaner 1 can alternatively select the operation mode of the electric blower 8 by operating the operation unit 24. The start switch 24 b also functions as an operation mode selection switch during operation of the electric blower 8. In this case, every time an operation signal is received from the activation switch 24b, the main body control device 9 switches the operation mode in the order of strong → medium → weak → strong → medium → weak →. Note that the operation unit 24 may individually include a strong operation switch (not shown), a medium operation switch (not shown), and a weak operation switch (not shown) instead of the start switch 24b.

  An extension tube 25 having a telescopic structure in which a plurality of cylindrical bodies are superposed is an elongated, substantially cylindrical tube that can be expanded and contracted. One end portion (here, the rear end portion) of the extension tube 25 is provided with a joint structure that is detachable from the other end portion (here, the front end portion) of the hand operation tube 22. The extension pipe 25 is fluidly connected to the dust separating and collecting part 7 through the hand operating pipe 22, the dust collecting hose 21 and the connecting pipe 19.

  The suction port body 26 can run or slide on a surface to be cleaned such as a wooden floor or a carpet, and has a suction port 28 on the bottom surface facing the surface to be cleaned in the running state or the sliding state. The suction port body 26 includes a rotatable rotary cleaning body 29 disposed in the suction port 28 and an electric motor 31 that drives the rotary cleaning body 29. One end portion (here, the rear end portion) of the suction port body 26 is provided with a joint structure that is detachable from the other end portion (here, the front end portion) of the extension pipe 25. The suction port body 26 is fluidly connected to the dust separating and collecting part 7 through the extension pipe 25, the hand operating pipe 22, the dust collecting hose 21 and the connecting pipe 19. That is, the suction port body 26, the extension tube 25, the hand operation tube 22, the dust collection hose 21, the connection tube 19, and the dust separation and dust collection unit 7 are suction air paths from the electric blower 8 to the suction port 28. The electric motor 31 alternately starts and stops operation every time it receives an operation signal from the brush switch 24c.

  The electric vacuum cleaner 1 starts the electric blower 8 when accepting a user operation on the start switch 24b. For example, when the vacuum cleaner 1 receives an operation on the start switch 24b while the electric blower 8 is stopped, the electric blower first operates the electric blower 8 in the strong operation mode, and receives an operation on the start switch 24b again. 8 is operated in the medium operation mode, and when the operation for the start switch 24b is accepted three times, the electric blower 8 is operated in the weak operation mode, and the same is repeated thereafter. The strong operation mode, the medium operation mode, and the weak operation mode are a plurality of operation modes set in advance, and the input value to the electric blower 8 is small in the order of the strong operation mode, the medium operation mode, and the weak operation mode. The started electric blower 8 exhausts air from the dust separation and collection unit 7 to make the inside negative.

  The negative pressure in the dust separating and collecting part 7 acts on the suction port 28 through the main body connection port 12, the connection tube 19, the dust collection hose 21, the hand control tube 22, the extension tube 25, and the suction port body 26 in order. To do. The vacuum cleaner 1 cleans the surface to be cleaned by sucking dust on the surface to be cleaned together with air by the negative pressure applied to the suction port 28. The dust separating and collecting unit 7 separates and accumulates dust from the dust-containing air sucked into the vacuum cleaner 1, and sends the air separated from the dust-containing air to the electric blower 8. The electric blower 8 exhausts the air sucked from the dust separating and collecting unit 7 to the outside of the cleaner body 2.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the electric vacuum cleaner according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the vacuum cleaner 1 according to this embodiment includes a control circuit 41 that is electrically connected to the secondary battery 4.

  The control circuit 41 controls the operation of the electric blower 8. The control circuit 41 converts the electric fan 8 connected in series to the secondary battery 4, the switching element 42 that opens and closes the electric path connecting the secondary battery 4 and the electric fan 8, and the battery voltage of the secondary battery 4. The control power supply unit 43 that outputs the control power supply and the confirmation signal is transmitted to the secondary battery 4 only when the secondary battery 4 is attached to the cleaner body 2, and is acquired from the secondary battery 4. The connection determination unit 45 for verifying the match between the received signal and the main body side verification information, and when the connection determination unit 45 confirms the match between the received signal and the main body side verification information, the drive of the electric blower 8 is permitted. In other cases, a control unit 46 that prohibits driving of the electric blower 8 and a notification unit 47 that notifies that the reception signal and the main body side verification information do not match from the confirmation result of the connection determination unit 45. I have.

  The switching element 42 is, for example, a field effect transistor (FET), and includes a gate connected to the main body control device 9. The switching element 42 changes the input of the electric blower 8 according to the change of the gate current.

  The control power supply unit 43 converts the power supply voltage supplied from the secondary battery 4 to the control circuit 41 into a control power supply voltage and supplies the control power supply voltage to the main body control device 9.

  The connection determination unit 45 and the control unit 46 are programs executed by the main body control device 9. The main body control device 9 includes a microcomputer and includes a central processing unit (not shown), a storage unit 48, an I / O unit (not shown), and a timer (not shown).

  The storage unit 48 is, for example, an EEPROM and is a non-volatile memory. The storage unit 48 stores in advance data such as a control program executed by the central processing unit and constants necessary for executing the control program. This data includes a constant indicating an input value corresponding to each operation mode set in advance. The storage unit 48 is a data storage area and a work area for temporarily storing calculation data of the central processing unit. Furthermore, the storage unit 48 stores that the received signal does not match the main body side verification information from the confirmation result of the connection determination unit 45.

  The main body control device 9 and the secondary battery 4 are connected by a bidirectional communication line. The main body control device 9 performs secondary battery recognition control for determining whether the secondary battery 4 is a genuine product or a non-genuine product while performing bidirectional communication with the secondary battery 4.

  In addition, the main body control device 9 periodically reads the operation signal output from the operation unit 24, performs switching control of the switching element 42 according to the selected operation mode, and changes the input of the electric blower 8.

  Furthermore, the main body control device 9 changes the input of the electric blower 8 according to, for example, three operation modes consisting of weak, medium and strong. The main body control device 9 performs switching control of the switching element 42 by sequentially switching the operation mode each time an operation signal is received from the start switch 24b.

  The notification unit 47 is a display device such as a lamp or a liquid crystal monitor that notifies the user of the vacuum cleaner 1 with visual information, or a speaker that notifies the user of the vacuum cleaner 1 with auditory information. The notification unit 47 notifies that the non-regular secondary battery 4 is connected to the cleaner body 2 in accordance with a command from the main body control device 9.

  The secondary battery recognition control executed by the main body control device 9 will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the secondary battery recognition control of the vacuum cleaner according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 3, in the vacuum cleaner 1 according to this embodiment, a voltage is applied from the secondary battery 4 to the control power supply unit 43 when the secondary battery 4 is attached to the cleaner body 2. Then, power is supplied from the control power supply unit 43 to the main body control device 9 to activate the main body control device 9 (step S1). And when the main body control apparatus 9 starts, the connection determination part 45 of the main body control apparatus 9 will transmit a confirmation signal to the secondary battery 4 (step S2). This confirmation signal is arbitrary information stored in advance in the storage unit 48 of the main body control device 9.

  When the secondary battery 4 acquires the confirmation signal from the main body control device 9 on the cleaner body 2 side (step S3), the secondary battery 4 collates the coincidence between the confirmation signal and the battery side verification information (step S4). This battery side verification information is stored in advance in the protection circuit of the secondary battery 4. When the secondary battery 4 confirms a match between the confirmation signal and the battery side verification information (match in step S4), the secondary battery 4 sends a confirmation response signal including information identifying the match confirmation (match information) to the connection determination unit 45. A reply is made (step S5). On the other hand, when the secondary battery 4 confirms the mismatch between the confirmation signal and the battery-side verification information (step S4 mismatch), the secondary battery 4 sends a confirmation response signal including information (mismatch information) for identifying the mismatch confirmation to the connection determination unit. It returns to 45 (step S6).

  When the connection determination unit 45 obtains the confirmation response signal from the secondary battery 4 (step S7), the connection determination unit 45 collates the match between the confirmation response signal and the main body side verification information (step S8). When the match determination unit 45 confirms the match between the confirmation response signal and the main body side verification information (match in step S8), the connection determination unit 45 finalizes the match check (step S9). On the other hand, when the secondary battery 4 confirms a mismatch between the confirmation response signal and the main body side verification information (step S8 mismatch), the secondary battery 4 confirms the mismatch confirmation (step S10).

  The confirmation response signal is a signal generated by the secondary battery 4 from the result of collating the confirmation signal and the battery side verification information, and is different from the confirmation signal transmitted from the connection determination unit 45 to the secondary battery 4. . In other words, the connection determination unit 45 stores different confirmation signals and body verification information. Further, in the verification of the confirmation response signal and the main body side verification information in the connection determination unit 45, the confirmation response signal is a digital signal including a plurality of bit strings, a single bit digital signal, a sine wave, This includes the case of one or a plurality of analog signals having an arbitrary shape such as a half sine wave, an impulse, or a step.

  When the connection determination unit 45 has confirmed the coincidence confirmation, the control unit 46 permits the operation of the electric blower 8 and ends the secondary battery recognition control (step S11). Thereafter, the control unit 46 operates the electric blower 8 according to the operation mode selected by the operation unit 24.

  On the other hand, if the connection determination unit 45 has confirmed the inconsistency confirmation, the control unit 46 prohibits the operation of the electric blower 8 and ends the secondary battery recognition control (step S12). Thereafter, the control unit 46 blocks the power supply to the electric blower 8 and prohibits the operation regardless of the operation mode selected by the operation unit 24. Further, the control unit 46 notifies the user that the secondary battery 4 is an unauthorized product by the notification unit 47. Further, the control unit 46 causes the storage unit 48 to store that the secondary battery 4 is an irregular product.

  As described above, the electric vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present embodiment transmits a confirmation signal to the secondary battery 4 only when the secondary battery 4 is attached to the cleaner body 2 and acquires the confirmation signal from the secondary battery 4. By verifying the match between the received signal and the verification information, it is possible to greatly reduce power consumption in confirming whether or not the secondary battery 4 is a genuine product as compared with a conventional vacuum cleaner.

  Moreover, the vacuum cleaner 1 which concerns on this embodiment memorize | stores the mutually different confirmation signal and the information for main body collation, and the other party is a regular article mutually in both the cleaner main body 2 side and the secondary battery 4 side. It can be confirmed whether or not.

  Furthermore, since the vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present embodiment includes the notification unit 47, for example, a case where the non-genuine secondary battery 4 is connected to the cleaner body 2 without the user's knowledge, Even if the blower 8 is not driven and the vacuum cleaner 1 is suspected of being broken, it is possible to reliably notify the user of the cause of the electric blower 8 not being driven and to take appropriate measures.

  Furthermore, since the vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present embodiment includes the storage unit 48, when the non-genuine secondary battery 4 is connected, there is a risk of failure on the cleaner body 2 side. After that, forbid the driving of the electric blower 8 to promote the inspection at the manufacturer, or check the usage history of the non-genuine secondary battery 4 when investigating the cause of the failure of the vacuum cleaner body 2 where the failure occurred As a result, it is possible to improve convenience in maintenance and after-sales service, such as contributing to quick cause investigation.

  Therefore, according to the vacuum cleaner 1 which concerns on this invention, the confirmation whether the regular secondary battery 4 is mounted | worn with the vacuum cleaner main body 2 can be saved.

  The vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present embodiment is not limited to a canister type, but may be an upright type, a stick type, or a handy type. The vacuum cleaner 1 may be of a cordless type provided with a secondary battery in addition to the commercial AC power source E.

  Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electric vacuum cleaner 2 Vacuum cleaner main body 3 Pipe part 4 Secondary battery 5 Main body case 6 Wheel 7 Dust separation dust collection part 8 Electric blower 9 Main body control apparatus 11 Power cord 12 Main body connection port 14 Insertion plug 19 Connection pipe 21 Dust collection Hose 22 Hand control pipe 23 Grip part 24 Operation part 24a Stop switch 24b Start switch 24c Brush switch 25 Extension pipe 26 Suction port body 28 Suction port 29 Rotating cleaning body 31 Electric motor 41 Control circuit 42 Switching element 43 Control power supply unit 45 Connection determination Unit 46 control unit 47 notification unit 48 storage unit

Claims (4)

A vacuum cleaner body with a removable secondary battery,
An electric blower that is housed in the vacuum cleaner body and driven by electric power supplied from the secondary battery to generate a suction negative pressure;
The confirmation signal is transmitted to the secondary battery only when the secondary battery is activated by the power of the secondary battery and the secondary battery is attached to the vacuum cleaner body, and the received signal is obtained from the secondary battery for verification. A connection determination unit for verifying a match with the information;
When the connection determination unit confirms the coincidence between the received signal and the verification information by starting with the power of the secondary battery, the drive of the electric blower is permitted, and in other cases, the electric blower is And a controller that prohibits driving. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the connection determination unit stores the confirmation signal and the verification information that are different from each other. The vacuum cleaner of Claim 1 or 2 provided with the alerting | reporting part which alert | reports that the said received signal and the said information for collation are inconsistent from the confirmation result of the said connection determination part. The vacuum cleaner of any one of Claim 1 to 3 provided with the memory | storage part which memorize | stores that the said received signal and the said information for collation are inconsistent from the confirmation result of the said connection determination part.

Images