JP6637378B2 - Vacuum cleaner with cleaning roller - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner, and more particularly to cleaning a floor or floor surface, including a cleaning roller rotatable around a rotation axis, a motor driving the cleaning roller, and a device gear disposed between the cleaning roller and the motor. About the machine.

  Vacuum cleaners of the type described above are known in the art. These are configured, for example, as a water wiping device, the cleaning roller of which has a roller pad for absorbing liquid.

  U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,086 discloses, for example, a vacuum cleaner that includes a wet cleaning roller, which wipes debris from a surface to be cleaned during a cleaning operation. Thereafter, the cleaning roller is rotated at a higher rotational speed in the regeneration process than during the cleaning operation, so that the dirty liquid is removed from the cleaning roller.

  The rotational speed of the cleaning roller is adjustable to centrifuge the wastewater from the cleaning roller. For this purpose, a switchable device gear is generally required, which changes the rotation speed of the cleaning roller during a cleaning operation or a regeneration operation.

German Patent No. 102 29 611 specification

  The problems are the considerable installation space required for the equipment gear and the weight of the equipment gear, which will adversely affect the size and weight of the vacuum cleaner.

  Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vacuum cleaner capable of changing the rotation speed of the cleaning roller during the cleaning operation and the regenerating operation, while not significantly increasing the mounting space and / or weight.

  To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a vacuum cleaner having a device interface for connecting a cleaning roller to a motor through an external gear for power transmission.

  According to the invention, the cleaner is configured for interaction with an external gear, for example with the gear of the base station, wherein the gear of the base station connects the motor of the cleaner with the cleaning roller. When possible, the drive of the cleaning roller is usually performed using a device gear during the cleaning operation and is typically performed using the base station gear during the regenerating operation. Thus, suitable external gears can be incorporated into the base station, for example, to provide the required rotational speed for cleaning roller regeneration, whereby the cleaner itself has additional gears. And have no switchable gears with many gears. The vacuum cleaner can thereby be manufactured at low cost.

The cleaning roller of the vacuum cleaner can rotate at a first rotational speed during a cleaning operation and can rotate at a second rotational speed during a regenerating operation. For example, device gears can have a 20: 1 transmission ratio, while base station gears can have a 1:20 transmission ratio. Due to the serial connection of the device gear and the external gear, the rotation speed during the reproducing operation corresponds to the motor rotation speed. On the other hand, the rotation speed of the cleaning roller during the cleaning operation corresponds to 1/20 of the motor rotation speed. For example, in the case of a motor rotation speed of 6000 rotations / minute, the output rotation speed of the device gear is 300 rotations / minute, which is suitable for cleaning a surface. For the regenerative operation, this output rotational speed of the device gear of 300 rev / min is increased again by the base station gear connected downstream, ie to 6000 rev / min with a transmission ratio of 1:20, This here corresponds to the rotational speed of the motor.
The rotation of the cleaning roller during the cleaning operation requires a high torque and a low rotation speed, while the rotation of the cleaning roller during the regeneration operation requires a low torque and a high rotation speed, so that the output of the motor is substantially the same. Remains. Thereby, both operations, that is, the cleaning operation and the regenerating operation can be performed by the same motor. Thus, in the present invention, the gear motor can have only one rotational speed, but the motor can have a plurality of different rotational speeds.

  By rotating the cleaning roller at a higher rotation speed in a direction opposite to the normal cleaning operation, dust adhered on the cleaning roller can be effectively dissipated. Preferably, the base station, which is connectable to the cleaner, has a receiving part at least partially surrounding the cleaning roller, in which the dust scattered from the rotating cleaning roller is collected.

  It is further provided that the device interface comprises a first device interface component and a second device interface component. The first device interface component can be, for example, a gear wheel of a motor or a gear component of a gear separate from the motor. Preferably, the second device interface component is also a gear wheel. However, in principle, other types of device interface components other than gear wheels are also possible. Power is transmitted from the motor or device gear of the cleaner via the device interface of the cleaner to, for example, a first base interface component of the base station, and from a second base interface component of the base station gear to a second component of the cleaner. Power is transmitted to the device interface components or the cleaning roller. By using the external gear, the rotation speed of the cleaning roller is increased, and dust can be optimally diffused from the cleaning roller.

  It is further provided that a freewheel is provided between the cleaning roller and the motor. Therefore, the drive mechanism of the cleaner includes a freewheel in addition to the motor and the device gear, and the freewheel connects the device gear to the cleaning roller to transmit power, or moves the device gear from the cleaning roller. Disconnect. The freewheel is formed in a particularly simple manner as a slip clutch, which makes a power transmission connection in a first rotational direction and releases it in a second, opposite rotational direction. At this time, a connection having an external gear in parallel with the driving mechanism of the cleaner bypasses the freewheel and the cleaning roller. In that case, the activated freewheel can connect the motor or device gear of the cleaner with the cleaning roller via an external gear. Thus, in the present invention, switching between the rotation speed of the external gear and the rotation speed of the device gear can be performed by switching the rotation direction of the freewheel.

  It is proposed that the freewheel is configured to connect the motor to the cleaning roller in a first rotational direction and disconnect the cleaning roller in a second rotational direction without coordinating with the device interface. Thereby, the motor of the cleaner is used not only for driving the cleaning roller, but also for connection with either the device gear or the external gear of the cleaning roller depending on the rotation direction. The selection of the gear in that case also determines the rotation speed of the cleaning roller at the same time.

  In addition to the vacuum cleaner described above, a base station for the vacuum cleaner is also presented according to the invention. The base station has a base station interface and a base station gear, wherein the base station gear is connectable in power communication with a motor and a cleaning roller of the cleaner by the base station interface.

  Furthermore, a system consisting of a vacuum cleaner and a base station is also presented, in particular a system consisting of a vacuum cleaner according to the invention described above and a base station according to the invention described above. In that case, the cleaner has a cleaning roller rotatable around a rotation axis, a motor for driving the cleaning roller, and a device gear disposed between the cleaning roller and the motor, and the cleaning roller is rotatable by the motor. The vacuum cleaner has a device interface, the device interface being connectable with the base station interface of the base station to connect the motor and the cleaning roller for power transmission via the base station gear of the base station. . Thus, the cleaner and the base station have a corresponding interface, through which the motor of the cleaner can be connected to the base station gear of the base station. As a result, the same effect as described above for the vacuum cleaner can be obtained.

  In addition, the device interface of the vacuum cleaner has a first device interface component, in particular a gear wheel, which is connectable with the first base interface component, in particular a gear wheel of a base station gear, and wherein the device interface is It is proposed that it has a second device interface component, in particular a gear wheel, which is connectable with a second base interface component, in particular a gear wheel of a base station gear. Thus, by having both the device interface and the base station interface have components for connection to the base station or the cleaner, the present invention allows the motor of the cleaner to be connected with the base station gear very easily, or , Can be separated.

  It is further provided that the vacuum cleaner has a freewheel between the motor and the cleaning roller, the freewheel connecting the motor with the cleaning roller in the first rotational direction without coordination with the base station, and It is configured to be separated from the cleaning roller in the second rotation direction.

  Furthermore, the vacuum cleaner and the base station are configured to fit together in the area of the device interface and the base station interface, so that the interfaces can be connected to each other by mounting the vacuum cleaner on the base station. . This allows the user to place the vacuum cleaner on the base station or hang it on the base station, as the present invention realizes that both interfaces are already arranged by placing the vacuum cleaner on the base station. And so on. The base station can also be used, for example, to charge the battery of the vacuum cleaner, to empty the vacuum chamber of the vacuum cleaner, and the like. In that case, preferably, the interface used for the use of the base station gear is also automatically connected to one another, since the cleaner is always placed in the same position on the base station by means of a form fit. The user does not need to pay extra attention to the correct placement of the device interface and the base station interface with respect to each other.

  Finally, according to the present invention, there is also provided a method of operating a vacuum cleaner including a cleaning roller rotatable around a rotation axis, a motor driving the cleaning roller, and a device gear disposed between the cleaning roller and the motor. You. In the method, a cleaning roller is rotated by a motor during a cleaning operation, a cleaner is connected to a base station in a regenerating operation for regenerating the cleaning roller, and during the regenerating operation, the cleaning roller is connected to a motor of the cleaner. It is driven by the connected base station gear of the base station.

  In this way, the vacuum cleaner can first be used during a normal cleaning operation to collect dust from the surface to be cleaned. For this purpose, the cleaning roller is rotated at a relatively low rotational speed, for example at 300 revolutions / minute. Thereafter, during the regeneration operation, the cleaning roller removes the collected dust. For this reason, the cleaning roller is rotated at a higher rotation speed than that for a normal cleaning operation, so that dust adhering to the cleaning roller is effectively diffused into the storage tank. The cleaning roller is then provided for another cleaning operation and / or for cleaning with a cleaning liquid for disposal. Since the rotation speed during the cleaning operation and the rotation speed during the regenerating operation are different, different driving in combination with the motor of the cleaner is required. In the present invention, since the regeneration of the cleaning roller is performed using the base station gear of the base station, the cleaner does not need to make any changes in the motor and / or the device gear. Instead, in the method of the present invention, the cleaning roller is driven using the cleaner motor and the base station gear. In that case, the base station gear preferably has one transmission ratio, which translates into a constant motor output of the cleaner motor, which is at a higher rotational speed, and provides for a cleaning operation. The torque is converted to a torque that is lower than the torque. For example, the cleaning roller has a rotation speed of 300 rotations / minute during the cleaning operation and has a rotation speed of 6000 rotations / minute during the regenerating operation.

  A cleaning roller is connected to and / or disconnected from the base station gear using a rotationally dependent freewheel disposed between the motor and the cleaning roller, wherein the motor is rotated by the first rotation. It is provided that it is separated from the base station gear in the direction and connected to the base station gear in the second rotational direction. Therefore, the freewheel switches the driving mechanism of the cleaning roller depending on the rotation direction of the motor of the cleaner. When the motor is in the first rotational direction, the freewheel can make a power transmitting connection between the cleaning roller and the motor or device gear of the cleaner without coordinating with the base station. As long as the motor does not rotate in a second direction of rotation opposite to the first direction of rotation, the freewheel forms a direct power transmission connection between the motor or device gear of the cleaner and the cleaning roller. Thus, the drive mechanism of the cleaner functions exclusively for the rotation of the cleaning roller without coordination with the base station.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the vacuum cleaner and the base station in a disconnected state. FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of the vacuum cleaner and the base station shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the cleaner and the base station in a connected state. FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of the vacuum cleaner and the base station shown in FIG.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to embodiments.
FIG. 1 shows the vacuum cleaner 1 and the base station 8 not connected to each other.

  Here, the vacuum cleaner 1 is configured as a water wiping device as an example. This device has a cleaning roller 3 rotatable about a rotation axis 2, and the cleaning roller 3 includes a cleaning pad 16. The cleaning pad 16 can have, for example, microfibers or be formed as a sponge. The cleaning pad 16 is adapted to receive and remove dirt from the surface to be cleaned and / or to retain sewage by a capillary effect.

  The cleaner 1 has a motor 4 for driving the cleaning roller 3. The motor 4 is connected to the cleaning roller 3 via a device gear 5 and a freewheel 11 connected in the rotation direction.

  Furthermore, the cleaner 1 has a device interface 6 for connecting the cleaner 1 to a base station 8. For this purpose, the device interface 6 has a first device interface component 9 and a second device interface component 10.

  The base station 8 has a base station gear 7 and a base station interface 13 having a first base interface component 14 and a second interface component 15. The base station interface 13 and the base station gear 7 are provided with a parallel connection part 12, which is connected to the freewheel 11 of the cleaner 1 when the cleaner 1 and the base station 8 are connected to each other. It is appropriate for bypassing.

  FIG. 2 shows a circuit diagram of the cleaner 1 and the base station 8 shown in FIG. In this case, the drive mechanism of the cleaner 1 is completely separated from the base station 8. This state corresponds to a general cleaning operation of the cleaner 1, and at this time, the cleaning roller 3 is used for removing dirt on the surface to be cleaned.

  During the cleaning operation, the cleaning roller 3 of the cleaner 1 is moved on the surface to be cleaned. At this time, the cleaning roller rotates around the rotation shaft 2 by driving the cleaning roller 3 by the motor 4. The motor 4 has a rotation speed of, for example, 6000 revolutions / minute, and its drive shaft rotates in a first direction. The output end of the motor 4 is connected to the device gear 5, which has a speed transmission ratio of, for example, 20: 1 so that the output rotation speed of the device gear 5 is 300 revolutions / minute. The output side of the device gear 5 is connected to the cleaning roller 3 via a freewheel 11, and the freewheel 11 transmits the rotational motion of the motor 4 to the cleaning roller 3. The freewheel 11 is a coupling that acts only in one rotation direction, and transmits the torque of the motor 4 to the cleaning roller 3 in the illustrated first rotation direction.

  The motor 4 is designed for a general cleaning operation, which requires a large torque and a low rotational speed. The motor output can be, for example, 50 watts.

  The base station 8 is not yet linked during the illustrated cleaning operation, ie the device interface 6 is not yet connected to the base station interface 13.

  FIG. 3 shows a state in which the cleaner 1 and the base station 8 are connected to each other. At this time, the vacuum cleaner 1 has been inserted into a partial area of the base station 8. The device interface 6 is connected to a base station interface 13, in which case the first device interface component 9 of the vacuum cleaner 1 is connected to the first base interface component 14 of the base station 8 and the second The base interface component 15 is connected to the second device interface component 10 of the vacuum cleaner 1. The device interface components 9, 10 of the vacuum cleaner 1 and the base interface components 14, 15 of the base station 8 are each configured as gear wheels which engage with each other for power transmission.

  The positioning of the cleaner 1 on the base station 8 is performed by fitting the shapes of the housings to each other. By the fitting of the shape, the device interface 6 and the base station interface 13 are simultaneously moved to the corresponding positions, at which position the device interface components 9 and 10 of the vacuum cleaner 1 and the base interface components 14 and 15 of the base station 8 are moved. Connect to each other automatically. Via the device interface 6 and the base interface 13, the power transmission connection of the motor 4 of the cleaner 1 is made with the cleaning roller 3 via the parallel connection 12 of the base station 8. Thereby, the motor 4 drives the cleaning roller 3 via the base station gear 7 of the base station 8. Thus, the regenerating operation of the cleaning roller 3 can be performed at a higher rotation speed.

FIG. 4 shows a detailed circuit diagram in a state where the cleaner 1 and the base station 8 shown in FIG. 3 are connected. In this case, the vacuum cleaner 1 and the base station 8 are connected to each other via the device interface 6 and the base station interface 13. During the regenerating operation, the motor 4 rotates in a second direction opposite to the rotating direction during the cleaning operation. For example, the drive shaft of the motor 4 rotates at a rotation speed of 6000 rpm. Due to the speed transmission ratio of the device gear 5 of 20: 1, the rotation speed of 6000 rpm is reduced to the output rotation speed of 300 rpm. However, during the regenerating operation, the power is not transmitted between the device gear 5 and the freewheel 11 because the motor 4 or the drive shaft of the device gear 5 is rotating in the second direction. Instead of the freewheel being influenced by this second rotational direction, the torque of the device gear 5 is transmitted exclusively to the base station gear 7 of the base station 8 via the device interface 6 and the base station interface 13.
For this purpose, a first device interface component 9, here a first gear wheel, is connected to a first base interface component 14 of the base station 8, here also a gear wheel. As a result, torque is transmitted to the base station gear 7, and its speed transmission ratio is 1:20 here. As a result, the rotation speed of 300 rotations / minute is converted to 6000 rotations / minute. At the same time, a reversal of the direction of rotation occurs. The drive shaft of the base station gear 7 has a second base interface component 15, which is connected to the second device interface component 10. Therefore, the cleaning roller 3 is rotated via the parallel connection part 12 of the base station 8. Unlike the cleaning operation, the cleaning roller 3 rotates at this time at a rotation speed of 6000 revolutions / minute (that is, the rotation speed of the motor 4 in this case), so that dust adhering to the cleaning pad 16 of the cleaning roller 3 is removed. And / or the sewage can be optimally dissipated, preferably into the storage tank of the base station 8.

  The above-described regeneration operation requires a torque smaller than the torque required for the cleaning operation. Therefore, a higher rotation speed for the reproducing operation can be obtained by the base station gear 7 with the same driving force as the motor 4. By arranging the base station gear 7 in the base station 8, the size of the cleaner 1 can be made as small as possible. In addition, there is no need to change the motor 4 and the device gear 5 of the cleaner 1 in order to realize the centrifugation of the dust / sewage from the cleaning roller 3.

  Switching between the drive mechanism of the cleaner 1 for the cleaning operation and the parallel connection part 12 of the base station 8 for the reproduction operation is performed by the rotation direction of the motor 4 of the cleaner 1 and the freewheel 11, They transmit power directly to the cleaning roller 3 when in the first direction of rotation of the motor, i.e. without using the parallel connection 12 of the base station 8, and in the opposite direction to the first direction of rotation. In the certain second rotation direction, power transmission via the freewheel 11 is not performed. Instead, the torque transmitted through the device interface 6 and the base station interface 13 is transmitted to the parallel connection portion 12 of the base station 8, and the rotation speed is increased by the base station gear 7 accordingly. The first cleaning roller 3 can rotate at a higher rotation speed during the regeneration operation than during the cleaning operation.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vacuum cleaner 2 Rotating axis 3 Cleaning roller 4 Motor 5 Device gear 6 Device interface 7 Base station gear 8 Base station 9 1st device interface component 10 2nd device interface component 11 Freewheel 12 Parallel connection part 13 Base station interface 14 First Base interface component 15 Second base interface component 16 Cleaning pad

Claims (11)

A cleaning roller (3) rotatable about a rotation axis (2), a motor (4) for driving the cleaning roller (3), and a cleaning roller (3) disposed between the cleaning roller (3) and the motor (4); A vacuum cleaner (1), including a floor cleaner or a floor cleaner, comprising a device gear (5);
The cleaner (1) has a device interface (6) for connecting the cleaning roller (3) in power communication with the motor (4) via an external gear, wherein the external gear is And a base station gear (7) of the base station (8).   The device interface (6) has a first device interface component (9) and a second device interface component (10), including when the first device interface component and the second device interface component are each a gear wheel. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein:   A vacuum cleaner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a freewheel (11) is arranged between the cleaning roller (3) and the motor (4).   The freewheel (11) connects the motor (4) with the cleaning roller (3) in the first rotation direction without being associated with the device interface (6), and in the second rotation direction 4. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 3, wherein the vacuum cleaner is adapted to be separated from the cleaning roller (3). A base station (8) for the vacuum cleaner (1), including when the vacuum cleaner (1) is a vacuum cleaner according to any of the preceding claims.
A base station interface (13) and a base station gear (7), the base station gear (7) being connected to the motor (4) of the cleaner (1) and the cleaning roller (3) via the base station interface (13); A base station characterized by being connectable. In a system comprising a vacuum cleaner (1) and a base station (8), a cleaning roller (3) in which the vacuum cleaner (1) is rotatable around a rotation axis (2) and a motor for driving the cleaning roller (3). (4) and a device gear (5) disposed between the cleaning roller (3) and the motor (4), the cleaning roller (3) being rotatable by the motor (4). , In the vacuum cleaner (1),
The vacuum cleaner (1) has a device interface (6) which, together with the base station interface (13) of the base station (8), has a base station gear (7) of a base station (8). ), The system being connectable for a power-transmitting connection between the motor (4) and the cleaning roller (3). The device interface (6) of the vacuum cleaner (1) has a first device interface component (9), including when it is a gear wheel, the first device interface component (9) being connected to the base station gear ( 7) can be connected to the first base interface component (14) including the case of the gear wheel, and
The device interface (6) has a second device interface component (10), including when it is a gear wheel, the second device interface component (10) being the gear wheel of the base station gear (7). 7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the system is connectable to a second base interface component (15) including a case.   The vacuum cleaner (1) has a freewheel (11) between the motor (4) and the cleaning roller (3), the freewheel (11) being, in a first rotational direction, the base station. The motor (4) is connected to the cleaning roller (3) without being linked to the cleaning roller (3), and is separated from the cleaning roller (3) in the second rotation direction. The system according to claim 6 or 7, wherein   The cleaner (1) and the base station (8) are shaped to fit together in the area of the device interface (6) and the base station interface (13). 9. The system according to claim 6, wherein the device interface (6) and the base station interface (13) are connectable to each other by being installed on the base station (8). A cleaning roller (3) rotatable about a rotation axis (2), a motor (4) for driving the cleaning roller (3), and a cleaning roller (3) disposed between the cleaning roller (3) and the motor (4); An apparatus gear (5), wherein the cleaning roller (3) is rotated by the motor (4) during a cleaning operation.
The cleaner (1) is connected to the base station (8) in a regenerating operation for regenerating the cleaning roller (3);
The cleaning roller (3) is driven via a base station gear (7) of the base station (8) connected to the motor (4) of the cleaner (1) during regeneration. How to operate a vacuum cleaner. Said cleaning roller (3) is connected between said motor (4) and said cleaning roller (3) via a freewheel (11) depending on the direction of rotation and connected to said base station gear (7) and / or Or separated from the base station gear (7),
The motor (4) is separated from the base station gear (7) in a first rotational direction and is connected to the base station gear (7) in a second rotational direction. An operation method of the vacuum cleaner according to claim 10.

Images