JPH03261432A - Vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simultaneously improve the small sharp turning property, and also, the straight moving property by providing a wheel base provided with plural pieces of casters so as to be freely turnable on the bottom part of a cleaner main body, and suppressing and controlling the turning force in the horizontal direction of one or two swivel casters in the swivel casters. CONSTITUTION:To the bottom face of a cleaner main body 1, plural pieces of wheels 24 are attached, abut on the inside surface of a wheel base 10, and turning of the cleaner main body 1 and the wheel base 10 becomes smooth. Also, in one of swivel casters 8, a damping roller 35 for controlling the force for turning in the horizontal direction of the swivel caster 8 is arranged so as to come into contact with an external form of the swivel caster 8. Since the cleaner main body 1 can turn on the wheel base 10, the switching of direction of a hose 19 can be executed easily in a narrow room etc., and also, the switching of direction is not executed by the caster 8 on the surface to be cleaned, it is turned by the wheels 24 between the wheel base 10 and the cleaner main body 1, therefore, the operation can be executed lightly. Also, among the swivel casters 8, one of them suppresses and controls the turning force in the horizontal direction, therefore, the straight moving property is obtained without spoiling the small sharp turning property of the cleaner.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner, and particularly to a vacuum cleaner that can satisfy both small turning performance and straight-line performance.

[Conventional technology]

Traditionally, vacuum cleaners have been equipped with multiple swivel casters at the bottom of the vacuum cleaner body as a means of movement in order to improve the ability of the vacuum cleaner to turn around in a small radius for household use. is the best, but when pulling down a long hallway, it swings left and right and has a hard time going straight. In order to improve the straightness and small turning ability, there are many vacuum cleaners that have a combination of swivel casters and wheels, with swivel casters on the front side and wheels that move back and forth on the rear wheels. However, although this method has the advantages of both, there are still cases where part of the vacuum cleaner hits an obstacle, such as the foot of a table, and the vacuum cleaner moves sideways. The wheels obstructed lateral movement, and did not improve maneuverability.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks and to provide a vacuum cleaner having a running section that improves both small turning performance and straight-line performance.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above purpose, this vacuum cleaner uses swivel casters as a means of traveling, and in order to improve the straightness of swivel casters, which is a drawback of swivel casters, wheels equipped with multiple swivel casters are installed at the bottom of the vacuum cleaner body. By providing a rotatable platform and controlling the horizontal rotational force of one or two of the multiple casters, it is possible to lag behind the horizontal rotation speed of the multiple casters. A swivel caster specifically designed for trailing has been placed in the position where the hose is pulled, improving straightness.

[Effect]

Swivel casters use caster wheels to move forward and backward, and rotate around the caster axis to rotate horizontally. By increasing the power and varying the speed at which the whole unit rotates, when pulling the vacuum cleaner body, only the swivel casters with a large rotation force will always change direction in the direction in which the other swivel casters move. becomes longer, and this axle becomes arched so that it is oriented parallel to the direction in which the wheel platform rotates and moves forward. Therefore, this swivel caster functions as a handle, and despite having a plurality of swivel casters, a running section with good straightness can be obtained.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the vacuum cleaner of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The vacuum cleaner main body 1 consists of a dust collecting section 6 having an electric blower 2, a cord reel 41 wrapped around a power cord 3, and a paper bag filter 5 inside, and the dust collecting section 6 is equipped with a dust collecting lid 7. The vacuum cleaner main body 1 consists of a hemispherical upper case 1a and a lower case 1b. The vacuum cleaner body 1 has swivel casters 8
The vacuum cleaner body 1 is provided with a wheel stand 1o which is mounted on all sides so as to project from the cleaner body 1 and is rotatable with respect to the cleaner body 1 via a rotation shaft 9.

To further explain each part, the electric blower 2 includes a vibration-proof rubber 1
1.12, it is held in the vacuum cleaner body 1 so as to be gripped from both sides. A sound absorbing cover 13 is placed around the electric blower 2.
．． A sound insulating wall 14 is provided.

A sound deadening tube 15 is integrally formed with the sound insulating wall 14.

The dust collection section 6 includes an inner case 16 that contacts the vibration-proof rubber 12 on the front side of the electric blower 2. Inside the inner case 16, an after filter 17, which is made of a filter material and is formed into a box shape, is attached. The paper bag filter 5 can be set inside the after filter 17. After filter 17
An airtight packing 18 is provided around the opening.

The airtight packing 18 is connected to the open end of the inner case 16,
It is configured to come into contact with the back cover 18 of the dust collecting lid 7 to keep the dust collecting part 6 airtight. In addition, a hose 1 is attached to the dust collecting lid 7.
A hose attachment port 20 to which a hose 9 can be detachably attached is provided. The paper bag filter 5 is attached and detached by releasing the clamp 21 and opening and closing the dust collection lid 7.

The top surface of the vacuum cleaner body 1 is provided with a carrying handle 22 and a dust meter 23 that displays the amount of clogging of the filter. A plurality of axles 24 are attached to the bottom surface of the cleaner body 1, and abut against the inner surface of the wheel base 10 to make the rotation of the cleaner body 1 and the wheel base 10 smooth.

Further, a tire portion 24a is also provided on the outer periphery of the axle 24 to reduce running noise.

The wheel stand 10 is connected to the lower case 1b of the vacuum cleaner main body 1 and the rotating shaft 9.
It is fixed from the bottom with a screw through a washer.
It can be rotated around the rotation axis 9, but when it rotates 360 degrees, it hits the stopper 25 and the rotation is inhibited. That is, it can be rotated 360 degrees to the right and 360 degrees to the left. The wheel platform 10 has a substantially circular shape when viewed from above. The swivel casters 8 are provided so as to protrude from the outer shape of the cleaner body 1.

Further, a braking roller 35 is disposed on one of the swivel casters 8 so as to be in contact with the outer shape of the swivel caster 8 for controlling the horizontal rotational force of the swivel caster 8. Wheel stand 1
0 is provided with a caster cover 26 to cover the swivel caster 8.

A bumper 27 is provided on the outer periphery of the caster cover 26 and the wheel base 10 to prevent damage to furniture or the like. This bumper 27 constitutes the outermost shape of the cleaner body 1.

An exhaust port 28 and a power cord outlet 29 are provided on the rear side of the cleaner body 1.

In the above configuration, when using the vacuum cleaner, the hose 19° extension tube 30.
Connect the suction port 31, pull out the power cord 3 from the cord outlet 29, and insert it into an outlet (not shown).

Next, when the operation switch 32 at the end of the hose 19 is turned on, the electric blower 2 is operated, and the suction force causes airflow containing multiple dust particles to flow from the suction port 31 to the extension pipe 30. After passing through the hose 19 and entering the dust collecting section 6, the paper bag filter 5 separates the dust and clean air, and only the clean air flow is sent to the electric blower 2. It passes through the muffler 15 and is discharged from the exhaust port 28 at the rear. When the room is cleaned in this state, even if the wheel stand 1o or the caster cover 26 hits an obstacle 33 such as furniture placed in the room, the bumper 27 protects the furniture and prevents damage to the furniture.

Furthermore, in this vacuum cleaner, since the main body 1 of the vacuum cleaner can rotate on the wheel base 10, the direction of the hose 19 can be easily changed in a narrow room, etc., and the direction can be changed by the casters 8 on the surface to be cleaned. Since the vacuum cleaner is rotated by the wheels 24 between the wheel base 1o and the cleaner main body 1, it is possible to lightly operate the vacuum cleaner on the surface to be cleaned without being affected by the rotation. On the other hand, when the vacuum cleaner main body 1 is moved straight, when the hose 19 is first pulled, the wheel stand at the bottom of the vacuum cleaner main body 1 also tries to move in the same direction, but in the method of the present invention, one of the wheel stands has horizontal rotational force. Since it is large, the other three swivel casters rotate in accordance with the movement of the vacuum cleaner body, and the wheel base 10 rotates so that the swivel caster 8a, which has a large rotational force, is at the rearmost position. For this reason,
When moving straight, the swivel caster 8a is always at the rear end, so that even if a plurality of swivel casters 8 are arranged, the structure allows for good straight movement. In addition, on the contrary, the caster cover 26 and the like guide the vacuum cleaner main body 1,
Even if the vacuum cleaner gets caught on the legs of a table or the like as shown in FIG. 4, the wheel base 1o rotates to clear the obstacle, allowing the vacuum cleaner to move smoothly even in a room with a lot of furniture.

Furthermore, since the cleaner main body 1 cannot rotate freely relative to the wheel stand 1o and the rotation angle is limited, the vacuum cleaner can be routed without the power cord 3 wrapping around the wheel stand 10. Furthermore, in the vacuum cleaner of this embodiment, the casters 9 are arranged to protrude outside the vacuum cleaner body 1, and the bumper 27 of the vacuum cleaner body 1 is configured to have the largest external dimension, so that it does not come into contact with obstacles. Even if the vacuum cleaner main body 1 side to which the hose 19 is attached is fixed, the lower wheel stand 10 can be rotated to avoid the problem. Furthermore, the roots of some of the protruding casters have a smooth shape and are connected to the outer periphery of the wheel platform 1o, so that even if they hit an obstacle, they can slide and avoid it. Since it has four directions, it is configured to allow for smooth direction changes and crossing over thresholds. Further, according to this embodiment, since the electric blower 2 and the cord reel 4 are arranged at a low position, a structure with a low center of gravity can be adopted to prevent the vacuum cleaner from falling over, which is advantageous. Furthermore, since the electric blower 2 part is covered by the wheel stand 10 part from the outside, the noise generated by the electric blower 2 becomes a double case structure with the lower case 1b and the case of the wheel stand 10, so that the sound insulation effect is improved. The noise level can be further reduced by increasing the noise level. Since the shape of the cleaner main body 1 and the wheel base 10 when viewed from above is approximately a perfect circle, rotation can be performed with the minimum radius even when changing direction in a narrow area. Also in this example.

Although the exhaust port 28 is provided at the rear of the cleaner body 1, it may be a distributed exhaust port that discharges the air from the entire circumference of the sliding portion 34 of the cleaner body 1 and the wheel base 10.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, in a vacuum cleaner equipped with swivel casters that move a surface to be cleaned while rotating a vacuum cleaner main body and a wheel base on which the vacuum cleaner main body is rotatably mounted, the inner part of the swivel casters is , one of which suppresses and controls the rotational force in the horizontal direction, without compromising the vacuum cleaner's small turning ability.
It has the effect of providing straightness.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the vacuum cleaner of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the overall appearance of the vacuum cleaner, and Fig. 3 is the movement of the wheel base rotating and the swivel casters with braking force changing direction. Figure, 4th
The figure shows the position of the swivel casters where the braking force is applied while moving straight, and Figure 5 is an exploded perspective view of the vacuum cleaner body and wheel stand.
FIG. 6 is an external side view of the vacuum cleaner body. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Vacuum cleaner body, 2...Electric blower, 5...Paper bag filter, 6...Dust collecting part, 8...Swivel casters, 8a...Swivel casters, 10...Wheels Base, 35...Controlling 40 Fig.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. At the bottom of the vacuum cleaner body, which houses the dust collection part that houses the filter and the electric blower, there is a wheel stand that is made of swivel casters and is rotatable at the bottom of the vacuum cleaner body. 1. A vacuum cleaner, characterized in that the force for rotating one or two of the plurality of casters in the horizontal direction is greater than that of the other casters.