JPH04102422A - Electric vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an electric vacuum cleaner of a good operability at the time when a place having many obstacles is to be cleaned by providing acceleration-type contact detectors on the right and left sides of the cleaner front part in the traveling direction, respectively. CONSTITUTION:For instance, when the right side of an electric vacuum cleaner body 1 hits against furniture or the like, a signal is emitted from an acceleration-type contact detector 6a on the right side, and this is transmitted to a contact detecting circuit 7a, so that a motor 3 is turned by a normal/reverse turning circuit 8. The turning of the motor 3 is transmitted to a spherical wheel 4 by a frictional force via a driving shaft 5 through a torque limiter 10. Since the driving shaft 5 is provided in parallel with the traveling direction of the electric vacuum cleaner body 1, if the turning of the motor 3 is transmitted to the spherical wheel 4, the turning direction of the spherical wheel 4 moves the front part of the vacuum cleaner body in the right or left direction. Accordingly, when the front right side of the vacuum cleaner body 1 hits against furniture or the like, the front thereof is swung to the left side. On the contrary, when the front left side of the body hits against it, the front thereof is swung to the right side. Further, if there is no input to the acceleration-type contact detector, turning action is stopped.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a traveling device for a vacuum cleaner for industrial and domestic use.

Conventional technology Conventionally, this type of vacuum cleaner is equipped with an air blower motor and a dust collector, and the hose is connected to the main body of the vacuum cleaner. The main body of the vacuum cleaner, which is connected to the hose, was dragged around and moved while cleaning.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention With such a conventional configuration, when cleaning a place with many obstacles such as furniture, the front of the vacuum cleaner gets caught on the obstacle, and the hose has to be operated each time. There was a problem in that the vacuum cleaner body had to be pulled away from obstacles, resulting in poor cleaning efficiency and operability.

The present invention solves this problem, and when the front part of the vacuum cleaner body gets caught on an obstacle, the front part of the vacuum cleaner body is swung to the left or right to avoid getting caught on the obstacle. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vacuum cleaner that can solve the problem.

Means for Solving the Problems To achieve this object, the vacuum cleaner of the present invention has a spherical wheel at the front in the direction of travel, and is arranged so as to be in contact with the spherical wheel and parallel to the center line in the direction of travel. Acceleration type contact detectors are provided on the left and right sides of a drive shaft, a motor connected to the drive shaft, and a traveling direction surface portion, respectively.

Further, the drive shaft and the motor are connected via a torque limiter.

With this configuration, if either the left or right side of the front of the vacuum cleaner body hits an obstacle while cleaning by towing the hose, the acceleration type contact detector will distinguish between the left and right sides. , activate the motor and rotate the spherical wheel via the connected drive shaft. Since the drive shaft is provided parallel to the moving direction axis of the vacuum cleaner main body, the spherical wheel rotates in the left-right direction and moves the front part of the vacuum cleaner main body left and right.

In this way, the vacuum cleaner that is hitting the obstacle can be directed in a direction free of the obstacle, and the user can run while avoiding the II books.

Furthermore, since a torque limiter is installed between the drive shaft and the motor, the motor and drive shaft are protected even if the vacuum cleaner body does not move left or right.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in Fig. 1, the vacuum cleaner main body 1 has a built-in feeding motor and a dust collector, and has a right wheel 2a and a left wheel 2b.
It supports the weight of the vacuum cleaner body and passively rotates to improve mobility. The spherical wheel 4 supports the weight of the front part of the vacuum cleaner body, and is installed freely in the direction of rotation.

Further, a drive shaft 5 is connected to the spherical wheel 4, and the rotation shaft of the motor 3 is transmitted thereto. A right side acceleration type contact detector 6a and a left side contact detector 6b are provided at the front part of the main body 1, and a hose 8 is connected to the center of the front part of the main body 1, and a floor suction device is connected to the tip of the hose 8. Ru. The user moves the vacuum cleaner body 1 by pulling the hose 8. A torque limiter 1 is installed between the motor 3 and the drive shaft 5.
0 is set.

As shown in FIG. 2, the motor 3 is connected to a spherical wheel via a drive shaft 5, and a torque limiter 10 is provided between the drive shaft 5 and the motor 3. Right side contact detection circuit 7a
and the left contact detection circuit 7b are the right or left acceleration type contact detectors 6a, respectively.

The state of contact with the obstacle is determined by receiving the signal from 6b. The forward/reverse circuit 8 determines the direction of rotation of the motor 3 based on the signals from the contact detection circuits 7a and 7b, and rotates the motor 3.

As shown in FIG. 3, a vacuum cleaner body 1 has a motor 31, a spherical wheel 4. Drive shaft5. A torque limiter 10 is provided, and a support body 9 slides and supports the spherical wheel 4.

In this embodiment, the spherical wheel 4 is made of hard urethane rubber, and the support 9 is made of hard urethane rubber.
The drive shaft 5 is made of fluorine resin, and the surface of the drive shaft 5 is coated with soft urethane rubber.

The operation of the vacuum cleaner configured as above will be described below. First, when there is an obstacle while moving the vacuum cleaner body 1 and the obstacle contacts the acceleration type contact detector 6a on the right side, the acceleration at the time of contact is quantified, and if the acceleration is small, that is, it is a soft #harmful object. When it hits slowly, it generates a signal and does not 7. When the right side of the vacuum cleaner body 1 hits a hard object such as furniture, a signal is generated.9 For example, when the right side of the vacuum cleaner body 1 hits a hard object such as furniture, a signal is generated from the acceleration type contact detector 6a on the right side, and the contact sensor 6a generates a signal. The signal is transmitted to the detection circuit 7a, and the forward/reverse rotation circuit 8 causes the motor 3 to rotate. The rotation of the motor 3 is transmitted to the spherical wheel 4 via the torque limiter 10 and the drive shaft 5 by frictional force. Since the drive shaft 5 is provided parallel to the running direction of the vacuum cleaner body 1, when the rotation of the motor 3 is transmitted to the spherical wheels 4, the rotation direction of the spherical wheels 4 is directed to the front of the vacuum cleaner body 1. to the left or right.

Therefore, when the front right side of the vacuum cleaner body 1 hits an obstacle such as furniture, the front part of the vacuum cleaner body 1 will be swung to the left. Furthermore, when the left side of the front part of the main body is hit, the front part of the main body will be swung to the right.

Furthermore, since a torque of 1 O is provided between the motor 3 and the drive shaft 5, if the vacuum cleaner main body 1 does not move due to obstacles on the left or right side, the motor 3 and the drive shaft 5 is protected.

Furthermore, if there is no input to the acceleration type contact detector,
The series of rotation operations described above is stopped.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the acceleration type contact detectors 6a and 6b are installed on the front left and right sides of the vacuum cleaner main body 1, and the motor 3
By rotating the spherical wheel 4 by rotating the spherical wheel 4, when an obstacle hits the front part of the vacuum cleaner body 1, the front part of the vacuum cleaner body 1 is swung from side to side, and the front part of the vacuum cleaner body 1 is moved away from the obstacle. can be avoided.

In addition, since an acceleration type contact detector is used to detect obstacles, soft obstacles such as blankets can be detected.

It does not react even if it comes into contact with things like the seat button, and the vacuum cleaner only avoids when it hits hard obstacles like furniture.

Furthermore, a torque limiter 1 is installed between the motor 3 and the drive shaft 5.
By installing 0, when there are obstacles on both sides and it is impossible to avoid the obstacles, the motor 3 and drive shaft 5
Effects of the invention that can protect A drive shaft arranged parallel to the center line in the direction of movement of the machine body, a motor connected to the drive shaft, and acceleration type contact detectors provided on the left and right sides of the front part in the direction of movement, and further connected to the drive shaft. By providing a torque limiter between the motor and the motor, when the front part of the vacuum cleaner body hits an obstacle such as furniture, the front part of the vacuum cleaner body can be automatically moved in a direction to avoid the obstacle. can. As a result, operability is improved when cleaning areas with many obstacles. Further, since a torque limiter is provided, even if there are obstacles at both ends and the motor continues to rotate, effects such as being able to protect the motor from burnout and wear of the drive shaft can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram of a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention;
The figure is a block diagram showing the control system of the vacuum cleaner, and FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of the main parts of the vacuum cleaner. 1... Vacuum cleaner body, 3... Motor, 4... Spherical wheel, 5... Drive shaft, 6
a...Right side acceleration type contact detector, 6b...
...Left side acceleration type contact detector, 10...Paddle limiter. Name of agent: Patent attorney Akira Koyaharu and 2 others 1, -1 list Hige Satsu &) Ren 3---T evening 4-61 table 4 length*h 10...~tono L crime...nok

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a vacuum cleaner equipped with a blower motor and a dust collector, there is a spherical wheel provided at the front of the vacuum cleaner body in the direction of travel, and a spherical wheel that is in contact with the spherical wheel and at the center of the vacuum cleaner body in the direction of travel. A vacuum cleaner comprising: a drive shaft arranged parallel to a line; a motor connected to the drive shaft; and acceleration type contact detectors on the left and right sides of the front in the direction of travel. (2) The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the drive shaft and the motor are connected via a torque limiter.