JPH04259433A - Cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance the serviceability of a cleaner by accurately detecting the kind and quality of a floor face and the amount of dust on the floor face using a floor face sensor and a dust sensor, and accurately deciding the sucking force of a fan motor which is suited for the kind of the floor face and the distribution of the dust. CONSTITUTION:A cleaner has a fan motor 14 adapted to suck dust, a floor face sensor 4 provided to a floor suction body 1 and adapted to detect the condition and kind of the floor face, a dust sensor 7 for detecting dust allowed to pass through the inside of a dust passage 8, and a fuzzy inference system 13 for deciding the sucking force of a fan motor 14, and the fuzzy inference system 13 decides the sucking force of the fan motor 14 according to the outputs of both the floor face sensor 4 and the dust sensor 7, thereby enabling dust to be efficiently collected irrespective of the floor face to be cleaned.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention uses a floor sensor and a dust sensor to detect the type and quality of the floor surface and the amount of dust on the floor surface, and automatically adjusts the suction force and the rotation speed of the rotating brush of the electric floor suction tool. Concerning a vacuum cleaner that controls.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the diversification of cleaning objects such as carpets, vacuum cleaners are required to be able to automatically control the suction force of a fan motor.

Conventionally, this type of vacuum cleaner indirectly detects the floor surface based on the amount of dirt, etc., and sets the suction force in multiple stages. There are also devices that set the suction force depending on the condition of the floor, such as the length of the pile of the floor, tatami mats, or carpet, but these too can only differentiate the condition of the floor into three levels.

0004

[Problem to be solved by the invention] With conventional vacuum cleaners, the amount of garbage and the condition of the floor surface cannot be set in 3 to 4 levels, but change continuously; The suction force set by the method should also have multiple stages, and it was not possible to set the optimal suction force depending on the amount of garbage and the condition of the floor surface.

[0005] The present invention solves these conventional problems, and uses a floor sensor and a garbage sensor to more accurately detect the type and quality of the floor surface and the amount of garbage on the floor surface, and to detect various types of floor surfaces and garbage distribution. The purpose is to precisely determine the suction force suitable for the user and improve usability.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a fan motor for sucking in dust, a floor sensor installed in a floor suction device to detect the state and type of the floor surface, and a dust It is equipped with a dust sensor that detects dust passing through the passageway, and a fuzzy inference device that determines the suction force of the fan motor. The solution to the problem is to determine the

[0007]

[Operation] The present invention uses the above-mentioned problem-solving means to finely set the suction force of the fan motor by fuzzy reasoning from the outputs of the floor sensor and the dust sensor, and to efficiently remove dust regardless of the floor surface to be cleaned. Moreover, it has a much better feel of operation.

[0008]

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

As shown in the figure, the floor suction device 1 has a hose (
A light-emitting element 2 and a light-receiving element 3 are arranged to face each other with respect to the floor surface, and a floor surface sensor 4 is constructed using an optical method. The floor sensor 4 detects the uneven state of the floor surface using the light emitting element 2 and the light receiving element 3, and converts it into an electrical signal. The absolute amount of light detection means 5 detects the absolute amount of light detected by the light receiving element 3. The light quantity change rate detection means 6 calculates the temporal change rate of the light quantity. The dust sensor 7 is composed of a light emitting element 9 and a light receiving element 10, which are arranged opposite to a dust passage 8 such as a hose. The dust sensor 7 converts changes in the amount of light when dust passes between the light emitting element 9 and the light receiving element 10 into an electrical signal, and is configured to obtain a pulse output proportional to the number of dust counts per unit time. It becomes. The output of the garbage sensor 7 is calculated by a garbage amount integrating means 11 and a garbage change rate calculating means 12. The fuzzy reasoner 13 uses the output of the absolute light amount detection means 5 of the floor sensor 4, the output of the light amount change rate detection means 6, the output of the dust amount integration means 11 of the dust sensor 7, and the dust change rate calculation means 12. The suction force of the fan motor 14 that is optimal for the floor quality and the dust distribution on the floor surface is deduced. The control means 15 calculates a phase control amount from the inferred suction force and drives the fan motor 14.

The calculation means for the floor sensor 4 and the dust sensor 7 of the fuzzy inference unit 13 are constructed as shown in FIG. In other words, the absolute amount compatibility is calculated by calculating the MAX of the compatibility between the input from the absolute amount detection means 5 of the light amount of the floor sensor 4 and the membership function stored in the absolute amount membership function storage means 16. a calculation means 17, a change rate compatibility calculation means 19 which similarly calculates the degree of compatibility with respect to the input from the light amount change rate detection means 6 and the membership function stored in the light amount change rate membership function storage means 18; A garbage amount compatibility calculation means 21 calculates the compatibility between the input from the garbage amount accumulating means 11 of the sensor 7 and the membership function stored in the garbage amount membership function storage means 20 by taking the MAX of both; Input from amount change rate calculation means 12 and waste change rate membership function storage means 22
garbage change rate suitability calculating means 23 for similarly calculating the suitability for the membership functions stored in the above-mentioned 4;
According to the rules stored in the antecedent part minimum calculating means 24 which takes the MIN of the compatibility of the antecedent part and determines the suitability of the antecedent part, and the suction force inference rule storage means 25, the antecedent part suitability and the suction force membership function are calculated. MIN of the suction force membership function of the consequent part stored in the storage means 26
The consequent minimum calculation means 27 calculates the conclusion of the rule, and after finding each conclusion for all the rules, takes the MAX of all the conclusions and calculates the center of gravity, thereby finally calculating the suction force. Means for calculating the center of gravity 28
It is composed of. This fuzzy inference device 13 can be easily realized by a microcomputer. Note that the control means 15 calculates and controls the phase control amount of the fan motor 14 based on the determined suction force.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained. Light emitted from the light emitting element 2 of the floor sensor 4 is emitted onto the floor surface, and can be received by the light receiving element 3. Generally, in the case of a carpet or the like, the unevenness of the floor surface is large, and the reflected light from the floor surface is diffusely reflected by the floor surface, so that the amount of light detected by the light receiving element 3 tends to be small and the amount of change in the amount of light tends to be large. In addition, when the floor surface is a wooden floor, a tatami floor, etc., the unevenness of the floor surface is relatively small and the amount of light reflected from the floor surface increases, the amount of light detected by the light receiving element 3 increases, and the amount of change in the amount of light increases. On the contrary, it tends to become smaller. Therefore, the type of floor surface,
Able to judge quality.

[0012] When the absolute amount of light amount and the rate of change are detected by the absolute amount of light amount detection means 5 and the rate of change detection means 6 in this way, it is possible to estimate the characteristics of the floor surface currently being cleaned. be able to. Further, by detecting the integrated value and the rate of change of the amount of trash using the dust sensor 7, it is possible to detect the dust distribution state of the cleaning surface and the floor quality to a certain extent. If the type, quality, and garbage distribution of the floor surface can be identified in this way,
The optimal suction force is determined, and this is inferred by the fuzzy reasoner 13.

Next, the process of inferring the suction force will be explained. The fuzzy inference of this example is ``if the amount of light from the floor sensor is large, the unevenness of the floor is small (the rate of change in the amount of light is small), the rate of change in dust from the dust sensor is small, and the amount of dust is small. For example, if the floor surface is a floor (such as a wooden floor), reduce the suction force." Also, "If the floor surface is a floor surface with a large amount of light from the floor sensor, and the unevenness is small (the rate of change in light amount is small), and the dust sensor is If the garbage change rate is low and the amount of garbage is large, the floor surface is a floor (such as a wooden floor) and a large amount of garbage is distributed on the floor surface, so the suction force is increased slightly. If the amount of light detected by the surface sensor is low, the floor surface has large irregularities (the rate of change in light amount is large), and the rate of change in dust detected by the dust sensor is large, and the amount of dust is large, the floor surface is a carpet, and there is dust on the carpet surface. "If the amount of light from the floor sensor is low and the floor surface is highly uneven (the rate of change in the amount of light is large),
Based on the general judgment that if the dust change rate of the dust sensor is large and the amount of dust is small, the floor surface is a carpet and there is little dust distributed on the carpet surface, so the suction force should be set to a normal level. It will be held in The rules of inference consist of several rules.

[0014] Qualitative concepts such as the amount of light being ``a lot'', the rate of change in the amount of light being ``small'', and the suction force being ``very much'' are as shown in FIGS. 3(a), (b), and (c). It is expressed quantitatively by a membership function. In the fuzzy inference unit 13, the absolute amount matching calculation means 17 of the light amount of the floor sensor 4 calculates the matching between the input from the absolute amount of light amount detection means 5 and the membership function stored in the absolute amount membership function storage means 16. The degree is determined by taking the MAX of both. The light amount change rate compatibility calculation means 19 similarly calculates the compatibility between the input from the light amount change rate detection means 6 and the membership function stored in the light amount change rate membership function storage means 18. Similar calculations are performed for the dust sensor 7 as well. The antecedent minimum calculation means 24 takes the MIN of the four degrees of suitability and sets it as the degree of suitability of the antecedent. In the consequent minimum calculation means 27,
According to the rules stored in the suction force inference rule storage means 25, the MIN of the antecedent part suitability and the suction force membership function of the consequent part stored in the suction force membership function storage means 26 is calculated. This is the conclusion. After determining the respective conclusions for all the rules, the center of gravity calculation means 28 takes the MAX of all the conclusions and calculates the center of gravity to finally determine the suction force. The control means 15 calculates and controls the phase control amount of the fan motor 14 based on the determined suction force.

Next, FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention.
Explain using. Components having the same configuration as those in the above embodiment are given the same reference numerals and explanations will be omitted.

As shown in the figure, the fuzzy reasoner 29 determines the suction force of the fan motor 14 and the rotation speed of the rotary brush 31 provided on the floor suction device 30 based on the outputs of the floor sensor 4 and the dust sensor 7. , the control means 32 is a rotating brush 31
The number of revolutions is also controlled.

The inference rule is, for example, ``If the amount of light from the floor sensor is low, the floor surface is uneven (the rate of change in the amount of light is large), the rate of change in dust from the dust sensor is large, and the amount of dust is large, then the floor The surface is a carpet, and there is a lot of dust distributed on the carpet surface, so increase the suction power and increase the rotation speed of the rotating brush of the floor suction device. , and the floor surface has large irregularities (the rate of change in the amount of light is large), and the rate of change in the amount of dust detected by the dust sensor is large, and the amount of dust is small, the floor surface is a carpet,
Since there is little dust distributed on the carpet surface, reduce the suction force to normal level and lower the rotation speed of the rotating brush of the floor suction tool. This is done based on general judgments such as ``.

[0018] In this embodiment, MAX is included in the inference method.
-The MIN synthesis method and center of gravity method are used, but other methods are also possible, and although the suction force, which is the consequent, is expressed using a membership function, it is also possible to express it using real values or linear form. Needless to say.

[0019]

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above embodiments, according to the present invention, a fan motor for sucking in dust, a floor sensor installed in a floor suction device to detect the state and type of the floor surface, and a dust A dust sensor that detects dust passing through the passage;
and a fuzzy reasoner that determines the suction force of the fan motor, and the fuzzy reasoner determines the suction force of the fan motor based on the outputs of both the floor sensor and the dust sensor. Not only can garbage be removed efficiently, but it also improves operability. In other words, the suction power of vacuum cleaners has been increasing year by year, and is currently around 300W, but if you use this suction power to clean any floor surface, the suction power will cause the floor nozzle to touch the floor. However, in the present invention, the optimal suction force for the floor and the amount of dust on the floor can be determined by fuzzy reasoning using a composite sensor consisting of a floor sensor and a dust sensor. Since the suction power is determined to be the same, dirt can be removed efficiently regardless of the floor surface being cleaned, and the operability can be improved.

[0020] Furthermore, a rotating brush is provided on the floor suction device, and the fuzzy inference machine uses the outputs of the floor sensor and the dust sensor to
Since the suction force of the fan motor and the rotation speed of the rotary brush of the floor suction device are determined, a combined sensor of a floor surface sensor and a dust sensor is used to determine the The rotation speed and suction force of the rotating brush of the suction device can be optimally controlled by fuzzy control, and if the dirt is on a carpet, the rotating brush can be controlled to a strong rotation speed, and if the carpet has little dust, it can be controlled to a weak rotation speed. It is possible,
It has the advantage of being quieter and more effective in cleaning.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Figure 2
] Block diagram of the vacuum cleaner's fuzzy reasoner

[Figure 3] (a
) ~ (c) Diagram showing the membership function of the same fuzzy inference machine

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a vacuum cleaner according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Floor suction device 4 Floor sensor 7 Garbage sensor 8 Dust passage 13 Fuzzy reasoner 14 Fan motor

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A fan motor for sucking in dust, a floor sensor installed in a floor suction device to detect the state and type of the floor surface, a dust sensor to detect dust passing through a dust passage, and the fan. A vacuum cleaner, comprising: a fuzzy inference device that determines a suction force of a motor, the fuzzy inference device determining a suction force of a fan motor based on outputs of both the floor sensor and the dust sensor. 2. The floor suction device is provided with a rotating brush, and the fuzzy inference device determines the suction force of the fan motor and the rotation speed of the rotating brush of the floor suction device based on the outputs of the floor sensor and the dust sensor. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, which comprises: