JPH05199960A - Vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a vacuum cleaner fitting in the cleaning feeling of an operator capable of keeping running speed irrespective of the kind of floor, accelerating the running speed when it is desired to operate the cleaner at a high speed, and decelerating the speed when it is desired to operate it at a slow speed. CONSTITUTION:Pressure sensitive front and rear sensors 55, 56 which detect the operation force of the operator who operates a suction nozzle part and its change by a handle part, and a CPU 35a which finds the increment/decrement of the running speed and the running direction of the suction nozzle part by inference based on the operating force of the operator who operates the suction nozzle part and its change to be detected by the pressure sensitive front sensor 55 or the pressure sensitive rear sensor 56 are provided. The operating force of the operator who operates the suction nozzle part and the change in the operating force are detected by the pressure sensitive front sensor 55 or the pressure sensitive rear sensor 56, and the increment/decrement of the running speed and the running direction of the suction nozzle part are found by inference based on detected operating force of the operator who operates the suction nozzle part and change in the force. Thereby, the running speed can be accelerated/decelerated, and the running direction can be decided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric vacuum cleaner, and more particularly, it includes a traveling wheel for movably supporting a suction nozzle section and a drive section for driving the traveling wheel, and the suction nozzle section is provided with a cleaner body. The present invention relates to an electric vacuum cleaner that moves in the front-back direction with respect to the traveling direction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In household work, although the work of cleaning has been reduced by the development of electric vacuum cleaners, it has been operated by improving suction power and diversifying floor surfaces for cleaning (for example, the spread of carpets and flooring). It takes a lot of resistance for a person to inhale and move the nozzle part on the floor surface of a carpet or the like, and it is still a heavy labor accompanied by fatigue.

A cleaning robot has been proposed which is self-propelled and self-propelled on the floor surface to suck dust and the like.
In a Japanese house with many small rooms such as furniture, the cleaning robot does not function well and the cost is high, so it has not reached the stage of becoming popular for general household use.

Therefore, various developments have been made for the purpose of reducing the running resistance and improving the operability of an electric vacuum cleaner that is operated and cleaned by a person.
There is an invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9.

The suction nozzle portion of the vacuum cleaner according to the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-29 is a suction nozzle portion main body having a suction port, and the suction nozzle portion main body faces the suction port and is straight. A rotating brush supported in a reverse rotatable manner, a rotating brush electric motor capable of rotating in a forward and reverse direction, which drives the rotating brush provided in the suction nozzle body, and a forward and reverse rotation in the suction nozzle body. The vehicle includes a supported drive wheel for driving and a drive wheel electric motor that is provided in the main body of the suction nozzle section and that drives the drive wheel for traveling forward and reverse, and the drive wheel motor rotates normally. It is provided with a forward / reverse reversing switch that interlocks both electric motors so that the rotating brush electric motor rotates normally and the driving electric motor reverses when the rotating brush electric motor rotates reversely. With this configuration, good traveling performance can be obtained both when moving forward and backward, and when the rotating brush is reversed, dust can be effectively scraped off from the carpet and the brushing effect is improved. To do.

[0006]

The conventional vacuum cleaner has the following problems.
With the above-mentioned configuration, since the rotation of the drive wheels for traveling is constant, the traveling speed of the carpet is low due to the large traveling resistance, which does not match the operator's cleaning feeling, and the operator feels uncomfortable. There was a problem to remember. Furthermore, when the power brush is not rotating, there is a problem that the suction nozzle portion cannot run by itself.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and maintains a running speed regardless of the type of floor surface, and when the user wants to move faster, the running speed becomes faster.
The purpose of the present invention is to obtain an electric vacuum cleaner adapted to the cleaning feeling of the operator because the traveling speed becomes slower when moving slowly.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An electric vacuum cleaner according to the present invention comprises an electric blower and a cleaner main body having a dust collection chamber communicating with the electric blower, and a connection opening provided in the cleaner main body. The hose communicating with the dust collection chamber, the handle part provided on the tip side of the hose, the pipe connected to the tip side of the handle part, the suction nozzle part connected to the tip of the pipe, and the suction nozzle part. A traveling wheel that is movably supported, a drive unit that drives the traveling wheel, and an operation force detection unit that detects an operation force of an operator who operates the suction nozzle section through a pipe by a handle section and a change in the operation force. It is characterized by including.

Further, there is provided a control means for inferring an increase / decrease amount of the traveling speed of the suction nozzle portion based on the operation force of the operator operating the suction nozzle portion detected by the operation force detecting means and the change of the operation force. It is characterized by that.

Further, there is provided control means for inferring the traveling direction of the suction nozzle portion based on the operating force of the operator operating the suction nozzle portion detected by the operating force detection means and the traveling speed of the suction nozzle portion. It is characterized by.

[0011]

In the electric vacuum cleaner according to the present invention, the operating force detecting means detects the operating force of the operator who operates the suction nozzle through the pipe by the handle portion and the change in the operating force, and the operating force detecting means detects it. Based on the operating force of the operator who operates the suction nozzle portion and the change in the operating force, the increase / decrease amount of the traveling speed of the suction nozzle portion is inferred.
Further, the traveling direction of the suction nozzle portion is inferred based on the operating force of the operator operating the suction nozzle portion detected by the operating force detection means and the traveling speed of the suction nozzle portion.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an electric vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the electric vacuum cleaner has a vacuum cleaner body 1 which has an electric blower and a dust collection chamber communicating with the electric blower, and a cord reel for winding the power cord 3. The cleaner body 1 is movably supported by front wheels and rear wheels 2 (not shown).

Further, the cleaner body 1 is provided with a connection port 1a communicating with the dust collection chamber, and a connection pipe 5 provided at one end of the hose 4 is fitted into the connection port 1a. It has become. Further, a grip tube 6 having a handle 7 is provided at the other end of the hose 4, and the grip tube 6 is provided with a hand control panel (operation section) 8. The hand control panel 8 is provided with switches necessary for operating the vacuum cleaner, such as an on / off switch for energizing the electric blower and supplying power to the control circuit, and an air volume adjusting knob. There is. Further, a detachable pipe 9 is connected to the grip pipe 6 while having a predetermined amount of play, and a suction nozzle portion 10 is connected to the tip of the pipe 9.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a pipe 9 according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a pressure-sensitive front / rear sensor 55, according to the present invention.
It is sectional drawing which shows 56.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a protrusion 9a is provided on the proximal side of the pipe 9 so that the protrusion 9a is fitted in a groove 6a formed in the grip pipe 6. A pressure-sensitive pre-sensor 55 and a pressure-sensitive post-sensor 56 as operating force detection means are arranged on both sides of the groove 6a and the position where the projection 9a is fitted, and the operator can hold the grip tube 6
By pressing and operating the pressure sensor before or after, the pressure-sensitive sensor 55 or the pressure-sensitive sensor 56 is pressurized.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a state in which the upper cover of the suction nozzle portion 10 is removed.

As shown in detail in FIG. 5, the suction nozzle portion 10 has a rotary brush 14 which is supported in the suction port 13 so as to be rotatable in the longitudinal direction of the suction nozzle portion main body 11 so as to be rotatable forward and backward and detachably. And a pulley 15 is provided at one end of the shaft of the rotating brush 14. Further, a rotary brush drive motor 16 is arranged near the rotary brush 14, and a timing belt 18 is wound around a pulley 17 fixed to the shaft of the rotary brush drive motor 16 and the pulley 15. The rotating brush 14 is rotated by the driving force of the rotating brush drive motor 16.

Further, traveling wheels 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d are supported at four corners of the suction nozzle body 11 in parallel with the rotating brush 14 so as to be able to rotate forward and backward, and the traveling wheels 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d. Is slightly exposed from the bottom plate of the suction nozzle body 11. Further, the traveling wheels 20c and 20d are the common traveling drive shafts 2 rotatably supported by the suction nozzle body 11 via bearings 22.
1 and the traveling drive shaft 21 has gears 25, 24.
Is connected to the output gear of the traveling wheel drive motor 23 via.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the speed sensor 52.

The shaft of the traveling wheel drive motor 23 is provided with a slit disk 52a having a large number of light-shielding plates divided by a large number of slits, and the slit disk 52a is provided with a slit disk 52a in the vicinity of the slit disk 52a. A photo interrupter 52b for detecting the
The slit disk 52a and the photo interrupter 52b constitute a speed sensor 52 that detects the rotational distance of the traveling wheel drive motor 23, that is, the traveling distance of the suction nozzle unit 10.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a control device of the traveling wheel drive motor 23.

As shown in FIG. 1, the controller for the traveling wheel drive motor 23 has a controller 35. The controller 35 has a CPU 35a, a memory 35b for storing data and programs, and an input as an interface for data input. It includes a circuit 35c and an output circuit 35d as an interface for data output. Then, in the input circuit 35c, a pressure-sensitive pre-sensor 5 for detecting an operating force and a change in the operating force that a person who operates the cleaner via the A / D converter 43 grips the grip tube 6 and operates it before or after.
5 and the post-pressure-sensitive sensor 56 are connected, and the traveling distance sensor 52 is connected.

A right drive circuit 36 and a left drive circuit 37, which are photocouplers, are connected to the output circuit 35d, and a direction switching circuit 33 is connected to the right drive circuit 36 and the left drive circuit 37. ing. The direction switching circuit 33 is composed of transistors Tr1, Tr2, Tr3 and Tr4 which are switching elements, and the traveling wheel drive motor 23 depends on whether the transistors Tr1 and Tr2 are turned on or the transistors Tr3 and Tr4 are turned on. Is a circuit for reversing the rotation direction of. The reference numeral 34 indicates the power source of the traveling wheel drive motor 23.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the operation of the present invention.

The CPU 35a, as shown in FIG.
Based on the force applied to the pre-pressure-sensitive sensor 55 or the post-pressure-sensitive sensor 56 (the operating force of the operator) and the change in the force, the increase / decrease amount of the output of the traveling wheel drive motor 23 is obtained by fuzzy inference, and the obtained traveling is obtained. The output of the motor 23 is increased or decreased according to the amount of increase or decrease of the output of the wheel drive motor 23.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the operation of the present invention.

The CPU 35a, as shown in FIG.
Based on the force applied to the pre-pressure-sensitive sensor 55 or the post-pressure-sensitive sensor 56 and the traveling speed of the suction nozzle unit 10 by the traveling distance sensor 52, the traveling direction (front or rear) of the suction nozzle unit 10 is obtained by fuzzy inference. The rotation direction control (forward rotation or reverse rotation) of the traveling wheel drive motor 23 is performed according to the obtained traveling direction.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the cord 3 of the electric vacuum cleaner is connected to an outlet and the on / off switch provided on the hand control panel 8 is turned on, power is supplied to the controller 35. For example, when the traveling direction of the traveling wheel drive motor 23 is forward and the traveling direction of the suction nozzle unit 10 is forward, the operator grips the grip tube 6 and applies a force to the front at the start of the forward movement. At this time, the projection 9a of the pipe 9
Is in contact with the pressure-sensitive sensor 56, the pressure-sensitive sensor 56 is pressurized, and the CPU 35a detects the force applied to the pressure-sensitive sensor 56 and the change in the force (step 1).

Then, based on the detected force applied to the pressure-sensitive sensor 56 and the change in the force, the traveling wheel drive motor 23 is driven.
The amount of increase or decrease in the output of the motor 23 is obtained by fuzzy reasoning (step 2), and the output of the motor 23 is increased or decreased according to the obtained amount of increase or decrease in the output of the traveling wheel drive motor 23 (step 3). When cleaning the carpet, since the running resistance is large, the operating force, that is, the force applied to the pressure-sensitive front and rear sensors 55, 56 is large, the output of the running wheel drive motor 23 is large, and the running speed is maintained and moved quickly. If desired, the traveling speed becomes faster, and if it is desired to move slowly, the traveling speed becomes slower, and cleaning is performed according to the cleaning feeling of the operator.

Then, the force applied to the pressure-sensitive sensor 56 gradually decreases as the suction nozzle 10 travels, and the force applied to the pressure-sensitive sensor 55 gradually increases after the middle of the travel distance. Further, when approaching the reversal position, the traveling speed of the suction nozzle unit 10 decreases and C
The PU 35a obtains the traveling speed of the suction nozzle section 10 by the traveling distance sensor 52 (step 4), and based on the force applied to the pressure-sensitive sensor 56 and the traveling speed of the suction nozzle section 10 by the traveling distance sensor 52, the suction nozzle section The traveling direction (forward or backward) of 10 is obtained by fuzzy reasoning (step 5). Further, the CPU 35a performs rotation direction control (for example, reverse rotation control) of the traveling wheel drive motor 23 according to the obtained traveling direction (for example, forward direction) of the suction nozzle unit 10 (step 6).

The motor output control and the motor rotation direction control are performed by the same operation even when the vehicle is moving backward.

Here, fuzzy inference will be described.

FIG. 10A shows a rule for obtaining the increase / decrease amount of the output of the traveling wheel drive motor 23. For example, when the vehicle moves forward, the force applied to the sensor in the traveling direction, that is, the pressure-sensitive sensor 56 is large ("PL"). ), The change in that power increases (“P
L)), "U3", that is, the traveling wheel drive motor 23
When the force applied to the pressure-sensitive sensor 56 and the change in the force are both zero (“ZR”), the output increase / decrease amount of the traveling wheel drive motor 23 becomes zero (“ZR”). A sensor in the reverse direction during forward movement, that is, a sensor 5 after pressure sensing
Force is applied to 6 and the force is zero or more (ZR, PS, PL)
In the case of, the output of the traveling wheel drive motor 23 is decreased (“D
W ”). The blank portion maintains the current state.

FIG. 10B shows the membership function of the force applied to the sensor, and FIG. 10C shows the membership function of the change in the force applied to the sensor.
(D) shows the membership function of the amount of increase or decrease in the output of the traveling wheel drive motor 23.

The CPU 35a receives the force applied to the sensor and its change as an input and uses it as a membership function (MF) of the antecedent part, and infers the increase / decrease amount of the output of the traveling wheel drive motor 23 by the MIN-MAX centroid method. ..

FIG. 11A shows a rule for obtaining the traveling direction of the suction nozzle unit 10. For example, while the suction nozzle unit 10 is moving forward or backward, the direction is not changed (“UC”) and the suction direction is changed. When a large force is applied to the pre-pressure-sensitive sensor 55 while the nozzle unit 10 is about to stop, the traveling direction is changed to the rear, and when a large force is applied to the post-pressure-sensitive sensor 56, the traveling direction is changed to the front. FIG. 11B shows the membership function of the force applied to the sensor.
11C shows the membership function of the traveling speed of the suction nozzle unit 10, and FIG. 11D shows the membership function of direction switching.

The CPU 35a detects the current traveling speed of the suction nozzle 10 by the traveling distance sensor 52, and inputs the force applied to the pre-pressure-sensitive sensor 55 or the post-pressure-sensitive sensor 56 to the suction nozzle section by the MIN-MAX centroid method. Infer 10 running directions.

[0041]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The operating force of the operator who operates the suction nozzle section through the pipe by the handle section and the change in the operating force are detected by the operating force detection section, and the operating force of the operator who operates the suction nozzle section is detected by the operating force detection section. Based on the change of the operating force and the operating force, the increase / decrease amount of the traveling speed of the suction nozzle is inferred, so that the traveling speed is maintained regardless of the type of the floor surface and the cleaning feeling of the operator is met. You can

Further, since the traveling direction of the suction nozzle portion is inferred based on the operating force of the operator who operates the suction nozzle portion detected by the operating force detecting means and the traveling speed of the suction nozzle portion, it is specially constructed. It is possible to determine the traveling direction of the suction nozzle portion without requiring any special device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a control device for a traveling wheel drive motor according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an electric vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a pipe of the electric vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a pressure-sensitive sensor and a pressure-sensitive sensor according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a suction nozzle portion of the electric vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a mileage sensor according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining fuzzy inference according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining fuzzy inference according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Vacuum Cleaner Main Body 1a Connection Port 4 Hose 9 Pipe 10 Suction Nozzle 20c, 20d Travel Wheel 21 Travel Drive Shaft 23 Travel Wheel Drive Motor 35 Controller 35a CPU 52 Speed Sensor 55 Pressure Sensitive Sensor 56 Pressure Sensitive Sensor

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Masafumi Nagata 2-14-40 Ofuna, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Living Systems Laboratory (72) Inventor Masaji Kukino 2-14, Ofuna, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa No.40 Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Life Systems Research Center

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A vacuum cleaner body having an electric blower and a dust collection chamber communicating with the electric blower, a hose communicating with the dust collection chamber by being connected to a connection port formed in the cleaner body, and a tip of the hose. The handle portion provided on the side, a pipe connected to the tip side of the handle portion, a suction nozzle portion connected to the tip of the pipe, a traveling wheel that movably supports the suction nozzle portion, and this traveling wheel. In a vacuum cleaner that includes a driving unit that drives the suction nozzle unit in the front-rear direction with respect to the traveling direction of the cleaner body, an operating force of an operator who operates the suction nozzle unit through a pipe by a handle portion and An electric vacuum cleaner comprising an operating force detecting means for detecting a change in operating force. 2. A control means is provided for inferring an increase / decrease amount of the traveling speed of the suction nozzle portion based on the operation force of the operator operating the suction nozzle portion detected by the operation force detection means and the change in the operation force. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A control means for inferring the traveling direction of the suction nozzle portion based on the operating force of the operator operating the suction nozzle portion detected by the operating force detection means and the traveling speed of the suction nozzle portion. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that.