JPH05207954A - Vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect an operation of a handle part by a pressure sensitive sensor by operating this handle part. CONSTITUTION:When a handle lower part 64 and a handle upper part 75 are grasped, they are deformed or moved by setting a screw hole 68 into which a screw is screwed in the handle upper part 75 as a supporting point, and a gap between the handle lower part 64 and the handle upper part 75 is varied. By a variation of the gap, a distance of a gap between the tips of sensor lower part holding parts 71, 72 and the tips of sensor upper part holding parts 81, 82 is varied, and resistance values of pressure sensitive sensors 83, 84 are varied. By varying the resistance values of the pressure sensitive sensors 83, 84 by how to grasp the handle lower part 64 and the handle upper part 75, an output of a motor-driven air blower is varied.

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 for detecting deformation of a handle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an electric vacuum cleaner of this type, a structure as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 61-6650 is known. In the vacuum cleaner disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 616650, a grip portion is slidably provided via a spring to a connecting pipe having a suction port body connected to a tip thereof via a hose. Then, when the suction port body is moved on the surface to be cleaned to perform cleaning, if the suction port body sticks to the floor surface, the running resistance increases and the grip moves against the spring to move the connecting pipe. Slide against. Then, by detecting the sliding of the grip portion to reduce the suction force of the electric blower, the suction force is weakened to improve the operability.

[0003]

However, the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-6650 can change the output of the electric blower by the running resistance. However, the user can change the output of the electric blower during cleaning. To change the output,
Both the connecting tube and the grip tube must be operated with both hands, and the operation is rather complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an electric vacuum cleaner which is operated by deforming the handle portion and detecting the deformation of the handle portion by a sensor. And

[0005]

The electric vacuum cleaner of the present invention comprises:
An electric vacuum cleaner main body, a driving electric motor, a suction port body communicating with the electric vacuum cleaner main body, a grip portion that is deformable and that moves the suction port body, and is disposed in the grip portion. A sensor for detecting the deformation of the handle portion and a control means for controlling the electric motor by the output of the sensor are provided.

[0006]

In the electric vacuum cleaner of the present invention, the sensor is provided inside, and the handle portion is deformed by an operating force for operating the handle portion from the outside, and the deformation of the handle portion is detected by the sensor. Since the electric motor is controlled by the output, it is possible to control the electric motor by deforming the handle portion without requiring a separate operation other than the handle operation of the handle portion.

[0007]

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

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes an electric vacuum cleaner body. A base end of a hose 2 is detachably connected to the electric vacuum cleaner main body 1, and a tip end of the hose 2 is branched rearward. A handle portion 3 having a shape is provided. A suction port body 5 is attached to the tip of the handle portion 3 via a stretchable extension tube 4.

The vacuum cleaner body 1 is composed of an upper case member 11 and a lower case member 12, and a lid 13 is openably and closably attached to an opening formed in the front. Further, the lid 13 is formed with a connection port 14 for connecting the hose 2. Further, a dust collection chamber 15 is formed in front of the electric vacuum cleaner body 1, a dust collection bag 16 is stored in the dust collection chamber 15, and an electric blower storage chamber 17 is provided behind the dust collection chamber 15. The electric blower housing chamber 17 is provided with an electric blower 18 as an electric motor.
19 are formed.

Further, the air passage is connected from the connection port 14 to the exhaust port 19 through the dust collection chamber 15 and the electric blower storage chamber 17.
21 is formed, and a wind pressure sensor 22 is provided above the dust collection chamber 15 in the air passage 21.

Further, the suction port body 5 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in, the lower case body 31 and the upper case body 32 are formed. And, in front of the lower case body 31,
A suction chamber 34 is defined by a partition wall 33 provided substantially in the left-right direction, and the suction chamber 34 has an opening on the lower surface.
A cylindrical cleaning blade 35 is rotatably supported inside the 34, and a pulley 36 is formed at one end of the cleaning blade 35.

A communication passage 37 communicating with the suction chamber 34 and the electric vacuum cleaner main body 1 is defined in a substantially central portion of the lower case body 31, and a communication pipe 38 is vertically rotated in the communication passage 37. Connected freely. Further, an electric motor storage chamber 39 and a substrate storage chamber 40 are formed on both sides of the communication passage 37, and a drive wheel chamber 41 having an opened lower surface is formed in each of the drive wheel chambers 41. Are stored respectively.

An electric motor 43 is stored in the electric motor storage chamber 39, and a drive shaft 44 of the electric motor 43 is provided with a drive pulley 45. On the other hand, a drive shaft 46 is provided coaxially with the drive wheels 42, 42, and a pulley 47 is provided on the drive shaft 46.

A drive pulley 45 and a drive wheel 42 of the electric motor 43
The drive belt 48 is hung between the pulley 47 of the cleaning blade 35 and the pulley 36 of the cleaning blade 35, and the cleaning blade 35 is driven by the electric motor 43.
And the drive wheels 42 are adapted to rotate in opposite directions.

On the other hand, the substrate storage chamber 40 is provided with cleaning surface detecting means 49 for detecting the traveling direction and the state of the cleaning surface.

Further, driven front wheel chambers 51, 51 and driven rear wheel chambers 52, 52 are provided at four corners of the suction port body 5. Then, the driven front wheel chambers 51, 51 and the driven rear wheel chambers 52, 52
The driven front wheels 53, 53 and the driven rear wheels 54, 54 are rotatably disposed in the.

On the other hand, the handle portion 3 has a structure shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 and FIG.
As shown in, it is composed of a base portion 61 and a lid portion 62. The base 61 includes a communication pipe 63 that connects the hose 2 and the extension pipe 4 and communicates with each other, and a handle lower portion 64 that is formed by bending from the rear of the base 61 toward the rear and has an upper opening. A lid is formed on the front of the base 61.
An engagement recess 65 that engages with 62 is formed.

Further, a cylindrical connecting portion 67 having a screw hole 66 is projectingly formed on an upper portion of the communicating pipe portion 63 of the base portion 61.
On the upper part of the handle lower portion 64, a cylindrical connecting portion 69 having a screw hole 68 and a cylindrical engaging protrusion 70 are formed so as to project. Further, between the connecting portion 69 and the engaging projection 70, two truncated cone-shaped lower sensor holding portions 71 and 72 are formed to project.

On the other hand, the lid portion 62 is formed with an upper grip portion 75 facing the lower grip portion 64 and having an open lower surface. When the lid portion 62 is attached to the base portion 61, between the lower grip portion 64 and the upper grip portion 75, About 1
A gap 73 of mm is created. Further, an engaging protrusion 76 that engages with the engaging recess 65 is formed in front of the lid 62. Further, through holes 77 and 78 are formed in the lid portion 62 corresponding to the screw holes 66 of the connecting portion 67 and the screw holes 68 of the connecting portion 69, and the engaging concave portions corresponding to the engaging protrusions 70. 79 are formed. Then, on the lower surface of the opening of the handle upper portion 75 of the lid portion 62, the base portion
Two truncated cone-shaped upper sensor holding portions 81 and 82 facing the tips of the two lower sensor holding portions 71 and 72 of the sensor 61 are formed to project. Further, when the lid portion 62 is attached to the base portion 61, the tip ends of the sensor lower portion holding portions 71 and 72 and the sensor upper portion holding portion 81,
A gap 73 is formed between the tip of 82 and pressure sensitive sensors 83 and 84 are arranged in this gap 73, respectively.

Further, on the upper surface of the lid portion 62, a fitting hole 92 for connecting an operation button 91 for engaging and disengaging a fitting portion (not shown) fitted to the extension pipe 4, and an electric motor 43 of the suction port body 5 are turned on. A power brush switch window 94 for projecting the electric motor switch 93 for turning off and a power control switch window 96 for projecting the power control switch 95 for controlling the output of the electric blower 18 are provided. Also, screws 97,
By screwing 98 into the screw holes 86 and 88, the base portion 61 and the lid portion 62 are connected.

When the lower grip portion 64 and the upper grip portion 75 are gripped, the upper grip portion 75 is deformed or moved around the screw hole 68 into which the screw 98 is screwed, and the lower grip portion 64 and the upper grip portion 75 are combined. The gap 73 changes. Due to this change in the gap 73, the distance of the gap 73 between the tip of the sensor lower holding portions 71, 72 and the tip of the sensor upper holding portions 81, 82 changes, and the resistance values of the pressure-sensitive sensors 83, 84 change.

Next, the electric circuit will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.
Will be described.

In FIG. 9, E is a commercial AC power supply, and an electric blower 18 is connected to the commercial AC power supply E via a control circuit 101 as a control means.

In the control circuit 101, an input terminal of a diode bridge DB including diodes D1, D2, D3 and D4 is connected across a commercial AC power source E via a resistor R1. And between the output terminals of the diode bridge DB,
A diode D5 and a diode D6 are connected in series, and a connection point of the diode D5 and the diode D6 is connected to the gate of the triac Tr1 connected between the electric blower 18 and the commercial AC power source E, and also the triac Tr6.
The resistor R2 connected to one end of 1 is connected. Also,
A capacitor C1 and a resistor R3 that form a snubber circuit are connected across the triac Tr1.

Further, a zener diode ZD1 is connected between the output terminals of the diode bridge DB via a resistor R4, and a series circuit of a resistor R5 and a resistor R6 is connected to the zener diode ZD1. The connection point of these resistors R5 and R6 is connected to the gate of the programmable unijunction transistor PUT1 via the parallel circuit of the resistor R7 and the diode D7. The cathode of the programmable unijunction transistor PUT1 is connected to the gate of the thyristor Th1, and the anode is connected to the negative electrode of the diode bridge DB through the parallel circuit of the resistor R8 and the capacitor C2.

The connection point between the resistors R4 and R5 and the anode of the programmable unijunction transistor PUT1 are connected to the operating means 102 via resistors R11 and R12, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 10, the operating means 102 has a resistor R15 and a variable resistor R16 of the power control switch 95 connected in parallel, and a pressure-sensitive sensor at one end of these resistors.
83 and 84 are connected.

The resistance values RA, R of the pressure sensitive sensors 83, 84
B is set to Ra Ω for the pressure-sensitive sensor 83 and Rb Ω for the pressure-sensitive sensor 84 when the pressure is 0, and is set to 0 Ω for the pressure-sensitive sensor 83 and 0 Ω for the pressure-sensitive sensor 83 when the pressure is high. The resistance value Ra Ω of the pressure sensitive sensor 83 is set lower than the resistance value Rb Ω of the pressure sensitive sensor 84.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.

First, the power control switch 95 is operated to drive and control the electric blower 18. At this time, FIG.
As shown in, there is a gap between the lower handle 64 and the upper handle 75.
When 73 is at maximum, each pressure sensor 8
3, 84 is the maximum value.

When the electric blower 18 is operated in this state,
In the control circuit 101, the resistance value in the operating means 102 is high, so the time constant is large, and the time for charging the capacitor C2 on the anode side of the programmable unijunction transistor PUT1 is long, and the programmable unijunction is -The off time of the transistor PUT1 becomes longer. Then, as the off time of the programmable unijunction transistor PUT1 becomes longer, the on time of the thyristor Th1 also becomes longer, the phase of the triac Tr1 is delayed, and the output of the electric blower 18 is reduced.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7, when the tips of the lower handle portion 64 and the upper handle portion 75 are gripped, the gap 73 between the end portions of the lower handle portion 64 and the upper handle portion 75 is closed, and the pressure sensor 84 The resistance value is zero.

When the electric blower 18 is operated in this state,
In the control circuit 101, the resistance value in the operating means 102 is slightly reduced, so the time constant is slightly reduced and the programmable
The time for charging the capacitor C2 on the anode side of the unijunction transistor PUT1 becomes slightly shorter, and the off time of the programmable unijunction transistor PUT1 becomes slightly shorter. Then, the off time of the programmable unijunction transistor PUT1 is slightly shortened, the on time of the thyristor Th1 is also somewhat shortened, the phase of the triac Tr1 is slightly advanced, and the output of the electric blower 18 is slightly increased.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, when the entire lower grip portion 64 and the upper grip portion 75 are gripped, the gap 73 between the lower grip portion 64 and the upper grip portion 75 is closed, and the resistances of the pressure sensors 83 and 84 are respectively reduced. The value is 0.

When the electric blower 18 is operated in this state,
In the control circuit 101, the resistance value in the operating means 102 decreases, so the time constant becomes small, and the time for charging the capacitor C2 on the anode side of the programmable unijunction transistor PUT1 becomes short, and the programmable unijunction The off time of the transistor PUT1 is shortened. And programmable unijunction
Since the off time of the transistor PUT1 is shortened, the on time of the thyristor Th1 is also shortened, and the triac Tr1
, The output of the electric blower 18 increases.

Then, as shown in Table 1, the output of the electric blower 18 changes depending on how the lower handle 64 and the upper handle 75 are gripped.

[0037]

[Table 1] Further, when the suction port body 5 is pushed from the front side to the front side, the extension pipe 4 is in a state of being nearly vertical to the floor surface, so that the downward operation force is increased and the suction port body 5 adheres to the floor surface. Operation force becomes heavy. Therefore, when the proximal ends of the lower handle portion 64 and the upper handle portion 75 are gripped, the adhesion of the suction port body 5 to the floor surface is reduced, and as shown in Table 1, the output of the electric blower 18 is reduced. Slightly lower the suction power to improve operability.

On the contrary, when the suction port body 5 is pulled from the front side to the front side, the extension tube 4 becomes nearly parallel to the floor surface, and the handle portion 3 moves from the lower side to the upper side to move the suction port body 5 to the floor. Since it floats from the surface, the adhesion force of the suction port body 5 to the floor surface is reduced and the operation force is reduced. Therefore, gripping the tips of the lower handle 64 and the upper handle 75 slightly increases the output of the electric blower 18, increases the suction force, and improves the suction force.

Next, another embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 is
The pressure-sensitive sensor 83 is one and the structure is simplified.

According to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the output of the electric blower 18 cannot be changed depending on the grip positions of the lower handle 64 and the upper handle 75, but depending on the strength of the grip. Can be changed.

Another embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 16 to 20.

In the handle portion 3 shown in FIG. 16, in the handle portion 3 shown in FIG. 1, a hard rubber cover 111 having flexibility is attached to the hand end side of the handle portion 3. Inside the rubber cover 111, an elastic plate-shaped core material 11 is provided.
2 is in-molded, and the strain sensor 113 is attached to the core material 112.
The strain sensor bodies 113a and 113b are attached to both surfaces of the. In addition, a circuit board 114 is housed inside the handle portion 3, and on this circuit board 114, a conversion means 115 connected to the strain sensor bodies 113a and 113b for converting a resistance value into a strain amount and a display such as a light emitting diode are displayed. Means 116 are provided.
Further, an operating means 117 such as an on / off switch is attached to the surface of the handle 3.

Next, the control circuit will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 17, a control unit 121 as a control unit such as a microcomputer is provided, and a strain sensor 113 and an operating unit 117 are connected to the control unit 121 via a conversion unit 115. Further, the electric motor 43 is connected to the control unit 121 via the electric motor control unit 122, and the electric blower is connected via the electric blower control unit 123.
18 connected. Further, the wind pressure sensor 22 is connected to the control unit 121.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, when the operating means 117 is turned on, the electric blower 18 is set to the Af mode and the electric motor 43 is set to the stop mode as a preparation state (step 1).

Then, the wind pressure sensor 22 determines whether or not the change amount Δh of the wind pressure is smaller than a predetermined value H and whether or not the change amount Δx of the strain sensor 113 is smaller than a threshold value a (step 2). In this case, the predetermined time T is measured (step 3), the electric blower 18 is stopped when the predetermined time T or more has elapsed, and the process returns to step 1 when the predetermined time T has not elapsed.

If any of them is different in step 2, the electric blower 18 is set to the Bf mode corresponding to the space between the plates, and the electric motor 43 is stopped (step 4). That is, between the plates, the adhesion between the lower surface of the suction port body 5 and the plates is low, so that the degree of vacuum is reduced and the adhesion is reduced, so that the deformation of the grip portion 3 is small and the strain sensor 11
This is because the displacement of 3 is also small.

Then, it is judged whether or not the strain amount Δx of the strain sensor 113 is larger than the threshold value b (step 5). If it is smaller, the process returns to step 2, and if it is larger, the electric blower 18 is adapted to be folded. Then, the motor 43 is set to the Ad mode (step 6).
That is, in the fold, since the adhesion between the lower surface of the suction port body 5 and the fold is slightly higher than that between the plates, the degree of vacuum is slightly increased and the adhesion is slightly increased. This is because the displacement is slightly larger than that in the above case, and the displacement of the strain sensor 113 is also slightly larger.

Further, it is judged whether or not the strain amount Δx of the strain sensor 113 is larger than the threshold value c (step 7), and if it is smaller, the process returns to step 5, and if it is larger, the electric blower.
18 is set to the Df mode corresponding to the length of the carpet and the electric motor 43 is set to the Bd mode (step 8). That is, in the length of the carpet hair, since the adhesion between the lower surface of the suction port body 5 and the carpet is high, the degree of vacuum is increased and the adhesion is increased, so that the deformation of the handle portion 3 is larger than that in the case of folding. This is because the displacement of the strain sensor 113 also becomes large.

Further, it is judged whether or not the strain amount Δx of the strain sensor 113 is larger than the threshold value c (step 9), and if it is smaller, the process returns to step 7, and if it is larger, the suction port 5 is sucked. In order to reduce the degree of vacuum, the electric blower 18 is set to Cf mode when it is in Df mode, Bf mode when it is in Cf mode, and Af mode when it is in Bf mode. .. That is, if the degree of vacuum increases and the adhesion becomes too high, the deformation of the handle portion 3 becomes very large, the displacement of the strain sensor 113 also becomes large, and the operability deteriorates.

The input of the electric blower 18 is Df mode> Cf mode> Bf mode> Af mode.
The input of the electric motor 43 is Bd mode> Ad mode.

The input of the electric blower 18 is a wind pressure sensor.
It is also changed by the output of 22. That is, when the degree of vacuum changes due to dust clogging or the like, the input of the electric blower 18 is also improved in order to prevent the dust collection force from decreasing.

Further, a traveling assist type forward / backward movement for driving the drive wheels 42 in a slightly slipped state will be described.

First, it is basically desirable that the forward / backward movement of the suction port body 5 is performed along a sine curve.

When the driving assist type drive wheel 42 is rotated in the normal direction or reversed, the strain sensor bodies 113a and 113b of the handle portion 3 are detected to have no strain, and both strain sensors shown in FIG. With the outputs of the bodies 113a and 113b being zero, the rotation direction of the electric motor 43 is reversed. This state is repeated to drive the suction port body 5 in the front-rear direction along the sine curve.

A self-propelled forward / backward movement for driving the drive wheel 42 while gripping it on the floor will be described.

First, basically, it is desirable that the forward / backward movement of the suction port body 5 is similarly performed along a sine curve.

When the self-propelled drive wheel 42 is normally or reversely rotated, the strain sensor bodies 113a and 113b of the handle portion 3 detect the largest strain, and both strain sensor bodies shown in FIG. 11
The rotation direction of the electric motor 43 is reversed with the outputs of 3a and 113b maximized. This state is repeated to drive the suction port body 5 in the front-rear direction along the sine curve.

[0061]

According to the electric vacuum cleaner of the present invention, the sensor is disposed inside, and the handle portion is deformed by an operating force for operating the handle portion from the outside, and the deformation of the handle portion is detected by the sensor. Since the electric motor is controlled by the output of this sensor, it is possible to control the electric motor by deforming the grip portion without requiring a separate operation other than the grip manipulation of the grip portion.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a handle portion of an embodiment of the electric vacuum cleaner of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an appearance of the same electric vacuum cleaner.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the same electric vacuum cleaner body.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a handle part of the same.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the handle portion is disassembled.

FIG. 6 (a) is a plan view showing a state in which the handle portion is not operated. (B) It is a side view of a state in which the handle portion is not operated.

FIG. 7 (a) is a plan view showing a state where the tip portion of the handle portion is operated. (B) It is a side view of the state where the tip portion of the handle portion is operated.

FIG. 8 (a) is a plan view showing a state in which the entire grip portion is operated. (B) It is a side view of a state in which the entire grip portion is operated.

FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram showing a circuit of the same electric vacuum cleaner.

FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram showing a circuit of the above operating means.

FIG. 11 is a bottom view showing the suction inlet of the same.

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing the suction port body with the upper case body removed.

FIG. 13 is a side view in which a part of the suction port body is cut away.

FIG. 14 is an exploded perspective view showing a grip portion of another embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a circuit diagram showing a circuit of the above operating means.

FIG. 16 (a) is a plan view showing a grip portion of another embodiment. (B) It is sectional drawing which shows a handle part same as the above.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing a circuit of the same electric vacuum cleaner.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the operation of the same electric vacuum cleaner.

FIG. 19 (a) is a graph showing the relationship between the input of the electric blower and the surface to be cleaned. (B) It is a graph which shows the input of an electric motor same as the above, and the surface to be cleaned.

FIG. 20 is a graph showing the operation of the above-mentioned travel assistance type suction port body.

FIG. 21 is a graph showing the operation of the above-described self-propelled suction port body.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Vacuum Cleaner Main Body 3 Handle 18 Electric Blower as Electric Motor 43 Electric Motors 83, 84 Pressure Sensor 101 Control Circuit as Control Means 113 Strain Sensor 121 Control Unit as Control Means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A vacuum cleaner main body, a driving electric motor, a suction port body communicating with the vacuum cleaner main body, a grip portion that is deformable and moves the suction port body, and a handle An electric vacuum cleaner comprising: a sensor arranged inside the unit for detecting a deformation of the grip portion; and a control means for controlling the electric motor by the output of the sensor.