JPH0560376B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner that can be cleaned unattended.

Conventional technology Conventionally, this type of vacuum cleaner has built-in wheels for automatic travel, a microcomputer for travel control and suction control, and various sensors for travel, a travel motor, a suction motor, and a fan. It has a built-in suction nozzle and dust box, and can be cleaned unattended by moving the main body using pre-programmed program modes, reflective tape, markers, etc., or automatically controlling the running direction. It was hot.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In such conventional vacuum cleaners, regardless of the amount of dirt on the surface to be cleaned, it was normal to run the same place only once and suck it up. For this reason, areas with a small amount of dust can be cleaned thoroughly, but areas with a large amount of dust are not cleaned properly, resulting in the problem of rubber residue being generated.

In addition, if the suction force is set to be large or the traveling speed is made slow to prevent this, there is a problem that unnecessary suction power is lost in areas with little dust.

An object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum cleaner that solves the above problems.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a vacuum cleaner main body that includes an electric blower, an automatic travel mechanism section, and a travel control section that controls the automatic travel mechanism section, and A suction port facing the floor surface on which the main body runs, a dust box provided in front of the fan of the electric blower inside the vacuum cleaner main body, an air passage connecting the suction port and the dust box, and a dust box provided in this air passage. and a dust detection part that emits a signal input to the travel control part according to the amount of dust in the air passage, and when the amount of dust in the air passage is large, the input to the automatic travel mechanism part becomes small, The signal from the dust detection unit and the control from the travel control unit are set so that the travel speed is reduced.

Effects According to the above configuration of the present invention, the amount of dust sucked into the dust box is detected, and when the amount of dust is large, the running speed of the vacuum cleaner main body is reduced to suck more thoroughly and absorb the dust. Cleaning can be performed according to the amount of dirt on the cleaning surface.

Embodiment Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 4.

In the figure, the vacuum cleaner body (hereinafter referred to as the main body) 1
has a built-in electric blower 2 for suction. The electric blower 2 is composed of a motor 2a and a fan 2b, and a dust box 4 containing a filter 3 is provided in front of the fan 2b. Wheels 5 for running are provided on the lower right side of the vacuum cleaner body 1,
It is driven by a motor 6. Also on the left side is wheel 7
and motor 8 are installed, and driven wheels 9 and 10 are installed at the rear.
is provided. A suction port 11 is provided at the upper part of the front floor surface of the main body 1, and the suction port 11 and the dust box 4 are connected by a pipe 12, and a dust detection section 13 is provided at the connection between the pipe 12 and the dust box 4. It is being At the lower center of the main body 1, a battery 14 for power supply and a control circuit 15 containing a microcomputer are provided.

FIG. 3 is a control circuit block diagram showing the flow of control signals. The traveling motor 6 includes a drive control section 16, and the traveling motor 8 includes a drive control section 17.
However, the suction control section 18 is connected to the suction motor 2, and the central control section 19 has a built-in microcomputer to control each control section.
A control circuit 15 is configured. In addition, the central control unit 1
9 is also connected to the dust detection section 13. The dust detection section 13 includes a photodiode 21 facing the infrared light emitting diode 20 in order to detect dust.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the dust detection section, in which an infrared light emitting diode 20 is placed on the side of the central air passage 22.
They are lined up in a row, and opposite to this is the air passage 2.
A photodiode 21 is provided on the opposite side of the photodiode 2 , the signal of which is transmitted to the central control unit 19 .

In the above configuration, when the vacuum cleaner is moved to clean, the battery 14 causes the motors 2, 6,
8, the control circuit 15, and the dust detection section 13 are supplied with power and operate, and drive control sections 16 and 17 control the motors 6 and 8, respectively, under the control of a central control section 19 with a built-in microcomputer.
8 rotates the wheels 5 and 7, so that the main body 1 moves.

The driven wheels 9 and 10 simply rotate naturally due to the movement of the main body 1, and the method of movement is such that they turn to the right or to the left depending on the difference in the rotation speed of the wheels 5 and 7 driven by the motors 6 and 8. I feel tired. A travel pattern is preprogrammed into the microcomputer, and the motors 6 and 8 are controlled according to the instructions. (Or paste reflective tape on the floor,
You may trace the tape while detecting it with a sensor, or you may emit a radio signal using a marker and run using that signal as a guide.

In addition, the fan 2b is rotated by the suction motor 2, and dust is sucked in from the suction port 11, passes through the pipe 12, and enters the air passage 22 of the dust detection unit 13.
Dust is sucked into the dust box 4 through the inside.

When dust passes through the air passage 22, the dust detection section detects
Infrared light from the infrared light emitting diode 20 is prevented from reaching the photodiode 21, and the output signal of the photodiode 21 is reduced. Due to this signal drop, the central control section 19 causes the drive control section 16,
17 to reduce the speed, and reduce the output of the traveling motors 6 and 8.

When the main unit is moving in an area with little dust,
The amount of dirt passing through the air passage 22 is small, the output of the traveling motors 6 and 8 is large, and the cleaner body 1 runs at normal speed. When moving through a place with a lot of dust, the output of the running motors 6 and 8 decreases, so the vacuum cleaner body 1 runs at a slower speed, and the dust is better absorbed. Become.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the dust detection section 13. Instead of an infrared light emitting diode, an ultrasonic oscillation element 23 and an ultrasonic microphone 24 are provided facing the air passage 22. Even if the signal from this ultrasonic microphone is input to the central control unit 19, the same effect as described above can be obtained.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention provides an electric blower, an automatic travel mechanism section, a vacuum cleaner body incorporating a travel control section for controlling the automatic travel mechanism section, and a floor surface on which the vacuum cleaner body runs. A dust box provided in front of the fan of the electric blower inside the vacuum cleaner body, an air passage connecting the suction port and the dust box, and a dust box provided in the air passage that controls the amount of dust in the air passage. The dust detector is equipped with a dust detection part that outputs a signal to be input to the travel control part in response to the amount of dust in the air passage. By setting the signal of the detection unit and the control of the travel control unit,
This prevents dust from being left behind while preventing power loss in an automatically traveling vacuum cleaner, and enables efficient cleaning. In addition, since dirt concentrates and flows in the air passageway that connects the suction port and the dust box,
The dust detection section provided in the air passage reliably detects changes in the amount of dust, thereby making cleaning work more reliable.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an external perspective view of a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same side, Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the same, Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the same dust detection part, and Fig. 5 is a FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a dust detection section in another embodiment. 1...Vacuum cleaner body, 2...Electric blower, 2b...
...Juan, 4...Dust box, 5, 7, 6, 8...
Automatic traveling mechanism (wheels, traveling motor), 11...
Suction port, 13...dust detection unit, 15...control circuit, 22...air passage.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A vacuum cleaner body including an electric blower, an automatic travel mechanism section, and a travel control section that controls the automatic travel mechanism section, a suction port facing the floor surface on which the vacuum cleaner body runs, and a vacuum cleaner body inside the vacuum cleaner body. A dust box provided in front of the fan of the electric blower, an air passage connecting the suction port and the dust box, and a signal provided in this air passage that is input to the traveling control unit according to the amount of dust in this air passage. When the amount of dust in the air passage is large, the input to the automatic travel mechanism becomes small and the travel speed is reduced. Vacuum cleaner set.