JPH08322766A - Electric vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To facilitate the determining of an operating position of an opening- closing mechanism by providing a suction port body connected to the body of an electric vacuum cleaner with a rotary brush using an air turbine as drive source and the opening-closing mechanism to adjust a sucked air current while a display means is provided thereon to display an operating position of the opening-closing mechanism. CONSTITUTION: When an electric blower starts its operation, a dynamo 210 starts electric generation with the rotation of an air turbine 206 at a suction port body while a rotary brush 203 begins to rotate. Then, a control circuit 213 is operated by a generated power of the dynamo 210 and a nozzle opening- closing mechanism 211 is controlled by a stepping motor 212 so that the number of revolutions of the rotary brush 203 reaches a proper value. The nozzle opening-closing mechanism 211 changes an opening area by transmitting the rotation of an output shaft of a gear box 401 to racks 402a and 402b to move shielding plates 301 and 301 and a painter interlocking the shielding plate 302 moves along a graduation plate thereby enabling visual recognition of operating condition of the nozzle opening-closing mechanism 211.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an electric vacuum cleaner,
In particular, the present invention relates to an electric vacuum cleaner having a suction body on which an air turbine is mounted.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electric vacuum cleaner having a suction body equipped with a conventional air turbine rotates when the suction airflow of the cleaner collides with the air turbine, and the rotary brush is driven by the air turbine as a drive source. It was configured to scrape dust by rotating.

In the suction body having the air turbine mounted thereon, the degree of adhesion of the suction body to the surface to be cleaned such as a carpet, tatami mat, floor, etc. is different. It changed according to the type. The rotation speed of the rotary brush usually becomes high when it comes into contact with a floor surface with low resistance, and the rotation speed decreases as the resistance of the surface to be cleaned such as tatami mat, carpet, etc. increases. When the rotary brush rotates at high speed on the floor and tatami mat, the floor and tatami mat are damaged by the rotary brush. Therefore, operate the switching lever on the suction body to adjust the amount of suction air flow blown to the air turbine for each type of surface to be cleaned. Was adjusted to control the rotational speed of the rotary brush for each condition of the surface to be cleaned. For this reason, in the suction body equipped with the air turbine, the switching lever has to be operated for each condition of the carpet, tatami mat, floor, and surface to be cleaned, which is disadvantageous for the user.

Therefore, as described in JP-A-5-317213, the rotary brush is driven by the air turbine and the generator is connected, and the control means is driven by the electric power generated by the generator to drive the nozzle. A technique has been proposed in which the shape is changed by an opening / closing mechanism and the suction airflow blown to the air turbine is controlled for each state of the surface to be cleaned to control the rotational speed of the rotary brush.

[0005]

However, in the technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-317213, the suction airflow blown to the air turbine by changing the shape of the nozzle by the opening / closing mechanism according to the state of the surface to be cleaned. However, the user could not know the shape of the nozzle, that is, how many rotations the rotary brush is rotating.

Further, since the opening / closing mechanism of the nozzle is provided in the passage of the suction air flow, that is, the passage of dust, even if the dust is stuck inside the opening / closing mechanism and it becomes inoperable, the user grasps the abnormal state. I couldn't.

The object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and to allow the user to understand the operation of the opening / closing mechanism for controlling the intake air flow to the air turbine and also to understand the operation failure of the opening / closing mechanism due to the adhesion of dust. , To provide a vacuum cleaner that is easier to use and more reliable.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a feature of the present invention is that a cleaner main body having a dust collecting part, an electric blower and the like built therein, and a hose connected to the cleaner main body. A vacuum cleaner having a suction body connected via an extension pipe connected to the hose, wherein the suction body drives an air turbine rotated by an intake air flow generated by the electric blower and the air turbine. It has a rotating rotary brush as a source and an opening / closing mechanism for adjusting the suction air flow blown to the air turbine, and the suction means is provided with display means for displaying the operating position of the opening / closing mechanism.

Further, a feature of the present invention is that a display means is provided for displaying an inoperable state when the opening / closing mechanism is inoperable.

[0010]

In the suction member of the electric vacuum cleaner of the present invention, the opening / closing mechanism is operated to variably adjust the suction airflow blown to the air turbine every time the type of floor surface to be cleaned changes. At this time, since the operating position of the opening / closing mechanism is displayed on the suction body, the user can easily grasp the operating position of the opening / closing mechanism during cleaning.

Further, since the display means for displaying the inoperable state is provided when the open / close mechanism is inoperable, it is possible to easily grasp the abnormal state of the open / close mechanism.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the vacuum cleaner according to the embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 801 is a cleaner body having a control circuit, an electric blower and the like built therein, and 802 is a cleaner body 8.
01 is a hose connected to the suction port, 803 is a hose handle, and 804 is a tip of the hose 802 (hose handle 80
3) an extension tube connected to the extension tube 804, a suction body connected to the extension tube 804, 806 a switch operation unit provided in the hose proximal portion 803, 807 a first infrared light emission provided in the hose proximal portion 903. Part, 808 is a hose hand part 80
Reference numeral 809 denotes a second infrared light emitting portion provided on the upper surface of the cleaner body 801.
0 indicates the ceiling in the room.

FIG. 5 shows a vertical sectional view of an electric vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The cleaner body 801 includes a lower case 901 that covers a lower portion at a front portion thereof, a lid 902 that covers an upper front portion thereof, a suction port 903 provided on the lid 902, and a dust collection chamber that houses a dust collecting bag. 904, an airtight holding cover 905 attached to the lid 902 by a member different from the lid 902 for holding the airtightness in the dust collecting chamber 904, and the lower case 9 at the rear part thereof.
01 and upper case 906 form an electric blower chamber 90
Eight. A dust bag 907 for collecting dust is stored in the dust collection chamber 904, and an electric blower 909 for generating a suction airflow is stored in the electric blower chamber 908.

A filter 910 is provided on the intake side of the electric blower 909 to communicate with the dust collecting chamber 904. A packing 911 is provided on the upper wall surface of the lower case 901 forming the lower part of the dust collecting chamber 904. The packing 911 and the airtight holding cover 905 are brought into pressure contact with each other, and the dust collecting chamber 90
4 is kept airtight.

The exhaust air exhausted from the electric blower 909 passes through an exhaust passage (not shown) and is exhausted from an exhaust port 912.

A board housing 914 covered with an upper case cover 913 is formed above the upper case 906, and a control board 915 is housed therein.

The control board 915 is composed of one or more sheets and may be fixed to the upper case side or the upper case cover side.

On the control board 915, the hose handle 80 is provided.
An infrared receiving element 916 for receiving infrared signals emitted from the first infrared emitting section 807 and the second infrared emitting section 808 is provided. This infrared light receiving element 91
An infrared light receiving portion 809 formed of another material that transmits infrared light is provided on the upper case cover 913 so that the infrared light signal can reach 6. The infrared light receiving section 809 may be formed integrally with the upper case cover 913 itself using a material that transmits infrared rays.

A gap suction port 917 is housed in the center of the upper part of the cleaner body 801 so that cleaning can be quickly performed in a narrow space.

At the lower part of the lower case 901, a front wheel 919 rotatable around a rotary shaft 918, a rear wheel 920, and a front portion of the cleaner body 801 are prevented from being scratched by a floor surface 921. Is attached.

Next, the operation of the electric vacuum cleaner according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9.

When the user of the vacuum cleaner presses one of the switch operating units 806 provided on the hand portion 803 of the hose, the signal code according to the pressed switch is an infrared signal, and the first infrared emitting unit 807 and the second infrared emitting unit 807. It is radiated from the infrared light emitting portion 808 of. The first infrared ray emitting section 807 is arranged so as to face substantially vertically upward in a normal use state, and the infrared signal emitted from the first infrared ray emitting section 807 hits the ceiling or wall of the room and is reflected. Then, the infrared light receiving unit 809 of the cleaner body 801 is reached. In addition, the second infrared light emitting unit 8
08 is disposed at the grip end of the hose proximal portion so as to face downward from substantially horizontal, and the second infrared light emitting portion 8 is provided.
The infrared signal emitted from 08 is directly transmitted to the cleaner body 8
No. 01 reaches the infrared light receiving unit 809. Infrared receiver 8
The infrared signal reaching 09 is received by the infrared light receiving element 916, and the vacuum cleaner is controlled via the control board 915.

Next, the structure of the mouthpiece according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mouthpiece according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a bottom sectional view of the mouthpiece according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an opening / closing mechanism according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of the opening / closing mechanism drive section according to the embodiment of the present invention. 1 and 2,
The suction body 805 is vertically divided into two at a height position approximately at the center thereof, and an outer casing is formed by an upper case 101 and a suction port cover 102 arranged on the upper surface and a lower case 103 arranged on the lower surface. A shock absorbing bumper 104 that keeps the upper case 101 (suction port cover 102) and the lower case 103 airtight is attached to the outer periphery thereof.

At the rear end of the suction body 805, a vertically rotatable casing 105 is provided, and a rotatable suction joint 106 is connected to the tip thereof.

The lower case 103 has a front wheel (not shown) for moving the entire suction body 805 in the front-rear direction and maintaining a constant space between the lower surface of the suction body 805 and the floor surface.
And rear wheels 201a and 201b are attached.

At both ends of the suction port cover 102, there are open / close levers 107 that slide laterally, and by operating this, the suction port cover 102 can be removed from the upper case 101 and the lower case 103.

Inside the suction body 805, the bearings 202a,
A rotary brush 203 for scraping dust, which is attached by using 202b, a large pulley 204 arranged at one end of the rotary brush 203, and an air turbine 206 for driving the rotary brush 203 via a belt 205 are arranged. ing.

A shaft 207 is attached to the air turbine 206, and a small pulley 208 is disposed on one end side of the shaft 207. A belt 205 hung between the small pulley 208 and the large pulley 204 causes the air turbine 206 to move. The driving force is transmitted to the rotary brush 203.

The shaft 207 is a bearing 209a, 209b.
The generator 210 is supported between the bearings 209a and 209b and rotates together with the air turbine 206.

In front of the air turbine 206, there is a nozzle opening / closing mechanism 211 for variably adjusting the amount of suction airflow flowing through the air turbine 206, which is driven by a stepping motor 212. The stepping motor 212 operates by the electric power generated from the generator 210 that rotates together with the air turbine 206, and is controlled by the control circuit 213.

Now, the user operates the switch operating portion 806 provided on the hose hand portion 803 to operate the cleaner main body 80.
When the electric blower 909 in the No. 1 starts operating, the intake turbine causes the air turbine 206 to rotate. Generator 21 connected by shaft 207 when air turbine 206 rotates
0 rotates together to start power generation, and belt 2
The rotary brush 203 connected at 05 also starts to rotate.

When the generator 210 starts to generate power, the control circuit 213 which operates by the generated power also starts to determine the cleaning target from the change of the output voltage of the generator 210 and its frequency. Then, the nozzle opening / closing mechanism 211 is operated by the stepping motor 212 so that the rotation speed of the rotary brush 203 driven by the air turbine 206 becomes an appropriate rotation speed with respect to the surface to be cleaned,
The number of rotations of the air turbine 206 and the rotary brush 203 is controlled by changing the opening area of the nozzle opening / closing mechanism 211.

In this embodiment, the change of the output voltage of the generator and its frequency are used for the judgment of the surface to be cleaned, but the judgment of the surface to be cleaned is not limited to this.
For example, the cleaning target determining means may be separately provided.

The nozzle opening / closing mechanism 211 includes a shield plate 301,
A gearbox 401 configured to reduce the rotation of the stepping motor 212 and the rotation of the stepping motor 212 and transmit the decelerated rotation to the shield plates 301 and 302.

Racks 402a and 402b are provided at the ends of the two shield plates 301 and 302 on the gearbox 401 side.
As shown in FIG. 3, an oblong hole is provided on the opposite side. The overlapping state of the two shield plates 301 and 302 is determined by the rotation of the output shaft of the gearbox 401 and the pinion 403 attached to the output shaft. Through racks 402a, 402b
The opening area is changed by moving the shield plates 301 and 302 to the air turbine 206 to change the suction airflow to the air turbine 206 to control the rotation speed of the air turbine 206.

One shield plate 302 of the two shield plates 301 and 302 is provided with an arm 303 serving as a support portion extending toward the upper surface of the suction body 805 so as to penetrate the upper case 101. , The pointer 3 at the tip of this arm 303
04 are provided.

Since the pointer 304 moves together with the shield plate 302 along with the operation of the nozzle opening / closing mechanism 211,
As shown in FIG. 1, the scale plate 1 is attached to the upper case 101 of the mouthpiece 805.
By providing 09, the position of the shielding plate 302 is indicated and the operating state of the nozzle opening / closing mechanism 211 is transmitted to the user.

The scale plate 109 is used for the upper case 101.
The scale plate 109 is provided at a position lower than the surface of
A transparent window 110 is provided above the table so that the user can see the scale plate 109 and the pointer 304 moving on the scale plate 109. In this way, the pointer 304 and the scale plate 109 are attached to the transparent window 1
Partitioned by 10 is the suction body 80 through the moving groove 111 of the arm 303 to which the pointer 304 is connected from the outside.
This is to prevent dust from entering the inside of No. 5 and the inside of the nozzle opening / closing mechanism 211.

Further, a switching lever 112 is arranged on the upper case 101 of the suction body 805. The switching lever 112 is configured to slide in the lever guide groove 113, and the upper case 101 is normally used.
The tension spring 214 urges it so that it is positioned on the automatic side displayed above.

A cleaning plate 215 is connected to one end of the switching lever 112. Nozzle opening / closing mechanism 2
When the user knows that the nozzle opening / closing mechanism 211 cannot operate because the dust 11 is clogged and the pointer 304 stops moving, the user moves the switching lever 112 to the cleaning side. Then, the cleaning plate 215 connected to the switching lever 112 is
Also moves like the one-dot chain line in FIG.

The cleaning plate 215 is the nozzle opening / closing mechanism 2
11 so that the nozzle opening / closing mechanism 211 can be operated again by moving between the shield plates 301 and 302 in 11.
The dust clogged between 1 and 302 is removed. After the cleaning plate 215 is moved to remove dust, when the user releases the switching lever 112, the elastic force of the tension spring 214 causes the switching lever 11 to move.
2 returns to the automatic position, and cleaning can be performed in a state where the opening and closing of the nozzle is variably adjusted again.

According to this embodiment, the nozzle opening / closing mechanism 211
Since the pointer 304 for displaying the operation position of is provided on the upper surface of the suction body, the user can easily grasp the operation of the nozzle opening / closing mechanism 211.

Further, since the cleaning plate 215 is provided between the shielding plates 301 and 302, even if dust or the like is clogged in the nozzle opening / closing mechanism 211, it is clogged by sliding the cleaning plate 215. Dust can be removed.

As another embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a shaft 601 of the stepping motor 212 is provided with a cylinder 602 having a spiral pattern in the axial direction. Control circuit 2
When the stepping motor 212 rotates on the basis of the signal from 13, the cylinder 602 provided on this shaft 601 also rotates. A spiral pattern is written on the cylinder 602, and by rotating this pattern through the transparent window 501, the user can easily know the operation of the nozzle opening / closing mechanism 211.

FIG. 10 shows another embodiment according to the present invention.

In this embodiment, instead of the pointer 304 in FIG.
Nozzle opening / closing mechanism 211 using a light emitting element such as LED1001
The operation position of is displayed. This LED 1
In order to cause 001 to emit light, the operating position of the nozzle opening / closing mechanism 211 is detected by using a position detection sensor or the like, and the detected signal is taken into the control circuit 213 shown in the previous embodiment and processed, and the nozzle opening / closing mechanism 211 is processed. Display the LED 1001 at the position corresponding to the operating position of. Shield plates 301 and 3
If the nozzle opening / closing mechanism 211 becomes inoperable due to dust clogging during 02, the LED 1001 is displayed blinking. It is also possible to provide a buzzer circuit instead of blinking the LED 1001 to generate a warning sound when the nozzle opening / closing mechanism 211 becomes inoperable.

According to this embodiment, the nozzle opening / closing mechanism 211
Since the operating position of is displayed by using a light emitting element such as LED 1001, the nozzle opening / closing mechanism 2 is different from the first embodiment.
The visibility of the operation position of 11 can be further improved.

Further, since the LED 1001 is displayed blinking when the nozzle opening / closing mechanism 211 cannot operate, the user can easily recognize the abnormal state of the nozzle opening / closing mechanism 211.

[0053]

As described above, according to the present invention, the operating state of the opening / closing mechanism that variably adjusts the suction airflow blown to the air turbine by changing the shape of the nozzle is displayed on the suction body. It is possible to provide an electric vacuum cleaner that allows the user to easily grasp the operation of the opening / closing mechanism.

Further, since the cleaning plate is provided between the shielding plates, even if dust or the like is clogged in the opening / closing mechanism, the clogging dust can be easily removed by sliding the cleaning plate 215. An electric vacuum cleaner that can be provided.

Furthermore, since the display means for displaying the inoperable state is provided when the open / close mechanism is inoperable, it is possible to provide an electric vacuum cleaner capable of easily grasping an abnormal state of the open / close mechanism. You can

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a mouthpiece according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a mouthpiece according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of a nozzle opening / closing mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of a nozzle opening / closing mechanism driving unit.

FIG. 5 is an external perspective view of a mouthpiece according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a mouthpiece according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged view of a nozzle opening / closing mechanism drive unit.

FIG. 8 is an external perspective view of an electric vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a cleaner body according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an external perspective view of a mouthpiece according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 ... Upper case, 102 ... Suction port cover, 103 ... Lower case, 107 ... Open / close lever, 109 ... Scale plate, 110
... window, 111 ... groove, 112 ... switch lever, 113 ...
Lever guide groove, 203 ... Rotary brush, 206 ...
Air turbine, 207 ... Shaft, 210 ... Generator, 211 ...
Nozzle opening / closing mechanism, 212 ... Stepping motor, 213
... control circuit, 214 ... tension spring, 215 ... cleaning plate, 301, 302 ... shield plate, 303 ... arm, 304
... pointer, 401 ... gearbox, 501 ... window, 601 ...
Shaft, 602 ... Cylinder, 805 ... Suction body, 1001 ... LE
D.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Masayuki Takagi 1-1-1, Higashitaga-cho, Hitachi-shi, Ibaraki Hitachi Ltd. Electric Appliances Division, Hitachi Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A cleaner body having a dust collecting part, an electric blower, etc., a hose connected to the cleaner body, and a suction body connected via an extension pipe connected to the hose. In the electric vacuum cleaner, the suction body is an air turbine rotated by a suction airflow generated by the electric blower, a rotary brush rotating by using the air turbine as a drive source, and an opening / closing mechanism for adjusting a suction airflow blown to the air turbine. And a display means for displaying an operating position of the opening / closing mechanism on the suction body. 2. A cleaner body having a dust collecting part, an electric blower, etc., a hose connected to the cleaner body, and a suction body connected via an extension pipe connected to the hose. In the electric vacuum cleaner, the suction body is an air turbine rotated by an intake airflow generated by the electric blower, a rotary brush rotated by the air turbine as a drive source, and a generator rotated by the air turbine as a drive source. An opening / closing mechanism that adjusts the suction airflow blown to the air turbine; and an electric motor that drives the opening / closing mechanism with the electric power of the generator, and the display unit that displays the operating position of the opening / closing mechanism on the suction body. An electric vacuum cleaner characterized by that. 3. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the display means comprises a light emitting element such as an LED. 4. A cleaner body having a dust collector, an electric blower, etc., a hose connected to the cleaner body, and a suction body connected via an extension pipe connected to the hose. In the electric vacuum cleaner, the suction body is an air turbine rotated by an intake airflow generated by the electric blower, a rotary brush rotated by the air turbine as a drive source, and a generator rotated by the air turbine as a drive source. An opening / closing mechanism for adjusting the suction airflow blown to the air turbine, a support part attached to the opening / closing mechanism and penetrating above the suction body, and an electric motor for driving the opening / closing mechanism by the electric power of the generator. An electric vacuum cleaner having a pointer attached to the support portion and located on the upper surface of the suction body. 5. A cleaner body having a dust collecting part, an electric blower, etc., a hose connected to the cleaner body, and a suction body connected via an extension pipe connected to the hose. In the electric vacuum cleaner, the suction body is an air turbine rotated by a suction airflow generated by the electric blower, a rotary brush rotating by using the air turbine as a drive source, and an opening / closing mechanism for adjusting a suction airflow blown to the air turbine. And a removing means for removing dust and the like on the sliding portion of the opening / closing mechanism. 6. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, further comprising display means for displaying an inoperable state when the opening / closing mechanism is inoperable.