KR100239161B1 - Method and apparatus for sensing capacity of dust bag in vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for detecting a dust collection state of a vacuum cleaner, the vacuum cleaner for transferring dust or foreign matter sucked by the suction power of a suction motor through a pipe member and collecting the dust in a dust bag. Compared with the operation unit for adjusting the driving and suction force, the suction force detection unit installed on a predetermined portion of the pipe member for detecting the suction force in the pipe member, the suction force detected by the suction force detection unit and the suction force adjusted by the operation unit And a control unit for detecting the dust collection saturation state of the dust bag and a display unit for displaying the dust collection saturation state of the dust bag according to a control signal from the control unit, even if a separate pressure sensor is not used. The number and rotation of the fan rotated by the external air flowing through the formed hole By detecting the dust collection saturation state of the dust bag according to the number of revolutions corresponding to the suction force selected through the cutting, it is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost, as well as to accurately detect the dust collection saturation state of the dust bag.

Description

Dust collecting saturation state detection device and method of vacuum cleaner

The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner, and in particular to detect the dust collection saturation state of the dust bag by detecting the rotational speed (RPM) of the fan rotated by the external air flowing through the hole formed in the predetermined portion of the pipe member The present invention relates to a dust collecting saturation state detection apparatus and method for a vacuum cleaner.

In general, the main components of the vacuum cleaner, as shown in Figure 1, the suction device having a suction surface to suck the dust or foreign matter, etc. by the suction force of the air, and the suction device 100 The communication device 200 serves as a passage so as to smoothly transport the dust to the collecting place, and the main body 300 to collect the dust transported by the communication device 200.

The suction device 100 is composed of two first transfer member 110 installed on both sides, and a connecting pipe 120 formed integrally with the rear upper end of the upper cover and connected to the communication device 200. .

In addition, the communication device 200 includes a pipe member 210 including a first pipe member 211 and a second pipe member 212 made of a plastic material connected to communicate with a hollow portion of the connection pipe 120; The handle member 220 is coupled to the pipe member 210 and 220, and the suction hose 230 is coupled to communicate with the handle control unit 220, as well as the natural bending. The knob control unit 220 is provided with a power switch for operating the power (ON) / off (OFF) or a wind speed control switch for adjusting the suction pressure for the air, as well as the electrical signal in accordance with the switch operation The operation unit 221 for converting, and the transmission unit 222 for converting the electrical signal converted by the operation unit 221 to a corresponding wireless signal (for example, infrared signal) and transmits to the outside is provided have.

In addition, the main body 300 includes a hose connector 310 connected to an end of the suction hose 230, a receiver 320 for receiving an infrared signal transmitted from the transmitter 222, dust to be described later. A dust indicator 330 for indicating when to replace the bag, two second transfer wheels 340 provided at both sides, a transport handle 350 which allows the operator to easily transport the work place for movement; It is composed of a power plug 360 for supplying power to the main body 300.

On the other hand, the inside of the main body 300, as shown in Figure 2, through the suction device 100 and the communication device 200, a dust bag for collecting dust or foreign matter sucked into the main body 300 ( A dust collecting chamber 370 in which 371 is provided is formed, and a suction motor 380 is installed at the rear side of the dust collecting chamber 370 to generate suction force to suck dust or foreign matter.

The rotary shaft of the suction motor 380 is provided with an impeller 390 that rotates when the suction motor 380 is driven, and absorbs vibration generated by the suction motor 380 before and after the suction motor 380. The front dustproof material 391 and the rear dustproof material 392 to suppress the noise caused by the vibration is installed, the rear side of the suction motor 380, the power cable 400 is drawn out or drawn in when the main body 300 is moved You are wounded.

In the vacuum cleaner configured as described above, the user pulls out the power plug 360 from the main body 300 and connects it to an outlet (not shown), and then turns on the power switch provided in the operation unit 221 of the handle adjusting unit 220. Then, power is applied to the suction motor 380 installed in the main body 300 to drive the suction motor 380.

When the suction motor 380 is driven, the impeller 390 coupled to the rotary shaft of the suction motor 380 is rotated at a high speed while the dust or foreign matter of the cleaning part is sucked through the suction device 100 by a strong vacuum suction input. The dust or foreign matter sucked through the suction device 100 is collected in the dust bag 371 installed in the dust collecting chamber 370 through the communication device 200 and is cleaned.

On the other hand, if the dust bag 371 is a dust collection saturation state, the dust collection force of the dust bag 371 is lowered, but the suction motor 380 is continuously driven to the machine room is installed with the suction motor 380 and the dust bag 371 house Since the pressure difference of the truth 370 is generated, it is detected by the pressure sensor 395 installed in the machine room to detect the dust collection saturation state of the dust bag 371.

However, in the conventional vacuum cleaner, since the pressure sensor 395 must be separately installed in the machine room in order to detect the dust collection saturation state of the dust bag 371, the pressure sensor 395 is not only increased. There was a problem that the dust collection saturation state of the dust bag 371 is not known when it is broken.

Therefore, the present invention is devised to solve the above-mentioned problems, the fan is installed in the pipe member and the rotational speed of the fan rotated by the external air introduced through the hole formed in the predetermined portion of the pipe member and the operation unit It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for detecting a dust collection state of a vacuum cleaner that can accurately detect the dust collection saturation state of a dust bag by comparing the rotation speed corresponding to the selected suction force.

In order to achieve the above object, the dust collection saturation state detection device of the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention, in the vacuum cleaner for transporting dust or foreign matter sucked by the suction force of the suction motor through the pipe member to collect in the dust bag. And an operation unit for adjusting the driving and suction force of the vacuum cleaner, a suction force sensing unit installed at a predetermined portion of the pipe member to detect suction force in the pipe member, and a suction force detected by the suction force sensing unit and the operation unit. A control unit for detecting the dust collection saturation state of the dust bag by comparing the suction force is adjusted, and the display unit for displaying the dust collection saturation state of the dust bag in accordance with a control signal from the control unit.

In addition, the dust collection saturation state detection method of the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention, in the vacuum cleaner for transferring the dust or foreign matter sucked by the suction force of the suction motor through the pipe member to collect in the dust bag, the vacuum by the operation unit Suction force adjusting step of adjusting the suction force of the vacuum cleaner, and suction force for detecting the number of revolutions of the fan rotated by the external air flowing through the hole when the suction motor is driven to generate a suction force in accordance with the suction force adjusted in the suction force adjustment step A dust collecting saturation state discriminating step of determining a dust collecting saturation state of the dust bag by comparing the sensing step with the rotation speed of the fan detected in the suction force detecting step and the rotation speed corresponding to the suction force adjusted in the suction force adjusting step; Dust collection saturation state table indicating the dust collection saturation state of the dust bag determined in the dust collection saturation state determination step Characterized by comprising steps:

1 is a perspective view showing a general vacuum cleaner,

2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A of FIG.

3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the main components according to the present invention;

4 is a control block diagram of an apparatus for detecting a dust collection state of a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 5 is a flow chart showing the operation sequence for detecting the dust collection saturation state of the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings>

100: suction device 210: pipe member

221: control panel 300: main body

371: dust bag 380: suction motor

390: impeller 420: fan

430: rotation speed detection unit 450: suction force detection unit

460 control unit 470 suction motor drive unit

480: display unit

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Since the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention is the same as the conventional configuration shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the same name and the same reference numeral are specified to omit overlapping description.

As shown in FIG. 3, one side of the pipe member 210 including the first pipe member 211 and the second pipe member 212 is provided with a hollow portion of the pipe member 210 through an air discharge hole 411. The air chamber 410 is in communication with the outside through the air inlet hole 412 and the air inlet 412 is formed, the suction motor 380 is driven in the air chamber 410 when inhaling the outside air The fan 420 rotated using the outside air sucked to one side of the air chamber 410 by the pressure difference between the hollow portion 215 and the outside of the pipe member 210, the rotation of the fan 420 Suction force detection unit 450 is provided which consists of a rotation speed detection unit 430 for detecting the number and measuring the suction force in the pipe member (210).

A circuit block diagram for detecting the dust collection saturation state of the dust bag of the vacuum cleaner configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4, the power supply unit 440 converts a commercial AC voltage input from an AC power supply terminal (not shown) into a predetermined DC voltage required for driving the vacuum cleaner, and outputs the operation unit 221 of the vacuum cleaner. It is provided with a power switch for operating the power (ON) / off (OFF) or a wind speed control switch for adjusting the suction pressure to the air, as well as converts the switch operation by the user to a corresponding electrical signal.

Suction force detection unit 450 is installed on a predetermined portion of the pipe member 210 to detect the suction force in the pipe member 210, the suction force detection unit 450 is formed on a predetermined portion of the pipe member 210. The fan 420 is rotated by the external air introduced through the air discharge hole 411, and the rotation speed detection unit 430 for detecting the rotation speed of the fan 420 and input it to the controller to be described later.

In addition, the controller 460 receives the DC voltage supplied from the power supply unit 440 to initialize the vacuum cleaner, and controls the overall operation of the vacuum cleaner according to the switch signal input from the operation unit 221. As a microcomputer, the control unit 460 corresponds to the rotational speed in the pipe member 210 sensed by the rotational speed detection unit 430 in the suctioning force detection unit 450 and the suctioning force adjusted by the operation unit 221. By comparing the rotational speed, the dust collection saturation state of the dust bag 371 is sensed, and a control signal for displaying it is generated.

In addition, the suction motor driver 470 receives the commercial AC voltage input from the AC power source according to the control signal from the controller 460 to drive the suction motor 380, and the display unit 480 controls the controller ( In accordance with a control signal from 460, the dust collecting saturation state of the dust bag 371 is a dust indicator.

The rotation speed detection unit 430 detects the rotation speed of the fan 420 and transmits the rotation speed to the control unit 460. The rotation speed detection unit 430 changes when the fan 420 rotates. The Hall sensor 431 for detecting a signal current and the signal current sensed by the Hall sensor 431 through the resistor (R2) is turned on / off to pulse the input terminal (INT) of the control unit 460 A transistor TR1 for outputting a signal and a pulse signal proportional to the rotational speed of the fan 420 at the time of turning on / off the transistor TR1 to an input terminal INT of the controller 460. Resistor R3 and R4 connected to the collector terminal of the transistor TR1 and a resistor connected to the base terminal and the collector terminal of the transistor TR1 so as to maintain a constant current flowing through the base terminal of the transistor TR1. It consists of (R1).

Hereinafter, the operation and effect of the dust collecting saturation state detection apparatus and method of the vacuum cleaner configured as described above will be described.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure for detecting a dust collection saturation state of the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention, in which S denotes a step.

First, when the user pulls out the power plug 360 from the main body 300 and connects it to an outlet (not shown), the power supply unit 440 uses a predetermined AC voltage input from an AC power supply terminal (not shown) required to drive the vacuum cleaner. A DC voltage is converted into a DC voltage and output to each driving circuit and the controller 460.

Therefore, in step S1, the DC voltage output from the power supply unit 440 is input from the control unit 460 to initialize the vacuum cleaner.

At this time, the user controls the desired suction pressure (for example, the suction pressure 'medium') by operating the wind speed control switch provided on the operation unit 221 of the knob control unit 220, and then turn on the power switch, The signal is applied from the operation unit 221 to the transmitter 222, and the transmitter 222 encodes a signal corresponding to a switch input by a predetermined protocol, modulates the encoded signal and transmits an infrared signal.

When the infrared signal is transmitted from the transmitting unit 222, the receiving unit 320 of the main body 300 receives the converted signal into an electrical signal, demodulates the converted electrical signal and inputs it to the control unit 460, step S2. Further, the control unit 460 outputs a control signal for driving the suction motor 380 to the suction motor driver 470 according to the operation of the wind speed control switch and the power switch.

Accordingly, the suction motor driver 470 drives the suction motor 380 by receiving a commercial AC voltage input from an AC power source according to a control signal output from the controller 460.

When the suction motor 380 is driven, the impeller 390 coupled to the rotary shaft of the suction motor 380 is rotated at a high speed while the dust or foreign matter of the cleaning part is sucked through the suction device 100 by a strong vacuum suction input. The dust or foreign matter sucked through the suction device 100 is collected in the dust bag 371 installed in the dust collecting chamber 370 through the pipe member 210 and the suction hose 230, and the cleaning is performed.

In this case, a flow of air from the suction device 100 to the dust bag 371 of the main body 300 occurs in the hollow portion 215 of the pipe member 210, whereby external air is introduced into the air inlet hole 412. Inflow through the fan, the fan 420 is rotated by the external air.

Therefore, in step S3, the hall sensor 431 of the rotation speed detection unit 430 detects a signal current that changes when the fan 420 rotates, and outputs a square wave of high or low level, and the hall sensor 431. The square wave output from the control unit 460 is applied to the base terminal of the transistor TR1 through the resistor R2 so that the transistor TR1 is turned on or off and is proportional to the rotational speed of the fan 420. Output to the input terminal (INT).

Accordingly, in step S4, the control unit 460 compares the rotation speed of the fan 420 detected by the rotation speed detection unit 430 with the reference rotation speed according to the suction force selected by the operation unit 221, and determines the rotation speed detection unit ( If the rotation speed of the fan 420 detected through the 430 is not smaller than the reference rotation speed (NO), the dust bag 371 detects that the dust is not saturated, and returns to the step S2 to perform the step S2 or less. Cleaning is performed by repeating the operation.

On the other hand, when the determination result in step S4, if the detection speed is less than the reference speed (YES), the process proceeds to step S5 and the control unit 460 detects that the dust is saturated in the dust bag 371 to display it Generating a control signal, and a display signal of the dust bag 371 indicating the dust bag saturation state is displayed on the display unit 480 by the control signal from the controller 460.

Next, in step 6, the control unit 460 determines whether the cleaning end is selected through the operation unit 221, and returns to step 2 if the cleaning end is not selected through the operation unit 221, and repeats the operation of step 2 or less. If the cleaning finish is selected through the operation unit 221, the cleaning ends.

According to the dust collecting saturation state detection apparatus and method of the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention as described above, by adjusting the number of revolutions of the fan rotated by the external air flowing through the hole formed in the predetermined portion of the pipe member and the control unit By detecting the dust collection saturation state of the dust bag by comparing the number of rotations corresponding to the suction force, the manufacturing cost can be reduced and the structure of the machine room can be simplified by detecting the dust saturation state of the dust bag without a separate pressure sensor. In addition, there is an effect that can accurately detect the dust collection saturation state of the dust bag.

Claims (4)

In the vacuum cleaner which transfers the dust or foreign substances sucked by the suction power of the suction motor through the pipe member and collects them in the dust bag. An operation unit for controlling driving and suction force of the vacuum cleaner; A suction force detecting unit installed at a predetermined portion of the pipe member to detect suction force in the pipe member; A control unit for detecting a dust collection saturation state of the dust bag by comparing the suction force detected by the suction force detector and the suction force adjusted by the operation unit; Dust collecting saturation state detection device of the vacuum cleaner, characterized in that consisting of a display unit for displaying the dust collection saturation state of the dust bag in accordance with a control signal from the control unit. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the suction force detecting unit comprises a fan rotated by external air introduced through a hole formed in a predetermined portion of the pipe member, and a rotational speed detection unit detecting the rotational speed of the fan and inputting it to the controller. Dust collecting saturation state detection device of the vacuum cleaner, characterized in that the. The vacuum of claim 2, wherein the controller detects the dust collection saturation state of the dust bag by comparing the rotation speed detected through the rotation speed detection unit with the rotation speed corresponding to the suction force adjusted through the operation unit. Dust collecting saturation state detection device of the vacuum cleaner. In the vacuum cleaner which transfers the dust or foreign substances sucked by the suction power of the suction motor through the pipe member and collects them in the dust bag. A suction force adjusting step of adjusting the suction force of the vacuum cleaner by an operation unit; A suction force detection step of detecting a rotational speed of the fan rotated by external air introduced through the hole when the suction motor is driven and generated by the suction force according to the suction force adjusted in the suction force adjustment step; A dust collection saturation state discrimination step of determining a dust collection saturation state of the dust bag by comparing the rotation speed of the fan detected in the suction force detection step and the rotation speed corresponding to the suction force adjusted in the suction force adjustment step; A dust collection saturation state detection method comprising a dust collection saturation state display step of displaying the dust collection saturation state of the dust bag determined in the dust collection saturation state determination step.