KR100853332B1 - Vacuum cleaner, dust collecting apparatus thereof and controlling method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A vacuum cleaner, a dust collecting apparatus thereof, and a controlling method thereof are provided to rotate a center gear and a driven gear vertically by a gear shaft of the driven gear and to convert the rotation of the driven gear into vertical translation by a vertical moving member for compressing the dust in a dust storage portion, minimizing the dust volume, and maximizing the volume of the dust of the dust storage portion. A driving apparatus comprises a driving motor, and a power transmission part for transmitting driving force of a driving motor to a dividing plate. The power transmission part includes a vertical moving member(310), a driven gear(320), a center gear(330), and a driving gear. The vertical moving member is combined at a lower side of the dividing plate. The driven gear is combined with the vertical moving member. The center gear is combined with a shaft of the driven gear. The driving gear is engaged with the center gear and the driving motor to transmit the driving force of the driving motor. When the driving motor is rotated, the driving gear is rotated and the center gear is rotated too. When the center gear is rotated, the driven gear is rotated and the vertical moving member is moved vertically. A gear shaft(322) of the driven gear is connected with the center gear. The vertical moving member converts the rotation of the driven gear into vertical translation. Through holes(233) are formed at a lower wall(232) and a lower cover(250). The through holes guide the motion of the vertical moving member. An opened part(254) is formed at the lower cover to expose a part of the center gear.

Description

Vacuum cleaner, dust collecting apparatus and controlling method

1 is a perspective view of a state in which the dust collector is separated from the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

2 is an exploded perspective view of the dust collecting device according to the present invention.

Figure 3 is a bottom perspective view of the dust separation unit according to the present invention.

4 is a perspective view of a dust collecting container according to the present invention.

5 is a perspective view taken along the line II ′ of FIG. 4;

6 is a view showing the structure of a drive device provided in the dust collecting container according to the present invention.

7 is a view showing the structure of a drive device provided in the cleaner body according to the present invention.

8 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the dust collecting container according to the present invention is coupled to the cleaner body.

9 is a flowchart illustrating a process of compressing dust in the dust collecting container.

10 is a view showing a state in which the partition plate of the dust collecting container compressed dust.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

210: dust separation unit 230: dust collecting container

240: partition plate 310: vertical moving member

320: driven gear 330: intermediate gear

340: drive gear 350: drive motor

The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner, and more particularly, to a dust collecting apparatus having an increased storage capacity of dust, a vacuum cleaner having the same, and a control method of the vacuum cleaner.

In general, a vacuum cleaner is a device that sucks air containing dust by using a vacuum pressure generated by a suction motor mounted inside the body, and then filters the dust inside the body.

Such a vacuum cleaner includes a suction nozzle for sucking air containing dust, a cleaner body in communication with the suction nozzle, an extension pipe for guiding air sucked from the suction nozzle toward the cleaner body, and air passing through the extension pipe. A connection pipe is connected to the cleaner body. Here, a nozzle suction port having a predetermined size is formed at the bottom of the suction nozzle to allow the air containing the dust accumulated on the floor to be sucked.

On the other hand, the inside of the cleaner body, there is provided a drive device for generating an air suction force to suck the outside air containing dust to the suction nozzle.

In addition, the dust collector is detachably mounted to the cleaner body to separate and store dust. The dust collector performs a function of separating and storing dust contained in the air sucked from the suction nozzle.

In detail, the dust collecting apparatus includes a dust collecting body forming an outer shape, a suction port through which air is sucked into the dust collecting body, a cyclone unit separating dust from the air sucked into the dust collecting body, and separated from the cyclone unit. A dust storage unit for storing dust and an outlet for discharging air from which dust is separated from the cyclone unit are included.

Meanwhile, the dust stored in the lower space of the dust collecting body, that is, the dust storage unit, continuously rotates along the inner circumferential surface of the dust collecting body by the rotational flow inside the dust collecting body while the vacuum cleaner is operating.

When the operation of the vacuum cleaner is stopped, the vacuum cleaner sinks to the bottom of the dust collecting body and is stored in a low density state.

Therefore, in the conventional dust collecting apparatus, when a predetermined amount or more of dust is stored in the dust collecting apparatus while the vacuum cleaner is operating, the dust rises while rotating along the inner wall of the dust collecting body, and is formed in the upper space of the dust collecting body. There is a problem in that the cyclone portion is violated, and thus the unseparated dust is discharged to the discharge port by piggybacking on the discharge airflow, so that dust collection performance is reduced.

In addition, when the operation of the vacuum cleaner is stopped, the dust sinks to the bottom of the dust collecting body as it is stored in a low density state. That is, since dust inside the dust collecting body occupies a volume that is too large for its weight, there was an inconvenience of frequently emptying the dust collecting body in order to maintain dust collecting performance.

Therefore, in recent years, in order to improve the convenience of cleaner use, efforts have been made to maximize the capacity of dust stored in the dust collecting body and to improve dust collecting performance.

The present invention has been proposed in order to solve the problems described above, and an object of the present invention is to propose a vacuum cleaner, a dust collecting apparatus and a control method of increasing the capacity of dust stored in the dust storage unit.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to propose a vacuum cleaner, a dust collector of the vacuum cleaner and a control method in which the compression of the dust stored in the dust storage unit is automatically performed.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to propose a vacuum cleaner, a dust collector of the vacuum cleaner and a control method for allowing a user to easily discharge the dust stored in the dust storage unit.

Dust separation apparatus of the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention for achieving the object as described above is a dust separation unit for separating the dust from the sucked air; A dust collecting container having a dust storage unit configured to store the dust separated from the dust separation unit; A pressing member provided to be able to translate in the dust storage unit, such that a volume of dust stored in the dust storage unit is reduced; And a driving motor including a driving motor for driving the pressing member, and a power transmission unit for transmitting a driving force of the driving motor to the pressing member.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a vacuum cleaner includes: a dust collecting container having a dust storage unit in which separated dust is stored; A pressing member provided to be able to translate in the dust storage unit, such that a volume of dust stored in the dust storage unit is reduced; A cleaner body to which at least the dust collecting container is selectively mounted; A drive motor provided to the cleaner body; And a power transmission unit for transmitting a driving force of the drive motor to the pressing member.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of controlling a vacuum cleaner includes: a step in which air containing dust is sucked by a suction force generated by a suction motor, and dust separated from the sucked air is stored in a dust storage unit; And compressing the dust stored in the dust storage unit by translating the pressing member by the driving force generated by the driving motor.

Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings will be described a specific embodiment of the present invention. However, the spirit of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments presented, and those skilled in the art who understand the spirit of the present invention can easily suggest other embodiments within the scope of the same idea.

1 is a perspective view of a state in which the dust collector is separated from the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention includes a cleaner main body 100 provided with a suction motor (not shown) and a dust separation device for separating and storing dust contained in sucked air. do.

Although not shown, a suction nozzle for sucking air containing dust and a connection pipe for connecting the suction nozzle to the cleaner body 100 are further included.

In the present embodiment, the basic configuration of the suction nozzle and the connection pipe is the same as the conventional description thereof will be omitted.

In detail, a main body suction part 110 through which the air containing the dust sucked from the suction nozzle is sucked is formed at the front lower end of the cleaner main body 100. In addition, a body discharge part 120 through which dust separated air is discharged to the outside is formed at one side of the cleaner body 100.

In addition, a dust collecting device mounting unit 130 on which the dust collecting device 200 is mounted is formed on the upper side of the main body suction unit 110, and on one side of the dust collecting unit mounting unit 130 through the main body suction unit 110. An air outlet 140 is formed to discharge air sucked into the main body 100 to the dust collecting device 200.

On the other hand, the dust separation apparatus, the dust collecting unit 200 is composed of a dust separation unit 210 for separating the dust contained in the air, and a dust collecting container 230 in which the dust separated from the dust separation unit 210 is stored. ) Is included.

Hereinafter, the dust collecting apparatus 200 according to the present invention will be described in more detail.

2 is an exploded perspective view of the dust collecting apparatus according to the present invention, Figure 3 is a bottom perspective view of the dust separation unit according to the present invention.

2 and 3, the dust collecting apparatus 200 according to the present invention may be selectively coupled to the dust separating unit 210 and the dust separating unit 210 to separate the dust contained in the inhaled air. A dust collecting container 230 in which dust separated from the dust separating unit 210 is stored, and a cover member 260 coupled to an upper side of the dust separating unit 210 are included.

In detail, the dust separator 210 includes a cylindrical cyclone 211 to separate the sucked air and dust by the cyclone principle, that is, the centrifugal force difference between the air and the dust.

In addition, an upper portion of the cyclone 211 is formed with an inlet 212 through which air containing dust is sucked. Here, the inlet 212 is preferably formed in the tangential direction of the cyclone 211 in order to generate a cyclone flow in the cyclone 211.

Meanwhile, a discharge hole 262 is formed at the center of the cover member 260 to discharge air from which dust is separated by the cyclone 211, that is, inside the dust separator 210.

In addition, a hollow exhaust member 270 is coupled to the discharge hole 262. The outer circumferential surface of the exhaust member 270 is formed with a plurality of through holes 272 through which the air that has undergone the dust separation process from the cyclone 211 is discharged.

Therefore, the air that has undergone the dust separation process within the cyclone 211 is discharged from the dust collector 200 through the exhaust hole 262 via the exhaust member 270.

On the other hand, the dust collecting container 230 is coupled to the lower side of the dust separation unit 210 so that the dust separated from the dust separation unit 210 is stored.

Here, for easy handling of the dust separation unit 210 and the dust collecting container 230, the dust separating unit 210 and the dust collecting container 230 has an upper handle 213 and a lower handle 232, respectively. It is provided.

In addition, a hook device is provided in the dust collecting device 200 so that the dust collecting container 230 and the dust separation unit 210 may be coupled to each other.

In detail, a hook hook 214 is provided at the bottom of the outer circumferential surface of the dust separation unit 210, and a hook part 232 is selectively provided at the top of the outer circumferential surface of the dust collecting container 230 to be coupled to the hook hook 214. do.

In addition, the partition plate 240 is provided on the upper side of the dust collecting container 230 in the horizontal direction. The partition plate 240 serves to partition the dust separation unit 210 and the dust collecting container 230.

In addition, the partition plate 240 has dust stored inside the dust collection container 230 scattered toward the dust separation unit 210 in a state where the dust collecting container 230 is coupled to the dust separation unit 210. To further prevent this from happening.

In addition, an opening 242 is formed in the partition plate 240 to allow the dust separated from the cyclone 211 to flow into the dust collecting container 230.

Therefore, the dust separated by the dust separation unit 210 is introduced into the dust collecting container 230 through the opening 242 and stored in the dust collecting container 230.

In addition to the above configuration, the dust collecting apparatus 200 is preferably configured to maximize the dust collecting capacity of the dust stored therein.

To this end, it is preferable that a configuration for reducing the volume of dust stored in the dust collecting container 230 is added to the dust collecting device (200).

Hereinafter, a vacuum cleaner provided with a dust collecting device 200 according to the present invention having a maximum dust collecting capacity will be described.

4 is a perspective view of the dust collecting container according to the present invention, Figure 5 is a perspective view cut along the line II 'of FIG.

4 and 5, the dust collecting container 230 according to the present invention is formed in a cylindrical shape, there is formed a dust storage unit 231 for storing the dust separated from the dust separation unit 210 therein. .

In addition, the partition plate 242 is provided above the dust collecting container 230 as described above. In addition, the partition plate 242 is supported by the vertical movement member 310 which will be described later, and moves up and down together when the vertical movement member 310 moves up and down.

As the partition plate 240 moves downward, the dust stored in the dust storage unit 231 is compressed.

That is, in the present invention, the dust stored in the dust storage unit 231 is compressed by the vertical translation movement of the partition plate 240. Thus, the partition plate 240 may be referred to as a pressing member for compressing the dust stored in the dust storage unit 231.

In addition, the partition plate 240 is coupled to the vertical movement member 310. To this end, a coupling protrusion 312 is formed in the vertical movement member 310, and an insertion groove 244 and a coupling protrusion (3) into which a portion of the vertical movement member 310 is inserted are formed at the bottom of the partition plate 240. A protrusion insertion groove 314 into which the 312 is inserted is formed.

Here, the through hole 234 is formed in the bottom wall 232 forming the bottom surface of the dust storage unit 231 to move the vertical movement member 310 up and down.

On the other hand, the lower cover 250 is detachably coupled to the lower side of the dust collecting container 230. Here, the lower cover 250 is provided to protect a part of the driving device provided in the dust collecting container 230.

In addition, the lower cover 250 is formed with a through hole 252 through which the vertical movement member 310 penetrates.

In addition to the above configuration, the dust separation device according to the present invention further includes a driving device for enabling vertical movement of the partition plate 240.

6 is a view showing the structure of the drive device provided in the dust collecting container according to the present invention, Figure 7 is a view showing the structure of the drive device provided in the cleaner body according to the present invention, Figure 8 is a dust collecting according to the present invention Sectional view showing a state in which the container is coupled to the cleaner body.

6 to 8, a driving device for vertically moving the partition plate 240 includes a driving motor 350 generating a driving force and a driving force of the driving motor 350 on the partition plate 240. It includes a power transmission unit for transmitting to.

In detail, the power transmission unit includes a vertical movement member 310 coupled to the lower side of the partition plate 240, a driven gear 320 coupled to the vertical movement member 310, and a shaft of the driven gear 320. An intermediate gear 330 coupled to the 320 and a driving gear 340 coupled to the intermediate gear 330 and the driving motor 350 to transmit power of the driving motor 340 are included.

Therefore, when the driving motor 350 is rotated, the driving gear 340 coupled with the driving motor 350 is rotated, and the intermediate gear 330 is rotated by the rotation of the driving gear 340. . In addition, the driven gear 320 is rotated by the rotation of the intermediate gear 330, and the vertical movement member 310 is vertically moved by the rotation of the driven gear 320.

In detail, the drive gear 340 has a horizontal rotational motion by the drive motor 350. In addition, the intermediate gear 330 changes the horizontal rotational movement of the drive gear 340 into a vertical rotational movement. To this end, a bevel gear may be used as the intermediate gear 330 and the driving gear 340.

The gear shaft 322 of the driven gear 320 is connected to the intermediate gear 330 so that the driven gear 320 also moves vertically. In addition, the vertical movement member 310 changes the rotational movement of the driven gear 320 to the vertical translational movement. At this time, one side of the vertical movement member 320 is formed a gear teeth for coupling with the gear teeth of the driven gear 330.

That is, the vertical movement member 310 serves as a rack, and the driven gear 320 serves as a pinion.

As described above, through holes 233 and 252 are formed in the bottom wall 232 and the lower cover 250 to allow the vertical movement member 310 to move.

Here, since the vertical movement member 310 moves along the through holes 233 and 252 spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance, the through holes 233 and 252 guide the movement of the vertical movement member 310. I will play a role.

In addition, an opening 254 is formed in the lower cover 250 to expose a portion of the intermediate gear 330 to the outside of the dust collecting container.

On the other hand, the drive motor 350 is provided below the dust collector mounting portion 130, the drive gear 340 is coupled to the rotary shaft of the drive motor 350, the bottom surface of the dust collector mounting portion 130 Is provided.

In addition, a portion of the outer circumferential surface of the driving gear 340 is exposed to the outside from the bottom of the dust collector mounting portion 130. To this end, it is preferable that a motor accommodating part (not shown) in which the driving motor 350 is installed is formed below the bottom of the dust collecting device mounting part 130.

In addition, an opening 131 is formed at a bottom of the dust collector mounting unit 130 to expose a portion of the outer circumferential surface of the drive gear 340 to the dust collector mounting unit 130.

As the driving gear 340 is exposed to the dust collector mounting unit 130, when the dust collector 200 is mounted on the dust collector mounting unit 130, the intermediate gear 330 and the driving gear 340 are mounted. ) Is meshed.

In this case, in order to enable the downward movement of the vertical movement member 310, a through hole 133 through which the vertical movement member 310 penetrates is formed at a bottom of the dust collector mounting unit 130.

Here, the drive motor 350 is preferably a motor capable of forward rotation and reverse rotation. In other words, a motor capable of bidirectional rotation may be used as the driving motor 350. Accordingly, the partition plate 240 may move up and down.

As such, in order to enable forward and reverse rotation of the driving motor 350, the driving motor 350 may be a synchronous motor.

The synchronized motor is configured to enable forward and reverse rotation by the motor itself. When the force applied to the motor is greater than or equal to a predetermined value when the motor rotates in one direction, the rotation of the motor is converted to the other direction.

At this time, the force applied to the motor is a resistive force (torque: torque) acting on the partition plate 240 as the partition plate 240 presses dust when the partition plate 240 moves downward. When the set value is reached, the rotation of the motor is configured to change direction.

Such a synchro-motor is generally known in the motor art, and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted. However, it is one of the technical ideas of the present invention to enable the reverse rotation of the driving motor 350 by the synchro motor.

In addition, when a dust or more of a predetermined amount of dust is collected inside the dust storage unit 231, in order to prevent deterioration of dust collection performance and overload of a motor, displaying the dust emptying time of the dust collector 200 to the user. desirable.

To this end, a display unit (not shown) is provided on the cleaner body 100, the dust collecting device 200, or the handle (not shown), so that a predetermined amount or more of dust is stored in the dust storage unit 231. When the moving range of the partition plate 240 is less than or equal to a predetermined distance, the dust collecting time of the dust collecting device 200 is displayed to the user.

9 is a flowchart illustrating a process of compressing dust in the dust collecting container, and FIG. 10 is a view showing a state in which a partition plate of the dust collecting container compresses dust.

9 and 10, the operation and dust compression process of the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention will be described.

When the power of the vacuum cleaner is turned on by the user, the suction motor of the vacuum cleaner is operated to start cleaning (S1). In addition, suction force is generated in the suction motor, and air containing dust is sucked into the suction nozzle by the suction force.

In addition, the air sucked through the suction nozzle is introduced into the cleaner body 100 through the main body suction part 110, and the introduced air is introduced into the dust collector 200 through a predetermined flow path.

In detail, the air containing the dust is sucked in the tangential direction of the cyclone 211 through the inlet 212 of the dust separation unit 210. Then, the sucked air falls while turning along the inner circumferential surface of the cyclone 211, in which air and dust are separated from each other while being subjected to different centrifugal forces by the weight difference.

In addition, the dust is separated air is filtered through the through hole 272 of the exhaust member 270 and is discharged to the outside of the dust collector 200 through the discharge hole 262.

Meanwhile, the separated dust is dropped downward through the opening 242 in the process of turning along the inner circumferential surface of the cyclone 211 and stored in the dust storage unit 231.

In addition, the air discharged through the discharge hole 262 is introduced into the cleaner body 100. In addition, the air introduced into the cleaner body 100 is discharged to the outside through the body discharge part 120 through the suction motor.

As described above, the driving motor 340 is not operated during the dust separation process, and thus the partition plate 240 is not moved up and down.

Then, it is determined whether the operation of the vacuum cleaner is stopped by the user's operation while the dust separation process is being performed (S2). Here, it may be understood that the operation of the suction motor is stopped when the operation of the vacuum cleaner is stopped.

When it is determined that the operation of the suction motor is stopped, the driving device is operated, and the partition plate 240 is moved downward to compress the dust stored in the dust storage unit 231.

In detail, when the driving motor 350 is operated, the rotational power of the driving motor 350 is transmitted to the driven gear 320 through the driving gear 340 and the intermediate gear 330. Then, the driven gear 320 is rotated in one direction, the vertical movement member 310 and the partition plate 240 is moved to the lower side by the rotation of the driven gear 320 (S4). Then, as shown in FIG. 10, the partition plate 240 compresses the dust stored in the dust storage unit 231.

Then, it is determined whether the resistance force acting on the partition plate 240 is greater than or equal to a set value in the process of moving the partition plate 240 downward (S5).

In addition, when it is determined that the resistance force acting on the partition plate 240 is greater than or equal to the set value, the rotation direction of the driving motor 350 is changed to move the partition plate 240 upward (S6).

As described above, it is again determined whether the resistance force acting on the partition plate 240 becomes greater than or equal to a predetermined value while the partition plate 240 moves upward (S7).

Here, the resistive force acting on the partition plate 240 refers to a force generated when the partition plate 240 presses the lower side of the dust separation unit 210.

When it is determined that the resistance force acting on the partition plate 240 is equal to or greater than a set value, the power applied to the driving motor 350 is cut off (S8).

That is, the comparison of the resistance force and the set value in the lower movement process of the partition plate 240 is for changing the rotation direction of the driving motor 350, and the resistance force and setting in the upper movement process of the partition plate 240. The comparison of the values is for determining an on / off time point of the driving motor 350.

Then, as described above, it is determined whether the moving distance S of the partition plate 240 is less than or equal to the reference distance S _p in the process of being moved downward after the partition plate 240 is moved upward (S9). .

Here, the moving distance of the partition plate 240 may be determined by the rotation speed or the rotation time of the drive motor 350. Therefore, in the present invention, a sensing unit (not shown) for detecting the rotation speed or the rotation time of the drive motor 350 may be further provided.

When the moving distance S of the partition plate 240 becomes less than or equal to the reference distance S _p , the dust emptying timing is known to the outside (S10).

Meanwhile, in order to discharge the dust stored in the dust storage unit 231, the dust collecting device 200 is first separated from the cleaner body 100. In addition, after separating the dust separation unit 210 and the dust collecting container 230, the partition plate 240 is separated from the upper side of the dust collecting container 230. Then, the user flips the dust collecting container 230 to discharge the dust.

According to the present invention as proposed, since the dust stored in the dust storage unit is compressed to minimize its volume, there is an effect of maximizing the capacity of the dust stored in the dust storage unit.

In addition, as the dust collecting capacity of the dust collecting device is maximized by the compression action of the dust, the user has to remove the trouble of frequently emptying the dust stored in the dust collecting device.

In addition, since the dust is kept compressed at the time of operation of the vacuum cleaner, dust is easily discharged, and dust is prevented from being scattered during the dust discharge process.

In addition, when dust is collected in the dust collector more than a predetermined amount, since the dust emptying time of the dust collector is displayed, there is an effect that the user can easily know when to empty the dust.

Claims (10)

A dust separator to separate dust from the sucked air; A dust collecting container having a dust storage unit configured to store the dust separated from the dust separation unit; A pressing member provided to be able to translate in the dust storage unit, such that a volume of dust stored in the dust storage unit is reduced; And And a driving device including a driving motor for driving the pressing member and a power transmission unit for transmitting a driving force of the driving motor to the pressing member. The method of claim 1, The pressurizing member is a dust separation apparatus of the vacuum cleaner is formed with an opening for allowing the dust separated in the dust separation unit to pass through. delete The method of claim 1, The pressing member is a dust separation device of a vacuum cleaner which is moved up and down. A dust collecting container in which a dust storage unit storing separated dust is formed; A pressing member provided to be able to translate in the dust storage unit, such that a volume of dust stored in the dust storage unit is reduced; A cleaner body to which at least the dust collecting container is selectively mounted; A drive motor provided to the cleaner body; And Vacuum cleaner including a power transmission unit for transmitting the driving force of the drive motor to the pressing member. The method of claim 5, wherein The vacuum member is a vacuum cleaner that moves up and down. The method of claim 5, wherein And the driving motor and the pressing member are completely connected as the dust collecting container is mounted to the cleaner body. Air containing dust is sucked by the suction force generated by the suction motor, and dust separated from the sucked air is stored in the dust storage unit; And And compressing the dust stored in the dust storage unit by translational movement of the pressing member by a driving force generated by a driving motor. The method of claim 8, And compressing the dust is performed after the suction motor is stopped. The method of claim 8, Determining a vertical movement range of the pressing member; And If the determined moving range is equal to or less than the set value, the control method of the vacuum cleaner further comprises the step of the dust emptying time is known to the outside.

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