KR101393492B1 - Apparatus for opening and closing dust collector for use in vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a dust container opening / closing device for a vacuum cleaner that selectively opens an inlet port of a dust container detachably received in a dust chamber in a vacuum cleaner. The dust container opening / closing device includes a shutter moving between an open position for opening an inlet port of a dust container installed in a dust collecting chamber and a closed position for sealing an air inlet, an operation member connected to the wheel for interlocking with a wheel of the cleaner, And an elastic member elastically pressing the operation member to hold the shutter in the closed position when no external force acts on the wheel or the operation member.

Cleaner, dust bin, opening and closing, foreign matter, backflow, pollution, prevention

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner dust container opening /

1 is a perspective view illustrating a robot cleaner as an example of a vacuum cleaner to which a dust bin opening and closing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention is applied;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the robot cleaner of FIG. 1,

3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the dust container opening / closing device of the robot cleaner taken along the line III of Fig. 1 for opening the air inlet of the dust container,

Fig. 4 is a sectional view illustrating the operation of the dust container opening / closing device shown in Fig. 4 for sealing the inlet port of the dust container,

5 is a sectional view illustrating the operation of the dust container opening / closing device of the robot cleaner according to the second embodiment of the present invention for opening the air inlet of the dust container, and Fig.

6 is a sectional view illustrating the operation of the dust container opening / closing apparatus shown in Fig. 5 for sealing the air inlet port of the dust container.

Description of the Related Art

20: Robot Cleaner 23: House Truth

51: Dustbin 53: Body

61: Intake port 79, 79 ': Dust bin opening / closing device

80, 80 ': Shutter 83, 83', 88a:

85, 85 ': elastic spring 86: link

88: Lever 90, 90 ': Operation member

91, 91 ': Working rod 96, 96': Elastic member

98: Wheels

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner, and more particularly, to a dust container opening / closing device for a vacuum cleaner that selectively opens an inlet port of a dust container detachably accommodated in a dust collecting chamber in a vacuum cleaner.

Generally, a vacuum cleaner, particularly, a foreign object sucked with air into a robot cleaner for cleaning dust and dirt while traveling on its own is collected in a dust collecting room, and only air is discharged to the outside. At this time, the foreign object collected in the dust collecting room is opened by opening the cover of the dust container which is visually exposed on the outer surface of the robot cleaner, or by removing the dust container separately built in the dust collecting room.

However, the conventional dust cleaner of the robot cleaner is formed to communicate with the air flow path connected to the air suction opening. Therefore, when the dust bin is inclined when lifting the robot cleaner to move the robot cleaner or removing the dust bin from the dust collecting chamber of the robot cleaner, the foreign substances collected in the dust bin are poured to the outside through the air inlet of the dust bin, So that the air can be poured out through the air suction opening to pollute the surroundings.

In order to prevent such a problem, a robot cleaner for installing a rotatable member or a closure which is opened by a suction force of a suction motor at an entrance of a dust container is disclosed in WO 03/022120 and Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-12116. The rotatable member or clogged portion of the robot cleaner is rotated downward by its own weight to shut off the inlet port of the dust container, and when it is cleaned, it is opened by the suction force of the suction motor.

However, since the rotatable member or the closure is rotated downward by its own weight, the robot cleaner is lifted and the suction port of the dust container can not be completely sealed when the dust container is inclined. Therefore, there still remains the possibility that some foreign matter may be poured out through the air inlet of the dust box or may flow back into the air flow path and pour out through the air intake opening to contaminate the surroundings. Further, since the rotatable member or the clogged paper is opened by the suction force of the suction motor, the suction force during cleaning is lowered, and as a result, the dust suction efficiency may be lowered.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been conceived to solve the problems described above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a vacuum cleaner capable of forcibly sealing an inlet port of a dust bin when the dust bin is inclined or the dust bin is removed from the dust collecting chamber And it is an object of the present invention to provide a dust container opening / closing apparatus for a vacuum cleaner which does not deteriorate the suction force during cleaning.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dust container opening / closing device for a vacuum cleaner, including a shutter moving between an open position for opening an inlet port of a dust container installed in a dust collecting chamber and a closed position for sealing an inlet port, And an elastic member that is connected to the wheel and that operates the shutter and that elastically presses the actuating member to maintain the shutter in the closed position when no external force is applied to the wheel or the actuating member, .

Here, the shutter can be installed in the dust container so as to be elastically pressed toward the closed position by the elastic spring.

The actuating member may comprise an actuating rod connected to the wheel.

Optionally, the actuating member comprises an actuating rod connected to the wheel and having an actuating end, a first end rotatably connected to the housing chamber for rotation to a first position and a second position, 1 position, and a link formed in the shutter and operated to rotate the shutter to the open position by the lever when the lever is rotated to the first position. At this time, the lever can be elastically pressed in the direction to be held at the second position by the elastic spring provided at one end portion.

The elastic member may be a compression spring installed in the working rod between the wheel and the dust collecting chamber.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an apparatus for opening and closing a dust bin of a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a perspective view illustrating a robot cleaner as an example of a vacuum cleaner to which a dust bin opening and closing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention is applied.

As can be seen from the figure, the robot cleaner 20 has an upper lid 41. An imaging unit exposure hole (see 42 in Fig. 2) is opened at the center of the upper lid 41, and a display window 43 and a plurality of display lamp exposure holes 45 are formed at one side.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. 1, illustrating the configuration of the robot cleaner in more detail.

As can be seen from these figures, the robot cleaner 20 is provided with a suction unit 21 for sucking and treating air containing foreign substances, and a load driving unit 31 for traveling and cleaning. The robot cleaner 20 mounts an image pickup unit 35 and a transmission / reception unit (not shown), and uses them to confirm the self position and the obstacle and to drive.

The suction unit 21 includes a dust collecting chamber 23 upwardly opened and a door 25 for opening and closing an upward opening of the dust collecting chamber 23 and a dust receptacle 51 detachably accommodated in the dust collecting chamber 23 do. A suction motor 27 for generating a suction force is mounted on one side of the dust chamber 23. The suction unit 21 includes a suction brush 24 (see FIG. 3) for introducing air containing foreign matter into the dust collecting chamber 23.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the dust collecting chamber 23 has an intake port 22 formed on its bottom surface, and an exhaust port (not shown) formed on one side wall surface. The intake port 22 communicates with the dust suction opening 26 through the intake guide 25 and the exhaust port is connected to the intake port (not shown) of the suction motor 27. The dust suction opening 26 is installed such that the suction brush 24 is partially exposed.

For example, a hook groove (not shown) is formed in the upper opening of the dust chamber 23. On the other hand, the door 25 is formed with a hook (not shown) engaging with the hook groove of the dust collecting chamber 23 and is openably fixed to the upward opening of the dust collecting chamber 23.

The dust container (51) is constituted by a main body (53) forming a dust receiving space. The main body 53 has an opening 54 formed on one side surface corresponding to the exhaust port of the dust collecting chamber 23. A cover 55 is coupled to the opening 54 and an exhaust port 56 corresponding to the exhaust port of the dust collecting chamber 23 is formed at the center of the cover 55. A filter 57 is detachably coupled to the exhaust port 56 of the cover 55. The filter 57 has a plurality of filter windows formed on its circumferential outer surface. A porous filtering member is attached to the outer surface of the filter window. With this structure, the fine material contained in the air exhausted through the exhaust port 56 is filtered.

A suction port (61) is formed on the bottom surface of the main body (53). The suction port 61 is opened corresponding to the suction port 22 of the dust collecting chamber 23 and has a size corresponding to the suction port 22. [ As a result, air including foreign matter sucked through the intake port 22 can be introduced into the dust container 53.

The dust container opening / closing device 79 of the present invention for opening and closing the air inlet 61 is provided in the air inlet 61 of the main body 53.

The dust container opening and closing device 79 includes a shutter 80, an operating member 90, and an elastic member 96.

The shutter 80 is supported on the support shaft 83 at one end so as to move to an open position (see FIG. 3) for opening the air inlet 61 and a closed position (see FIG. 4) for sealing the air inlet 61. The shutter 80 is resiliently urged toward the closed position by an elastic spring 85 such as a torsion spring provided on the support shaft 83. To this end, one end of the elastic spring 85 is supported by the shutter 80 and the other end is supported by the lower surface of the main body 53.

The operation member 90 is for interlocking with the wheel 98 of the robot cleaner 20 to operate the shutter 80 in the open position and has a wheel housing 98a (Not shown). The operating rod 91 has an annular portion 91b and a tip portion 91a. The annular portion 91b is disposed in the fixing groove 97 of the fixing bracket 95 provided at the lower portion of the dust collecting chamber 23 and the distal end portion 91a protrudes from the fixing groove 97 toward the lower surface of the shutter 80. [

The elastic member 96 elastically urges the working rod 91 to keep the shutter 80 in the closed position when no external force acts on the wheel 98 or the actuating member 90, 91 between the annular portion 91b and the inner wall of the fixing groove 97. The elastic member 96 may be composed of a compression spring.

A handle 71 (see FIG. 2) is formed at a central portion of the upper plate of the main body 53. The handle portion 71 is also exposed to the outside in a state in which the door 25 of the dust collecting chamber 23 is opened and the user can grasp the handle portion 71 to pull out and mount the dust container 51. [ The handle 71 may be integrally formed with the main body 53 when the main body 53 is injection molded. Here, it is preferable that the main body 53 is made of a transparent material so as to identify the amount of foreign substances collected therein.

Hereinafter, the operation of the robot cleaner 20 to which the dust container opening / closing device 79 according to the first embodiment of the present invention is applied will be described in detail with reference to Figs.

3, when the robot cleaner 20 is placed on the ground, the wheel 98 is pressed by the weight of the robot cleaner 20, (91) is pushed up. The distal end 91a of the operating rod 91 protrudes upward while the annular portion 91b compresses the elastic member 96 and pushes the pushing portion 80a formed on the lower surface of the shutter 80 upward. As a result, the shutter 80 is located at the open position where the suction port 61 is opened against the elastic force of the elastic spring 85 provided on the support shaft 83.

In this state, when the cleaning command is applied, the robot cleaner 20 starts traveling for cleaning. The robot cleaner 20 moves while avoiding obstacles appearing in front of the robot cleaner in real time in accordance with a general driving method. During this traveling, the suction motor 27 mounted inside is operated to perform cleaning.

When the suction motor 27 is operated, the outside air is sucked through the dust suction opening 26 together with foreign matter such as dust, which is smashed by the suction brush 24. [ The air containing the sucked foreign matter flows into the dust container 51 through the intake port 22 of the dust collecting chamber 23 and the suction portion 61 of the dust container 51 through the intake guide 25. [

The air sucked into the dust container 51 is exhausted to the outside through the exhaust port 56. At this time, the foreign matter contained in the exhaust is filtered by the filter 57. As a result, foreign matter is collected in the dust container (51).

When the main body 53 of the dust container 51 is removed from the dust collecting chamber 23 in order to empty the dust collected in the dust container 51 after the cleaning is completed as described above, The shutter 80 moves away from the pressing portion 80a of the shutter 80 so that the shutter 80 is positioned at the closed position for sealing the air inlet 61 by the elastic force of the elastic spring 85 and its own weight. Therefore, even if the dust container 51 is inclined when the dust container 51 is removed, some foreign matter is prevented from being poured to the outside through the air inlet 61 of the dust container 51 to contaminate the surroundings.

4, when the robot cleaner 20 is lifted for movement, the operating rod 91 of the actuating member 90 connected to the wheel 98 and the wheel housing 98a is moved in the radial direction And is pushed down by the elastic force of the elastic member 96 provided between the inner wall of the fixing groove 91b and the inner wall of the fixing groove 97. The distal end 91a of the operating rod 91 is retracted into the fixing groove 97 and separated from the pressing portion 80a of the shutter 80. [ As a result, the shutter 80 is positioned at the closed position for sealing the air inlet 61 by the elastic force of the elastic spring 85 and its own weight. Therefore, even if the robot cleaner 20 is lifted and the dust container 51 is inclined, the shutter 80 forcibly closes the suction port 61 of the dust container 51, so that some foreign matter is sucked into the suction port 61 of the dust container 51 ) Is prevented from being poured out through the dust suction opening (26) to contaminate the surroundings.

5 and 6 are perspective views showing a dust bin opening and closing device 79 'according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the dust container opening / closing device 79 'of the second embodiment includes a shutter 80', an operating member 90 ', and an elastic member 96'.

The shutter 80 'is provided in the main body 53 of the dust container 51 and has an open position (see FIG. 5) for opening the suction port 61 and a suction port 61 And is fixedly supported at the one end to the first support shaft 83 'so as to move to the closed sealing position (see FIG. 6). The shutter 80 'is resiliently urged toward the closed position by a first elastic spring 85' such as a torsion spring provided on the first support shaft 83 '. To this end, one end of the elastic spring 85 'is supported on the shutter 80' and the other end is supported on one side of the main body 53 '.

The operation member 90 'is for operating the shutter 80' in the open position in cooperation with the wheel 98 such as a rear wheel or a caster of the robot cleaner 20 and includes an operation rod 91 ' , And a link (86). The operating rod 91 'is integrally formed with the wheel housing 98a on the wheel housing 98a of the wheel 98 and has an operating end 91a' and an annular portion 91b '. The annular portion 91b 'is disposed in a fixing groove (not shown) of a fixing bracket 95 provided below the dust collecting chamber 23, the operation end 91a' is formed in a half-moon shape, And protrudes toward the lower guide surface 88b of the lever 88.

The lever 88 is rotatably installed at one end in the dust collecting chamber 23 so as to be rotatable in the first position (see FIG. 5) and the second position (see FIG. 6). 6) by a second elastic spring (not shown) such as a torsion spring provided on the second support shaft 88a at one end, do. The lever 88 has a lower guide surface 88b and an upper guide surface 88c. The lower guide surface 88b comes into contact with the working end 91a 'when the working end 91a' of the working rod 91 'is lifted up and the lever 88 is moved by the working end 91a' (See Fig. 5). The upper guide surface 88c is engaged with the protrusion 97 of the link 86 to be described later and the protrusion 97 is engaged with the protrusion 97 when the lever 88 is rotated to the first position (see Fig. 5) by the operation end 91a ' To cause the shutter 80 'to rotate to the open position.

In order to guide the working end 91a 'to make an accurate contact with the lower guide surface 88b without rotating when the working end 91a' of the working rod 91 ' A guide rod 99 is formed on one side of the wheel housing 98a. The guide rod 99 protrudes outside the fixing groove of the fixing bracket 95 through the guide hole 95a of the fixing bracket 95.

The link 86 is fixed to the first supporting shaft 83 'of the shutter 80' so as to rotate together with the shutter 80 'and has a protrusion (not shown) engaged with the upper guide surface 88c of the lever 88 87). The projection 87 is engaged with the upper guide surface (not shown) of the lever 88 when the lever 88 is rotated to the first position (see Fig. 5) by the operation end 91a 'of the operation rod 91' 88c to rotate the shutter 80 'to the open position.

The elastic member 96'is used to move the actuating rod 91 'to keep the shutter 80' in the closed position when no external force acts on the wheel 98 or the actuating rod 91 'of the actuating member 90' And is provided between the annular portion 91b 'of the working rod 91' and the inner wall of the fixing groove of the fixing bracket 95. [ The elastic member 96 'may be constituted by a compression spring.

5, when the robot cleaner 20 is placed on the ground, the wheels 98 are pressed by the weight of the robot cleaner 20, and accordingly the operation of the actuating member 90 ' The rod 91 'is pushed up. Accordingly, the operating rod 91 'is moved in such a direction that the operating end 91a' rises upward while the annular portion 91b 'compresses the elastic member 96' and contacts the lower guide surface 88b of the lever 88 The lever 88 is rotated counterclockwise about the second support shaft 88a. As a result, the upper guide surface 88c of the lever 88 pulls the projection 86 of the link 86 to cause the link 86 to rotate counterclockwise about the first support shaft 83 '. Therefore, the shutter 80 'fixed to the first support shaft 83' together with the link 86 also rotates in the counterclockwise direction and is positioned at the open position shown in Fig.

6, when the robot cleaner 20 is lifted for movement, the operating rod 91 'of the actuating member 90' formed on the wheel 98 and the wheel housing 98a, Is pushed down by the elastic force of the elastic member 96 'provided between the annular portion 91b' of the working rod 91 'and the inner wall of the fixing groove of the fixing bracket 95. Accordingly, the operating rod 91 'is lowered downward and separated from the lower guide surface 88b of the lever 88 by the operating end 91a'. As a result, the lever 88 rotates clockwise about the second support shaft 88a by the elastic force of the second elastic spring and its own weight. The shutter 80 'fixed to the first support shaft 83' together with the link 86 is also rotated clockwise about the first support shaft 83 'by the first elastic spring 85' do. Therefore, the shutter 80 'is positioned at the closed position for sealing the air inlet 61 as shown in FIG. Therefore, even if the dust container 51 is inclined due to lifting of the robot cleaner 20, some foreign matter is prevented from being poured out from the suction port 61 of the dust container 51 through the dust suction opening 26 to contaminate the periphery thereof do.

When the main body 53 of the dust container 51 is removed from the dust collecting chamber 23 in the state shown in Fig. 5 in order to empty the dust collected in the dust container 51, the shutter 80 ' The protrusion 87 of the link 86 from the upper guide surface 88c of the lever 88 is released from the upper guide surface 88c of the lever 88 so that the shutter 80 ' In the closed position. Therefore, even if the dust container 51 is inclined when the dust container 51 is removed, some foreign matter is prevented from being poured to the outside through the air inlet 61 of the dust container 51 to contaminate the surroundings.

As described above, the dust container opening / closing device of the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention can forcefully close the inlet of the dust container when the dust container is tilted or the dust container is removed from the dust collecting chamber because the vacuum cleaner is lifted. It is possible to prevent the problem that the air is poured to the outside through the intake port or flows back to the air flow path and is poured to the outside through the air intake port to pollute the environment.

In addition, since the shutter for opening and closing the suction port of the dust container is opened by the operating member that operates in conjunction with the wheel, regardless of the suction force of the suction motor, the dust container opening / Do not give. As a result, it is possible to prevent the suction force from being lowered during the cleaning operation as in the conventional dust container opening / closing apparatus, thereby reducing the dust suction efficiency.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. That is, those skilled in the art will appreciate that many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Accordingly, all such appropriate modifications, alterations, and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the present invention.

Claims (6)

A shutter moving between an open position for opening an inlet port of the dust container installed in the dust collecting chamber and a closed position for sealing the inlet port; An operating member connected to the wheel for interlocking with the wheels of the cleaner and operating the shutter; And And an elastic member provided on the operation member and elastically pressing the operation member to maintain the shutter in the closed position when no external force acts on the wheel or the operation member, The actuating member comprising: an actuating rod connected to the wheel and having an actuating end; A lever that is rotatably installed at one end of the dust collecting chamber so as to be rotatable to the first position and the second position and rotates to the first position by the operating end of the working rod; And a link formed on the shutter and operable to rotate the shutter to the open position by the lever as the lever rotates to the first position, Wherein the shutter is disposed outside the dust container and the opening position of the shutter is set away from the dust container. The dust container opening / closing device according to claim 1, wherein the shutter is installed in the dust container so as to be elastically pressed toward the closed position by an elastic spring. delete delete The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lever is resiliently urged in a direction to be held at the second position by an elastic spring installed at one end. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the elastic member includes a compression spring installed on the operating rod between the wheel and the dust collecting chamber.

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