KR20090007914A - Vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

A vacuum cleaner is provided to maximize a dust collecting capacity by minimizing the volume of dust through compression of a pair of pressing elements. A main body is formed with a mounting part to which a dust collecting unit(200) having dust storing parts is mounted. Pressing elements(270,280) are driven by a compression motor to compress dust stored in the dust storing parts. A sensing part senses the movement range of the pressing elements. A signal display part indicates dust removing information of the dust collecting unit to the outside. A control part controls the signal display part to operate if the sensed movement range of the pressing elements is below a reference range.

Description

Vacuum cleaner {Vacuum cleaner}

1 is a perspective view of a vacuum cleaner according to a first embodiment.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a state in which the dust collector is separated from the vacuum cleaner.

3 is a perspective view of a dust collecting device according to the first embodiment;

4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II ′ of FIG. 3.

5 is a bottom perspective view of the dust collecting device according to the first embodiment.

6 is a bottom perspective view of the driven gear according to the first embodiment;

7 is a perspective view of a dust collecting unit mounting portion according to the first embodiment.

8 is a view showing a coupling relationship between the driven gear and the micro switch.

9 is a block diagram showing an apparatus for controlling a vacuum cleaner according to a first embodiment.

10 (a) is a current phase waveform diagram of the drive motor according to a foreign material compression time.

10B is a power supply phase waveform diagram applied to the drive motor according to a foreign material compression time.

11 and 12 are views for explaining the on state of the micro switch when the first pressing member for compressing the dust is close to one side of the second pressing member.

13 and 14 are views for explaining an off state of a micro switch when the first pressing member and the second pressing member are located in a straight line.

15 and 16 are views for explaining the on state of the micro switch when the first pressing member is close to the other side of the second pressing member.

17 is a flowchart for explaining a control method of the vacuum cleaner according to the first embodiment.

18 is a perspective view of a driven gear according to the second embodiment.

19 is a perspective view of a dust collecting unit mounting portion according to the second embodiment.

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

100: main body 200: dust collector

270: first pressing member 280: second pressing member

410: driven gear 420: drive gear

430: micro switch 440: terminal portion

570: compression motor

The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner, and more particularly, to a vacuum cleaner in which a dust collecting capacity of a dust collecting device is maximized.

In general, a vacuum cleaner is a device that sucks air containing dust by using a vacuum pressure generated by a vacuum 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 communicating with the suction nozzle, an extension tube for guiding air sucked from the suction nozzle toward the cleaner body, and air passing through the extension tube. 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, a driving unit for generating an air suction force to suck the outside air containing dust to the suction nozzle is provided.

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, an inlet for allowing air to be sucked into the dust collecting body, a cyclone portion for separating dust from the air sucked into the dust collecting body, and dust separated from the cyclone portion. The dust storage unit and a discharge port through which the dust is separated from the cyclone portion is discharged.

When the vacuum cleaner is stopped while the dust separation process is performed in the dust collector, the separated dust is stored in a low density state in the dust storage unit.

According to the conventional dust collector, since the dust stored in the dust storage unit occupies a volume too large for its weight, there is an inconvenience of frequently emptying the dust of the dust collector in order to maintain dust collection performance.

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

The present embodiment has been proposed to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to propose a vacuum cleaner for increasing the dust collecting capacity of the dust collecting apparatus by compressing the dust stored in the dust collecting apparatus.

In addition, an embodiment of the present invention aims to propose a vacuum cleaner in which dust is prevented from being discharged in a process of discharging dust stored in a dust collecting apparatus.

In addition, an embodiment of the present invention is to propose a vacuum cleaner for detecting the amount of dust stored in the dust collecting apparatus so that the dust emptying time can be displayed to the outside.

Vacuum cleaner for achieving the object as described above is a cleaner body is formed dust collector mounting portion; A dust collector selectively mounted on the dust collector mounting portion and having a dust storage portion formed therein; A pressing member compressing the dust stored in the dust storage unit; A compression motor for driving the urging member; A sensing unit for sensing a movement range of the pressing member; A signal display unit configured to make the dust emptying information of the dust collector known to the outside; And a controller configured to operate the signal display unit when the measured movement range of the pressing member is less than a reference range.

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 vacuum cleaner according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a state in which the dust collecting device is separated from the vacuum cleaner, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the dust collecting device according to the present embodiment.

1 to 3, the vacuum cleaner 10 according to the present embodiment includes a cleaner body 100 having a suction motor (not shown) for generating a suction force therein, and suctioned by the cleaner body 100. And dust separation means for separating the dust contained in the air.

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 in which air containing dust sucked from the suction nozzle (not shown) is formed at the front lower end of the cleaner body 100, and dust is provided at one side of the cleaner body 100. A main body discharge part (not shown) in which the separated air is discharged to the outside is formed. In addition, the upper portion of the cleaner body 100 is formed with a body handle 140 to enable the user to grip.

On the other hand, the dust separation means, the dust collecting device 200 is provided with a first cyclone unit (described later) for separating the dust contained in the air introduced into the inside, and the first cyclone unit is primarily The dust is separated again from the air from which the dust is separated, and is composed of a second cyclone unit 300 provided in the cleaner body 100.

In detail, the dust collecting apparatus 200 is detachably mounted to the dust collecting apparatus mounting unit 170 formed at the front of the cleaner body 100.

As such, the handle 140 of the cleaner body 100 is provided with a detachable lever 142 in order to allow the dust collector 200 to be detachably attached to the cleaner body 100, and the dust collector 200 is provided. There is a locking end 256 that is engaged with the detachable lever 142 is formed.

In addition, the dust collecting apparatus 200 includes a dust collecting body 210 in which a first cyclone unit generating a cyclone flow and a dust storage unit storing dust separated from the first cyclone unit are formed.

Here, the dust collector 200 is detachably mounted to the cleaner body 100 as described above, and as the dust collector 200 is mounted to the cleaner body 100, the dust collector 200 is The cleaner body 100 and the second cyclone unit 300 communicate with each other.

In detail, the cleaner main body 100 has an air outlet 130 through which the air sucked into the cleaner main body 100 is discharged to the dust collecting device 200, and the air collecting unit 200 has the air. A first air inlet 218 is formed to allow air to enter from the outlet 130.

In addition, a first air outlet 252 through which dust separated from the first cyclone part is discharged is formed in the dust collecting device 200, and the first air outlet 252 is formed in the cleaner body 100. A connection flow passage 114 through which air discharged through the air is introduced is formed. In addition, air introduced into the connection channel 114 flows into the second cyclone unit 300.

On the other hand, the second cyclone portion 300 is composed of a plurality of small cyclones of the conical shape is coupled. In addition, the second cyclone unit 300 is disposed in a state lying down on the rear upper side of the cleaner body 100. That is, the second cyclone unit 300 is disposed in a state inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the cleaner body 100.

Here, the dust separated from the second cyclone unit 300 is stored in the dust collector 200. To this end, the dust collecting body 210, the dust inlet 254 for the dust separated from the second cyclone portion 300 is introduced, and the dust separated from the second cyclone portion 300 is stored The reservoir is further formed.

That is, the dust storage unit formed in the dust collecting body 210 may include a first dust storage unit in which dust separated by the first cyclone unit is stored, and dust separated by the second cyclone unit 300. And a second dust storage portion to be stored.

On the other hand, the dust collecting device 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 body 210 is added to the dust collecting device (200).

Hereinafter, a vacuum cleaner including a dust collecting device having a maximum dust collecting capacity will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 8.

4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II ′ of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a bottom perspective view of the dust collecting apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a bottom perspective view of the driven gear according to the present embodiment. In addition, Figure 7 is a perspective view of the dust collector mounting portion according to the present invention, Figure 8 is a view showing a coupling relationship of the driven gear and the micro switch.

First, referring to FIG. 4, the dust collecting apparatus 200 according to the present exemplary embodiment includes a dust collecting body 210 forming an external shape and a dust collecting body that is selectively accommodated in the dust collecting body 210 to separate dust from sucked air. One cyclone unit 230 and a cover member 250 for selectively opening and closing the upper side of the dust collecting body 210 is configured to be included.

In detail, the dust collecting body 210 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and a dust storage unit in which the separated dust is stored is formed therein.

The dust storage unit includes a first dust storage unit 214 in which dust separated from the first cyclone unit 230 is stored, and a second dust in which dust separated from the second cyclone unit 300 is stored. Dust storage unit 216 is included.

Here, the dust collecting body 210 is connected to the first wall 211 forming the first dust storage unit 214 and the second dust storage unit 216 in relation to the first wall 211. A second wall 212 that forms is included. That is, the second wall 212 is formed to surround the outer predetermined portion of the first wall 211.

On the other hand, the dust collecting body 210 has an upper end opened so that a user can turn over the dust collecting body 210 to discharge dust, and the cover member 250 is detachable on the upper part of the dust collecting body 210. Combined.

In addition, when the dust stored in the dust collecting body 210 is discharged, the first cyclone portion 230 may be separated from the cover member 250 so as to be separated together with the cover member 250. Combined.

On the other hand, the first cyclone unit 230 is provided with a dust guide flow path 232 for guiding the dust separated from the air to be easily discharged to the first dust storage unit 214. Here, the dust guide flow path 232 is guided to fall downward after the separated dust flows in the tangential direction.

Thus, the inlet 233 of the dust guide flow path 232 is formed on the side of the first cyclone portion 230, the outlet 234 is formed on the bottom surface of the first cyclone portion 230. .

On the other hand, the cover member 250 is detachably coupled to the upper side of the dust collecting body 210 as described above. That is, the cover member 250 opens and closes the first dust storage unit 214 and the second dust storage unit 216 at the same time.

Therefore, in order to discharge the dust stored in the first dust storage unit 214 and the second dust storage unit 216 to the outside, the cover member 250 to which the first cyclone unit 230 is coupled When the separation from the dust collecting body 210, the upper end of the dust collecting body 210 is completely opened. And, when the user flips the dust collecting body 210, the dust is easily discharged.

In addition, a discharge hole 251 through which dust separated from the first cyclone part 230 is discharged is formed through the bottom surface of the cover member 250. The upper end of the filter member 260 having a plurality of through holes 262 of a predetermined size is coupled to the discharge hole 251. Therefore, the air that has undergone the dust separation process in the first cyclone unit 230 is discharged through the filter member 260 to the discharge hole 251.

In addition, a flow path 253 is formed inside the cover member 250 to guide air of the first cyclone part 230 discharged from the discharge hole 251 to the first air outlet 252. . That is, the flow path 253 serves as a passage connecting the discharge hole 251 and the first air outlet 252.

On the other hand, the dust collecting body 210 is provided with a pair of pressing members (270, 280) to reduce the volume of dust stored in the first dust storage unit 214, so that the dust collecting capacity of the dust increases.

Here, the pair of pressing members 270 and 280 compress the dust by interaction with each other to reduce the volume of the dust, thereby increasing the density of the dust stored in the dust collecting body 210. The maximum dust collecting capacity of the dust collecting body 210 is increased.

Hereinafter, for convenience of description, one of the pair of pressing members 270 and 280 is called the first pressing member 270, and the other is called the second pressing member 280.

In the present exemplary embodiment, at least one of the pair of pressing members 270 and 280 is provided to be movable in the dust collecting body 210, so that dust is separated between the pair of pressing members 270 and 280. Performs a compression action.

That is, when the first pressing member 270 and the second pressing member 280 are rotatably provided in the dust collecting body 210, the first pressing member 270 and the second pressing member 280 are rotatable. ) Is rotated toward each other, the interval between one side of the first pressing member 270 and one side of the second pressing member 280 opposite to one side of the first pressing member 270 As a result, the dust positioned between the first pressing member 270 and the second pressing member 280 is compressed.

However, in the present embodiment, the first pressing member 270 is rotatably provided inside the dust collecting body 210, and the second pressing member 280 is fixed inside the dust collecting body 210. .

Accordingly, the first pressing member 270 becomes a rotating member, and the second pressing member 280 becomes a fixing member.

In detail, the second pressing member 280 is preferably provided between the inner circumferential surface of the dust collecting body 210 and the axis of the rotating shaft 272 forming the rotation center of the first pressing member 270.

That is, the second pressing member 280 is provided on a surface connecting the axis of the rotation shaft 272 and the inner circumferential surface of the first dust storage unit 214. At this time, the second pressing member 280 completely or partially shields the space between the inner circumferential surface of the first dust storage unit 214 and the axis of the rotation shaft 272, and thus the first pressing member 270. When dust is pushed by), the dust is compressed together with the first pressing member 270.

To this end, one end of the second pressing member 280 is integrally formed on the inner circumferential surface of the dust collecting body 210, and the other end is fixed to the coaxial with the rotation shaft 272 of the first pressing member 270 It is preferably formed integrally with the shaft 282.

Of course, only one end of the second pressing member 280 may be integrally formed on the inner circumferential surface of the dust collecting body 210, or only the other end may be integrally formed on the fixed shaft 282. In other words, the second pressing member 280 is fixed to at least one side of the inner circumferential surface of the dust collecting body 210 and the fixed shaft 282.

However, even if one end of the second pressing member 280 is not integrally formed on the inner circumferential surface of the dust collecting body 210, one end of the second pressing member 270 is adjacent to the inner circumferential surface of the dust collecting body 210. It is preferable.

In addition, even if the other end of the second pressing member 280 is not integrally formed on the fixed shaft 282, the other end of the second pressing member 280 may be adjacent to the fixed shaft 282.

The reason is to minimize the leakage of dust pushed by the first pressing member 270 through the gap formed on the side of the second pressing member 280.

It is preferable that the 1st press member 270 and the 2nd press member 280 comprised as mentioned above are comprised by the plate of square shape. In addition, the rotation shaft 272 of the first pressing member 270 is preferably provided coaxially with an axis forming the center of the dust collecting body 210.

On the other hand, the fixed shaft 282 is protruded inward from one end of the dust collecting body 210, the inside of the fixed shaft 282 hollow 283 penetrating in the axial direction for the assembly of the rotating shaft 272 ) Is formed. A predetermined portion of the rotation shaft 272 is inserted into the hollow 283 from the upper side of the fixed shaft 282.

In detail, the rotating shaft 272 is formed with a stepped portion 272c supported by the upper end of the fixed shaft 282, the image is coupled to the first pressing member 270 based on the stepped portion (272c). The sub shaft 272a is divided into a lower shaft 272b to which a driven gear (to be described later) for rotating the first pressing member is coupled.

In addition to the above configuration, the vacuum cleaner according to the present embodiment further includes a driving device selectively connected to the first pressing member 270 to rotate the first pressing member 270.

Hereinafter, the coupling relationship between the dust collecting device 200 and the driving device will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8.

5 to 8, a driving device for rotating the first pressing member 270 includes a compression motor (to be described later) for generating a driving force, and a driving force of the compression motor to the first pressing member 270. It includes a power transmission unit 410, 420 to transmit.

In detail, the power transmission units 410 and 420 may include a driven gear 410 coupled to the rotation shaft 272 of the first pressing member 270 and a driving gear for transmitting power to the driven gear 410 ( 420 is included. In addition, the driving gear 420 is coupled to the rotating shaft of the compression motor is rotated by the compression motor.

Therefore, when the compression motor is rotated, the drive gear 420 coupled with the compression motor is rotated, and the rotational force of the compression motor is transmitted to the driven gear 410 by the drive gear 420 to drive the driven drive. The gear 410 is rotated, and finally, the first pressing member 270 is rotated by the rotation of the driven gear 410.

In detail, the gear shaft 414 of the driven gear 410 is coupled to the rotation shaft 272 of the first pressing member 270 at the lower side of the dust collecting body 210. As the driven gear 410 is coupled to the lower side of the dust collecting body 210, the driven gear 410 is exposed to the outside of the dust collecting body 210.

On the other hand, the compression motor is provided below the dust collector mounting unit 170, the drive gear 420 is coupled to the rotary shaft of the compression motor is provided on the bottom surface of the dust collector mounting unit 170.

In addition, a portion of the outer circumferential surface of the drive gear 420 is exposed to the outside from the bottom of the dust collector mounting portion 170. In addition, an opening 173 is formed at a bottom of the dust collector mounting unit 170 to expose a portion of the outer circumferential surface of the drive gear 420 to the dust collector mounting unit 170.

As the driven gear 410 is exposed to the dust collector mounting unit 170, when the dust collector 200 is mounted on the dust collector mounting unit 170, the driven gear 410 is driven by the driving gear ( 420).

On the other hand, a guide rib 290 for guiding the mounting of the dust collecting device 200 is formed on the lower side of the dust collecting body 210, the insertion groove into which the guide rib 290 is inserted into the dust collecting device mounting portion 170. 172 is formed.

The guide rib 290 is provided in a "C" shape on the outer side of the driven gear 410 to surround a portion of the driven gear 410. Therefore, the guide rib 290 may further serve to protect the driven gear 410 and to prevent dust from moving to the driven gear 410.

In the present embodiment, when the dust collecting device 200 is mounted on the dust collecting device mounting unit 170, the driven gear 410 and the driving gear 420 should be coupled to each other. For this reason, the guide rib 290 is formed so that a portion of the driven gear 410 is exposed to the outside.

On the other hand, below the dust collector mounting unit 170 is provided with a micro switch 430 for detecting the rotational position of the driven gear 410. In addition, the dust collecting device mounting unit 170 contacts the driven gear 410 to expose the terminal unit 440 for turning on / off the micro switch 430.

To this end, the dust collecting device mounting portion 170 is formed with a through hole 177 for exposing a part of the terminal portion 440 to the outside. In addition, an inner rib 178 and an outer rib 179 are formed on the edge portion of the through hole 177 to protect the terminal portion 440 partially exposed.

Hereinafter, a coupling relationship between the driven gear and the micro switch will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8.

6 to 8, the micro switch 430 has a terminal portion 440 that enables on / off of the micro switch 430 to be in contact with a lower side of the driven gear 410. It is located below the driven gear 410.

The driven gear 410 has a disc-shaped body portion 412, a contact rib 413 extending downward from the lower edge portion of the body portion 412 to be in contact with the terminal portion 440, and the It is composed of a plurality of gear teeth (416) formed along the side circumference of the body portion (412).

In detail, the contact rib 413 has a positioning groove 415 for confirming the position of the driven gear 410 by not contacting the terminal portion 440 at a predetermined position of the driven gear 410. Is formed. Here, the fact that the terminal portion 440 is not in contact with the contact rib 413 means that the terminal portion 440 of the contact rib 413 is partially inserted into the positioning groove 415. It means no contact with the bottom.

When the dust collector 200 is mounted on the dust collector mounting unit 170, the terminal portion 440 exposed through the through hole 177 contacts the bottom surface of the contact rib 413 and the micro switch ( The contact 432 of 430 is pressed. When the driven gear 410 is rotated and moved to a predetermined position, the terminal part 440 is separated from the contact point 432 as a part of the terminal part 440 is inserted into the positioning groove 415. do.

Here, the micro switch 430 is in an off state only when the terminal portion 440 is located in the positioning groove 415, and in other cases, that is, when the micro switch 430 is in contact with the contact rib 413. Keep it.

Therefore, when the driven gear 410 is rotated, the micro switch 430 is maintained in an on state except when the terminal portion 440 is located in the positioning groove 415.

Meanwhile, an interference preventing groove 417 is formed below the gear teeth 416 to prevent interference with the outer rib 179 when the dust collecting device 200 is mounted.

Therefore, when the dust collecting device 200 is mounted on the dust collecting device mounting unit 170, the outer rib 179 is positioned in the interference preventing groove 417, and the inner rib 178 is the contact rib ( It is located in the space formed by 413.

9 is a block diagram illustrating a control apparatus of a vacuum cleaner according to the present invention, and FIG. 10 is a current and power phase waveform diagram of a driving motor according to the dust compression time elapsed, and FIG. Fig. 10B is a power phase waveform diagram applied to the drive motor according to the foreign material compression time.

First, referring to FIG. 9, the vacuum cleaner according to the present embodiment includes a control unit 510, an operation signal input unit 520 for selecting suction power (eg, heavy, medium, or weak mode) of dust, and the dust collector. A signal display unit 530 displaying a signal for emptying dust collected in the air, a suction motor driver 540 for operating the suction motor 550 according to an operation mode input from the operation signal input unit 520, and A compression motor driver 560 for operating the compression motor 570 used to pressurize dust collected in the dust collector, a drive gear 520 driven by the compression motor 570, and the drive gear ( A driven gear 510 that rotates in engagement with 520 and a micro switch 430 that is turned on or off in accordance with the rotation of the driven gear 510 are included.

The vacuum cleaner further includes a current detector 580 for detecting a current value of the compression motor 570, and a rotation speed detector 590 for detecting a rotation speed of the compression motor 570. .

In detail, the compression motor 570 is provided below the dust collector mounting unit 170 to rotate the drive gear as described above.

In addition, the compression motor 570 is a motor capable of forward rotation and reverse rotation. That is, the compression motor is a motor capable of bidirectional rotation.

Accordingly, the first pressing member 270 may rotate forward and reverse, and as the first pressing member 270 rotates forward and reverse, the first pressing member 270 may be compressed on both sides of the second pressing member 280. Dust will accumulate.

As such, in order to enable forward and reverse rotation of the compression motor, a synchronous motor may be used as the compression motor 570.

The synchronized motor is configured to be capable of forward and reverse rotation by the motor itself, and is converted to another direction when the force applied to the motor exceeds a set value while the motor rotates in one direction.

At this time, the force applied to the motor is a resistance force (torque) generated when the first pressing member 270 presses the dust, and when the resistance force reaches a set value, the rotation of the motor is directed. It is configured to be converted.

At this time, when the resistance applied to the first pressing member 270 is greater than or equal to a set value, as shown in FIG. 10A, the current value of the compression motor 570 is momentarily increased. The current detector 580 detects the current value of the compression motor 570.

In detail, when the first pressing member 270 is rotated in one direction, the first pressing member 310 presses the second pressurizing dust between the first pressing member 270 and the second pressing member 280. The dust is compressed by pushing toward one side of the member 280. The rotation of the first pressing member 270 is continued until the resistance generated in the process of pressing the dust reaches a set value.

When the resistance reaches a predetermined value or more, the current value of the compression motor 570 is momentarily increased, and the change is detected by the current sensing unit 580.

The current value detected by the current sensor 580 is transmitted to the controller 510, and the controller 510 transmits a signal to cut off power applied to the compression motor 570. 560). Then, the driving of the compression motor 570 is stopped, and thus the first pressing member 270 is stopped in a state in which dust is compressed. In addition, the first pressing member 270 continuously presses dust for a predetermined time t at the stopped position.

When the predetermined time t has elapsed, the controller 510 transmits a power application signal of the compression motor 570 to the compression motor driver 560, and thus the compression motor 570 and the The first pressing member 270 is rotated.

Here, since the first pressing member 270 is stopped in a state where the resistance force reaches a set value, the rotation direction is converted and rotated in the other direction.

In addition, when the first pressing member 270 is rotated in the other direction, the first pressing member 270 presses the dust between the first pressing member 270 and the second pressing member 280 to the second pressing member. The dust is compressed by pushing toward the other side of the member 280.

In this way, when the resistance applied to the first pressing member 270 during rotation of the first pressing member 270 reaches a predetermined value or more, the power applied to the compression motor 570 is cut off and the first pressing is performed. The member 270 is stopped in the state which compressed the dust. In addition, the first pressing member 270 continuously presses dust for a predetermined time t at the stopped position.

Then, when a predetermined time elapses, the compression motor 570 is driven again, and the first pressing member 270 is rotated again in the opposite direction.

This compression action is repeatedly performed until the number of revolutions of the first pressing member 270 is equal to or less than a predetermined number. This will be described later.

11 and 12 are views for explaining an on state of the micro switch when the first pressing member for compressing the dust is close to one side of the second pressing member, and FIGS. 13 and 14 show the first pressing member and the first pressing member. 2 is a view for explaining the off state of the micro switch when the pressing member is located in a straight line, and FIGS. 15 and 16 show the on state of the micro switch when the first pressing member is close to the other side of the second pressing member. It is a figure for demonstrating.

11 to 16, in the present invention, when the first pressing member 270 rotates about 180 degrees with respect to the second pressing member 280 and is positioned in a straight line, the terminal part 440 may be located in the straight line. It is positioned in the positioning groove 415 of the driven gear 410. In this case, the terminal part 440 is separated from the contact point 432 so that the micro switch 430 is turned off.

Here, the position of the first pressing member 270 shown in FIG. 13 in which the micro switch 430 is turned off is referred to as a “reference position” for convenience of description.

In addition, while the first pressing member 270 compresses dust accumulated in the dust collecting body 210 while rotating in a counterclockwise direction from a reference position, the terminal portion 440 may be provided with a contact rib of the driven gear 410. 413 is pressed, so that the contact 432 of the micro switch 430 is pressed, and as shown in FIG. 12, the micro switch 430 is turned on.

When the first pressing member 270 that has rotated in the counterclockwise direction no longer rotates due to the influence of dust, the first pressing member 270 rotates in the clockwise direction. Accordingly, the first pressing member 270 rotates to the right side of the second pressing member 280 as shown in FIG. 14 after passing through the reference position shown in FIG. 13 to compress the dust accumulated in the dust collecting body 210.

In addition, when the first pressing member 270 that has rotated in the clockwise direction can no longer rotate due to the influence of dust, the compression motor 570 rotates in the counterclockwise direction and repeatedly performs the above-described process, and thus the dust collecting body Compression of the dust accumulated in 210 is performed.

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

17 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 17, the user selects one of the strong, medium, and weak modes of suction power displayed on the operation signal input unit 520 to operate the vacuum cleaner. Then, the controller 510 operates the suction motor driver 540 to drive the suction motor 550 according to the suction mode selected by the user (S10).

When the suction motor 550 is operated, dust is sucked through the suction nozzle by the suction force of the suction motor 550. 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 addition, the air introduced into the dust collector 200 is discharged to the cleaner body 100 after the dust separation process. The separated dust is stored in the first dust storage unit 214.

As the dust in the air is separated and dust is stored in the first dust storage unit 214, the pair of pressing members 270 and 280 may store dust stored in the first dust storage unit 214. To be compressed.

That is, the controller 510 drives the compression motor 570 to compress the dust stored in the dust collector 200 (S11).

In this embodiment, the compression motor 570 is driven after the suction motor 550 is driven, but as another embodiment, the suction motor 550 and the compression motor 570 may be operated at the same time. There will be.

In operation S11, when the compression motor 570 is driven, the driving gear 420 which is axially coupled with the rotation shaft of the compression motor 570 is rotated. When the driving gear 420 is rotated, the driven gear 410 is rotated in association with the driving gear 420. When the driven gear 410 is rotated, the first pressing member 270 engaged with the driven gear 410 is automatically rotated toward the second pressing member 280 to compress dust.

In addition, the controller 510 first checks whether the first pressing member 270 is located at a reference position (S12).

In this embodiment, the number of rotations of the compression motor 570 until the first pressing member 270 is moved from the reference position toward one side or the other side of the second pressing member to return to the reference position again. Measure to determine the amount of dust. That is, the movement range of the first pressing member 270 is determined by measuring the rotation speed of the compression motor.

Therefore, the rotation speed detecting unit 590 is the compression until the first pressing member 270 is moved from the reference position toward one side or the other side of the second pressing member 280 and then back to the reference position The first reciprocating speed or the second reciprocating speed of the motor 570 is measured and sent to the control unit 510 (S13).

Here, as the amount of dust compressed in the dust collecting body 210 by the first pressing member 270 and the second pressing member 280 increases, the left and right reciprocating rotation time of the driven gear 410 is shortened. .

In addition, the controller 510 determines whether the first reciprocating speed or the second reciprocating speed reaches a predetermined reference speed (S14). Here, the reference rotation speed is a time set by the designer in the controller 510 itself, which is a basis for determining that a predetermined amount or more of dust has accumulated in the dust collector 200. The reference rotation speed is obtained by a designer repeating the test several times and depends on the capacity of the vacuum cleaner.

In the present embodiment, when either the first reciprocating speed or the second reciprocating speed reaches the reference speed, a method of determining that the amount of dust has reached a predetermined amount is taken. As another embodiment, The judgment may be based on the case where both the first reciprocation speed and the second reciprocation speed have reached within a predetermined reference speed.

As a result of the determination in step S14, if any one of the first reciprocating speed and the second reciprocating speed is larger than the reference speed, the process returns to step S13 to perform the previous process.

On the contrary, when the first reciprocating speed or the second reciprocating speed reaches the reference speed, the controller 510 determines whether the first reciprocating speed or the first reciprocating speed of the first pressing member 270 is determined in step S14. It is determined whether the number of reciprocation speeds of the two reciprocating speeds has reached the predetermined speed N continuously, for example, three times (S15).

By doing so, it is possible to more reliably determine that the amount of dust stored in the dust collector 200 exceeds a predetermined amount, and of course, the first pressing member 270 rotates normally under the influence of various foreign substances. This is to prevent errors that can be caused by not being able to move. In this case, the first pressing member 270 does not normally rotate, and the first pressing member 270 is formed by the foreign material between the first pressing member 270 and the dust collecting body 270. 2 refers to a case in which the direction of the second pressing member 280 is changed to the other side of the second pressing member 280 without moving to one side.

As a result of the determination in step S15, if it does not reach the predetermined number of times, the process returns to step S13. On the other hand, when it is determined in step S15 that a predetermined number of times is reached, the controller 510 turns off the suction motor 550 so that dust is not sucked anymore (S16). Here, the reason for forcibly stopping the suction motor 550 is that if the dust suction operation is forcibly continued when the amount of dust accumulated in the dust collecting body 210 exceeds a predetermined amount, the dust suction efficiency is lowered. This is because the suction motor 550 may be overloaded.

Next, the control unit 510 shows the compression motor 570 (S17). In addition, the control unit 510 transmits a signal to empty the dust in the dust collecting apparatus 200 to the signal display unit 530 so that the user can recognize it (S18). That is, the dust emptying signal is displayed to the outside through the signal display unit 530.

In the present embodiment, as the dust emptying time of the dust collector 200 is known to the user, the user's convenience is increased.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the amount of dust is determined by measuring the rotation speed of the compression motor 570. However, the amount of dust is determined by measuring the rotation angle of the first pressing member 270 rotated by the compression motor 570. can do. At this time, the rotation speed of the driven gear 410 is first measured, and the rotation angle of the first pressing member 270 may be obtained through a separate calculation circuit based on the measured value.

18 is a perspective view of a driven gear according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 19 is a perspective view of a dust collecting unit mounting portion according to the second embodiment.

The present embodiment is characterized in that the other parts are the same as the original embodiment except that there is a difference in the means for confirming the reference position. Therefore, the characteristic part of this embodiment is demonstrated below.

18 and 19, a magnetic member 415 is provided at the lower edge portion of the driven gear 610 according to the present embodiment.

In addition, a magnetic sensing unit 640 that detects magnetism generated by the magnetic member 415 is provided inside the dust collector mounting unit 170. In addition, a Hall sensor may be used as the magnetic branch 640.

Here, in order for the magnetic sensing unit 640 to effectively detect the magnetism generated from the magnetic member 415, the magnetic sensing unit 640 is mounted on the dust collecting device mounting unit 170. Preferably, the rotation of the driven gear 610 is located below the trajectory of the magnetic member 615 is drawn.

Therefore, when the driven gear 610 is rotated, when the magnetic member 415 is positioned above the magnetic sensing unit 640, the magnetic sensing unit 640 is a magnetic material of the magnetic member 415. And detect a reference position of the driven gear 410 accordingly.

The spirit of the present embodiment is not limited to the above description, and may further include the following examples.

First, an infrared sensor may be used in place of the micro switch to confirm the reference position in the original embodiment. Such an infrared sensor may be provided at a position of the terminal portion exposed to the dust collector mounting portion.

In addition to the infrared sensor, a photo sensor may be used. In this case, when the position of the positioning groove 415 of the driven gear 410 and the brightness of the contact rib 413 are different from each other, the position of the positioning groove 415 of the driven gear 410 by the photo sensor is The reference position of the first pressing member 270 may be determined to determine the reference position.

On the other hand, the technical idea of the present invention described so far can be applied to an upright cleaner or a robot cleaner, of course.

According to the embodiment as proposed, since the dust stored in the dust collector is compressed by a pair of pressing members to minimize the volume, the dust collecting capacity of the dust stored in the dust collector is maximized. .

In addition, as the dust collecting capacity of the dust collecting device is maximized by the compression action of the pressing member, 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 in a compressed state in the dust collector, there is an effect that the scattering of dust in the process of emptying the dust is prevented.

In addition, when the dust is collected in the dust collector more than a predetermined amount, 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 (9)

A cleaner body in which a dust collector mounting portion is formed; A dust collector selectively mounted on the dust collector mounting portion and having a dust storage portion formed therein; A pressing member compressing the dust stored in the dust storage unit; A compression motor for driving the urging member; A sensing unit for sensing a movement range of the pressing member; A signal display unit configured to make the dust emptying information of the dust collector known to the outside; And And a controller configured to operate the signal display unit when the movement range of the pressing member is less than a reference range. The method of claim 1, The detection unit detects the rotation speed of the compression motor, The control unit is a vacuum cleaner for determining the movement range of the pressing member by using the detected rotation speed of the compression motor. The method of claim 1, A moving range of the pressing member is a vacuum cleaner of the pressing member. The method of claim 1, The vacuum cleaner further comprises a reference position detecting unit for detecting a reference position of the pressing member. The method of claim 4, wherein The reference position detecting unit And a micro switch selectively turned on and off according to the rotational position of the pressing member. The method of claim 4, wherein The reference position detecting unit The vacuum cleaner which is an infrared sensor or a photo sensor provided in the said dust collector mounting part. The method of claim 4, wherein The reference position detecting unit And a magnetic sensor provided in the dust collector mounting portion to detect magnetic. The method of claim 1, The pressing member is a vacuum cleaner for compressing dust while rotating in both directions. The method of claim 1, The compression motor is provided to the cleaner body, The vacuum cleaner is connected to the pressing member and the compression motor as the dust collector is mounted on the dust collector mounting portion.

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