KR940002788B1 - Drive system - Google Patents

Abstract

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Description

Drive

1 is a perspective view of a vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

2 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view taken along a vertical plane through a vacuum cleaner.

3 is an exploded rear perspective view showing a relationship between a transmission and a part of a vacuum cleaner housing according to the present invention;

4 is a cross-sectional view of the transmission taken along the horizontal plane indicated by lines 4-4 of FIG.

5 is a cross-sectional view of the transmission taken along a central vertical plane.

6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the transmission taken along the plane indicated by lines 6-6 of FIG.

7 is a cross-sectional rear view of the transmission and associated components.

8 is an enlarged, broken cross-sectional view of a portable handle coupled to a member installed in a housing to prevent operation of the transmission.

9 is a cross-sectional view of the carriage installed in the housing for mounting the portable handle of the vacuum cleaner.

10 is an enlarged view of a typical gear and clutch / sprocket set of a transmission.

11 is a sectional view of a wheel shaft bearing of a transmission.

FIG. 12 is a vertical sectional view of the wheel side bearing of the transmission taken along the plane indicated by lines 12-12 of FIG.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of the wheel shaft bearing of the transmission taken along the vertical plane indicated by lines 13-13 of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view of the wheel shaft bearing of the transmission as seen from the opposite side of FIG.

FIG. 15 is a schematic perspective view showing a stepping pedal mechanism for controlling power transmission from a transmission to a wheel shaft in a power transmission position; FIG.

FIG. 16 is a view similar to FIG. 15 with the lung delivery mechanism in a neutral position.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

10 vacuum cleaner 11: housing

13: handle 18: electric motor shaft

26: transmission 27: casing

46: clutch / sprocket 49: flange

The present invention relates to a mechanism with a self-propelled wheel, in particular a powered vacuum cleaner.

Devices with self-propelled wheels such as vacuum cleaners, sweepers, and lawn mowers are well known. For example, U.S. Patent Nos. 3,618,687 to Ripple et al., 4,249,281 to Meyer et al., 4,347,643 to Bare III, and 4,434,865 to Chudy et al. Describe transmissions of vacuum cleaners.

Such known drives have one or more drawbacks such as limited power, inadequate speed range, low durability, operating noise, low reduction ratios requiring small propulsion wheels, expensive components and / or irregular response and power transmission.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a transmission of a mechanism having a wheel which is controlled by a handle, which enables high power and durability, low noise, smooth power transmission in both front and rear directions. This transmission includes a first stage reducer connected to a drive motor, and a shift input shaft connected by a sprocket and a drive belt. The pinion of the input shaft drives one of a pair of gears that engage in reverse rotation. Clutch / sprockets are respectively connected to the reversing gears, and the belt connects these clutches / sprockets with a common sprocket which drives the wheels of the mechanism through the associated members. The input pinion, the reverse gear, each clutch / sprocket and the common output sprocket all rotate about an axis parallel to the motor axis. The actuation mechanism selectively activates one or the other of the clutches / sprockets to propel the cleaner or the like forward or backward.

The drive device of the invention is particularly suitable for vacuum cleaners driven by fan electric motors. This transmission has a relatively high deceleration ratio, so that the high speed of the blower motor can be used to enable a propulsion wheel having a relatively large output of the wheel shaft. These large propulsion wheels are easy to operate in various floor conditions. The operating mechanism of the transmission is connected with the upright handle of the cleaner, and responds as the user gently pushes or pulls the handle to start or propel the cleaner back and forth, respectively. This implement and clutch member transmit power smoothly in both front and rear directions, and this property is not affected by wear due to long use. Each clutch / sprocket has a hole in which a spring is associated with an enlarged flange with high friction to reduce the size of the transmission.

Another feature of this transmission is a wheel axle bearing structure that positions the transmission case relative to the housing of the cleaner and supports the weight of the cleaner without transmitting its own weight or impact load to the transmission itself.

1 shows a vacuum cleaner 10 having a housing 11, a bag 12 for collecting dust and a handle 13 for manipulating the cleaner across the bottom surface. This cleaner 10 is supported by a relatively small front wheel 16. As shown in FIG. 2, a shaft 18 is provided on an electric motor 17 in the housing 11, and in the illustrated embodiment, the shaft 18 is substantially horizontally moved in the front and rear directions of the cleaner 10. Parallel to A suction vane 19 is provided at the front end of the motor shaft 18. The shaft 18 has an extension 21 extending forward of the wing. In use, a belt, not shown, is engaged with the extension to drive the rotary stirring brush in a conventional manner.

The grooved sprocket 22 is fixed to the rear end of the shaft 18 and is interlocked with the similarly grooved sprocket 23 by a toothed belt 24. These sprockets 22 and 23 and the belt 24 are the primary drive mechanisms that transmit power from the electric motor 17 to the transmission 26, and the transmission 26 drives the rear propulsion wheel 16 by the power of the electric motor. .

In this embodiment, the transmission 26 is a self-contained modular device, as shown in FIG. 3, which is divided into front and rear parts and which has a casing 27 which is joined in a vertical plane indicated by reference numeral 28 in FIG. Have The sprocket 23 is installed on the input shaft 29 of the transmission. The casing 27 is provided with various power transmission members for reducing the speed of the motor shaft and selectively supplying the output of the rotation shaft back and forth. The member in the casing rotates about an axis parallel to the mode motor shaft 18. More specifically, the input shaft 29 is fixed to the pinion gear 31 and rotates in an appropriate bearing in the boss 30 of the front portion of the casing 27 (FIG. 6). The pinion gear 31 meshes with the gear 33, which in turn meshes with the gear 34 which is substantially the same and reversely rotated. These gears 33 and 34 rotate in cylindrical bearings assembled on non-rotating shafts 36, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 10, the annular friction material 37 is properly fixed to the surface of each gear. In addition, thrust bearings 39 are provided in the gears 33 and 34, respectively. Each thrust bearing 39 is generally available in friction reduction, having a plurality of rollers spaced along the circumference such that they are radially oriented about an axis between a pair of flat annular races. . An annular groove 41 is formed on the back of each gear, and the associated thrust bearing 39 is press-fitted therein.

In addition, a pair of clutches / sprockets is provided, which meshes with one of the gears 33 and 34 corresponding to each clutch / sprocket 46. These clutches / sprockets 46 are essentially identical, each arranged to face the clutch plate 37. These clutches / sprockets 46 are connected to the associated shaft 36 by an associated shaft 36 by means of a friction reducing bearing 47. In addition, a pair of ejection reduction thrust bearings 48 are provided. Each bearing, like the bearing 39, is disposed between one of the associated clutches / sprockets 46 and the associated wall portion of the casing 27.

The clutch / sprocket 46 includes a round flange 39 extending radially with an annular clutch surface 51 arranged in a radial plane, respectively. The flange 49 has the largest diameter among the clutch / sprocket members, and only a part of the axial length of the member 46 is exhausted. The diameter of the axial bore 52 penetrating the clutch / sprocket 46 is stepped to form a counter bore 54 and 56 with a corresponding bore 53 and 54 counterbore in turn. A radial surface 57 is created between the corresponding holes 53, 54, and similarly a radial surface 58 is formed between the holes 54, 56.

In the generally rounded outer intermediate region 61 of the clutch / sprocket 46, grooves 62 which engage the teeth of the drive belt 63 extend axially at even intervals. The clutch / sprockets 46 each have a cylindrical guide surface 64 coaxial with the hole 52 at an end remote from the flange 49 and adapted to support the associated thrust bearing 48. In addition, each clutch / sprocket is formed with a radial jaw 66 which meshes with a race of the associated thrust bearing 48. The jaws 66 are each arranged at a distance from the end 67 of the clutch / sprocket 46, which distance allows the bearing to prevent contact between the clutch / sprocket and the adjacent wall portion of the casing 27. It is shorter than the axial thickness of the bearing 48.

Each corresponding hole 54 is sized to allow the associated bearing 47 to enter. The bearing 47 is located in the same axial region as the intermediate region 61 with grooves for engaging the belt 63. Each corresponding hole 53 is sized to accommodate one of the associated pair of compression springs 68, the axial depth of which extends to the area enclosed by the substantially grooved outer area 61. .

As shown in FIG. 10, one end of each spring 68 is in contact with the radial jaw 57 and the other end is in contact with the race of its bearing 38. The spring 68 also has a size that allows the associated friction surface material 37 to be separated from its clutch surface 51. Each gear 33, 34 has a hub portion 69 surrounding its corresponding hole 53. The outer diameter of this hub portion 69 is larger than the grooved region 61. The flange 49 is almost twice as large as the grooved region 61 with respect to its diameter, and the length is generally shorter than that of the grooved region. The clutch / sprocket 46 is preferably made of a heat dissipating material, such as aluminum, so that frictional heat is conducted from the cleat surface 51.

As best shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the sprocket / gear 71 is fixed to the shaft 73 by a bearing 7. The axis center of this axis 73 is located in the virtual vertical plane in the middle of the axis 36. The sprocket / gear 71 has an annular radially outer sprocket rim 74 formed with a groove in the outer circumference to engage the teeth of the belt 63. The inner circumference of the rim 74 is fixed to the outside of the bevel gear portion 76 of the sprocket / gear 71 by a spline. A space 77 is formed on the side of the rim 74 so that the teeth of the bevel gear 76 are located in this space.

The bevel gear 81 is provided to be able to rotate on the horizontal wheel shaft 82, and is always engaged with the bevel gear portion 76. The shaft center on this wheel side is orthogonal to the shaft center of the pulley or gear of the sprocket or transmission 26 described above. The rear propulsion wheels 16 are mounted at the ends of the shafts 82, respectively, and are keyed to prevent relative rotation. The wheel shaft 82 is also assembled with a body 83 of torque limiting coupling, a compression spring 84 and an opposing thrust bearing 86. The thrust bearing 86 is in contact with the web 87 formed in the transmission casing 27. The coupling body 83 is keyed to the shaft 82 by a horizontal pin 88 which is received in a groove 89 extending in the axial direction from the side wall of the body 83 and pressed into the hole of the shaft. The surfaces of the bevel gear 81 and the coupling main body 83 are formed with teeth 90 and 91 which mesh with each other in a spiral plane by a known method.

In the normal state, the springs 84 allow the teeth 90, 91 to mesh with each other so that the bevel gear 81 can transfer the drive torque to the wheel shaft 82. However, if the torque becomes too large, the spring yields so that the teeth 90, 91 are separated from each other, so that the bevel gear 81 is separated from the wheel side 82 so that they can rotate relative to each other. The transverse pin 88 and the groove 89 allow the coupling body 83 to move axially within a limited range along the axis 82 while preventing relative rotation between the axis 82 and the body 83. do.

Bearings 92 opposite the casing 27 rotatably support the wheel shaft 82. Substantially the same bearing 92 is shown in detail in FIGS. 11-14. This bearing is traded under the trademark DELRIN AF. children. It is desirable to mold it with a suitable self-lubricating material, such as a thermoplastic material sold by the company Dupont De Nemours & Co ..

As best shown in FIG. 12, the bearings 92 each have a generally cylindrical body 93 and an integral trapezoidal flange portion 94. Cylindrical hole 95 is drilled through main body 93 along an axis perpendicular to the plane of trapezoidal flange portion 94. The trapezoidal flange 94 is nearly symmetric about the imaginary vertical plane 96 on which the axis of the hole 95 lies. Opposite edges of the trapezoidal flange 94 are closer to each other as the distance from the top of the hole 95 axis increases, and to each other as the distance from the bottom of the hole axis is farther from each other. This non-parallel edge 97 is preferably contained in a plane perpendicular to the planes of FIGS. 11 and 14 degrees. The width of the trapezoidal flange 94 is narrower at the top than at the bottom.

The upper edge 01 of the trapezoidal flange 94 is formed with a rib or tab 102 extending upward. The axial length of the ribs 102 is somewhat limited, preferably less than one half of the axial thickness of the trapezoidal flange 94. The outer surface 104 of the trapezoidal flange 94 is spaced inwardly from one end 106 of the tubular body 93. The inner surface 103 of the flange 94 is provided with a reinforcing rib 108 integrated with a plurality of recesses 107 so that the wall thickness of the flange is substantially constant, so that injection molding is easy and mechanical strength is high.

As shown in FIG. 3, a bracket 109 screwed to the casing 27 holds the bearing 92 in place relative to the casing. The bearings 92 are each accommodated in one of the pair of grooves 111 formed in the lower portion 112 of the vacuum cleaner housing 11. The transmission casing 27 is mounted to the lower part 112 and fixed with an appropriate screw. The shape of each groove 111 is complementary to the shape of its bearing 92 so that the wedges at its edges fit snugly with the corresponding edge 97 of the bearing flange 94. The transmission casing 27 is aligned with the screw hole (not shown) of the housing lower part 112 and fixed to the lower part 112 of the housing by a screw assembled through the hole 113 (FIG. 4) of the horizontal flange of the casing. do.

Lowering the transmission casing 27 to the assembled position causes the bearing 92 to align itself with the housing 112 by interaction with the groove 111 surface. As shown in FIG. 7 where the housing is indicated by hidden lines, the rib 102 is coupled to the inside of the wall of the housing bottom 112. This rib 102 positions the bearing 92 axially with respect to the housing 112.

The actuating lever 116 is mounted in a spherical socket 117 formed integrally with the rear wall of the casing 27. This lever 116 has a complementary spherical axle 118 that fits snugly with the socket 117. Screw 119 extends through the shafts of socket 117 and axle 118 to support lever 116 with appropriate clearance to allow lever 116 to have limited pivot movement in casing 27. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 10, a pin 121 integrally formed at the four corners of the lever 116 protrudes through the associated hole 122 in the rear wall of the casing 27. The pins 121 act in pairs, and the pins on the right side in FIG. 7 contact the fixed races of the associated thrust bearings 39 at opposite sides at equal intervals from their center. Similarly, the left pins 12 are in contact with the race of the other thrust bearing.

The spherical protrusion 123 of the lever is connected with the complementary socket of the horizontal link 124 of FIG. 3. The other end of the lever 124 is pivotally connected with the vertical lever 127 at the position of reference 126. The lower end 128 of the vertical lever 127 is pivotally connected to the axle 129 of the casing 27 (FIG. 2). The upper end 131 of the lever 127 is branched to accept the pin 132 fixed to the bracket 133, and the bracket 133 is fixed to the carriage 134 again (FIGS. 8 and 9). .

The carriage 134 travels on a linear bearing 136 rigidly mounted just inside the upper part of the housing 11. In this linear bearing 136, a plurality of cylindrical rollers 137 constraining the carriage are arranged in a V-shape so that the carriage 134 can translate in a horizontal plane.

In addition, the carriage assembly 134 is provided with a pivot assembly 138 that supports the upright handle 13 to pivot about a horizontal axis parallel to the wheel axis 82. Instead, the pivot assembly 138 may be coupled to another handle 139, which is described in U.S. Patent Application No. 282,116 (filed Jan. 1, 1988), which is incorporated herein by reference.

When the user drags or pushes the handle 13 to apply a force, the transmission 26 is actuated to propel the cleaner 10 along the floor surface to be cleaned. Pushing the handle 13 moves the carriage 134 forward within the housing 11 to a limited extent. Movement of the carriage 134 is transmitted by the lever 127 and the link 124 to move the left end of the operation lever 116 forward as shown in FIG. The pin 121 on the left side of the pivot screw 119 extends the associated thrust bearing 39 to slightly move this bearing and gear 34 in the axial direction. The associated surface friction material 37 thus comes into contact with the associated clutch / sprocket 46, causing the clutch / sprocket to rotate with the gear 34. The belt 63 causes the sprocket / gear 71 to rotate in the same direction. The bevel gear 76 meshed with the wheel shaft bevel gear 81 rotates the wheel shaft 82 forward.

Pulling the handle 13 causes the right pin 121 (FIG. 7) to rotate the other clutch / sprocket 46 associated with the gear 31. This rotation is opposite to the rotation of the gear 34 so that the wheel shaft is driven in the opposite direction by the associated clutch / sprocket 46, belt 73, sprocket / gear 71 and bevel gear 81.

15 and 16 illustrate a tread mechanism 146 for selectively displacing the coupling body 83 from a normal power transmission position to a neutral position where the wheel side 82 is not in torque transmission connection with the transmission 26. have. The stepping pedal 147 of this instrument 146 is exposed to the rear lower part of the housing 11, which instrument 146 is not shown in FIG. 3 so that the other members are clearly shown. The mechanism 146 includes arms 149 and 151 which can be pivoted about a vertical crank 152 fixed to the bottom of the bell crank 148 and the transmission casing 27. Arm 149 is received in spherical groove 153 of coupling body 83. The other arm 151 has a cam driven tab 154 engaged by the cam member 156. The cam member 156 is fixed to the horizontal axis 157 pivoted in the block 158 fixed to the casing 27. The horizontal axis 157 is led to the rear of the housing 11, and the closed moon 147 is fixed to the rear outer end thereof. The cam member 156 has two flat portions 159 and 161 and an intermediate connecting portion 162.

As seen in FIGS. 15 and 16, a stage is formed on the right side of the lung moon 147 to allow the user to manually operate the transmission 26. In this state, the flat portion 159 of the cam 156 has a valve in a position where the driven tab 154 is engaged with the bevel gear teeth 90 by the spring 84 normally pressing the teeth 91 of the coupling body. Allow the rank arm 149 to go. Manually pressing the left side of the pedal 147 causes the cam 156 to swing and the driven tab 154 slides across the connecting portion 162 to the flat portion 161. In this state (FIG. 16), the driven tab 154 forces the bell crank arm 149 to go to the right so that the coupling body 83 overcomes the force of the spring and the teeth 90, 91 are separated. The transmission is in a neutral state so that rotational force is not transmitted to the wheel shaft 82. The flat portions 159 and 161 respectively support the follower tabs 154 to be in their own stable positions.

The springs 68 connected to the clutch / sprocket 4 are adjusted so that each clutch member is inoperative. These spring constants and pre-compression states during assembly are generally different so that the response of the transmission is good when the user manually pushes or pulls the handle. From the above description, it will be understood that the link mechanism and the operating dynamics, if the spring 68 is properly selected, the pushing force required for the front clutch engagement operation is independent of the pulling force of the reverse operation, and vice versa. In addition, since the various link mechanisms and clutch members are not worn very much, the user's feel and the response of the cleaner are kept constant throughout the life of the product.

A substitute portable handle 139 is used when it is necessary to prevent the rotation of the rear propulsion wheel 16 in order to use the cleaner in a portable manner (see FIG. 8). The handle 139 has a wing 141 that engages with the pivot assembly 138 and a socket 142 that engages closely with the head of the screw 143 secured to the housing 11. Therefore, the handle 139 secures the pivot assembly 138 and thus prevents horizontal movement of the carriage 134. This fixing action prevents the rank members 127 and 124 from operating the transmission.

The above description is merely an example, and various modifications may be made by adding, changing, or deleting details without departing from the scope of the present specification. Therefore, the scope of the present invention is limited only by the appended claims, and is not limited to the description of the specification.

Claims (18)

a. A housing mounted to the wheel and operable with a handle extending vertically from the housing; b. A drive device in the housing for selectively driving at least one wheel back and forth; c. The drive unit includes a motor, a pair of gears supported in the housing and respectively connected to the motor and rotating in reverse about each axis, and a pair of shift output members each mounted to face the gears to constitute a pair of sets. Included; d. A pair of clutch faces for each set of gears and output members; e. Flexible power transmission means connected with both the output member and the driven member; f. An axis interlocked with the driven member to drive the at least one wheel in a direction determined in a rotational direction of the output member; g. In response to a force acting on the handle manually, if the force is in the first direction, one of the gear and output member sets is actuated through each clutch surface together to drive the driven member in the corresponding first rotational direction, and In response to a force acting on the handle, the other one of the gear and output member set is actuated together through the respective clutch surfaces if the force is in the second direction opposite to the driven member in the corresponding opposite second rotation direction. Self-propelled mechanism comprising a drive means for driving the shaft to selectively drive at least one wheel from each other in either a forward or reverse direction. 2. The instrument of claim 1 comprising carriage means mounted to the housing to support the handle and to allow the handle to move within a limited range relative to the housing. A mechanism according to claim 1 or 2, comprising a suction blower in the housing, wherein the electric motor is adapted to drive the suction blower. The appliance of claim 1 wherein the appliance is a vacuum cleaner. The mechanism of claim 1 wherein the output member is a sprocket engraved with a parallel groove along its axis and the flexible power transmission means is a toothed belt that engages the groove of the sprocket. The mechanism according to claim 1 or 5, wherein an overload clutch means is provided on the shaft to prevent excessive torque from being applied to the shaft. 2. The handle according to claim 1, further comprising: a handle support provided on the mechanism to move forward and backward from the neutral position along the movement path of the power propulsion mechanism, and a shift control link provided between the support and the transmission to transmit directional control force from the support to the transmission. Mechanism included in the clutch actuation means. 8. The appliance of claim 7, comprising means for applying the control means to a neutral position. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising handles that are selectively connectable to the carriage and one interchangeable at a time, one of which includes means for preventing the carriage from moving from the neutral position. The method of claim 1 wherein a. A selectively engageable coupling is connected between the output member and the shaft and installed therebetween; b. An interchangeable member is included in the coupling that transmits rotational force from the output member to the shaft in the engaged position; c. This member is movable relative to the disengaged position from the engaged position; d. A mechanism comprising coupling engagement control means operable by an operator to relatively displace this member from one position to another. A power control device for a power mechanism with wheels capable of shifting and reversing, comprising: a. A handle support mounted to the mechanism to move forward and backward from the neutral position along the movement path of the power propulsion mechanism; b. A handle connected to the carriage to transfer the force in the fore and aft direction to the support to cause this longitudinal movement from the neutral position; c. A shifting link installed between the support and the transmission to transfer direction control from the support to the transmission; d. And a means for forcing the control means to a neutral position. 12. The control device according to claim 11, wherein the output speed of the transmission is proportional to the degree of movement of the support from the neutral position. The appliance according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the appliance is a vacuum cleaner. A self-propelled mechanism that transmits rotational motion from the prime mover to the driven wheels of the overall mechanism and is operable by the operator, comprising: a. Driven members connected to the prime mover to allow a constant rotation about the driven axis when the body propulsion mechanism is used, b. A clutch that is rotatable about a driven shaft when the clutch and the driven member are in frictional contact with each other, the clutch being rotatably rotatably supported toward or away from the driven member; c. An output member connected to the clutch and the wheel to transmit the rotational force of the self-propelled mechanism to the wheel when the clutch and the driven member are in frictional contact; d. A lever connected to the clutch to pivot about a pivot axis perpendicular to and spaced apart from the driven shaft; e. A speed control member movably mounted to an operator control portion that forms part of the body propulsion mechanism; f. And a manipulation force transmitting member connected between the member and the lever to transfer the speed control force of the operator along a path parallel to the imaginary plane including the driven axis. 15. The mechanism of claim 14 wherein a pair of pins connected with a clutch is connected to the lever, the axes of which are parallel to the driven axis. 15. The mechanism of claim 14 wherein the lever is of a first type lever with a pivot axis located between the clutch and the operating force transmission member and the connection of the lever. 15. The instrument of claim 14 wherein the pivot axis is also parallel to the imaginary plane. 15. The instrument of claim 14 wherein at least one of the lever connection and the pivot is in spherical connection.