TW201642795A - Self-propelled vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a self-propelled vacuum cleaner, in regard to a cleaning of corners where dust is accumulated easily, the self-propelled vacuum cleaner can readily perform cleaning without having to install complex mechanisms or apply complex control. A self-propelled vacuum cleaner comprising: a substantially disc-shaped main body; a suction port provided at the bottom surface of the main body for collecting ground dust; a left drive wheel and a right drive wheel, both independently driven, configured in the bottom surface of the main body to clamp said suction port; an obstacle detection means for detecting an obstacle around the main body; a first brush disposed on the bottom surface of the main the body further front of the left and right drive wheels, which is rotated to guide the dust located outside of the main body to said suction port; a second brush provided on the bottom surface of the main body further rear of the left and right drive wheels, which protrudes out of the main body; and a control circuit for controlling the left and right drive wheels, said suction port and said first brush.

Description

Self-discipline walking vacuum cleaner

The present invention relates to an autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner.

The autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner is a vacuum cleaner with a drive unit that moves autonomously in the cleaning area and cleans it. Various control is proposed for the autonomous walking control that can completely grasp the cleaning area, and various methods are also proposed for the cleaning method of the wall side or the cleaning method of the corner portion of the two wall surfaces.

For example, in paragraphs 0049 and 8 of Patent Document 1, it is disclosed that "the mechanism that allows the telescopic arm portion to be pulled out by the brush until the brush reaches the corner is disclosed. In this case, for example, the arm is rotated. The central part becomes the largest extension of the vacuum cleaner.

[Previous Technical Literature] [Patent Document]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-26028

However, in the case of Patent Document 1, when the direction in which the obstacle is changed is detected, the arm protruding from the autonomous walking type cleaner body may come into contact with the obstacle and be caught by the obstacle. When the direction of the corner portion where the two wall surfaces intersect is changed, it is necessary to prevent the main body from rotating away from the corner portion in order to prevent contact with the wall. As a result, the rotating brush at the tip end of the arm cannot reach the corner portion. However, the corner portion cannot be properly cleaned (see Fig. 8(b) of Patent Document 1). As a means to avoid the above problems, a method of expanding and contracting the arm portion of the support brush when cleaning the corner portion is considered. However, in this case, the arm expansion and contraction mechanism is required to complicate the structure. Further, it is also necessary to control the extension of the arm portion in accordance with the rotation operation of the main body, and the control is also complicated.

To this end, the present invention provides an autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner that can clean the corners without requiring complicated mechanisms and complicated control.

In order to solve the above problem, the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of claim 1 includes: a main body; a suction port provided on a bottom surface of the main body to collect dust on the ground; and a left driving wheel and a right driving wheel independently driven; and detecting an obstacle around the main body An obstacle detecting means; a bottom surface of the main body disposed on a front side of the left and right driving wheels, and a brush that is rotatable in a clockwise direction or a counterclockwise direction, protrudes outward from the main body, and controls the left and right sides a driving circuit and a control circuit for the brush, wherein the control circuit is in a corner portion where the two wall surfaces intersect, and the left and right driving wheels are controlled to rotate the brush side, and the main body faces the clockwise side Rotate or oscillate alternately with the counterclockwise direction.

According to the present invention, by rotating the main body of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner by one rotation or more, the rear brush provided at the rear of the main body can pick up the dust at the corner portion and clean the corner portion. The rear brush is placed in the body so no complicated mechanisms are used.

Further, the movement of the main body is also an operation that is frequently performed when the direction of the movement is changed, but the complicated control is not performed. Therefore, it is possible to clean the corners without setting complicated mechanisms or applying complicated control.

1‧‧‧ Subject

2a‧‧‧Upper casing

2b‧‧‧ lower casing

3‧‧‧ buffer

4‧‧‧ Wheels

5‧‧‧ mouthpiece

17‧‧‧Exhaust port

18‧‧‧ side brush

22‧‧‧Ranging sensor

43‧‧‧ Rear brush

101‧‧‧Autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of embodiment 1

102‧‧‧Autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of embodiment 2

103‧‧‧Autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of Example 3

104‧‧‧Autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of embodiment 4

111‧‧‧ side wall

112‧‧‧ front wall

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance from above the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of the first embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance from the lower side of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of the first embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view showing the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of the first embodiment.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view showing the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of the first embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing a control device of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of the first embodiment.

Fig. 6 is a view showing a walking trajectory of a reflection walking type.

Fig. 7 is a view showing a walking trajectory of a parallel walking type.

Fig. 8 is a view showing a walking trajectory of a walking type at the wall.

Fig. 9 is a view showing an example of a rear brush of the first embodiment.

Fig. 10 is a schematic view showing the operation at the time of corner cleaning of the first embodiment.

Fig. 11 is a top view showing the inside of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of the second embodiment.

Fig. 12 is a view showing the operation at the time of cleaning the corner portion of the embodiment of the second embodiment.

Fig. 13 is a bottom plan view showing the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of the third embodiment.

Fig. 14 is a schematic view showing the operation at the time of corner cleaning of the third embodiment.

Fig. 15 is a left sectional view showing the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of the fourth embodiment.

Fig. 16 is a perspective view showing the exhaust circuit mechanism of the fourth embodiment.

Fig. 17 is a perspective view showing the exhaust circuit mechanism of the fourth embodiment.

Fig. 18 is a schematic view showing the operation at the time of corner cleaning of the fourth embodiment.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below using the drawings.

[Example 1]

The configuration of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101 of the first embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. Fig. 1 is an external perspective view from above of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101, and Fig. 2 is an external perspective view from below. Moreover, FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view in which the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101 is vertically cut in the front-rear direction, and FIG. 4 is a horizontal cross-sectional view in which the cutting is performed horizontally in the height direction. Further, Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing a control device of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101.

First, the appearance of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101 will be described using the external views of Figs. 1 and 2 .

In Fig. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a substantially cylindrical main body, and includes an upper casing 2a including an upper surface, a lower casing 2b including a bottom surface, and a front buffer portion 3. The upper surface of the upper casing 2a is provided with a cover 15, a display panel 24, a start key 25, a travel mode selection key 26, and a power key 27. Further, 18a and 18b are side brushes, and 43 is a rear brush.

Further, as shown in Fig. 2, the bottom surface of the lower casing 2b is provided with wheels 4a and 4b that are rotationally driven during autonomous walking, and a brush 11 and a suction port 5 for collecting dust from the ground; auxiliary wheels 10a, 10b, and 10c; The sensor holders 23a, 23b, and 23c; and the brush holders 19a and 19b that serve as the rotation shafts of the side brushes 18a and 18b, and the rear brush holder 61 that serves as the rotation shaft of the rear brush 43.

Next, the internal structure of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101 is demonstrated using FIG. 3 and FIG. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view showing the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101 cut in the front-rear direction, and Fig. 4 is a view showing the upper side. A horizontal sectional view of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101 being cut horizontally. In the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101 of the present embodiment, the direction in which the buffer portion 3 is provided is forward, and mainly moves in this direction. Therefore, when the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101 is in contact with an obstacle or the like when moving forward, the buffer unit 3 first moves rearward in contact with an obstacle or the like. Further, the micro switch described later detects the movement of the buffer portion 3 rearward, and can detect the contact with the obstacle. The method of the structure of the buffer unit 3 and the obstacle detection will be described in detail below.

As shown in Fig. 3, the buffer portion 3 is supported by the two buffer springs 6a, 6b so as to be supported by the two buffer springs 6a, 6b in the front-rear direction, and is moved rearward when pressed from the front, and is restored by the spring when the force is released. Force back to the original position. The buffer springs 6a and 6b are thin metal plates, and are fixed to the left and right of the outer surface of the lower casing 2b, and extend toward the center front side to be connected to the buffer portion 3. In order to smoothly swing the buffer portion 3, the distal ends of the buffer springs 61, 6b are bent, and the curved portion thereof is in contact with the inner surface of the buffer portion 3. Further, the two buffer springs 6a and 6b are brought into contact with the buffer portion 3 separately, and the buffer portion 3 can smoothly swing not only when the force from the front surface of the buffer portion 3 acts on any of the left and right forces. Further, as shown in Fig. 4, the mounting buffer springs 6a and 6b are splayed when displayed from above, so that a large swing is formed on the right side of the buffer portion 3 after the force from the right side of the buffer portion 3 acts, and the force acts on the buffer portion from the left side. After 3, a large swing is formed on the left side of the buffer unit 3. As described above, for example, when the force is applied from the right side, the buffer spring 6a on the right side is easily bent, but the buffer spring 6b on the left side is difficult to bend. Therefore, the buffer portion 3 is blocked by the distal end bending portion, and as a result, a large swing is formed on the right side.

Further, the buffer portion sensors 7a and 7b that detect the operation of the buffer unit 3 are fixed to the left and right of the lower casing 2b. The buffer portion sensors 7a and 7b are micro-switches, and the movable contact sides of the micro switches are connected to the tips of the left and right convex portions 3a and 3b provided on the inner side of the buffer unit 3. When the buffer portion 3 is pushed to the rear side, it contacts the contact of the micro switch, and the detecting force acts on the buffer portion 3. The buffer portion sensor 7a is located on the right side, mainly in the case where the detecting force acts on the right side of the buffer portion 3, and the buffer portion sensor 7b is located on the left side, mainly in the case where the detecting force acts on the left side of the buffer portion 3. When the force acts on the vicinity of the center of the buffer portion 3, the buffer portion sensors 7a, 7b can be detected together, and it is known that a force acts on the vicinity of the center.

Further, the lower casing 2b has two independent wheels 4a and 4b which are bilaterally symmetrical with respect to a substantially central position in the front-rear direction. The two wheels 4a, 4b are independently driven to advance, retreat, and rotate. The surfaces of the respective wheels 4a, 4b are covered with rubber having irregularities, and are not easily slid during walking.

Further, each of the wheels 4a and 4b transmits power from the traveling motors 9a and 9b through the reduction gears 8a and 8b each composed of a plurality of gears. The reducers 8a and 8b are preferably helical gears for reducing the running sound. In particular, in order to make the first stage gear of the traveling motors 9a and 9b having a high number of revolutions have a large noise reduction effect, it is preferable to use a helical gear. The traveling motor encoders 38a and 38b (Fig. 5) are attached to the traveling motors 9a and 9b, and the number of rotations and the rotation angle are detected. The diameters of the reduction gears 8a and 8b and the wheels 4a and 4b are used to grasp the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101. Movement speed, moving distance. Moreover, the wheels 4a, 4b, the traveling motors 9a, 9b, and the minus The speeders 8a and 8b are units which are formed one by one on the right and left sides, and the unit is attached to the lower casing 2b via a hanger (not shown). The autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101 can smoothly ride up and down in the traveling step, and it is necessary to maintain the state in which the wheels 4a and 4b are in contact with the running surface as much as possible, and the wheels 4a and 4b can be swung up and down by the hanger.

Further, a total of three auxiliary wheels 10a, 10b, and 10c are provided on the left and right sides in front of and behind the bottom surface of the lower casing 2b. The auxiliary wheel 10a in front of the bottom surface and the other auxiliary wheels 10b, 10c are relatively low in installation. The flat floor supports the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101 by the auxiliary wheel 10a in front of the bottom surface and the wheels 4a, 4b, and the lower casing 2b. The bottom surface is maintained at a height of about 10 mm from the ground. When the step or the like is passed, the front side is lifted, and the left and right auxiliary wheels 10b and 10c provided behind the bottom surface are in contact with the ground, and the step can be smoothly passed.

The vicinity of the center of the lower casing 2b has a suction opening 5 which is formed at substantially four corners with respect to the ground. The suction port 5 is located in the vicinity of a straight line connecting the center of the wheel 4a and the center of the wheel 4b. A brush 11 is assembled to the suction port 5, and the brush 11 is rotated by the brush motor 12 to effectively suck the dust on the ground.

An opening 5a is provided in the upper rear portion of the suction port 5, and a dust collecting portion is formed on the rear side. The dust collecting portion is constituted by a dust collecting box 13 and a dust collecting filter 14. The dust box 13 has an opening at a position facing the opening 5a, and is connected by a gasket therebetween, and the dust collected from the suction port 5 is guided to the dust box 13 through the opening 5a. The dust collecting filter 14 located behind the dust box 13 and also serving as the rear wall of the dust box 13 separates air and dust and dust The angstroms collect in the dust box 13 and pass the air through the dust collecting filter 14. The dust box 13 can open the cover 15 provided on the upper casing 2a to be detached.

Further, an electric blower 16 is provided at the center of the width direction of the main body 1 at the rear of the dust collecting filter 14. The electric blower 16 is disposed in the lower casing 2b through the elastic body. The vibration generated by the electric blower 16 is attenuated by the elastic body and is not easily transmitted to the main body 1, and the vibration noise is reduced. Thereby, the electric blower 16 generates an attractive force, and the dust on the ground is sucked from the suction port 5, passes through the dust collecting box 13, is blocked by the dust collecting filter 14, and is collected in the dust collecting box 13. Then, the air after the dust is separated is sucked into the electric blower 16, discharged from the side surface of the electric blower 16, and exhausted to the outside of the main body 1 from the lattice-shaped exhaust port 17 provided behind the lower casing 2b.

The exhaust port 17 is made of a lattice-shaped plastic or metal, and the hole through which the air formed by the lattice passes is formed obliquely upward toward the rear. Therefore, the exhaust gas from the electric blower 16 is exhausted toward the upper rear side and the upper side, and the dust on the ground is not raised.

Further, on the bottom surface of the lower casing 2b, side brushes 18a and 18b are rotatably provided on the front side of the wheels 4a and 4b. The side brushes 18a and 18b are composed of brush holders 19a and 19b and three bundles of bristles, and the three bundles of bristles are radially attached to the brush holders 19a and 19b at substantially equal intervals. The brush holders 19a and 19b are rotatably attached to the bottom surface of the lower casing 2b, and the rotation shafts are coupled to the side brush motors 21a and 21b via the speed reducers 20a and 20b, and are rotated by the side brush motors 21a and 21b. Further, the bristles of the side brushes 18a and 18b are inclined downward toward the front, and the front end is connected to the ground. The side brushes 18a and 18b rotate in opposite directions from each other, from above When the square is displayed, the side brush 18a on the right side is rotated in the counterclockwise direction, and the side brush 18b on the left side is rotated in the clockwise direction, so that the dust on the front side can be sent to the suction port 5. In the present embodiment, the side brushes 18a and 18b are provided on the right and left sides, but one of the right side and the left side may be provided unilaterally. Further, the number of bundles of bristles is not three, but one bundle, two bundles or four bundles, five bundles, or may be radially expanded from the entire circumference of the brush holders 19a, 19b without collecting the bundle.

Further, the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101 is autonomously movable, and the main body 1 is provided to prevent collision with a wall or furniture of a room, and the plurality of distance measuring sensors 22a to 22g are provided from the front side of the main body 1. In this embodiment, one (22d) is disposed in front of the main body 1, and three total ranging sensors are disposed on the left and right sides toward the side. The distance measuring sensors 22a to 22g are infrared distance measuring sensors, and are composed of a light emitting unit that emits infrared light and a light receiving unit that receives reflected light from the infrared reflecting object, and detects the intensity of the reflected light to measure. A sensor that reflects the distance to the object. The distance measuring sensors 22a to 22g are disposed at different angles toward the outside in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the lower casing 2b, and the distance is detected by the buffer portion 3. To this end, at least the vicinity of the distance measuring sensors 22a to 22g of the buffer portion 3 is made of infrared permeable resin or glass. In order to reduce the noise generated by the distance measurement of the distance measuring sensors 22a to 22g, it is preferable that the infrared rays pass through the resin or glass provided in the buffer portion 3 to have a characteristic of blocking visible light having a shorter wavelength than infrared rays.

The detection directions of the ranging sensors 22a to 22g are different. Specifically, the more the distance measuring sensor disposed on the side is disposed toward the side. Although all of the ranging sensors 22a-22g are not necessary in different directions, It is necessary for the center ranging sensor 22d and the most lateral distance measuring sensors 22a, 22g to face different directions, at least different three directions can be detected. In addition, the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101 is linearly advanced toward the front, and monitoring in the front is important. In particular, among the distance measuring sensors 22a to 22g, the distance measuring sensor is provided within 50 degrees to the left and right of the front surface of the main body 1. The detectors 22b to 22f are preferably such that the detection direction is not directed toward the normal direction of the periphery of the main body 1, but is disposed from the normal direction toward the front surface by 5 to 15 degrees on the left and right sides. Further, the distance measuring sensors 22a and 22g located on the outermost side detect the distance from the wall when walking on the wall side to be described later with a small error, so that the detection direction does not face the normal direction of the periphery of the main body 1, but is relatively normal. The direction is set slightly toward the positive lateral direction.

Further, it is preferable that the sensors 22a to 22g are located substantially at the center in the height direction of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101. When it is too low, the ground will be judged as an obstacle. If it is too high, it will judge that the bottom of the bed or the sofa is an obstacle, that is, there is a possibility that it cannot enter the space below it for cleaning.

The distance measuring sensors 22a to 22g may be of a type that does not detect the intensity of the reflected light, but may measure the distance to the object from the position of the light receiving position of the reflected light of the light receiving unit, or may be visible light. Non-infrared. In the case where a distance measuring sensor of visible light is used, it is necessary for at least the vicinity of the distance measuring sensors 22a to 22g of the buffer portion 3 to be made of resin or glass which is transparent to visible light. Also, an ultrasonic ranging sensor instead of an infrared sensor can be used. In the case of the ultrasonic sensor, it is necessary for the buffer unit 3 to open a hole through which the ultrasonic wave can pass. Also, the sensors can be combined.

Moreover, in order to appropriately avoid the distance that the distance measuring sensor grasps the obstacle, the distance measuring sensor preferably changes the output of the sensor by the corresponding distance, and only determines whether the obstacle is present or not is simulated. Or a multi-segment change rather than a two-valued sensor.

Further, the plurality of ground-based distance measuring sensors 23a to 23c that measure the distance to the ground are disposed below the lower casing 2b. 23b is provided on the front side of the lower casing 2b, and 23a and 23c are provided downward in the vicinity of the front and periphery of the wheels 4a and 4b, respectively. These ground-based distance measuring sensors 23a to 23c are also ranging sensors using infrared rays, and have a light-emitting portion and a light-receiving portion of infrared rays. The ground-based ranging sensors 23a to 23c are distances measured to the ground, and are provided for detecting a large step such as a phase in the progress direction, and the main body 1 is prevented from falling by the step. When the step is small, even if it falls, the step can be returned to the original state and the cleaning is continued. However, if there is a large step of the step that cannot be crossed, the original floor cannot be returned, and the cleaning is completed halfway. In order to avoid the above situation, it is necessary to find a step difference larger than the step that cannot be crossed so that it does not fall and continue to walk. Specifically, the purpose is to detect a step difference of about 30 mm, and to detect the step difference, that is, to reverse the direction of the transition to avoid. Therefore, the ground distance measuring sensors 23a to 23c can be distinguished by less than 30 mm and 30 mm or more, and the output value of the sensor can be a sensor that does not need a corresponding change of the distance, but a sensor with a double value change. can.

As described above, the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101 includes a plurality of distance measuring sensors, but mainly arranges a distance measuring sensor mainly on the front side in the moving direction to prevent contact with obstacles and falling from a step.

On the upper surface of the upper casing 2a, there are a display panel 24, a start key 25 for instructing the start and end of cleaning, and a travel mode selection key 26 and a power key 27 for changing the walking mode of the autonomous walking. The display panel 24 is composed of a plurality of LEDs and a seven-segment display, and displays an operation state and the like.

The control device drives the traveling motors 9a and 9b, the brush motor 12, the electric blower 16, and the side brush motors 21a and 21b based on the instructions from the operation keys 25 to 27 and the information from the plurality of sensors. . A block diagram showing the configuration of the control device is shown in Fig. 5.

The control device is formed on the control board 31, and includes travel motor drive devices 33a and 33b for rotating the travel motors 9a and 9b, and an electric blower drive device 34 for rotating the electric blower 16 and a brush for rotating the brush motor 12. The motor drive unit 35; the side brush motor drive units 36a and 36b for rotating the side brush motors 21a and 21b; and the display panel drive unit 37 are controlled by the personal computer 32. Further, the personal computer 32 is connected: the buffer portion sensors 7a, 7b; the distance measuring sensors 22a to 22g; the ground distance measuring sensors 23a to 23c; and the encoder for the traveling motor for detecting the rotation of the traveling motors 9a, 9b. 38a, 38b; current measuring devices 39a, 39b for traveling motors for measuring currents of traveling motors 9a, 9b; current measuring device 40 for electric blower 16, current measuring device 41 for brush motor 12; side brush motors 21a, 21b Current measuring devices 42a, 42b; and operating keys 25-27 are used.

As will be described later, in the present embodiment, the rear brush 43 is provided at the rear of the main body 1, and the rear brush motor 44 for driving the side brush 43 is driven. The rear brush motor drive unit 45 is also indicated by the personal computer 32. Further, the rear brush motor 44 is connected to the personal computer 32 by the current measuring device 46 and the rear brushing Hall elements 47a and 47b that detect the position of the rear brush 43.

The sensor values and current values are input to the personal computer 32, and the status is judged by the personal computer 32 each time, and an instruction is given to each of the driving devices. Each current value is a lock state for detecting various motors, and is energized to the locked state. There is a flaw in the motor that causes damage to the motor and is used to prevent damage.

Further, the lower casing 2b has a battery housing portion 51 between the wheels 4a, 4b and the auxiliary wheel 10a, and a battery 52 for supplying power therein is provided. The battery 52 and the battery housing portion 51 are disposed substantially at the center in the left-right direction of the lower casing 2b. The battery 52 is a secondary battery that can be reused by charging. Thereby, the battery 52 charges each drive device, each sensor, and control device, and performs autonomous walking and cleaning.

The autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101 configured as above is mainly used in a room, and is automatically cleaned in the room instead of a person. While walking autonomously and sweeping the dust or garbage on the ground with the brush 11, the electric blower 16 is sucked and collected from the suction port 5 to the dust box 13. Further, the side brushes 18a and 18b are rotated inward in the front of the main body 1, so that dust and garbage positioned outside the suction port 5 can be moved toward the front of the suction port 5, and more dust and garbage can be recovered.

The appearance of self-discipline walking is shown in Figures 6-8. Figures 6 to 8 are diagrams showing the room from above, and scaffolding is arranged on the upper right side of the room. 55, a sofa 56 is disposed substantially at the center of the left side. The scaffolding 55 and the sofa 56 become obstacles of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101. The buffer sensors 7a and 7b and the distance measuring sensors 22a to 22f travel while detecting such obstacles or walls. Further, the dotted line in the drawing indicates the traveling trajectory of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101.

Fig. 6 shows the type of reflected walking that is cleaned while changing the direction of the direction when it comes into contact with or close to a wall or an obstacle. This type of walking is a type of walking suitable for cleaning the entire room. Walls or obstacles are detected by the distance measuring sensors 22a to 22g or the buffer portion sensors 7a, 7b, and the traveling motors 9a, 9b are controlled to be moved away from the detection. Specifically, after detecting a wall or an obstacle and stopping the traveling motors 9a and 9b, the traveling motors 9a and 9b are rotated in opposite directions to each other, and the main body 1 is rotated to change the direction. Although the angle of the switching direction differs depending on the size of the obstacle and the position with respect to the main body 1, it may be randomly changed. After the direction is switched, the vehicle is advanced, and after the wall or the obstacle is detected again, the traveling motors 9a and 9b are controlled to change the direction. At this time, the angle of the switching direction is preferably different from the angle of the last switching direction. When the direction is changed at the same angle, there is a case where there is a reciprocating round trip due to the arrangement of the obstacles, and it is preferable to avoid the angle at which the switching direction is randomly changed in order to avoid this.

Further, Fig. 7 is a view showing a parallel walking type in which the direction of the movement is parallel and moved while contacting or approaching a wall or an obstacle. This type of walking is also a type of walking suitable for cleaning the entire room. Once the wall or obstacle is detected, after the travel motors 9a, 9b are stopped, the travel motors 9a, 9b are rotated in opposite directions to each other, so that the main body 1 is rotated there. Transfer about 90 degrees. Then, the amount of width of the suction port 5 is advanced and then stopped, so that the main body 1 is rotated by about 90 degrees there. By this action, it is moved only toward the position where the width of the suction port 5 is laterally shifted as compared with before the detection of the wall or the obstacle, so that the progress direction is reversed. From this state, it is again advanced, and after detecting a wall or an obstacle, the direction of switching of the traveling motors 9a, 9b is also controlled, and the room is regularly cleaned in parallel.

Further, Fig. 8 is a view showing a walking trajectory when cleaning the wall of the room, and shows the type of walking along the wall when the wall or the obstacle is cleaned. The side surface of the main body 1 is moved away from the wall or the obstacle by about 15 mm while maintaining the adjacent state. The walking type is to move the main body 1 while controlling the traveling motors 9a, 9b to the wall or the obstacle by the distance measuring sensors 22a or 22g disposed near the side of the ranging sensors 22a to 22g. The distance until then becomes substantially constant.

Here, the case where the wall is walking in the clockwise direction will be specifically described. First, the traveling motors 9a and 9b are stopped at the time when the distance measuring sensors 22a to 22g and the buffer portion sensors 7a and 7b detect the wall, so that the main body 1 is positioned near the wall. Subsequently, the traveling motors 9a, 9b are rotated in opposite directions to each other, causing the main body 1 to rotate there. At this time, the distance measuring sensor 22g on the left side surface of the main body 1 is rotated until the state in which the wall can be detected, and the left side surface of the main body 1 is in a state of being adjacent to the wall. Subsequently, both of the traveling motors 9a, 9b are rotated in the forward direction to advance the main body 1. At this time, the distance measuring sensor 22g advances the main body 1 while adjusting the speeds of the traveling motors 9a and 9b, respectively, at a predetermined value. When the value of the distance measuring sensor 22g on the left side of the main body 1 is larger than the above predetermined value, the main body 1 will be away from the wall, thus making The traveling motor 9a on the right side rotates faster than the traveling motor 9b on the left side, moving the main body 1 toward the front left to approach the wall. Conversely, when the value of the distance measuring sensor 22g on the left side of the main body 1 is smaller than the above predetermined value, the main body 1 approaches the wall, thereby causing the left traveling motor 9b to rotate more rapidly than the right traveling motor 9a, and the main body 1 Advance toward the right to move away from the wall. At this time, although the traveling motor 9a on the right side is rapidly rotated and the traveling motor 9b on the left side is slowly rotated, only the speed of one of the traveling motors may be changed. Further, the closer the distance between the main body 1 and the wall is, the more the cleaning performance is closer to the wall side. Therefore, the rotation speed of the right traveling motor 9a is preferably increased in a very short time. By the above control, the direction of the main body 1 can be advanced while moving in the direction of the right front and the front left, and walking along the wall.

The autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101 can walk at least one of the walking type of the reflection walking type of Fig. 6 and the parallel walking type of Fig. 7, and at least two types of walking of the wall walking type of Fig. 8, especially The automatic mode when the cleaning is not instructed to perform the cleaning is a walking mode in which at least the two types of walking are combined. Also, there is a quick mode in which the type of walking is not combined, and the purpose of cleaning the entire room as early as possible by means of a reflective walking type; a careful mode for carefully cleaning the room by a parallel walking type; and the wall-by-wall walking mode does clean the remaining wall Three individual walking modes of the wall-side mode for the purpose of dust. These walking modes can be selected by the walking mode selection key 26.

Next, a method of cleaning the corner portion where the two walls intersect will be described in the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101 of the present embodiment. For example, in parallel walking type (After Figure 7) or the wall-side walking type (Fig. 8), when the front wall is detected (i.e., when the corners of the two walls intersect), the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101 stops at the front wall. Immediately after the front side, the left and right wheels 4a, 4b are rotated in opposite directions at the same speed, and the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101 is rotated there (in situ). At this time, the side brushes 18a and 18b protruding outward from the main body 1 can sweep out the dust of the corner portion to clean the corner portion. However, in order to prevent the wheels 4a and 4b from being caught in the wheels 4a and 4b, the lengths of the side brushes 18a and 18b are not as large as those of the wheels 4a and 4b, and even if the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101 is wound around the front end of the side brushes 18a and 18b, the two walls are not reached. Deep in the corners of the corners, the side brushes 18a and 18b cannot sufficiently clean the corners.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the rear brush 43 which is longer than the side brushes 18a and 18b is provided behind the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 101, and the dust which is located deep in the corner portion is swept out by the rear brush 43 when the original winding is performed. The side brush 18 can guide the dust to the suction port 5 for dust collection. Further, when the original winding is 360° or more, the rear brush 43 passes through the corner portion at least once, so that dust can be surely swept from the corner portion.

Further, as shown in Fig. 4, the rear brush 43 having a substantially square shape (indicated by a dotted line in the drawing) in the substantially square (the fourth drawing is shown in dotted line) is provided, and the rear brush 43 may be used to walk the wall. The dust on the wall side that cannot be collected by the middle side brush 18b is moved forward, and when the corner portion is wound in place, the dust on the side wall gathered in the wall walking can be collected by the suction port 5.

Furthermore, FIG. 4 illustrates that the self-discipline walking type vacuum cleaner is illustrated. The back side brush 43 of the corner portion length of the substantially square (the fourth figure is a dotted line) inscribed in 101 is not limited to this, and the protruding length of the rear brush 43 is only required to be The side brushes 18a and 18b protrude longer than the outer side of the main body 1, so that the cleaning performance can be improved even when the rear brush 43 is not provided.

Next, the details of the rear brush 43 will be described. The rear brush 43 is transmitted through the gear to the rear brush motor 44 that is fixed to the left rear side of the lower casing 2b, and is swingably attached to the lower surface of the lower casing 2b. 4 is a view showing a state in which the rear brush 43 protrudes outward from the lower casing 2b. However, the rear brush motor 44 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction, and may be housed under the lower casing 2b. When the rear brush 43 is protruded, the position at the time of storage is such that a magnet (not shown) is disposed in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the rear brush holder 61 which is the root portion of the brush of the rear brush 43, and is opposed to the periphery of the rear brush holder 61 where the magnet is disposed. The rear brushing Hall elements 47a and 47b (Fig. 5) are provided at two places of the lower casing 2b, and the rotational position of the rear brush 43 can be detected and controlled.

The rear brush 43 is a bristles made of a bundle of resin or animal hair extending in one direction from the rear brush holder 61, and expands toward the front. The length of the rear brush 43 is longer than the length of the side brushes 18a and 18b, and has a length that reaches a corner portion (portion A of FIG. 4) when the four corners surround the main body 1. The rear brush 43 is located behind the wheels 4a, 4b at the time of protrusion or storage, and does not have to be pressed by the wheels 4a, 4b, and the length thereof may be longer than the distance to the corner portion. With this configuration, the rear brush 43 can reach a farther distance than the side brushes 18a, 18b.

Since the rear brush 43 is longer than the side brushes 18a and 18b, it is easy to bend, and it is preferable that the bristles of the back brush 43 are actually swept out of the corners of the dust. Therefore, the material of the hair of the rear brush 43 is harder than the side brushes 18a and 18b, or coarser hair is preferred.

Further, the rear brush 43 is not always long in all hairs, and it is preferable to have short hairs as well. Although the long hair can reach the corners and sweep out the collected dust, it is too long relative to the wall near the side of the main body 1 (part B in Fig. 4), and the hair will be greatly curved and formed along the wall. The state above the ground cannot be approached, so that there is a situation in which dust can not be swept out of the wall. For this reason, it is not only long hair, but also has short hair. Further, the rear brush 43 is not a bundle of bristles, but a brush that expands the bristles in a fan shape. Further, a brush composed of a plurality of bundles of bristles may be used, and in this case, the length of each bundle may be different. The plurality of bundles may be disposed at an equal angle to the center of the rear brush holder 61, but may be arranged close to one side as shown in Fig. 9.

Further, the bristles of the present embodiment are constituted by straight hair bundles, but may be formed of curved, bent or serpentine bristles. In the case of the linear bristles, there is a possibility that the surface of the main body 1 cannot be in contact with the ground. However, when the bristles or the meandering bristles are formed in advance, the curved portion is bent around the curved portion to prevent the front end of the bristles from leaving the ground.

The operation of sweeping the dust accumulated in the corner portion using the above rear brush 43 will be described using FIG. First, Fig. 10(a) is a view showing that the main body 1 is moved along the edge of the side wall 111 to walk along the wall. At this time, mainly using the distance measuring sensor 22g on the left side, while controlling the traveling motors 9a, 9b, the side wall 111 is kept at a certain distance from the main body 1. Go forward. At this time, the side brushes 18a and 18b are rotated, and the dust on the wall side is swept toward the suction port 5. Further, the rear brush 43 is stepped on by a person or a pet during walking or stopping, or the front end of the hair is held by a small gap and cannot be pulled out. Therefore, the front end of the hair is not turned to the right during the stop and the normal walking. The obstacle in walking is caused to be stored in a position hidden under the lower casing 2b. Further, at this time, the rear brush 43 may be protruded in advance, and the dust may be advanced while sweeping the dust on the wall.

The figure 10(b) is a front wall 112 that is located in front of the main body 1, and detects the state in which the front wall 112 is stopped by the distance measuring sensors 22a to 22f or the buffer portion sensors 7a, 7b. In this state, the side wall 111 is detected by the distance measuring sensor 22g, and the state of the front wall 112 is detected by another sensor, and the state of the corner portion is detected. After the corner portion is detected as described above, the rear brush 43 provided at the rear of the main body 1 is rotated in the clockwise direction to protrude from the lower casing 2b. The rear brush 43 at this time is preferably in a state in which it can be positioned at the most protruding position from the lower casing 2b. In the present embodiment, the rear brush 43 is disposed at about 45 degrees to the left rear of the lower casing 2b, so that the rear brush 43 also protrudes toward the left rear by about 45 degrees. Further, although the side brushes 18a and 18b do not reach the corner portion, the dust 113 in front of the corner portion is swept forward and concentrated before the suction port 5 in advance.

Figs. 10(c) and (d) show the operation of the corner portion of the dust 113 which is accumulated in the corner portion. The left and right travel motors 9a, 9b are rotated in opposite directions at the same speed and hardly moved from a position near the corner portion, and an arrow in the figure indicates that the main body 1 is rotated there. The direction of rotation is as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 10(c), which is opposite to the side wall 111. The side wall 111 rotates in the clockwise direction when it is on the left side. When the main body 1 is rotated by about 90 degrees, the rear brush 43 reaches the corner portion (Fig. 10(c)), and is further rotated so that the rear brush 43 has its bristles bent while feeding the dust 113 at the corner portion along the front wall 112. After the rotation is again rotated by about 180 degrees (Fig. 10(d)), after the bending, the bristles of the square brush 43 are straightly extended, and the dust 113 is bounced. As described above, the rear brush 43 is disposed on the rear side of the wheels 4a, 4b, so the direction of the bristles is mounted at least at an angle of more than 90 degrees with respect to the front, and at least 45 degrees or more in order to reach the corner portion, and It is necessary to rotate about 90 degrees to fly the dust 113, and the total rotation is at least 135 degrees or more. That is, the dust 113 of the flying angle portion is cleaned by the angle formed by the rotating side wall 111 and the front wall 112. As described above, the direction in which the front wall 112 is stopped is not limited to being parallel to the side wall 111, so that the main body 1 is rotated more than one, and specifically 3 to 5 rotations can be surely cleaned. Further, the main body 1 is rotated toward the opposite side of the side wall 111, and the dust 113 is easily ejected in the direction along the front wall 112, and can be recovered from the suction port 5 when the corner portion is cleaned and travels along the front wall 112 while walking along the wall. Therefore, it is preferable to rotate toward the opposite side of the side wall 111.

Fig. 10(e) shows a state in which the main body 1 rotates in the opposite direction after rotating in the clockwise direction. It is caught by the unevenness of the ground or the like, and it is preferable to move the dust which is difficult to move in the clockwise direction by the rotation on the opposite side. Therefore, the frequency is small, but it is preferable to rotate toward the opposite side. Further, after rotating in the opposite direction (counterclockwise direction) as described above, it is preferable to rotate in the clockwise direction to send the dust to the next proceeding direction. Subsequently, as shown in Figure 10(f), the wall is visible relative to the front wall 112. At least while monitoring the left-side distance measuring sensor 22g, the main body 1 is rotated rightward so that the traveling direction is substantially parallel to the front wall 112. Thereafter, the rear brush 43 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction, and is housed below the lower casing 2b, and continues to walk along the wall along the front wall 12, and collects the dust after the sweep out from the suction port 5. Further, the 10th (e)th (f) diagram may be omitted, and the control shown in the 10th (g) diagram is subsequently moved to the 10th (d) diagram.

As described above, the dust is swept out of the corner portion by the rear brush 43 provided in the main body 1 by the rotation operation of the main body 1 or more, and the cleaning can be performed. The action of rotating the main body 1 is an operation that is frequently performed when the direction is switched, and in particular, is not complicated control, and the rear brush 43 is also attached to the main body 1 and thus does not use a complicated mechanism.

In the present embodiment, the operation is performed when the wall is moved in the clockwise direction. However, in the case of the counterclockwise direction, the rotation direction of the main body 1 is reversed, and the corner portion can be cleaned in the same manner. Further, in the present embodiment, the rear brush 43 is disposed on the left side of the lower casing 2b, but may be disposed on the right side. Further, in the present embodiment, the rear brush 43 protrudes outside the outer periphery of the lower casing 2b at a time point near the corner portion, and returns to the bottom surface of the lower casing 2b after the corner cleaning operation is completed, but It is also possible to protrude outside the outer periphery of the lower casing 2b at the time of walking along the wall, and to be stored below the lower casing 2b at the end of walking at the wall.

Further, in the present embodiment, the rear brush 43 is swingable, and protrudes outside the outer periphery of the lower casing 2b when the corner portion is cleaned. However, the rear brush 43 may not swing, but the front end may be lower than the lower casing. The outer protruding state of 2b is fixed to the bottom surface of the lower casing 2b. At this time, try not to hinder The walking position extends the rear brush 43 in a direction opposite to the progress direction, and it is preferable that the front end does not protrude from the left and right width of the main body 1 to the outside.

Further, the front end of the rear brush is restrained to a height within 20 mm from the ground so that the rear brush 43 can enter the lower side of the sill, and it is preferable to sweep the dust inside the sill.

Further, in the present embodiment, the rear brush 43 can be housed under the lower casing 2b. However, a fixed rear brush 43 may be used, and the rear brush 43 may be often protruded.

[Example 2]

Next, the description will be made with reference to Figs. 11 and 12 for the second embodiment. This embodiment shows a configuration in which the corner portion is removed more efficiently than in the first embodiment. Further, among the configurations and effects related to the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 102 of the present embodiment, the description common to the first embodiment will be omitted.

Fig. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing the inside of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 102 of the present embodiment from the above. The rear brush 71 of the present embodiment is disposed below the lower casing 2b in the vicinity of the center in the width direction of the main body 1. The rear brush motor 72 is also fixed to the vicinity of the center of the main body 1 in the width direction.

The cleaning operation of the corner portion is performed on the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 102 as described above, and will be described using FIG. First, Fig. 12(a) is a view showing how the body 1 is moved along the wall 101 while walking along the wall. At this time, mainly using the distance measuring sensor 22g at the left end, while controlling the traveling motors 9a and 9b, the distance between the side wall 111 and the main body 1 is maintained substantially constant. Progress. At this time, the side brushes 18a and 18b are rotated, and the dust on the wall side is swept and concentrated toward the suction port 5. Further, the rear brush 71 has its hair end slightly stored toward the front so as not to be exposed from the lower side of the lower casing 2b.

Next, the 12th (b)th diagram is the front wall 112 which is located in front of the main body 1. The front wall 112 is detected by the distance measuring sensors 22a-22f or the buffering sensors 7a, 7b, and is detected at the corner portion. The state of the stop.

After the corner portion is stopped, as shown in Fig. 12(c), the rear brush 71 approaches the corner portion, and the body 1 is rotated to the right by about 135 degrees toward the corner portion. The rotation angle of the main body 1 is calculated and controlled from the rotation angles of the left and right travel motors 9a and 9b obtained from the output values of the encoders 38a and 38b for the travel motors. Although not provided in the present embodiment, when the rotation sensor is provided, the rotation angle of the main body 1 can be controlled from the value of the rotation sensor.

Next, in the 12th (d) and (e)th drawings, the direction of the main body 1 is the 12th (c) figure, and the rear brush 71 is continuously rotated in the clockwise direction opposite to the side wall 111, and the cleaning angle 隅The look of the ministry. The length of the rear brush 71 is longer than the side brushes 18a and 18b and can reach the length of the corner portion. As in the present embodiment, the rear brush 71 is disposed near the rear end of the lower casing 2b, so that the distance to the wheels 4a, 4b is long, and the bristles are lengthened in the range where the wheels 4a, 4b are not pressed, and reach the corner portion. length. With the above configuration, the rear brush 71 can reach a position farther than the side brushes 18a and 18b.

When the rear brush 71 is rotated, the rear brush 71 accommodated under the lower casing 2b so far appears to be outside the lower casing 2b, and proceeds to the wall side of the side wall 111 to reach the corner portion (12th (d) Figure). Rear brush 71 When reaching the corner portion, the dust 113 of the corner portion is sent along the front wall 112 together with the rotation of the rear brush 71, and is ejected toward the right side together with the front end of the rear brush 71 from the front wall 112 (12th (e )))). The dust is swept out from the corners by continuously rotating the rear brush 71. Similarly to the side brushes 18a and 18b, the rear brush 71 is continuously rotated. However, unlike the side brushes 18a and 18b, the dust is not sent to the suction port 5, but is intended to sweep the dust of the corner portion. The slower rotation of the side brushes 18a, 18b is preferred so that the dust that is swept out does not fly too far. Therefore, with respect to the rotation of the side brushes 18a, 18b by about 400 revolutions per minute, the rear brush 71 is rotated several times at a number of revolutions of about 350 per minute. However, the rotation speed is faster than the rotation speed of the rotating body 1. Therefore, the rear brush 71 can be abutted to the corner portion with good frequency compared with the first embodiment, which is extremely efficient. Further, the rotation toward the opposite side of the side wall 111 causes the dust 113 to be easily ejected in the direction of the front wall 112, and the corner portion can be recovered by the suction port 5 when it is swept along the front wall 112 along the front wall 112, so that the side wall is moved toward the side wall. The opposite direction of rotation of 111 is preferred.

In addition to the above-described rotation operation of the square brush 71, as shown in the twelfth (f) and (g), it is preferable that the main body 1 is swung left and right, that is, the main body 1 is alternately rotated in the clockwise direction and the counterclockwise direction on a small scale. When the figure 12(c) is rotated by about 135 degrees, the rear brush 71 is placed close to the corner portion, but the direction of the main body 1 when the corner portion is stopped, that is, the direction of the wheels 4a, 4b is not only the direction of the side wall 111. Parallel, in the case of facing the front right and the front left, it is difficult to correctly correct the confrontation between the rear brush 71 and the corner portion. Therefore, once rotated about 135 degrees, the main body 1 is left and right. The position of the rear brush 71 is moved by 30 degrees of swing, and even if the rear brush 71 fails to correctly face the corner portion when the detection corner portion is stopped, the state in which the rear brush 71 reaches the corner portion can be created, and the corner can be swept out. The dust of the crotch. This swinging operation performs about 10 round trips in a cycle of about 1 second, for a total of about 10 seconds.

When the rotation of the rear brush 71 is very fast, the oscillating motion of the rotating rear brush 71 may not approach the corner portion during a round trip period. During the reciprocation of the swinging motion, the bristles of the rear brush 71 are brought close to the corner portion at least once. When considering the number of bundles of the rear brush 71 or the rotational speed, the period of the swinging motion must be about 0.5 second or longer. Further, when the period of the swinging motion is increased, the number of times the bristles of the rear brush 71 approach the corner portion state is increased, but since the direction of the rear brush 71 is changed at a high frequency, it is caught by the unevenness of the ground, etc., with respect to the rear brush. It is preferable that the dust is not easily swept out from one direction and the rear brush 71 is swept out at a high frequency with different angles, and it is preferable to swing in a cycle of 5 seconds or less instead of a slow swinging motion.

Moreover, although it takes time to sweep out more dust, among the battery capacity limited by the battery 52, it is preferable to clean the entire room to stay in one place for a long time. Therefore, the sweeping operation of the dust at the corner portion is equal to or longer than the average time required for the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 102 to rotate 90 degrees at least when the wall is not walking, and the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 102 is opposed to the wall and the wall constituting the room. The time required for a round trip is preferably about 2 to 20 seconds. Further, in the present embodiment, the swing is performed at about 30 degrees on the right and left sides, but the angle of the swing operation can be effectively shortened, and the angle can be smaller. Degree swing.

After the dust of the corner portion is swept out at a predetermined time as described above, as shown in FIG. 12(h), the wall-side walking is performed with respect to the front wall 112, and at least one side of the distance measuring sensor 22g is monitored to advance. The direction is to rotate the body 1 to the right in substantially parallel with the front wall 112. Then, the rear brush 71 is rotated, and the storage is hidden under the lower casing 2b, and continues to walk along the wall. At this time, dust that is swept by the wall and swept along the direction of the front wall 112 is recovered from the suction port 5.

Although the present embodiment shows an operation of walking along the wall in the clockwise direction, in the case of the counterclockwise direction, the distance measuring sensor 22a on the right side is mainly used to walk around the wall, and the rotation direction and rear of the main body 1 are made. The corners of the brush 71 are cleaned in the same direction of rotation.

Further, in the present embodiment, the rear brush 71 is protruded toward the outer periphery of the lower casing 2b at a time point near the corner portion, and is returned to the bottom surface of the lower casing 2b after the corner cleaning operation is completed. It is possible to protrude outside the outer periphery of the lower casing 2b at the time of walking along the wall, and is housed below the lower casing 2b at the end of the wall walking.

Further, in the present embodiment, the rear brush 71 is disposed substantially at the center in the width direction of the main body 1, but this is to prevent the long rear brush 71 from being pressed by the left and right wheels 4a and 4b, and is disposed as much as possible from the rear side. When the wheels 4a and 4b are not pressed against the rear brush 71 at a position away from the wheels 4a and 4b, the left side or the right side may be used. At this time, the main body 1 is rotated 135 degrees with respect to the corner portion, but is rotated at a position where the rear brush 71 is engaged.

Further, in the present embodiment, the rotational speed of the rear brush 71 is gradually rotated at the rotational speed of the side brushes 18a and 18b. However, when the dust such as a carpet is less likely to move, a faster rotation speed is preferable.

[Example 3]

Next, the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14. In the present embodiment, an example in which the corner brush portion is provided by the side brush provided on the front side of the main body 1 is used to form an easier configuration. In addition, the configuration and effects related to the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 103 of the present embodiment will be omitted from the description of the first embodiment.

Fig. 13 is a bottom plan view showing the bottom of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 103 of the present embodiment from below. In the present embodiment, the length of the bristle of the side brushes 81a and 81b provided on the left and right sides of the main body 1 is set to be longer than the corner portion (the portion A of Fig. 13) of the substantially square region in which the main body 1 is inscribed. The left and right wheels 4a and 4b are disposed rearward of the center of the main body 1 in the front-rear direction, and are separated from the side brushes 81a and 81b, and are prevented from being pressed against the side brushes 81a and 81b during traveling.

The side brushes 81a and 81b of the present embodiment are constituted by three bundles of bristles extending in three directions from the side brush holders 82a and 82b at the center of rotation thereof, and are respectively expanded toward the front. The length of the bristles is such a length as to reach the corner portion (the portion A of Fig. 13) formed when the square corner surrounds the main body 1. However, all the hair of the bristles is not long hair, and it is preferable to have short hair at the same time. Although the long hair can reach the corners and sweep out the accumulated dust, it is too long for the wall near the side of the main body 1 (part B of Fig. 13). At this time, the hair is bent to form a state in which the wall does not approach the ground along the wall surface, and there is a possibility that the dust on the wall side cannot be swept out. For this reason, it is not only long hair but also short hair. Further, although the present embodiment is constituted by three bundles of bristles, four or five bundles may be used, or the length of each bundle may be different. The beam may not be collected, and may be a side brush that spreads the hair around the entire side of the side brush holders 82a, 82b. In this case, the hair lengths of different lengths may be arranged around the entire circumference, and the short hair areas may be The long hair areas are configured separately.

Further, in the present embodiment, the bristles are constituted by straight hair bundles, but may be bent or bent, or may be formed by meandering hair. In the case of a straight hair, as described above, the surface of the main body 1 may not be in contact with the ground. However, in the case of a pre-curved hair or a meandering hair, the curved portion may be bent at the center to prevent the front end of the hair from being The situation where the ground leaves.

Further, the side brush holders 82a and 82b are made of a substantially circular resin which is harder than the bristles, and has a size accommodated inside the outer periphery of the main body 1, but it is preferable to reach the vicinity of the periphery of the main body 1 as much as possible. The side brushes 81a and 81b are for sweeping dust, and the side brushes 81a and 81b of the present embodiment have long hairs, so that the hair is easily bent and the dust-swept performance is weak. Therefore, the side brush holders 82a, 82b are enlarged, and the hair portions are shortened as much as possible so that the bending of the hair is small. However, when protruding from the outer periphery of the main body 1 to the outer side, the rotating side brush holders 82a and 82b may be damaged by contact with an obstacle or the like, and therefore it is necessary to be accommodated inside the outer periphery of the main body 1.

The cleaning operation of the corner portion is performed on the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 103 having the side brushes 81a and 81b that have reached the corners of the wheels 4a and 4b as described above, and will be described with reference to Fig. 14. First, Fig. 14(a) is a view showing how the body 1 is moved along the wall along the side wall 111 to walk along the wall. At this time, mainly, the side distance measuring sensor 22g is used, and the traveling motors 9a and 9b are controlled to maintain the distance between the side wall 111 and the main body 1 substantially constant. At this time, the side brushes 81a and 81b are rotated at a speed of about 400 rpm at the same speed as that at the time of traveling, and the dust on the wall is swept out toward the suction port 5.

Next, in the 14th (b)th view, the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 103 approaches the front wall 112, detects the front wall 112 by the distance measuring sensors 22a-22f or the buffering sensors 7a, 7b, and detects the angular crotch and stops. status. The front ends of the side brushes 81a and 81b reach the corner portion, and are maintained in this state for 1 to 5 seconds to sweep out the dust 113 at the corner portion.

Next, in order to more accurately sweep out the dust 113 of the corner portion, as shown in Figs. 14(c) and (d), the main body 1 is swung left and right while rotating the side brushes 81a and 81b. When the direction of the main body 1 at the time of detecting the corner portion is stopped, that is, the direction of the wheels 4a, 4b is not parallel to the side wall 111 but toward the front right and the front left side, the distance from the side brush 81b to the corner portion is not the shortest. Therefore, the front end of the side brush 81b cannot reach the corner portion, and it is preferable that the main body 1 is alternately rotated in the clockwise direction and the counterclockwise direction on a small scale. For example, the main body 1 is rotated by about 30 degrees toward the left side of the corner 隅 side, then rotated by about 60 degrees in the clockwise direction, and oscillated about 30 degrees from the left and right. By this swinging motion, even when detecting the stop of the main body 1 when the corner portion is stopped The direction is not parallel to the side wall 111, and when the side brush 81b is away from the corner portion, the position of the side brush 81b can be moved to approach the corner portion, so that the front end of the side brush 81b reaches the corner portion and can be swept. Out of the corner of the dust. This swinging operation is performed for about 10 reciprocating motions in a cycle of about 0.5 second, for a total of about 5 seconds.

When the main body 1 is swung very rapidly with respect to the rotation of the side brush 81b, the bristles of the rotating side brush 81b may not approach the corner portion during the reciprocation of the swing operation. It is preferable that the oscillating motion is in a state in which the bristles of the side brush 81b approach the corner portion at least once, and when the number of the side brush 81b and the rotational speed are considered, the period of the swinging motion is set to be about 0.2 second or longer. . When the period of the swinging motion is increased, the number of times the bristles of the side brush 81b approach the corner portion state is increased, but the direction of the side brush 81a, 81b is changed at a high frequency, and it is caught by the unevenness of the ground or the like. When the side brushes 81a and 81b are in contact with each other at a high frequency contact with the side brushes 81a and 81b, the side brushes 81a and 81b are swept out at a high frequency with different angles, and are swung in a cycle of 5 seconds or less instead of slow. The swinging motion is better.

Moreover, although it takes time to sweep out more dust, among the battery capacity limited by the battery 52, it is preferable to clean the entire room to stay in one place for a long time. Therefore, the sweeping operation of the dust at the corner portion is performed for at least the time required for the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 103 to rotate by 90 degrees at least when the wall is not walking, and the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 103 is between the wall and the wall constituting the room. The time required for a round trip is preferably about 2 to 20 seconds.

Further, in the present embodiment, the swing is performed at approximately 30 degrees in the clockwise direction and the counterclockwise direction. However, in order to effectively shorten the time of the swing operation, the angle swing can be performed at a smaller angle.

After the dust of the corner portion is swept out at a predetermined time as described above, as shown in Fig. 14(e), the distance measuring sensor 22g that monitors the left side surface is at least one side of the front wall 112. The main body 1 is rotated by about 90 degrees in the clockwise direction. Subsequently, walking along the wall continues with respect to the front wall 112.

In the present embodiment, the operation of walking toward the wall in the clockwise direction is shown. However, in the case of the counterclockwise direction, the distance measuring sensor 22a on the right side is mainly used to walk around the wall, and the rotation of the main body 1 is caused. In the opposite direction, the corner portion is cleaned by the side brush 81a on the right side.

Further, in the present embodiment, the rotational speeds of the side brush portions 81a and 81b of the corner portion are the same as the rotational speed during traveling, but it is preferable to change the rotational speed in accordance with the situation of the ground.

As described above, in the present embodiment, it is possible to clean the corner portion by using the side brushes 81a and 81b provided on the front side of the main body 1, which is an easier configuration.

[Example 4]

Finally, for the fourth embodiment, the description will be made using the figures 15 to 18. In the present embodiment, an example in which the corner portion is cleaned by the exhaust gas discharged from the main body 1 is used, and a structure in which the wall of the corner portion is damaged by the brush is formed. In addition, the configuration and effects related to the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 104 of the present embodiment will be omitted from the same points as those of the first embodiment.

Fig. 15 is a view showing a cross section cut from the center in the width direction of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 104 of the present embodiment from the left side. In the present embodiment, the exhaust grill mechanism 91 provided to change the exhaust direction behind the main body 1 is disposed behind the electric blower 16. The operation of the exhaust grill mechanism 91 is shown in Figs. Further, Fig. 19 is a view showing the operation of cleaning the corner portion of the present embodiment.

As shown in Fig. 16, the exhaust grill mechanism 91 has one end of the three grilles 92 rotatably attached to the exhaust port 17 provided at the rear of the lower casing 2b, and one end of the other side of the grille 92 is rotatably Mounted on the arm 93. A solenoid 94 fixed to the lower casing 2b is attached to the lower end of the arm 93, and the solenoid 94 is driven to move the arm 93 up and down. As shown in Fig. 16, when the arm 93 is lowered, the grille 92 is directed obliquely upward, and the air discharged from the electric blower 16 is exhausted obliquely upward. On the other hand, as shown in Fig. 17, when the arm 93 is raised, the grille 92 is directed obliquely downward, and the air discharged from the electric blower 16 is exhausted obliquely downward.

As described above, the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 104 having the exhaust grill mechanism 91 that changes the exhaust direction changes the corner portion, and will be described using FIG.

First, Fig. 18(a) shows a state in which the body 1 is moved along the wall side of the side wall 111 while walking along the wall. At this time, mainly, the distance measuring sensor 22g on the left side is used, and the traveling motors 9a and 9b are controlled to advance while the side wall 111 is kept at a constant distance from the main body 1. At this time, the side brushes 18a and 18b are rotated, and the dust on the wall side is swept toward the suction port 5. And, the exhaust grille 92 is directed obliquely upward, and is exhausted toward the obliquely upward direction to make the dust on the ground. Do not fly.

Next, in the 18th (b)th view, the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 104 approaches the front wall 112, detects the front wall 112 by the distance measuring sensors 22a-22f or the buffering sensors 7a, 7b, and stops after detecting the corners. status. In this state, the solenoid 94 is operated such that the exhaust grill 92 is directed obliquely downward and exhausted toward the obliquely downward direction.

Next, as shown in Fig. 18(c), the main body 1 is rotated by about 135 degrees in the clockwise direction so that the exhaust port 17 at the rear of the lower casing 2b is close to the corner portion. The rotation angle of the main body 1 is calculated and controlled from the rotation angles of the left and right travel motors 9a and 9b obtained from the output values of the encoders 38a and 38b for the travel motors. Although the present embodiment is not provided, when the rotation sensor is provided, the rotation angle of the sensor control body 1 may be rotated.

The exhaust gas obliquely downward from the exhaust port 17 during the rotation is pushed together with the rotation of the main body 1 at the wall edge reaching the side wall 111, and the dust accumulated in the vicinity of the corner portion is pushed in the direction of the front wall 112, and finally As shown in Fig. 18(c), the wall surface of the front wall 112 is blown toward the right side to clean the corner portion.

As shown in Figs. 18(d) and (e), the main body 1 of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 104 is alternately rotated in a clockwise direction and a counterclockwise direction on a small scale, and is swung. When the figure 18(c) is rotated by about 135 degrees, the exhaust port 17 is opposed to the corner portion, but the exhaust port 17 and the corner are correctly made due to the non-uniform direction of the main body 1 when the detecting corner portion is stopped. The confrontation is difficult. Therefore, even if the swing is performed after rotating about 135 degrees, the exhaust port 17 and the corner portion are not correctly aligned, and the row from the exhaust port 17 can be made. When the gas reaches the corner portion, the dust at the corner portion can be blown out. The range of the swing is 30 degrees or less on the left and right sides, and the period is preferably 5 seconds or less. Due to the fine unevenness on the ground surface, the dust that is not easily blown out at the same wind speed or wind direction can be blown out by changing the wind direction, and the direction of the exhaust port 17 is preferably changed at a high frequency. For this reason, it is preferable to oscillate in a cycle of 5 seconds or less without a slow swing motion.

Moreover, although it takes time to sweep out more dust, among the battery capacity limited by the battery 52, it is preferable to clean the entire room to stay in one place for a long time. Therefore, the dust sweeping operation of the corner portion is preferably about 2 to 20 seconds, at least the average time required for the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 104 to rotate 90 degrees when walking non-walled, and the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner 104 is configured. The time required between the opposite walls and walls of the room is preferably less than or equal to the time.

After the dust of the corner portion is pushed out at a predetermined time as described above, as shown in FIG. 18(f), the wall-side walking is performed with respect to the front wall 112, and at least one side of the distance measuring sensor 22g is monitored to make the main body The direction of 1 changes by about 45 degrees in the counterclockwise direction, and the exhaust grill mechanism 91 is operated to return the exhaust gas obliquely upward and continue to walk along the wall. At this time, the dust pushed out to the right side is recovered from the suction port 5 while walking along the wall.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the exhaust gas discharged from the main body 1 can be used to clean the corner portion, and the wall of the corner portion is less likely to be scratched by the brush.

In this embodiment, the operation is performed while walking in the clockwise direction, but in the case of the counterclockwise direction, the distance measurement on the right side is mainly used. While the sensor 22a is traveling on the side of the wall, the corner portion is cleaned in the same manner as the direction of rotation of the main body 1.

Further, in the present embodiment, the exhaust grill mechanism 91 is operated to change the exhaust gas obliquely downward when approaching the corner portion, but the exhaust may be inclined obliquely downward at the time of walking along the wall.

Further, in the present embodiment, the exhaust port 17 is disposed at the center of the large portion with respect to the width direction of the main body 1, but may be disposed on the left side or the right side. At this time, the main body 1 is rotated at an angle that matches the position of the exhaust port 17 so as not to be 135 degrees with respect to the corner portion of the rotating body 1 .

Further, the exhaust port 17 may be divided into left and right arrangements of the main body 1. When walking in the direction of the clock toward the wall, just turn the exhaust port on the left side toward the corner, and when walking in the counterclockwise direction on the wall, just turn the right exhaust port toward the corner. Thereby, the angle of rotation of the main body 1 can be reduced, and the exhaust port can be aligned with the corner portion in a short time, which is extremely efficient. Further, when the side exhaust port that is not opposed to the corner portion has a function of reducing the opening area or closing the exhaust port, the amount of exhaust gas from the exhaust port on one side opposite to the corner portion can be increased. The dust can be further blown out better.

Further, in the present embodiment, the exhaust grill mechanism 91 is mounted to change the direction of the exhaust gas. However, the exhaust grill mechanism 91 may not be mounted, and the direction of the exhaust port 17 may be horizontal or oriented downward in advance. The corner port is cleaned by the operation of the exhaust port 17 toward the corner portion. At this time, the exhaust port 17 is disposed behind the suction port 5 or the side brush 18a, 18b, and the ground contacting the exhaust gas during the advancement can be reduced by the suction port 5 or the side brushes 18a, 18b once cleaned. Dust.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above four embodiments, and includes various modifications. For example, the above-described embodiment may be combined to clean the corner portion. Further, all of the above configurations may not be included.

Further, in the first to third embodiments, the rear brush or the side brush has a length that reaches the corner portion, and even if the brush does not reach the corner portion, the corners shown in the first to third embodiments are performed. In the cleaning operation, it is possible to remove the dust which is difficult to remove the fine unevenness of the dust and the ground of the main body 1 when the detection of the corner portion is stopped, so that the above-mentioned corner cleaning operation can be performed. It is better.

According to the above-described embodiment, the substantially circular autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner is provided with a rear brush having a longer side brush than the side brush for the corner portion which is difficult to clean, and the rotating body 1 can pick up the dust of the cleaning corner portion. Further, by providing a brush that reaches the length of the corner portion, the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner body is swung to further remove dust from the cleaning corner portion. The exhaust port of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner is exhausted toward the corner portion to blow out the dust at the corner portion for cleaning. In addition, in the vicinity of the corner portion, not only the switching direction but also the cleaning operation of the corner portion can be performed to clean the corner portion.

1‧‧‧ Subject

2a‧‧‧Upper casing

2b‧‧‧ lower casing

3‧‧‧ buffer

15‧‧‧ Cover

18a, 18b‧‧‧ side brush

24‧‧‧ display board

25‧‧‧Start button

26‧‧‧Walking mode selection button

27‧‧‧Power button

43‧‧‧ Rear brush

101‧‧‧Autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of embodiment 1

Claims (6)

An autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner characterized by comprising: a main body; a suction port disposed on a bottom surface of the main body to recover dust on the ground; and a left driving wheel and a right driving wheel independently driven; and detecting an obstacle of the obstacle around the main body Providing a bottom surface of the main body disposed on a front side of the left and right driving wheels, and displaying a brush that is rotatable toward a clockwise direction or a counterclockwise direction and protruding outward from the main body; and controlling the left and right driving wheels and the above In the brush control circuit, the control circuit is configured to control the left and right driving wheels to rotate the brush while rotating the main body toward the clockwise direction and the counterclockwise direction in the corner portion where the two wall surfaces intersect. The autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the main body has a substantially disk shape, and the brush has a length that is connected to the main body and reaches an intersection of two straight lines orthogonal to each other. The autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner according to claim 2, further comprising: an auxiliary wheel provided in front of a bottom surface of the main body; and a battery housing portion provided between the left and right driving wheels and the auxiliary wheel. The autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner according to any one of the items 1 to 3, wherein the rotation or the swing period is 0.2 second or more and 5 seconds or less, and the rotation or the swing is performed in one corner portion. The time is 2~20 second. The autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner according to any one of the first to third aspect, wherein the second wall surface is a side wall located on a side of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner and a front wall positioned in front of the second wall surface. Among the alternate rotations or oscillations, the direction of one or both of the first rotation or the swing or the last rotation or swing is the direction opposite to the side wall in the opposite direction. The autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner according to the fourth aspect of the invention, wherein the second wall surface is a side wall located on a side of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner and a front wall positioned forward, and among the alternate rotations or swings, The direction of one or both of the initial rotation or oscillation or the final rotation or oscillation is the direction opposite to the side wall described above.