JPH05199971A - Vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] In an electric vacuum cleaner that identifies the floor surface to be cleaned and controls the electric power of the electric blower, the purpose is to appropriately control the electric power of the electric blower from the output of a sensor that detects dust. To do. The output of a sensor 9 for detecting dust passing through a dust passage is converted into a pulse signal by a pulse conversion means 15, the number of pulses from the pulse conversion means 15 is counted within a unit time by a counting means 17, and a counting means 17 is provided. The floor change information is obtained by the refuse change rate calculating means 18 and the floor surface information is obtained. The floor surface information obtained from the dust change rate calculation means 18 and the output of the counting means 17 are input to the control means 19, and the control means 19 determines the power control range of the electric blower 2 from the counting result of the counting means 17 within a predetermined time. Is selected, the power control range is selected to be high when the electric suction device 7 is turned on, and thereafter, in the selected power control range, the output of the counting unit 17 and the output of the dust change rate detection unit 18 are used to control the electric blower by the control unit 19. Determine the suction power of 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric vacuum cleaner which identifies a floor surface to be cleaned and controls electric power of an electric blower.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, electric vacuum cleaners are required to automatically control the electric power (input) of an electric blower according to the floor surface to be cleaned, the amount of dust, etc. to control the suction force.

Conventionally, the electric vacuum cleaner of this type generally has a structure as shown in FIG. The configuration will be described below.

As shown in the figure, a cleaner body (hereinafter referred to as a body) 1 has a built-in electric blower 2, and has a suction port 3 having a hose 4, an extension tube 5 and a rotating brush 6 for electric floor suction. The tool 7 is connected. A hand switch 8 is provided at the tip of the hose 4, and the rotation speed of the electric blower 2 arranged in the main body 1 is controlled by operating the hand switch 8.

[0005]

In such a conventional electric vacuum cleaner, the user judges the floor surface to be cleaned, and manually operates the hand switch 8 according to the floor surface (rotation speed).
Was changed to change the suction force. for that reason,
There was a problem that the operation was troublesome.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object thereof is to appropriately control the electric power of an electric blower from the output of a sensor for detecting dust.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an electric blower for sucking dust, an electric floor suction tool having a rotating brush, and a sensor for detecting dust passing through a dust passage. And pulse conversion means for converting the output of the sensor into a pulse signal, counting means for counting the number of pulses from the pulse conversion means within a unit time, and counting results of the counting means to obtain floor surface information. An accumulating means and a control means for determining the electric power of the electric blower based on the floor surface information obtained from the accumulating means and the output of the counting means, the control means counting the counting means within a predetermined time period. Based on the results, the power control range of the electric blower is selected, and the power control range is selected high when the electric suction tool is on.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the electric power control range of the electric blower is switched by the number of detected dusts within a predetermined time, and the electric power of the electric blower is changed by the floor surface information and the detected number of dusts per unit time. In order to determine the power consumption, more precise power control can be performed, and when the electric suction tool is on, the power control range is selected to be high, so the suction force of the electric blower can be increased when the cleaning surface is a carpet, etc. The usability can be improved.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The same components as those in the conventional example are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in the figure, the sensor 9 is provided with a light emitting diode 11 in a dust passage 10 of a part of the hose 4, a light receiving portion 12 is provided facing the light emitting diode 11, and a dust 13 passing through the dust passage 10 is provided. The change in the light amount due to is detected. The signal of the light receiving section 12 is amplified by the amplifying section 14, the waveform is shaped by the pulse converting means 15 to be converted into a pulse signal, and the pulse signal is input to the microcomputer 16. The microcomputer 16 counts the number of pulses from the pulse conversion unit 15 within a unit time, and a dust change rate calculation unit (cumulative unit) 18 that accumulates the count results of the counting unit 17 to obtain floor surface information. And a control means 19. The control means 19 controls the counting means 1 within a predetermined time.
The electric power control range of the electric blower 2 is selected from the count result of 7, and the electric power (suction force) of the electric blower 2 is determined based on the floor surface information obtained from the dust change rate calculating unit 18 and the output of the counting unit 17. At this time, when the electric suction tool 7 is on, the power control range is selected to be high. The output of the microcomputer 16 is the phase control circuit 2
0, 21, and the electric power of the electric blower 2 is controlled by the output of the control means 19 to control the rotational speed of the rotary brush 4.

The operation of the above structure will be described. The counting means 17 integrates the dust detected by the sensor 9 for a unit time (for example, 0.1 seconds). The amount of garbage on the floor at that time can be known by adding up.

FIG. 3 shows the degree of change in the integrated value of the amount of dust when cleaning is continuously performed. In FIG. 3, dust is reduced at a stretch from the start of cleaning to time T1, which indicates that dust on the floor surface has been removed. Further, after the time T1, it is largely divided into (A), (B), and (C) depending on how the dust is removed thereafter. In the case of (C), the integrated value of dust is almost 0, which means that most of the waste has been removed by the time T1. This is the case when the floor to be cleaned is a wooden floor, cushion floor, tatami mat, or the like. In addition, when the floor surface is a carpet, dust is buried between the hairs, and generally, the amount of dust is relatively large and difficult to remove as compared with a wooden floor or tatami mat. That is, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the integrated value of the amount of waste gradually decreases. When the change rate of the amount of dust is calculated by the dust change rate calculation means 18 in this manner, it is possible to estimate what the characteristics of the floor surface currently being cleaned are. Here, an indexed value (for example, 0 to 7) is set as the floor information. A small rate of change in the amount of waste indicates that the floor is hard to remove, and a large rate of change in the amount of waste indicates that the floor is easy to remove. There is.

The optimum suction force for cleaning is determined by the amount of dust on the floor surface, the characteristics of the floor surface, etc. From the output of the counting means 17 and the output of the dust change rate detecting means 18, the control means 19 is used. The electric power (suction force) of the electric blower 2 is controlled. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4A, when the amount of dust is detected in the unit time T2, the electric power control range of the electric blower 2 is as shown in FIG. Select the strong power range (C) shown in Fig. 4 (b).
If the amount of dust is small, a weak power control range (A) is selected as shown in FIG.
From the output of the control unit 1 and the output of the dust change rate detection unit 18.
The suction force (electric power) of the electric blower 2 is determined at 9 and the electric blower 2 is operated. For example, the power control range (A) is
300 / 400W to 600 / 700W, power control range
(B) defines a power control range such as 450.550W to 700.800W, and power control range (C) defines 600.700W to 800.900W.

On the other hand, in the electric vacuum cleaner, generally, when the electric floor suction tool 7 is turned on, the cleaning surface is a carpet, and when the electric floor suction tool 7 is turned off, the cleaning surface is flat. For the floor. When the cleaning surface is a carpet, dust is in the hair of the carpet and is difficult to remove. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the suction force of the electric blower 2. Therefore, when selecting the power control range of the electric blower 2, the control means 19 selects one of the power control ranges (B) and (C) having a high suction force when the electric suction device 7 is turned on. However, when the electric suction device 7 is not turned on, the power control range (A) (B) (C) is selected according to the count result of the counting means 17 within a predetermined time.

[0015]

As is apparent from the above embodiments, according to the present invention, an electric blower for sucking dust, an electric floor suction tool having a rotating brush, and a sensor for detecting dust passing through a dust passage. And pulse conversion means for converting the output of the sensor into a pulse signal, counting means for counting the number of pulses from the pulse conversion means within a unit time, and cumulatively counting results of the counting means to obtain floor surface information. An accumulating means and a control means for determining the electric power of the electric blower based on the floor surface information obtained from the accumulating means and the output of the counting means, the control means counting the counting means within a predetermined time period. From the result, the electric power control range of the electric blower was selected, and the electric power control range was selected high when the electric suction tool was turned on. Therefore, a plurality of control ranges of the electric blower were provided. Since the electric power control range of the electric blower is set based on the amount of dust that is sucked in within the specified period, the suction force is increased when the dust is large and the dust is quickly absorbed, and conversely, when the dust is small, the suction is performed. You can weaken the force by reducing the force, and when the cleaning surface is a carpet etc. and the electric suction tool is on, the power control range is selected to be high, so the suction force of the electric blower can be increased and the usability is improved. Can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electric vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a mounting portion of a sensor of the electric vacuum cleaner.

FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing changes in the integrated value of the amount of waste of the vacuum cleaner.

[Fig. 4] (a), (b) Characteristic diagram showing changes in dust of the vacuum cleaner.

FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram showing a power control range of an electric blower of the vacuum cleaner.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a conventional vacuum cleaner.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Electric blower 6 Rotating brush 7 Electric suction tool for floor 9 Sensor 10 Dust passage 13 Dust 15 Pulse converting means 17 Counting means 18 Waste change rate calculating means (cumulative means) 19 Control means

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Seiji Yamaguchi 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Tadatoshi Kijima 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An electric blower for sucking dust, an electric floor suction tool having a rotating brush, a sensor for detecting dust passing through a dust passage, and pulse conversion means for converting the output of the sensor into a pulse signal. And counting means for counting the number of pulses from the pulse converting means within a unit time,
An accumulating means for accumulating the counting result of the counting means to obtain floor surface information, and a control means for determining the electric power of the electric blower from the floor surface information obtained from the accumulating means and the output of the counting means, The electric vacuum cleaner, wherein the control means selects a power control range of the electric blower based on a count result of the counting means within a predetermined time, and selects a high power control range when the electric suction tool is on.