JPH05253157A - Vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] Even if the infrared transmitter of the hose handle is not oriented toward the cleaner body, or if the user is interposed between the hose handle and the cleaner body, the hose handle (EN) Provided is an electric vacuum cleaner capable of controlling a main body of a vacuum cleaner from a section, thereby eliminating wiring embedded in the hose, reducing the weight of the hose, and improving operability. [Constitution] Hose hand portion 10 inputted by a user
In order to optically transmit the switch operation information on the 9 side from the hose proximal portion to the cleaner body side, infrared light is emitted from the hose proximal portion approximately vertically upward and is emitted from the infrared light emitting means. An infrared light receiving means 107 disposed on the upper surface side of the cleaner body 101 is provided so as to be able to receive infrared light reflected by a ceiling or a wall in the room.

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, and more particularly to transmitting operation information (switch operation information) input by a user at a hand portion of a hose to the cleaner body side by infrared light. Regarding vacuum cleaners.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional vacuum cleaner, a switch at the hose hand and a control circuit inside the cleaner body are connected by a wiring embedded in the hose, and a switch signal (operation information) by the switch at the hose hand is transmitted. It is common to adopt a configuration in which the data is sent out to a control circuit in the main body via electric wiring. For this reason, the structure of the hose and the structure of the connection / connection part between the root part of the hose and the cleaner body are complicated, and the wiring inside the hose is broken, and the root part of the hose and the cleaner body are There is a possibility that the reliability of the electrical connection at the coupling / connection site may deteriorate. In addition, the wiring inside the hose needs to be helically wound in multiple layers along the bellows of the hose, which increases the weight of the hose and deteriorates the operability, and the cost of the hose is also expensive. Was becoming.

Therefore, there is disclosed a vacuum cleaner in which a switch signal, which has been conventionally transmitted by wiring in a hose, is optically transmitted by using a light emitting element and a light receiving element.
It is proposed by JP-A 8-221924, JP-A 61-87527, JP-A 62-207427 and the like. That is, in the prior application, the light emitting element is provided at the hose proximal portion of the hose, and the light signal emitted from the light emitting element is received by the light receiving element on the cleaner body side. In the earlier application, a light emitting element and a light receiving element are provided at the connection / connection portion between the connection pipe of the hose base and the cleaner body, and light is emitted regardless of the direction of the light emitting element arranged on the connection pipe side. A reflecting mirror is provided so that the light emitted from the element is received by the light receiving element on the main body side. In the earlier application, a light emitting element and a light receiving element are provided at the connecting / connecting portion of the hose root portion and the cleaner body, and the light emitting element at the hose root portion and the light receiving element at the body side are face-to-face, or the hose is at hand. A light emitting element is provided in the section, and the light emitting element is optically coupled to the light receiving element on the main body side through an optical fiber in the hose.

[0004]

However, in the prior art shown in the above-mentioned prior application, the optical signal (infrared light signal) output from the light emitting element (infrared light transmitting portion) at the hand portion of the hose is used. Is not always considered to be reliably received by the light receiving element (infrared light receiving section) on the main body of the vacuum cleaner, and the infrared transmitter at the hose hand should always be directed toward the main body of the vacuum cleaner. Since it is not possible to reliably send and receive signals,
There is a drawback in that the usage of hoses in a vacuum cleaner is greatly restricted. Furthermore, in the case of an electric vacuum cleaner, there is no guarantee that the main body of the vacuum cleaner will always be in a fixed direction with respect to the hand part of the hose, and the user will intervene between the hand part of the hose and the main body of the vacuum cleaner to provide an optical signal. Since there is a high possibility that the vacuum cleaner will be blocked, it is often impossible to control the main body of the vacuum cleaner from the hand of the hose.

Further, in the prior art shown in the above-mentioned prior application, transmission and reception of an optical signal between the light emitting element (infrared light transmitting section) and the light receiving element (infrared light receiving section) is reliable. However, since it is necessary to embed electrical wiring and optical fiber in the hose, there is a problem that the structure of the hose becomes complicated and the cost of the hose increases, and the weight of the hose increases and the operability deteriorates. .. Furthermore, when an optical fiber is used, there is a problem that adjustment is complicated because of the optical coupling between the cleaner body and the root of the hose, and the cost is relatively high.

Therefore, the technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. The purpose thereof is to eliminate the need for burying a signal transmission line in a hose. In the above, even if the infrared transmitter of the hose hand is not directed toward the cleaner body, and the user is interposed between the hose hand and the cleaner body, the hose hand control the cleaner body. An object of the present invention is to provide an electric vacuum cleaner that can be reliably performed, and thus can reduce the weight of a hose and improve operability.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is used in an electric vacuum cleaner provided with a control circuit means including a switch means for inputting operation information by a user in a hand portion of a hose. Infrared light emitting means for radiating infrared light from the hose proximal portion substantially vertically upward in order to optically transmit the switch operation information on the hose proximal portion side input by a person from the hose proximal portion to the cleaner body side, The infrared light receiving means arranged on the upper surface side of the cleaner body is provided so as to be able to receive the infrared light emitted from the infrared light emitting means and reflected by the ceiling or wall in the room.

[0008]

The control circuit at the hose base detects that the user has pressed the switch at the hose base, and a digital code corresponding to the pressed switch is generated. Then, the control circuit drives the infrared light emitting means based on the generated code.
It is controlled to emit infrared light (infrared light) from the infrared light emitting means. The infrared light emitting means is arranged substantially vertically above the hose, and the infrared light emitted (transmitted) from the infrared light emitting means is reflected by the ceiling or wall in the room to receive the infrared light on the upper surface of the cleaner body. It reaches the means and is received (received). The received optical signal is photoelectrically converted by the control circuit built into the cleaner body, and the electric blower is controlled according to the switch operation information input by the user. As a result, regardless of the positional relationship between the hose handle and the cleaner body, or even if a user enters between the hose handle and the cleaner body, the infrared light transmission will not be obstructed and the hose handle will not be disturbed. The optical signal from this makes it possible to always reliably control the vacuum cleaner body remotely.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to a first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 and a second embodiment shown in FIGS.

First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of an electric vacuum cleaner according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 1, 101 is a cleaner body in which a control circuit, an electric blower, etc., which will be described later, are incorporated, and 102 is a cleaner body 101. Hose connected to the intake port of the hose, 103 is a hose handle 1 on the tip side of the hose 102
09 is a switch operation unit, 104 is an infrared light emitting diode also arranged in the hose hand portion 109, 1
Reference numeral 05 is an extension tube connected to the tip of the hose 102 (hose proximal portion 109), 106 is a suction port connected to the extension tube 105, 107 is an infrared photodiode arranged on the upper surface of the cleaner body 101, and 108 is The room ceiling is shown.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the main structure of the control system of the electric vacuum cleaner according to the first embodiment. In FIG.
Reference numeral 201 is a hose hand portion control circuit provided in the hose hand portion 109, and 202 is a body control circuit provided in the cleaner body 101. In addition, the hose hand control circuit 2
On the 01 side, 203 is a hose hand control circuit 201
A microcomputer (hereinafter, abbreviated as “microcomputer”) that controls the above, 204 is a dry battery, 205 to 207 are switches of the switch operation unit 103, 104 is the infrared light emitting diode, and 208 is a transistor for driving the infrared light emitting diode 104. On the other hand, in the main body control circuit 202, 107 is the infrared photodiode, 209 is a microcomputer which controls the overall control of the main body control circuit 202, 211
Is a receiving unit that photoelectrically converts the signal received by the infrared photodiode 107 and returns it to a digital code, 212 is an electric blower that generates a suction force, and 213 is an electric blower 2
12 is a drive circuit, 214 is a power supply circuit, and 215 is an AC power supply.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. The user of the vacuum cleaner switches the switches 205 to 207 of the hose hand portion 109.
When one of the buttons is pressed, the microcomputer 203 detects this,
A signal code (digital code) according to the pressed switch is generated. Then, the microcomputer 203 emits and controls the infrared light emitting diode 104 via the driving transistor 208 based on the generated digital code, and the generated signal code is an infrared light signal (operation information signal converted into an optical signal). Radiate as. Here, since the infrared light emitting diode 104 is arranged so as to face substantially vertically upward in a normal use state, as will be described later, the infrared light emitted upward from the light emitting diode 104 is the ceiling 1 of the room.
It is reflected by hitting 08 and reaches the infrared photodiode 107 of the cleaner body 101. The infrared light signal received by the infrared photodiode 107 is converted into a digital code by the receiving unit 211, and the microcomputer 2
09 is input. Then, the microcomputer 209 controls the drive circuit 213 according to the signal code output from the receiving unit 211, and thereby controls the operating state of the electric blower 212.

Here, the infrared light emitting diode 104
The mounting location of will be described with reference to FIG. Hose hand part 10
The infrared light emitting diode 104 attached to 9 is positioned closer to the extension tube 105 than the switches 205 to 207 (switch operation unit 103). This is to prevent the infrared light emitting diode 104 from being covered by the hand even if the switches 205 to 207 are operated while holding the stick type grip portion 301 of the hose base portion 109. In addition, as described above, the infrared light emitting diode 104
By separating the grip part 301 from the grip part 301,
The infrared light signal emitted from the infrared light emitting diode 104 is less likely to be blocked by the upper half of the user's body, and can reach the ceiling more reliably.

The infrared directional angle of the infrared light emitting diode 104 (the tilt angle with respect to the optical axis where the light emission output relative value is 0.5) will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in the figure, the infrared light emitting diode 104 is attached to the hose hand portion 109 so as to face substantially vertically upward in a normal use state. Also, this infrared light emitting diode 104
For this, it is desirable to select a product having a narrow directivity angle 401 (25 ° or less). What is more, the radiated infrared light is reflected by the indoor ceiling 108 and reaches the light receiving portion of the cleaner main body 101, so that the transmission distance of the infrared light becomes long and when the infrared light is reflected on the ceiling. This is because the diffused reflection causes the directivity angle to be widened there. Therefore, even if the directivity angle is narrow, the range reached by the infrared light reflected on the ceiling is sufficiently widened.

Next, a method of driving the infrared light emitting diode 104 will be described with reference to FIG. In a remote control system using infrared light, in order to avoid malfunction due to disturbance noise, data is modulated by a pulse position modulation method into a pulse modulation signal 501, which is further used as a subcarrier 50.
The signal is amplitude-modulated by 2 and output. Normally, the frequency of the subcarrier 502 is selected to be not less than 33 kHz and not more than 40 kHz, and in this embodiment, it is set to 40 kHz, for example. The data modulated by the microcomputer 203 is output as an infrared light signal by driving and controlling the infrared light emitting diode 104 by the microcomputer 203. on the other hand,
The light receiving unit 211 of the cleaner body 101 converts the infrared light signal received by the infrared photodiode 107 into an electric signal, and amplifies only the carrier component by a 40 kHz bandpass filter (not shown) (hereinafter abbreviated as BPF). , A signal component is detected, and a pulse modulation signal (data corresponding to operation information) 501 is sent to the microcomputer 209. As described above, since the receiving unit 211 has the built-in 40 kHz BPF, only the fundamental wave component of the subcarrier 502 contributes to reception. Therefore, the duty ratio of the subcarrier is set to D
If the UTY ratio = Ton / (Ton + Toff) is defined, DU
When the TY ratio is 50%, the fundamental wave component 40 kHz is the largest. However, considering the problem of the life of the dry battery 204 and the problem of thermal destruction of the infrared light emitting diode 104, it is desirable that the duty ratio of the subcarrier 502 is 35% or more and less than 50%.

Next, the infrared photodiode 107
The acceptance angle of (the angle at which the sensitivity is halved compared to the value on the optical axis)
This will be described with reference to FIG. Infrared photodiode 107
Is disposed at a rear position on the upper surface of the cleaner body 101 so that its optical axis is directed substantially vertically upward. Further, the light receiving angle 601 of the infrared photodiode 107 is as shown in FIG.
Those having an angle of 40 ° or more are selected. By doing so, the infrared photodiode 107 is placed at a position where it is unlikely to be shaded by the hose 102 or the user, and by widening the light receiving angle 601 to 40 ° or more, the infrared photodiode 107 is reliably reflected from the ceiling 108. It is possible to receive the incoming infrared light signal.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the infrared light signal transmitted from the infrared light emitting diode 104 of the hose hand portion 109 is reflected on the ceiling or the wall in the room and the infrared light on the upper surface of the cleaner main body 101 is reflected. Since it reaches and is received by the photodiode 107, the hose hand portion 109 and the cleaner body 1
Irrespective of the positional relationship of 01, and even if a user enters between the hose hand portion 109 and the cleaner body 101, it does not hinder the infrared light transmission. It is possible to reliably control the cleaner body 101 remotely. As a result, the wiring conventionally buried in the hose is completely unnecessary, and it is possible to reduce the weight of the hose and improve the operability.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the second embodiment, in addition to the structure of the first embodiment, the infrared light signal is directly applied to the cleaner body 1 in a normal use state.
The infrared photo diode 107 of No. 01 has another infrared light emitting diode which can be input. 7 to 9, the same parts as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the electric vacuum cleaner according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 7, 701 is arranged at the grip end of the stick-shaped grip portion 301 of the hose base 109. In addition, the infrared light emitting diode 701 is mounted so that the infrared light emitting angle of the infrared light emitting diode 701 is lower than substantially horizontal in a normal use state.

Next, the mounting location of the infrared light emitting diode 701 and the infrared radiation angle will be described with reference to FIG. The infrared light emitting diode 701 is attached to the grip end of the grip portion 301 of the hose hand portion 109 as described above. As a result, the infrared light signal emitted from the infrared light emitting diode 701 is less likely to be blocked by the hose 102, and the possibility of reaching the infrared photodiode 107 of the cleaner body 101 increases. Further, the infrared light emitting diode 701 has an infrared directivity angle of 80.
1 is made to select a wide variety (wider than 25 °). This is because the distance between the infrared light emitting diode 701 and the infrared photodiode 107 is limited by the length of the hose 102, so that the operating range is expanded more than the infrared light reaching distance.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a hose hand portion control circuit 201 on the hose hand portion 109 side according to the second embodiment. As shown in the figure, the infrared light emitting diode 7
01, together with the infrared light emitting diode 104 described above,
Under the control of the microcomputer 203, the driving transistor 208 simultaneously emits and controls light. By this, the ceiling reflected infrared light signal from the infrared light emitting diode 104,
The direct infrared light signal from the infrared light emitting diode 701 can be received by the infrared photodiode 107 at the same time, and the cleaner main body 101 can be more securely remote-controlled.

As described above, according to the second embodiment,
Even if the infrared light signal transmitted from the infrared light emitting diode 104 of the hose hand portion 109 is reflected by the ceiling or wall in the room or the reflection state on the ceiling is poor, the hose hand portion 1
The infrared light signal from the infrared diode 701 attached to the grip end of the grip part 301 of 09 reaches and is received by the infrared photodiode 107 on the upper surface of the cleaner body 101. It is possible to reliably control the cleaner body 101 remotely.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, the infrared light signal transmitted from the hand portion of the hose is reflected by the ceiling or the wall in the room, reaches the light receiving portion on the upper surface of the cleaner body, and is received. Therefore, regardless of the positional relationship between the hose handle and the cleaner body, even if a user enters between the hose handle and the cleaner body, it does not hinder infrared light transmission. Therefore, it is possible to always reliably control the main body of the vacuum cleaner by the optical signal. As a result, the wiring conventionally buried in the hose is completely unnecessary, and it is possible to reduce the weight of the hose and improve the operability. In addition, the structure of the hose and the structure of the connecting / connecting portion between the hose base and the cleaner body can be simplified, and the cost can be reduced. Furthermore, since there is no disconnection of the wiring inside the hose and no electrical contact failure at the connection / connection portion between the hose root and the cleaner body, there is an effect that reliability is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of an electric vacuum cleaner according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of a control system in the electric vacuum cleaner according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a mounting place of an infrared light emitting diode in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an infrared radiation angle of the infrared light emitting diode according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a method for driving an infrared light emitting diode according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a light receiving angle of the infrared photodiode according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an appearance of an electric vacuum cleaner according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing a mounting location and an infrared ray directivity angle of an infrared light emitting diode arranged in a grip portion according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a hose proximal portion control circuit according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 Vacuum Cleaner Main Body 102 Hose 103 Switch Operation Section 104 Infrared Light Emitting Diode 105 Extension Tube 106 Intake 107 Infrared Photodiode 108 Indoor Ceiling 109 Hose Hand Section 301 Grip Section 701 Infrared Light Emitting Diode

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hisao Suga 1-1-1, Higashitaga-cho, Hitachi-shi, Ibaraki Hitachi Ltd. Taga factory

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A cleaner body having an electric blower for generating suction force and control circuit means for controlling the electric blower, a hose connected to the cleaner body, and an extension pipe connected to the hose. An electric vacuum cleaner provided with a suction port connected to the extension pipe and a control circuit means including a switch means arranged at a hose hand portion of the hose for inputting operation information for controlling the operation of the cleaner body. In order to optically transmit the switch operation information on the side of the hose proximal portion input by the user to the side of the cleaner main body from the hose proximal portion, infrared light is emitted substantially vertically upward from the proximal portion of the hose. An infrared light emitting means and an infrared light receiving means disposed on the upper surface side of the cleaner body are provided so that infrared light emitted from the infrared light emitting means and reflected by a ceiling or a wall in a room can be received. Vacuum cleaner, wherein the door. 2. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the infrared light emitting means is provided closer to the extension tube than the switch means. 3. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the infrared light emitting means has a directivity angle (an inclination angle with respect to the optical axis at which the light emission output relative value is 0.5) of 25 ° or less. 4. The infrared light receiving means according to claim 1, wherein the infrared light receiving means is arranged on a rear side of an upper surface of the cleaner body such that an optical axis thereof is substantially vertically upward. The vacuum cleaner is characterized in that the angle at which it is halved compared to the value of is set to 40 ° or more. 5. A cleaner body having an electric blower for generating suction force and a control circuit means for controlling the electric blower, a hose connected to the cleaner body, and an extension pipe connected to the hose. An electric vacuum cleaner provided with a suction port connected to the extension pipe and a control circuit means including a switch means arranged at a hose hand portion of the hose for inputting operation information for controlling the operation of the cleaner body. In order to optically transmit the switch operation information on the side of the hose proximal portion input by the user to the side of the cleaner main body from the hose proximal portion, infrared light is emitted substantially vertically upward from the proximal portion of the hose. The first infrared light emitting means and the switch operation information on the hose hand side input by the user are optically transmitted from the hose hand side to the cleaner body side. A second infrared light emitting means that radiates downward from substantially the horizontal from the base, infrared light emitted from the first infrared light emitting means and reflected by a ceiling or a wall in the room, and radiating from the second infrared light emitting means. An electric vacuum cleaner comprising: an infrared light receiving means provided on the upper surface side of the cleaner body so that the infrared light can be received. 6. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 5, wherein the directional angle of the second infrared emitting means is wider than the directional angle of the first infrared emitting means. 7. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 5, wherein the second infrared light emitting means is arranged at a grip end of a stick-type grip portion of the hose proximal portion.