JPH0779781B2 - Self-propelled vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a self-propelled cleaner having a cleaning function and a moving function and automatically cleaning a floor surface.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a self-propelled vacuum cleaner has been developed in which a moving function is added to a vacuum cleaner to improve operability during cleaning. In particular, recently, a so-called self-guided self-propelled vacuum cleaner has been developed, in which a microcomputer and various sensors are mounted on the cleaning machine to determine the movement of the cleaning place while the cleaner body determines the cleaning. There is.

This type of self-propelled cleaner has a complicated system configuration as a whole, including an obstacle detection sensor using ultrasonic waves, a gyro sensor for measuring the moving direction, etc. It used a battery to power it.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In such a system, a lead storage battery is used as a battery, and about half of the weight of the main body is the weight of the battery, which is very heavy. Also, due to the use of batteries, the power was inevitably short and the driving time was inevitably short. Furthermore, since the weight of the main body becomes large, various sensors close to the eyes of humans must be attached in consideration of damage to the walls, glass, and people who are obstacles. Furthermore, if a gyro sensor or the like for more accurate guidance is mounted, there is a big problem that the system becomes large and complicated.

Therefore, the present invention provides a compact and lightweight self-propelled cleaner that cleans a room thoroughly with a simple control system using a commercial power source.

Means for Solving the Problems Technical means of the present invention for solving the above problems include driving means for driving a main body, a nozzle provided at least in front of the moving direction of the main body, and a direction set in the moving direction. Setting means, storage means for measuring and storing a moving distance, a plurality of bumpers provided outside the main body, contact detection means for detecting contact of the bumpers, and judgment control means for controlling drive of the main body. The determination control means stores the moving distance from the start of the forward movement of the main body from a predetermined fixed position to the operation of the contact detection means in the storage means, and then reverses the forward movement path to contact the contact detection means again. Is operated, the angle of the direction change is calculated from the moving distance stored in the storage means, and the main body is driven by the driving means at this angle in the direction set by the direction setting means to repeat forward / backward movement. It has a success.

Operation With this configuration, the main body advances until the main body hits the wall while pulling out the power cord by locking the power cord, and returns to the retracted original position when the contact detecting means detects that the main body hits the wall. At the original position, when it detects that it hits the wall with the contact detection means after the main body, it rotates the main body within the range where there is no leftover cleaning from the previous moving distance and the nozzle width of the vacuum cleaner, and so on. By repeating the above, the floor space of the room is automatically cleaned.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the figure, 1 is a main body of a self-propelled cleaner, 2 is a dust collecting chamber,
The tip of the hose 3 led out from the one side is provided in the lower front part of the main body 1 and is connected to the nozzle 4 of the same width of the main body 1. Reference numeral 5 is a filter, 6 is an electric blower, and 7 is an exhaust port provided on the side surface of the main body 1. And the dust collection chamber 2, hose 3, nozzle 4, filter 5, electric blower 6 and exhaust port 7
The cleaning means 8 is constituted by the above. The power cord 9 is wound inside the cord reel 11 by the tension applying means 10 with a substantially constant tension. The left and right drive wheels 12 are respectively coupled to a drive motor 13 to form drive means 14L and 14R, respectively. A front bumper 15F made of urethane is provided in front of the main body 1, and inside the bumper 15F, a contact detection means 16F constituted by a cord switch for detecting a contact pressure is provided. A similar rear bumper 15B is also provided behind the main body 1 avoiding the vicinity of the drawn-out portion of the power cord 9, and a contact detection means 16B is provided inside. Movement control unit 17
A storage unit 18 and a judgment control unit 19 are included inside. The storage means 18 and the judgment control means 19 are composed of a one-chip microcomputer. At the upper part of the main body 1, there is provided a direction setting means 20 for manually setting whether to move rightward or leftward. 21 is an auxiliary wheel. Further, the drive motor 13 uses a stepping motor driven by a pulse.

Next, the system configuration will be described with reference to FIG. Inputs from the direction setting means 20, the contact detection means 16F, and the contact detection means 16B are transmitted to the judgment control means 19, and the judgment control means 19 utilizes the storage means 18 to control the driving means 14L and the driving means 14R. It is composed.

Here, the control sequence of FIG. 3 will be described. When starting, the counter which is the storage means 18 is cleared first. Next, a pulse is sent in the forward direction to move the main body 1 forward.
At the same time, the pulse is counted and the moving distance is measured. Here, it is checked whether or not the contact detection means 16F has hit a wall or the like and has operated. If it is not operating, the above-mentioned operation is repeated. When operated, the pulse is changed in the backward direction to move the main body 1 backward. At this time, since the traveling direction has not been corrected, the vehicle will return on the same path. Next, it is checked whether or not the contact detecting means 16B hits a wall or the like and operates. If it is not operating, the operation of is repeated. If it is operating, the direction of the direction setting means 20 is followed. Next, the angle is calculated from the value of the remaining counter as the movement distance, and the judgment control means 19 controls the driving means 14L, 14R to change the direction of the main body 1. That is, the angle is calculated so that no uncleaned portion remains, and the direction is changed by that amount. Thereafter, this series of operations is repeated. Since the driving wheels 12 are used to change the direction, the direction can be changed on the spot (without moving), which facilitates the control.

Regarding the operation of the self-propelled vacuum cleaner configured as above,
This will be described with reference to FIG.

The main body 1 of the self-propelled vacuum cleaner is set on a floor 23 in a room surrounded by walls 22. A power cord 11 is pulled out from the main body 1 and connected to an outlet 24 embedded in a wall 22. The power cord 11 is a wall 22 between the outlet 24 and the main body 1.
It is clipped by the cord clip 25 to the outlet 24
The power cord 11 and the power cord 11 is not applied. While the main body 1 is being cleaned, the power cord 11 is pulled out in the direction of the arrow 26 while moving away from the cord clip 25. The bumper 15F installed in front of the main body 1 is the wall 2
When the contact detection means 16F inside the bumper 15F detects the collision at step 2, the vehicle retreats along the same path as when it moved forward as indicated by arrow 27. At this time, the power cord 11 is wound around the cord reel 11 by the tension applying means 10. Then, when the rear bumper 15B hits the wall 22 or the clip 25, it follows the direction setting means 20 (in this case, to the right) and turns to the next direction on the spot. Similarly, proceed as indicated by arrows 28 and 29. The maximum distance between the arrow 26 and the arrow 28 is calculated from the moving distance and is controlled to be equal to or less than the nozzle width so that the unfinished portion cannot be left.
Repeat the above operation and clean as indicated by the large arrow 30,
The floor space can be cleaned thoroughly.

Effect of the Invention As described above, the present invention provides a self-propelled cleaner that cleans a room with a simple sensor structure by supplying electric power with a power cord to ensure cleaning ability. The sensor uses bumpers to detect contact, but it is lightweight because it does not have a battery in its body, and it does not damage furniture or walls even if it comes into contact.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a self-propelled cleaner according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a system block diagram of the self-propelled cleaner, FIG. 3 is a control sequence diagram, and FIG. 4 is the self-propelled cleaner. FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory diagram of FIG. 8: cleaning means, 9: power cord, 10: tension applying means, 11: cord reels, 14R, 14L ... driving means, 15F, 1
5B: bumper, 16F, 16B: contact detection means, 17: movement control section, 18: storage means, 19: judgment control means, 20 ...
... Direction setting means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A driving means for driving a main body, a nozzle provided at least in front of a moving direction of the main body, a direction setting means for setting the moving direction, a storage means for measuring and storing a moving distance, and an external body. A plurality of bumpers provided in
It has a contact detection means for detecting the contact of the bumper and a judgment control means for controlling the drive of the main body, and the judgment control means operates the contact detection means after the main body starts to move forward from a predetermined fixed position. When the contact detection means is operated again by moving backward in this forward path and storing the moving distance up to that time, the direction change angle is calculated from the moving distance stored in the storage means and set by the direction setting means. A self-propelled vacuum cleaner that drives the main body at this angle in the direction indicated by the drive means to repeat forward and backward movements.