JPS63300732A - Electric cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention 1 (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an electric hoisting machine that can appropriately control suction power depending on the condition of the floor to be cleaned.

(Prior Art) In recent years, vacuum cleaners with significantly increased suction power have appeared so that they can reliably and powerfully suction dust.

In a vacuum cleaner with such a large suction force, depending on the condition of the floor surface, the suction port that is in contact with the floor surface may get sucked, making it extremely difficult to use.

Conventionally, in order to vary the suction power depending on the condition of the floor surface, electric vacuum cleaners have been used to manually change the rotation speed of the turbine motor, which is the power source that generates the suction power, using a switch, etc. A vacuum cleaner is being considered. and,
With such a vacuum cleaner, the switch is switched depending on whether the floor to be cleaned is cloudy, carpeted, wooden, etc., and the appropriate switch is selected depending on the condition of the floor. I use a vacuum cleaner with suction power to prevent the suction port from touching the floor.

Additionally, conventionally, a configuration has been considered in which a flow rate detector is used to detect the actual amount of suction from the suction section of a vacuum cleaner, and the suction flow rate is automatically controlled based on this. During actual use, as dust accumulates on the dust collection filter, the flow rate decreases, so it is difficult to accurately control the suction force of a vacuum cleaner by detecting only the flow rate. Small enough to allow
Moreover, the reality is that there is no suitable flow rate detector that can detect flow rates over an extremely wide range from low flow rates to large flow rates of, for example, about 2 m<3>/min.

Furthermore, conventional vacuum cleaners have been equipped with a rotating brush at the suction port so that it rotates in contact with the floor being cleaned in order to make it easier to remove dust adhering to carpets, etc. A contact method has been proposed that takes advantage of the fact that the rotation speed of the rotating brush changes greatly depending on the condition of the floor surface, and determines the condition of the floor surface based on the detection result of this rotation speed. It can only be used with vacuum cleaners that have a brush, and even when cleaning that does not require a rotating brush, such as cleaning tatami mats or wooden floors, it is necessary to rotate the rotating brush.

In addition, vacuum cleaners with rotating brushes are mainly used to knock out dust stuck between the bristles of carpets, etc., and suck up the dust that has been knocked out, so if the floor is tatami or A rotating brush is not necessary if the floor is flat and has no hair, etc. If the rotating brush rotates on such a floor, self-propelled development will occur in the suction section, making the vacuum cleaner difficult to use. . For this reason, conventionally, it has been possible to manually perform a switching operation to rotate or stop the rotating brush depending on the condition of the floor to be cleaned. Note that such a rotating brush generates a lot of noise if it is rotated without contacting the floor, etc., so when using it, conventionally the rotating brush was rotated after the suction part came into contact with the floor. Similarly, the rotational movement of the rotating brush is manually controlled.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) In conventional vacuum cleaners, in order to prevent the suction port from being attracted to the floor surface, a switch is used to adjust the rotation speed of the motor that varies the suction force as much as possible to achieve an appropriate suction force depending on the floor surface. However, such manual operation □ is very troublesome and troublesome, and the suction force can be adjusted manually according to the user's feeling. However, there is a problem in that the suction force cannot necessarily be controlled to an appropriate level.

Furthermore, conventional methods have been considered in which a flow rate detector or a rotating brush is used to control the suction force as described above, but as described above, either method is inappropriate and has various problems.

Furthermore, in vacuum cleaners with rotating brushes, the rotating brush is rotated or paused manually depending on the condition of the floor surface or the state of contact with the floor surface. There is also the problem that the switching operation is cumbersome and troublesome.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and its purpose is to provide an easy-to-use vacuum cleaner that can appropriately control suction power depending on the condition of the area to be cleaned, such as the condition of the floor surface. There is a particular thing.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The vacuum cleaner of the present invention is a vacuum cleaner having a suction part that comes into contact with a part to be cleaned and sucks dust from the part by suction force. a transmitting means for transmitting ultrasonic waves toward the part to be cleaned; a receiving means for receiving reflected waves from the part of the ultrasonic waves generated from the transmitting means; The gist of the present invention is to include a discriminating means for discriminating the state of the portion based on the determination result, and a variable control means for variably controlling the suction force based on the determination result of the discriminating means.

(Function) In the vacuum cleaner of the present invention, ifA sound waves are transmitted toward the part to be cleaned, for example, the floor surface, the reflected waves of this ultrasonic wave from the floor surface are received, and based on the received reflected waves, The condition of the floor surface is determined, and the suction force is variably controlled based on the results of this determination.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail using the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the overall appearance of the vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1.

First, the overall configuration will be explained with reference to FIG. This vacuum cleaner has a turbine motor 2 installed in the main body 1 as a power source for generating a suction force for sucking dust from a floor surface, etc. The main unit 1 has a control device 3 for controlling the turbine motor 2, and is connected to a suction section 6 via a hose 4 and an extension pipe 5, and is connected to the suction section 6 through a hose 4 and an extension pipe 5.
The suction force from the suction unit 2 is transmitted to the suction unit 6 via the turbine motor two-force filter hose 4d'3 in the main body 1 and the extension pipe 5. This suction force causes dust to be sucked through the suction port formed on the lower surface side of the suction portion G. In addition, in the suction part 6, there is a rotating brush 7 that rotates when the floor surface is a carpet, hits the carpet/υ, knocks out dust between the hairs of the carpet, and facilitates suction of dust with one stroke. It is provided. Furthermore, a hand control section 18 and a suction section discriminating device 19 are provided at the connecting portion between the bow 4 and the extension pipe 5. The hand control unit 18 manually controls the operation of the turbine motor 2. The suction part discriminating device 19 determines whether the suction part connected to the tip of the extension pipe 5 is the suction part 6 of this embodiment or another suction part, and determines whether the other suction part is the suction part 6 of this embodiment or another suction part. When the suction section discriminating device 19 determines that the suction section is connected, the determination information is transmitted to the local control section 18, thereby allowing the local control section 18 to manually control the turbine motor 2. In addition, when the suction unit discriminating device @19 determines that the suction unit 6 of this embodiment is connected as the suction unit, the suction unit 6 is connected to the suction unit 6 without going through the hand control unit 18 as described later. The operations of the turbine motor 2 and the rotating brush 7 are automatically controlled by the provided floor condition identification control section.

Next, referring to FIG. 1, this vacuum cleaner includes the turbine motor 2 and the control device 3 provided in the main body 1, the hand control portion 18 provided between the hose 4 and the extension pipe 5, and the suction In addition to the section discrimination device 19, the suction section 6 includes a floor surface condition discrimination control section 10. In addition to the rotating brush 7, the floor condition identification control unit 10 includes a rotating brush motor 8 that rotationally drives the rotating brush 7, and a lower surface of the suction portion 6 provided with the suction port that contacts the floor surface. a floor surface contact detection device 17 that detects whether or not the object is being touched; an ultrasonic floor surface detection device 15 that transmits ultrasonic waves toward the floor surface and detects reflected waves from the floor surface; and the ultrasonic floor surface detection device 1
The present invention includes a floor condition determination device 16 that determines the condition of the floor surface based on the detection signal No. 5.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the internal structure of the suction section 6. As shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the suction unit 6 includes a floor detection unit which includes the ultrasonic floor detection device 15, a floor discrimination device 16, a rotating brush control unit 17, a rotating brush motor 8, and a rotating brush 7. 10 and a belt 9 that transmits the rotation of the rotating brush motor 8 to the rotating brush 7.

As shown in FIG.
A transmitting ultrasonic transducer 12T is driven by an output signal of the transmitting ultrasonic transducer 12T and transmits ultrasonic waves toward a floor surface, etc., and the ultrasonic waves transmitted from the transmitting ultrasonic sensor 12T are reflected by the floor surface etc. A reception ultrasonic transducer 12R that receives reflected waves, a detection amplifier 21 that detects and amplifies the output signal of the reception ultrasonic sensor 12R, and integrates the output signal of the detection amplifier 21 to remove noise and the like. It is composed of an integrating circuit 22 that removes the signal, and an amplifier circuit 23 that amplifies the output signal of the integrating circuit 22.

The ultrasonic floor detection device 15 is built in the suction unit 6, and the 12 transmitting ultrasonic imagers and the receiving ultrasonic vibration which constitute the ultrasonic floor detection device 15 As shown in FIG. 5, the child 12R is attached to the jig 20 of the suction part 6 with a number 4 corresponding to the floor surface, so that the ultrasonic waves from the transmitting ultrasonic transducer 12T are directed toward the floor surface. The reflected waves of the transmitted ultrasonic waves from the floor surface are received by the receiving ultrasonic transducer 12R. In FIG. 5, electronic circuits constituting each part shown in FIG. 4 are mounted above the transmitting ultrasonic transducer 12T and the receiving ultrasonic transducer 12R.

The floor surface contact detection device 17 is for detecting whether or not the lower surface of the suction portion 6 provided with the suction port is in contact with the floor surface as described above, and as shown in FIG. At approximately the center of the lower surface of the suction portion 6, there is a protruding member 27 that protrudes toward the floor surface below and is supported so as to be slidable in the vertical direction.

This protrusion member 30 is always urged to protrude toward the floor by a spring 28 attached to the other end extending into the suction portion 6, and this other end is provided upward. The suction portion 6 contacts the floor surface, and the protrusion tlA' 27
When the downwardly protruding end is pushed up by the floor surface, the other end of the protruding member 27 causes the two microswitches to
Note that rollers 25 and 26 are provided at the bottom of the suction section 6.

Next, the operation of the vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be explained.

12 One vacuum cleaner has a suction part 6 like a normal vacuum cleaner.
By bringing the suction port formed on the lower surface into contact with the floor surface, dust on the floor surface is sucked from the suction section 6 through the extension pipe 5 and hose 4 to the main body section 1 by the suction force of the turbine motor 2. , provided inside the main body part 1! ! J
It is stored in a dust storage bag or the like via a dust filter 1a, and in this case, the floor contact detector 17 detects that the suction part 6 is firmly in contact with the floor as shown in FIG. When it is confirmed that the suction part 6 is definitely in contact with the floor surface, the ultrasonic wave is transmitted from the transmitting ultrasonic transducer 12T of the ultrasonic floor detection device 15 toward the floor surface. The reception ultrasonic transducer 12R receives the reflected waves of the sound waves from the floor surface, and based on the received reflected waves, the floor surface discrimination device 16 determines the state of the floor surface, that is, whether the floor surface is a tatami mat or a carpet. It determines whether the floor is a wood floor, a wooden floor, a linoleum floor, etc., and variably controls the suction force by the turbine motor 2 via the controllability device 3 according to the determined floor condition. The operation of the rotating brush 7 is controlled via the motor 8. As a result, the rotation speed of the turbine motor 2 is controlled according to the condition of the floor surface, and thereby the suction force is controlled to be optimal according to the condition of the floor surface, and the conventional suction section 6 sticks to the floor surface. In addition, the rotating brush 7 also rotates depending on the condition of the floor surface, for example, only when the floor surface is at /υ, and this rotation also depends on the length of the hair of the carpet. The rotation speed is now controlled.

By the way, the ultrasonic waves transmitted to the floor from the transmitting ultrasonic transducer 12T of the ultrasonic floor detection device 15 are reflected on the floor and received by the receiving ultrasonic transducer 12R. The floor surface discriminating device 16 determines the state of the floor surface based on the floor surface. It differs depending on whether it is a floor, a tatami mat, a carpet, etc., and as an example, the reflectance in this case worsens in the order described above, that is, in the order of wooden floor, linoleum, tatami, and carpet, and furthermore, the reflectance of each Changes depending on the floor condition. For example, when looking at carpets with long piles and carpets with poor visibility, the longer the piles, the lower the reflectance. In this way, by detecting the reflectance of ultrasonic waves by the floor surface, that is, by detecting the ultrasonic waves reflected by the floor surface, the condition of the floor surface can be accurately determined. It is possible to appropriately control the force and the rotational movement of the rotating brush 7.

In addition, the reflectance of the floor surface is determined by receiving the reflected waves of the ultrasonic waves transmitted by the floor surface from the 12 transmitting ultrasonic transducers by the receiving ultrasonic transducer 12R, and this received signal is shown in Fig. 4. The detection amplifier 21 of the ultrasonic floor detection device 15 shown in FIG.
This can be determined by the output voltage obtained at .

Furthermore, the reflectance of ultrasonic waves on the floor surface is determined by the acoustic impedance of the material of the floor surface, but if the frequency of the ultrasonic wave is 40 KHz and the reflectance of the wooden floor is 1, the reflectance of the tatami is 0°71, and the reflectance of the carpet is 0°71. It varies from 0.6 to O depending on the length of the foot.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a vacuum cleaner according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The vacuum cleaner shown in the same figure is the same as the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 in that the transmitting ultrasonic transducer 32T is driven by the oscillator 34 and ultrasonic waves are transmitted toward the floor surface. Two receiving ultrasonic transducers 32Ra
The difference is that it is received by the reference ultrasonic transducer 32Rb. For this reason, a fixed frame 33 as shown in the figure is provided between these transducers and the floor, and the transmitting ultrasonic transducer 32T is sandwiched between the fixed frame 33 and the receiving ultrasonic transducers 32Ra on both sides. and a reference ultrasonic transducer 32R1). The floor portion of the fixed frame 33 corresponding to the receiving ultrasonic transducer 32Ra is removed,
Although the floor surface is exposed facing the receiving ultrasonic transducer 32Ra, the fixed frame 33 facing the reference ultrasonic transducer 32Rb is provided as is, forming a reference surface 33R at this portion.

=16- As a result, a part of the ultrasonic waves transmitted from the transmitting ultrasonic transducer 32T is reflected by the floor surface and is transmitted to the receiving ultrasonic transducer 3.
2Ra, a part of it is reflected by the reference surface 33r, and is received by the reference ultrasonic transducer 32Rb. The received reflected signal received by the receiving ultrasonic transducer 32Ra and the reference reflected signal received by the reference ultrasonic transducer 32Rb are supplied to the comparator 36 via the receiver 35. The comparator 36 calculates the difference between the received reflected signal and the reference reflected signal to remove fluctuations in the transmitted output and received sensitivity due to quality characteristics (of the vibrator) and aging characteristics, and then The condition of the floor surface is determined by comparing it with the first shift. That is,
The comparator 36 basically determines the condition of the floor surface based on the reflectance as in the above-described embodiment, but by providing a reference surface 33r, it is possible to cope with fluctuations in humidity characteristics and aging characteristics. That's what I do.

Further, the comparator 36 controls the control device 3 and the rotating brush 7 via the control device 3 and the rotating brush motor 8, respectively, as in the previous embodiment, and adjusts the suction force and the rotating brush 7 depending on the state of the floor surface. It controls the movement. Note that the oscillator 34, the transmitting ultrasonic transducer 32T1 and the receiving ultrasonic transducer 32Ra.

Reference ultrasonic transducer 32Rb, fixed frame 33, receiver 35
, a floor surface detection section 41 consisting of a comparator 36 is housed in the suction section 6 in the same manner as shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 8, the floor detection unit 3 of the vacuum cleaner shown in FIG.
The transmission/reception relationship of ultrasonic waves according to No. 1 will be explained according to the type of floor surface.

FIG. 8(a) shows the transmission and reception relationship of ultrasonic waves when the suction part 6 is in the air without contacting anything. In this case, the ultrasonic waves transmitted from the transmitting ultrasonic transducer 32T The reflected wave is not received by the reception ultrasonic transducer 32Ra, but is received only by the reference ultrasonic transducer 32Rb, and this received signal is supplied to the comparator 36 via the IS receiver 35,
It is compared to a predetermined threshold. As a result, the suction part 6 is determined to be floating in the air, the rotating brush 7 (1, 1, does not rotate, and the suction force of the vacuum cleaner is controlled to "weak").

FIG. 8 (1)) shows a case where the suction part 6 is in contact with the carpet, but in this case, the receiving ultrasonic transducer 32
The reception level of the ultrasonic wave Ra is a level determined by the reflectance of the carpet, and as shown in FIG. 8(b), the reflected signal 73 due to the carpet is at a slightly lower level than the reference reflected signal 71. By comparing the output signal of this level with a predetermined threshold value in a comparator 36 via a receiver 35, it is determined that the floor surface is a carpet.
As a result, the suction force generated by the rotation of the turbine motor 2 becomes a suction force suitable for the carpet, and the rotating brush 7 rotates.

Further, FIG. 8(C) shows a case where the suction part 6 is in contact with the board floor, and in this case, the receiving ultrasonic transducer 32R
The reception level of a is determined by the reflectance of the board floor, and as shown in FIG. 8(C), the reflected signal 75 from the board floor is
is approximately the same as the reference reflection signal 71, the suction force of the turbine motor 2 is controlled to a suction force that matches the board floor, and the rotating brush 7 does not rotate.

Next, FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a vacuum cleaner according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The vacuum cleaner of this embodiment has a transmitting ultrasonic transducer 42T that transmits ultrasonic waves toward the floor, and a receiving ultrasonic transducer 42R that receives reflected waves of the ultrasonic waves from the floor. ,
The configuration and operation for determining the state of the floor surface based on the reflected waves are the same as those in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 7, and the same components are given the same reference numerals. The difference is that a transmission plate 43 for transmitting ultrasonic waves is provided between the child 42T and the receiving ultrasonic transducer 42R and the floor surface. Therefore, the ultrasonic wave is transmitted from the transmitting ultrasonic transducer 42T to the floor surface via the transmission plate 43, this ultrasonic wave is reflected and transmitted at the contact surface between the floor surface and the transmission plate 43, and the reflected wave is transmitted. Receiving ultrasonic transducer 11 via plate 43
Received in 2R.

This transmission plate/I3 protects the 42 transmitting ultrasonic transducers and the receiving ultrasonic transducer = 1.2 R, and also provides acoustic matching between each transducer and the floor. 20 = Has the role of efficiently transmitting ultrasonic waves to the floor surface.

The acoustic impedance of the transmission plate 43 is between the acoustic impedances of the radiator material and the plate floor, and the thickness is set to 1/4 of the wavelength of the ultrasonic wave.

Note that the floor surface detecting section 41 consisting of the oscillator 34, the transmitting ultrasonic transducer 42T1, the receiving ultrasonic transducer 42R1, the transmission plate 43, the receiver 35, and the comparator 36 is located inside the suction section 6 as shown in FIG. It is stored in.

FIGS. 10(a), (b), and (c) show the transmission level 81 of the ultrasonic waves transmitted from the transmitting ultrasonic transducer 42T when the suction section 6 is in the air and when it is in contact with a carpet or a wooden floor, respectively. and its reflection level 83a
, 83b and 83c, respectively, and reflectance levels 83a and 83b.

83c changes according to the air, carpet, and board floor, respectively. A signal with a reflection level that changes in this way is transmitted from the receiving ultrasonic transducer 42R to the comparator 3 via the receiver 35.
6, the floor surface condition can be determined by comparing it with a predetermined threshold value.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a vacuum cleaner according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.

The vacuum cleaner shown in the figure has a configuration in which the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 and the embodiment shown in FIG. 9 are combined. That is, the provision of the transmission plate 53 between each transducer and the floor is the same as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, and one transmitting ultrasonic transducer 4.2 H
It is the same as the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 in that it has two reception ultrasonic transducers/1.2 Ra and a reference ultrasonic transducer 12R1). For this reason, the portion of the transmission plate 53 facing the reference ultrasonic transducer 42 Rl) is formed to have half the thickness without contacting the floor surface, so that this portion can be connected to an object of known acoustic impedance, ie, this In some cases, it comes into contact with air, and a reference surface 53r is formed here. The level of the ultrasonic wave reflected by this reference surface 53r, J-
In other words, the reflection level received by the (ξ) ultrasonic transducer 42 Rb is always constant.

Note that the oscillator 34, the transmitting ultrasonic transducer 42T, the receiving ultrasonic transducer 42Ra, and the reference ultrasonic transducer 42R1)
, a transmission plate 53, a receiver 35, and a comparator 36. The floor surface detection section 51 is housed in the suction section 6 in the same manner as shown in FIG.

FIGS. 12(a), (b), and (c) each show the suction section 6.
When the reference ultrasonic transducer 42Rb is in the air, the reference ultrasonic transducer 42Rb is compared to the transmission level 91 of the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the transmitting ultrasonic transducer 42T when it is in contact with a carpet or a wooden floor.
Reference reflection level 93 and reception ultrasonic transducer 42Ra
This is a diagram illustrating the reflection levels 95a, 951] and 95c, respectively.
5b and 95C change according to air, carpet, and board floor, respectively. The condition of the floor surface can be determined by comparing the reflection level signals that change in this way with a predetermined threshold value in the comparator 36 via the receiver 35.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, ultrasonic waves are transmitted toward the area to be cleaned, for example, the floor surface, and the reflected waves of the ultrasonic waves from the floor surface are received. The state of the spherical surface is determined based on the reflected waves, and the suction force is variably controlled based on the result of this determination. It is very easy to operate, as there is no need to manually change the suction power by operating a switch, etc., depending on whether the floor is a wooden floor or the like. can be improved. Further, when a rotating brush is provided, the rotational operation of the rotating brush can be automatically controlled depending on the condition of the floor surface, and usability can be improved. Furthermore, by receiving the ultrasonic waves reflected from the reference surface and correcting the IC reflected signals reflected from the floor surface based on this received signal, it is possible to compensate for the temperature characteristics and aging of the ultrasonic transmitting/receiving means. can.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the overall appearance of the vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1. Fig. 4 is a block diagram of the ultrasonic floor detection device of the vacuum cleaner shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 5 is an ultrasonic floor detection device of the vacuum cleaner shown in Fig. 1. A side view showing the installation of the device, particularly the transmitting ultrasonic transducer and the receiving ultrasonic transducer, and FIG. 6 is the inside of the suction section showing the schematic configuration of the floor contact detection device of the vacuum cleaner shown in FIG. 1. 7 is a block diagram of a vacuum cleaner according to another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the vacuum cleaner of FIG. 7, and FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a vacuum cleaner according to another embodiment of the present invention. A block diagram of a vacuum cleaner according to an example, FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the vacuum cleaner of FIG. 9, FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a vacuum cleaner according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1
2 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the vacuum cleaner shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2...Turbine Tanabata 3...Control device 6.
...Suction part 7...Rotating brush 8...
- Rotating brush motor 10... Floor condition identification control unit 12T... Ultrasonic transducer for transmission 12R... Ultrasonic transducer for reception 15... Ultrasonic floor detection station 16... Floor surface discrimination device 17...Floor surface contact detection device 32Rh...Reference ultrasonic vibrator 33r...Reference surface

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) A vacuum cleaner having a suction part that comes into contact with a part to be cleaned and sucks dust from the part by suction force, and a transmitting means for transmitting ultrasonic waves toward the part to be cleaned. , a receiving means for receiving a reflected wave from the part of the ultrasonic wave generated from the transmitting means, and a determining means for determining the state of the part based on the reflected wave received by the receiving means;
A vacuum cleaner comprising variable control means for variably controlling the suction force based on the determination result of the determination means. (2) The transmitting means and the receiving means include a contact identification means that is provided at the suction port and identifies that the suction port is in contact with the part to be cleaned. The vacuum cleaner according to item 1. (3) The receiving means includes a first receiving means that receives a reflected wave reflected by the area to be cleaned among the ultrasonic waves transmitted from the transmitting means, and and a second receiving means for receiving a reflected wave reflected by a predetermined reference surface among the sound waves, and the discriminating means is based on the reflected wave received by the first and second receiving means. 2. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, further comprising means for determining the state of said portion. (4) The transmitting means and the receiving means are provided at the suction port, and transmit ultrasonic waves transmitted from the transmitting means to the part to be cleaned, and transmit reflected waves from the part to the receiving means. 2. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, further comprising a transmission means provided between said transmitting means and receiving means and said area to be cleaned. (5) The receiving means is a first receiving means that receives a reflected wave reflected by the part of the ultrasonic waves transmitted from the transmitting means and transmitted to the part via the transmitting means. and a second receiving means for receiving a reflected wave reflected by a predetermined reference surface among the ultrasonic waves transmitted from the transmitting means and transmitted via the transmitting means, and the discriminating means includes: 5. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 4, further comprising means for determining the state of the portion based on reflected waves received by the first and second receiving means. (6) The suction section has a rotating brush that rotates in contact with the portion, and the variable control means has a rotation control means that controls rotation of the rotating brush based on the determination result of the determining means. Claim 1 characterized by
The vacuum cleaner according to any one of items 5 to 6.