JP3196355B2 - Self-propelled vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a self-propelled vacuum cleaner having a cleaning function and a moving function, and cleaning the floor surface while the main body runs on the floor surface by itself.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a vacuum cleaner has been developed in which a moving function is added to a vacuum cleaner to improve operability during cleaning. Particularly in recent years, a so-called self-guided self-propelled vacuum cleaner has been developed in which a microcomputer and various kinds of sensors are mounted thereon to move and clean while judging a cleaning place by itself.

This type of self-propelled cleaner has a driving device such as a driving wheel or a driving motor as a moving function, and an obstacle detecting means for detecting an obstacle during movement, and a position for recognizing a position during movement. Usually it has a recognition means,
As the cleaning function, a dust collector such as an electric blower or a suction nozzle provided at the bottom of the main body is provided. In addition, in order to improve the ability to clean walls and corners of the room, there is also a device equipped with a side brush device that rotates a rotating brush horizontally on the side of the main body and collects dust on the floor in the center of the main body. .

In such a self-propelled vacuum cleaner having a side brush device, the rotating brush of the side brush device is disposed at a corner of the front portion of the main body from the viewpoint of cleanability, and the suction nozzle is located immediately behind, that is, at the side. It is usually arranged between the rotating brush of the brush device and the rear wheel. this is,
By arranging the suction nozzle between the rotating brush of the side brush device and the rear wheel, it becomes difficult for the suction nozzle to contact obstacles such as walls and columns when turning the main body, so that the running performance of the main body is excellent. Because there is.

[0005]

However, there is a problem when such a conventional self-propelled vacuum cleaner is considered in terms of repairability and maintenance. That is, the body weight is 10
In the case of a relatively light weight of 20 kg or less, repair and maintenance can be performed by turning over or turning over the main body in the same manner as a normal household vacuum cleaner, and there is no particular problem. However, in a self-propelled vacuum cleaner for business use, the storage battery used as a power source becomes large due to the use time, and the main body weight is 5%.
Usually, it is 0 to 100 kg or more. Therefore, it is difficult to turn over and turn over the main body, and there is a case where it is dangerous if the storage battery is mounted. In other words, in the case of a large self-propelled vacuum cleaner for business use, it is essential that parts can be replaced without turning over or turning over the main body.

[0006] For example, the suction nozzle is a part that requires the most maintenance such as elimination of dust clogging, replacement of agitator, replacement of belt, and the like. In the configuration arranged between the rear wheels, it is very difficult to remove, and the repairability and maintenance are poor.

[0007] In addition, electric blowers, which are often repaired and maintained in terms of life and breakdown, are not considered to be easily removed by conventional self-propelled vacuum cleaners, and require extensive disassembly of the main body for repair. Poor performance and maintainability.

[0008] In addition, the conventional self-propelled vacuum cleaner, which is particularly heavy, has another problem that when it travels on a carpet, the running wheels leave the carpet's hair crushed by running wheels, and the running trace remains unsightly.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and it is a first object of the present invention to provide a self-propelled cleaner in which the suction nozzle can be easily repaired and maintained, and has good running properties.

It is a second object of the present invention to provide a self-propelled cleaner in which no running trace is left on the carpet by running wheels even when the car is run on the carpet.

It is a third object of the present invention to provide a self-propelled cleaner in which the electric blower can be easily removed and repair / maintenance is easy.

[0012]

A first means of the present invention for achieving the first object is to provide a driving device having a driving wheel and a driving motor for moving a main body, and to collect dust on a floor surface. The main body is provided with a dust collecting device having a suction nozzle and a side brush device that rotates in the horizontal direction and sweeps the floor, and the main body has a substantially trapezoidal shape in which the front width is wider than the rear width, A self-propelled cleaner in which a rotary brush of a side brush device is arranged at a corner of a front portion of the main body, and the suction nozzle is arranged at a rear end of the main body behind a driving wheel.

A second means of the present invention for achieving the second object is a driving device having a driving wheel and a driving motor for moving a main body, and a collecting device having a suction nozzle for collecting dust on the floor. A self-propelled vacuum cleaner having a dust device and a main body, wherein the suction nozzle is disposed at a rear end of the main body behind the driving wheel and has an agitator that rotates in contact with a running trace on a floor surface of the driving wheel. It is assumed that.

A third means of the present invention for achieving the third object is a drive device having a drive wheel and a drive motor for moving a main body, a suction nozzle for collecting dust on the floor, and a dust collection device. A dust collection device having a chamber and an electric blower in the main body, the dust collection room includes a dust collection chamber lid that can be opened and closed, and the electric blower is disposed at a lower portion of the dust collection chamber and has a dust collection chamber. It is a self-propelled vacuum cleaner attached from the inside.

[0015]

In the self-propelled cleaner according to the first aspect of the present invention, the suction nozzle is arranged at the rear end of the main body, so that the suction nozzle can be easily attached and detached from the rear of the main body, and the repairability and maintenance properties are excellent. By making the plane shape of the trapezoidal shape whose front width is wider than the rear width, even if the suction nozzle is arranged at the rear of the rear wheel, the suction nozzle does not easily contact obstacles and running performance does not deteriorate. is there.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the suction nozzle is provided at the rear end of the main body behind the driving wheel, and is provided with an agitator that rotates in contact with a running trace on the floor surface of the driving wheel. Since the agitator raises the carpet, even if the carpet is run on the carpet, no running traces remain on the carpet by the running wheels.

Further, according to the third means of the present invention, the dust collecting chamber is provided with a dust collecting chamber lid whose upper part can be opened and closed, and the electric blower is arranged at the lower part of the dust collecting chamber and from the inside of the dust collecting chamber. Since it is attached, the electric blower can be easily removed simply by opening the dust collection chamber lid, and repair and maintenance can be easily performed.

[0018]

【Example】

(Embodiment 1) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a main body of the self-propelled cleaner, and 2 denotes drive wheels provided on the left and right sides of the main body 1. Reference numeral 4 denotes a follower wheel rotatably attached to the front of the main body 1. As mentioned above, the driving wheel 2,
A drive device for moving the main body 1 by the drive motor 3 and the driven wheel 4 is configured.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a side brush device attached to the left and right front corners of the bottom of the main body 1 and has a rotary brush 6 and a motor 7 for rotating the brush. Reference numeral 8 denotes an electric blower which is housed in a motor case 11 via support rubbers 9 and 10 for supporting the blower, and is provided below the dust collecting chamber 12. Reference numeral 13 denotes a dust collection chamber lid, which is rotatably supported by a rotating shaft 14 so that the upper part of the dust collection chamber 12 can be opened and closed. 15 is a dust collection chamber
2 is a filter formed of a paper bag provided inside the filter 2. Reference numeral 16 denotes a suction nozzle provided at the rear end of the main body 1 behind the drive wheel 2 and has a cleaning agitator 17 composed of a rotating brush that rotates in contact with the floor surface A and a trace erasing agitator 18.
The suction nozzle 16 is connected to the dust collection chamber 12 via a connection pipe 19. As mentioned above, the electric blower 8 and the dust collection chamber 1
2. Filter 15, Suction nozzle 16, Connection pipe 19
Constitutes a dust collector.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a bumper made of an elastic body attached around the main body 1. Reference numeral 21 denotes an operation button provided on the operation unit 22. Reference numeral 23 denotes a distance measuring sensor including an ultrasonic sensor and the like provided around the main body 1, and an obstacle detection device that detects an obstacle by measuring a distance to an object located in front of, right, left, and behind the main body 1. Is composed. Reference numeral 24 denotes a travel control device that controls the drive motor 3 based on data from the obstacle detection device and controls travel of the main body 1.
Reference numeral 25 denotes a power supply including a storage battery for supplying power to the whole.

In this embodiment, first, the suction nozzle 16 can be easily repaired and maintained with the above configuration. Second, the traveling performance of the main body 1 is very good.

That is, the suction nozzle 16 is attached to the rear end of the main body 1 and can be detached from the rear part of the main body 1 by hand and separated from the connection pipe 19 by hand.
Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the planar shape of the cart unit 1a constituting the main body 1 of this embodiment, the front width L _f has a rear width L _r is greater than approximately trapezoidal, rear end of the truck 1a the width L _n of the suction nozzles 16 are substantially equal to the rear width L _r. Therefore, when the main body 1 cleans a wall edge parallel to the wall, the rotating brush 6 constituting the side brush device 5 is used.
Means that while rotating in the direction of arrow C, the outer end is applied to the wall edge to collect debris inside the main body 1, and this is sucked and collected by the later suction nozzle 16 at a position slightly away from the wall. Therefore, even if the main body 1 performs the turning operation, the situation where the suction nozzle 16 hits the wall surface and hinders the running of the main body 1 does not occur.

The present embodiment as described above, the front width L _f of truck 1a smaller than the rear width L _r, rear width L _r at the rear end
When by providing the suction nozzle 16 of a width substantially equal L _n, the rotary brush 6 is very moving loci of the wall Sai, the movement locus of the suction nozzle 16 is turned slightly away from the wall Sai, the suction nozzle 16 walls and There is a distance between them. Therefore, it is possible to easily attach and detach the suction nozzle 16 without sacrificing traveling performance, and to realize a self-propelled cleaner having excellent repairability and maintainability.

(Embodiment 2) Next, the second means of the present invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the suction nozzle 16 of the present embodiment is disposed at the rear end of the bogie unit 1 a, and immediately behind the left and right driving wheels 2, a trace that rotates in contact with a running trace on the floor surface of the driving wheels 2. An eraser agitator 18 is provided. As shown in FIG. 3, the cleaning agitator 17 having the brushes 17 a spirally implanted has brushes 18 a implanted in two rows on the left and right sides of the cleaning agitator 17.
0.31. In this way, the cleaning agitator 17 and the trace erasing agitator 18 are
Via the timing belt 33 and the motor pulley 34
It is rotationally driven by a nozzle motor 35.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below. When the main body 1 cleans the carpet, the nozzle motor 35 and the electric blower 8
Also start to rotate. When the nozzle motor 35 starts rotating, the cleaning agitator 17 and the trace erasing agitator 18 are also driven to rotate. When the cleaning agitator 17 rotates, the brush 17a acts to scrape dust while digging into the carpet surface. Accordingly, dust at the back of the carpet surface floats on the surface, is sucked by the electric blower 8, passes through the connection pipe 19, and accumulates in the filter 15 formed of a paper bag in the dust collection chamber 12. On the other hand, when the main body 1 travels on the carpet, the driving wheels 2 push down the hair of the carpet due to the weight of the main body 1. However, in this embodiment, the trace erasing agitator 18 is rotating, and the hair of the carpet that has been pushed down is raised again. In other words, the brushes 18a act to lift the fallen hairs that are hard on the carpet.

As described above, the present embodiment requires a complicated mechanism and a special driving device by providing the suction nozzle 16 for simultaneously rotating the cleaning agitator 17 and the trace erasing agitator 18 at the rear of the driving wheel 2. Body 1
It can erase the running trace on the carpet.

(Embodiment 3) Next, a third means of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Electric blower 8 of the present embodiment
Are housed in the motor case 11 via the support rubbers 9 and 10 and are provided below the dust collecting chamber 12. The motor case 11 is attached from inside the dust collection chamber 12.

With this configuration, the motor case 11 can be easily taken out, and the inspection of the electric blower 8 and the replacement of the brush can be easily performed. That is, first open the dust collection chamber lid 13 as shown by the arrow a, take out the filter 15 as shown by the arrow b, and then remove the screw (not shown) fixing the motor case 11 and the dust collection chamber 12. The motor case 11 can be easily taken out as indicated by an arrow d.

[0029]

According to the first means of the present invention, the suction nozzle is mainly arranged at the rear end of the main body.
The suction nozzle can be easily attached and detached from the rear of the main unit, and it has excellent repairability and maintenance.The main unit has a substantially trapezoidal shape with a front width larger than the rear width, so that the suction nozzle is located at the rear of the rear wheel. Even if the suction nozzle does not easily come into contact with an obstacle, the traveling performance is not deteriorated, and the suction nozzle can be easily repaired and maintained.

The second means of the present invention has a configuration in which the suction nozzle is disposed at the rear end of the main body behind the driving wheel and has a trace erase agitator which rotates in contact with the traveling trace on the floor surface of the driving wheel. Since the agitator raises the carpet, a self-propelled cleaner with excellent cleaning finish without running traces left on the carpet by running wheels even when the carpet is run on the carpet is realized.

Further, the third means of the present invention is provided with a dust collecting chamber lid which can be opened and closed at the upper part of the dust collecting chamber, and the electric blower is arranged at the lower part of the dust collecting chamber and attached from the inside of the dust collecting chamber. Therefore, the electric blower can be easily removed without disassembling the main body, thereby realizing a self-propelled vacuum cleaner having excellent repairability and maintainability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a self-propelled vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of a first means of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the self-propelled vacuum cleaner of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of a suction nozzle of a self-propelled cleaner according to an embodiment of the second means of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view for explaining an operation of removing the electric blower of the self-propelled vacuum cleaner which is an embodiment of the third means.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body 2 Drive wheel 3 Drive motor 4 Follower wheel 5 Side brush device 8 Electric blower 11 Motor case 12 Dust collection room 13 Dust collection room lid 15 Filter 16 Suction nozzle 17 Cleaning agitator 18 Trace erase agitator 19 Connection pipe 24 Travel control device 25 Power supply

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hirofumi Inui 1006 Kazuma Kadoma, Osaka Pref. Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yoshifumi Takagi 1006 Okadoma Kadoma, Kadoma, Osaka Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Mitsuyasu Ogawa, Inventor 1006, Kazuma, Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-5-95883 (JP, A) (58) Fields surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A47L 11/283 A47L 11/24 A47L 9/00

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A driving device having a driving wheel and a driving motor for moving a main body, a dust collecting device having a suction nozzle for collecting dust on the floor, and a side brush device rotating horizontally to sweep the floor. The main body has a planar shape that has a substantially trapezoidal shape in which the front width is wider than the rear width, and the rotating brush of the side brush device is arranged at a corner of the main body front, and the suction nozzle is A self-propelled vacuum cleaner disposed at the rear end of the main body behind the drive wheels. 2. A main body comprising: a driving device having a driving wheel and a driving motor for moving a main body; and a dust collecting device having a suction nozzle for collecting dust on a floor surface, wherein the suction nozzle is provided with the driving wheel. A self-propelled cleaner provided with an agitator arranged at the rear end of the rear body and in contact with and rotating on a running trace on the floor surface of the drive wheel. 3. A main unit comprising: a driving device having a driving wheel and a driving motor for moving the main body; and a dust collecting device having a suction nozzle for collecting dust on the floor, a dust collecting chamber, and an electric blower. A self-propelled vacuum cleaner, wherein the dust collecting chamber includes a dust collecting chamber lid that can be opened and closed at an upper part, and the electric blower is arranged at a lower part of the dust collecting chamber and attached from inside the dust collecting chamber.