JP2953296B2 - Electric 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 vacuum cleaner. It relates to a vacuum cleaner to control.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional vacuum cleaner, operation button information of a hand-operated portion is sent to a control device in the main body of the vacuum cleaner through an electric wire arranged in a hose portion to control an electric blower of the main body of the vacuum cleaner. It is configured to be. Due to this electric wiring, the hose portion of the conventional vacuum cleaner is heavy and lacks flexibility, and handling during use is cramped.

Therefore, the operation button information from the hand operation unit is transmitted cordlessly to the control device of the cleaner main body to control the electric blower, thereby eliminating the electric wiring of the hose unit and making the hose unit light and flexible. Techniques have been proposed to make it easier to handle during use.

The vacuum cleaner described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-221924 is provided with an infrared light emitting means at a hand operation unit, an infrared light receiving means at an upper part of the cleaner body, and using light as a medium between these. Operation button information is transmitted cordlessly. This vacuum cleaner has the advantage that the hose portion can be made lightweight and flexible, but since the light propagates straight, the operation button information can be transmitted when an obstacle intervenes between the light emitting means and the light receiving means. There is a problem that goes away. For example, when the operator is positioned between the cleaner main body and the hand operation unit during cleaning, or when the cleaner main body is positioned under a table or behind a sofa, the infrared ray does not reach the light receiving unit.

Further, an infrared LED which is an infrared light emitting means
(Light-emitting diode) has a low electro-optical conversion efficiency,
A current is consumed. For this reason, a large-capacity battery is required for the hand-held operation unit. When a small AA battery or the like is used for weight reduction, the current consumption is sufficient to transmit the operation button information and the life is about one year. There is also a problem. Therefore, it is difficult to devise ways to enhance the control function by transmitting a plurality of types of information using infrared rays as a medium.

The vacuum cleaner described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 55-72565 is provided with a transmitter for transmitting radio waves or ultrasonic waves at a hand operation unit, and a receiver for receiving the radio waves or ultrasonic waves in the main body of the cleaner. In this configuration, operation button information is transmitted cordlessly using radio waves or ultrasonic waves as a medium. Although the operation button information is proposed to be distinguished by changing the frequency of radio waves, there is no specific proposal for information distinction when using ultrasonic waves as a medium.

[0007] Since radio waves have high transparency, they are liable to damage surrounding electronic devices, and are also susceptible to troubles from surrounding electronic devices. Obstacle radio waves from peripheral devices can be eliminated by information discrimination provided with an identification code, but there is a disadvantage that the transceiver is complicated and expensive.

[0008] Further, since the ultrasonic wave is blocked by a wall, glass, or the like, there is little disturbance to peripheral devices, and there is little disturbance from others. However, since ultrasonic waves are included as components such as sounds of glass or dishes, they are easily affected by these sounds. Furthermore, the sound speed is 340 m / se
Since the frequency is 20 KHz or more and the wavelength is as short as several mm or less, the interference between the direct sound and the sound reflected from a wall or the like, that is, the fading phenomenon easily occurs at a short distance. That is, the level of the ultrasonic signal to be received greatly changes only when the receiving position is different by a few cm. Also, the Doppler effect must be considered. The reception frequency changes by about 1% due to human movement. All of these hinder the transmission of information using ultrasonic waves as a medium.

In the vacuum cleaner described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-210226, an ultrasonic transmitter is provided in a hand operation unit, and an ultrasonic wave is propagated through a hose to be transmitted to an ultrasonic receiver of the cleaner main body. By transmitting the information, cordless transmission of the operation information of the operation unit at hand is performed, and the power nozzle is controlled by transmitting the information to the mouthpiece.

However, the wind speed in the hose and pipe during cleaning is several tens of m / sec, and the loud wind noise generated by the unevenness of the inner wall surface of the hose includes an ultrasonic component. Impair communication. Also,
The Doppler shift due to the wind speed (frequency deviation due to the Doppler effect) also poses a problem. For this reason, there is a risk that information transmission during driving becomes unstable and control is disturbed.

The electric blower in the vacuum cleaner needs to generate a suction pressure and an air volume necessary for cleaning, and is controlled based on the suction pressure detected by using a semiconductor pressure sensor or the like. For example, JP-A-5-2200
The vacuum cleaner described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 77 is configured to control the input power to the electric blower so that the detected pressure is constant. However, semiconductor pressure sensors are expensive and
It is difficult to adopt it for a low-cost vacuum cleaner. In addition, in order to optimally control the electric blower, reference information other than the suction pressure is required, which raises a problem of an increase in the price of the detection means.

[0012]

First object of the present invention is to solve the above, by effectively utilizing the acoustoelectric conversion means to be used in the information signal transmission means, double for controlling the electric blower
An object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive control device capable of obtaining several types of reference information.

A second object of the present invention is to control state information such as operation button information of a hand operation unit and / or floor surface information detected at a suction opening necessary for controlling an electric blower in a vacuum cleaner. It is an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive and low power consumption information signal transmitting means that can reliably transmit an information signal to a control device of a cleaner main body.

[0014]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the first object, the present invention provides a cleaner body having an electric blower, a dust collection chamber, and a main controller for controlling the electric blower, and a hose. wherein the operation portion of the cleaner is connected to the body communicating with the dust collecting chamber, and connected to the mouth portion to the operation portion, provided in the operation portion or the mouth portion, the control information signal super Converted to ultrasonic waves by the sound wave transmission means and transmitted
In the electric vacuum cleaner and a remote operation control device by propagating through the air heat <br/> reaching the main control device by, before Symbol main control unit, transmitted from the ultrasonic wave transmission means Acousto-electric conversion means for converting vibrations or pressure fluctuations generated in the ultrasonic cleaner and the cleaner body into electric signals, and discriminating the electric signals output from the acousto-electric conversion means to restore the control information signal and to provide a cleaner. The vibration in the body
Or an electric signal processing means for generating an internal information signal according to the pressure fluctuation, generating the restored control information signal and
Controlling the electric blower based on the internal information signal.
Characterized in that the so that.

Further, in order to achieve the second object, electric dynamic blower, a vacuum cleaner body having a main controller for controlling the dust collecting chamber and the electric blower, is connected to the cleaner body via a hose A hand operation unit communicating with the dust collection chamber, a suction port connected to the hand operation unit , and a control information signal provided in the hand operation unit or the suction unit, and transmitting a control information signal by ultrasonic transmission.
Converted into ultrasonic waves by means and transmitted to the atmosphere
And a remote control device for transmitting the control information signal to the main control device , wherein the remote control device transmits the control information signal to a plurality of disjoint relations.
Multi-period to convert frequency to multi-frequency signal
And the wave number conversion unit, a carrier signal generating means, said multi-divides the carrier signal output from said carrier signal generating means
Frequency modulation means for frequency-modulating with a wave number signal, and electro-acoustic conversion means for converting the modulated carrier signal into ultrasonic waves and radiating them into the air are provided, and the main controller receives the ultrasonic waves. and acoustoelectric conversion means for converting into an electrical signal, and demodulation means you demodulated control information signal from the electrical signal, provided the electrical signal processing means for controlling said electric blower on the basis of the demodulated control information signal It is characterized by the following.

[0016]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the acoustoelectric conversion means receives a control information signal transmitted in the form of an ultrasonic wave from the remote control means, converts the control information signal into an electric signal, and converts information in the cleaner body into an electric signal. Therefore, a plurality of types of reference information for controlling the electric blower can be obtained with an inexpensive configuration.

Further, in the second invention, the remote operation control device transmits control information signals such as an operation signal of an operation button and a state detection signal of a mouthpiece to a plurality of frequency components having relatively prime relations.
Number into a multi-frequency signal,
Signal after frequency modulation with this multi-frequency signal.
The converted carrier signal can be converted to ultrasonic waves and transmitted to the main controller in the form of ultrasonic waves radiated into the air .
Reliable information signal transmission at low cost and low power consumption is possible.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view of a main part of an overall configuration showing an embodiment of a vacuum cleaner according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a cleaner body case, and a floor suction port 2 is a hose 3.
And an operation unit 4 and an extension tube 5. Inside the main body case 1, a dust collecting chamber 7 accommodating a dust collecting filter 6, an electric blower 8, and a control device substrate 9 are provided. An electret condenser microphone (hereinafter, simply referred to as a microphone) 10 having a small size, high sensitivity, and wide frequency characteristics as an acoustoelectric converter is fixed on the control device substrate 9. The microphone 10 is fixed in a room separated from the room in which the electric blower 8 is installed so that the wind generated by the electric blower 8 does not collide with the microphone 10. The main body case 1 surrounding the control device board 9 includes the microphone 1
0 has an opening 1a located above the head.

The hand operation unit 4 includes “standard”, “weak”,
A remote control board 12 provided with an operation button 11 interlocked with a switch for generating four command signals of "strong" and "stop", and a dry battery 13 as a power supply of the remote control are provided. An ultrasonic element 14, which is an electroacoustic transducer, is attached to a rear end of a grip portion, which is a part of the hand operation section 4, and an opening 4a is opened at a grip end facing the ultrasonic element 14. Have been. Each of the openings 1a and 4a is covered with an ultrasonic-transparent protective cover (not shown) such as a thin cloth in order to prevent foreign matter such as dust from entering.

FIG. 2 shows an electric circuit of a main control device (mainly mounted on the control device substrate 9) provided in the main body of the vacuum cleaner. In FIG. 2, 15 is an AC power supply (generally, a commercial power supply), 16 is a current fuse, 17 is a noise prevention capacitor for reducing noise, and 18 is an electric blower 8.
A switching bidirectional semiconductor element for supplying / stopping AC power to the power supply, and 19 is a power supply circuit for generating a control DC power supply from the AC power supply. 20 is a microphone 10
Amplifying circuit for amplifying the electric signal output from the amplifying circuit 20;
Band-pass filter (hereinafter referred to as BPF) that extracts and outputs a signal component corresponding to the rotational vibration frequency of
2 is a BP that extracts a signal component corresponding to an ultrasonic frequency region from the electric signal amplified by the amplifier circuit 20 and outputs the extracted signal component.
FB and 23 output the electric blower 8 from the output of BPF-A21.
Rotation speed detection circuit for detecting the rotation speed (rotation speed) of
Is a remote signal detection unit for detecting a remote operation signal from the output signal of the BPF-B22. The rotation speed signal detected by the rotation speed detection circuit 23 and the remote signal detection unit 2
The remote control signal detected at 4 is input to the microcomputer 25.

Reference numeral 26 denotes a trigger circuit for sending a trigger signal to the G terminal for on / off control of the bidirectional semiconductor element 18, reference numeral 27 denotes a display unit for displaying an operation state of the vacuum cleaner,
28 is a filter clogging notifying means for notifying the clogging of the dust collecting filter 6 installed in the dust collecting chamber 7, 29 is a "standard" for inputting a command for operating / stopping the vacuum cleaner in the vacuum cleaner main body, A main body operation button 30 linked to the four switches of “weak”, “strong” and “stop” is a clock oscillation circuit for operating the microcomputer 25.

FIG. 3 is an electric circuit diagram of the remote control device mounted on the remote control device substrate 12 mounted on the hand operation unit 4. 3, reference numeral 80 denotes a carrier signal generation circuit, 81 denotes a frequency modulation circuit, 82 denotes a drive circuit,
83 is an encoding circuit, 84 is a DTMF signal generation circuit. The operation buttons 11 are connected to an encoding circuit 83, and when each button is pressed, the encoding circuit 83 outputs an encoded signal. The encoding circuit 83 outputs, for example, “0100” when “strong” is pressed, and “001” when “standard” is pressed.
1 ”,“ 0010 ”for“ weak ”,“ 0001 ”for“ stop ”
Is output as a 4-bit binary coded signal. DTMF
(Dual Tone Multi Frequency Frequency
y) The signal generation circuit 84 outputs the 4
A set of two frequency signals according to a binary coded signal of bits;
It generates a so-called DTMF signal. This DTMF signal is input to the frequency modulation circuit 81.

The DTMF signal is a PB (Push) signal.
A two-frequency combination signal used as a selection signal of a Button-type telephone, which is a multi-frequency signal obtained by selecting and combining one of each of four high-group frequencies and four low-group frequencies having a relatively prime relationship. In this case, it is a two-frequency signal). This signal has 4 × 4 = 16 combinations and can carry 4-bit information. Note that, for the sake of simplicity, the following DTMF
The description will be made with reference to an example of a signal. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a combination of three frequency groups, or the number of frequencies included in one frequency group may be increased to five. By doing so, the amount of information carried by one carrier signal (symbol) can be increased.

The carrier signal generation circuit 80 is, for example, 40
A sine wave signal of KHz is generated as a carrier signal, and this carrier signal is input to the frequency modulation circuit 81. The frequency of the carrier signal is selected outside the audible band and outside the frequency band of the sound generated in the cleaner body. The frequency modulation circuit 81 frequency-modulates the carrier signal with the DTMF signal. The carrier signal is frequency-modulated here, amplified by the drive circuit 82 to a voltage sufficient to drive the ultrasonic element, and supplied to the ultrasonic element 14.
The ultrasonic element 14 is an electroacoustic conversion element that is configured by a piezoelectric element and converts an electric signal into a sound wave by a piezoelectric effect. The frequency of the electric signal to be handled is determined by the physical properties and the shape and dimensions of the piezoelectric element, and those outside the audible band are called ultrasonic elements.

The modulated carrier signal input to the ultrasonic element 14 is converted into an ultrasonic wave here and radiated into the air. As described above, the operation information of the operation button 11 is coded into four bits and put on the ultrasonic wave.

The reason why the frequency modulation is used for adding information to the ultrasonic wave is that the ultrasonic wave resonates well on a wall or a ceiling and receives an amplitude fluctuation due to interference between a direct wave and a reflected wave. Modulation is not preferred. Also, modulation for adding information to the time length is not preferable because the time length varies depending on the location due to the reverberation characteristics.

The reason why the DTMF signal is used for the modulation is that the speed of the ultrasonic wave is as low as 340 m / sec, and the frequency of the ultrasonic wave fluctuates due to the Doppler effect due to the movement of a person. In the case of 40 KHz, a fluctuation of several tens Hz occurs due to the movement of a person. This fluctuation is detected by frequency demodulation, but since the DTMF signal is a signal of 600 Hz or more, the influence of this Doppler effect can be eliminated using a filter. Further, the DTMF signal is a combination of two prime frequency signals, and there is no possibility that such a signal is generated by the Doppler effect. The reason why the DTMF signal is used for modulation is to take advantage of such advantages.

FIG. 4 is an electric circuit diagram of the remote signal detector 24. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 85 denotes an amplifier circuit, 86 denotes a frequency demodulation circuit, and 87 denotes a DTM composed of a filter group and the like.
An F signal detection circuit 88 is a decoding circuit. Amplifier circuit 8
Reference numeral 5 amplifies an electric signal corresponding to the modulated ultrasonic component output from the BPF-B22. Ultrasonic waves propagating in the air attenuate in inverse proportion to the square of the distance. Amplifier circuit 85
This is for compensating the attenuation of this. The frequency demodulation circuit 86 demodulates the amplified electric signal. That is, the DTMF signal is reproduced by demodulating the carrier signal from the ultrasonic element 14 described above. This DTMF signal is
The TMF signal detection circuit 87 detects which two of the high and low group frequencies are combined. The combination of these two frequencies is decoded by the decoding circuit 88 into the original 4-bit binary coded signal, and is input to the input port Pi2 of the microcomputer 25.

FIG. 5 is an electric circuit diagram of the rotation speed detecting circuit 23. In FIG. 5, 89 is a hysteresis comparator, and 90 is a reference voltage source. The hysteresis comparator 89 is a comparator having a hysteresis characteristic, compares the voltage of the reference power supply 90 with the input voltage, and outputs either the power supply voltage or the ground voltage according to the magnitude relation. The hysteresis characteristic is required to prevent the output from becoming unstable due to noise included in the input voltage.
The output signal of the hysteresis comparator 89 is input to the input port Pi1 of the microcomputer 25.

When the power is turned on, the operation button 11 of the hand operation unit 4 or the operation button 29 of the main body 29 is set to "standard" or "weak".
And either the "strong" button is pressed, the vacuum cleaner starts running.

First, the operation start operation when the main body operation button 29 is pressed will be described.

Operation information of the main body operation button 29 is directly input to the microcomputer 25. The operation information is processed by software pre-programmed in the microcomputer 25. Specifically, in order to rotate the electric motor of the electric blower 8, the microcomputer 25 outputs a trigger signal as shown in FIG. 6 to its output port Po1. This trigger signal is sent to the G of the bidirectional semiconductor element 18 through the trigger circuit 26.
To the main electrode T1,
Conduction (ON) is performed between T2, and an AC voltage is applied to the electric blower 8 to rotate the electric blower 8. The terminal voltage applied to the electric blower 8 at this time is shown in FIG. 6 corresponding to the trigger signal. The bidirectional semiconductor element 18 becomes conductive when a trigger signal is applied, and becomes nonconductive (off) when the applied voltage reverses (zero crossing). Therefore,
As shown in FIG. 6, by changing the timing (time length from the time of the zero crossing) of the trigger signal output from the microcomputer 25, the time length of the terminal voltage applied to the electric blower 8 changes. , That is, the power consumption can be changed.
When the timing time t from the zero crossing point is long (t = t
1), the AC voltage time applied to the electric blower 8 becomes shorter, the power consumption becomes smaller, and the timing time t
Is shorter (when t = t2), the voltage time applied to the electric blower 8 becomes longer, and the power consumption increases. Such a motor control method is generally called AC phase control.

When the "strong" button is pressed, the electric blower 8
The trigger signal is output at a timing that increases the power consumption of the device, and when the “weak” button is pressed, the trigger signal is output at a timing that reduces the power consumption. When the “standard” button is pressed, a trigger signal is output at a timing such that the power consumption becomes intermediate between these.
The rotation speed of the electric blower 8 when the power consumption is large is a high speed of about 30,000 rotations / minute, and cleaning with a strong suction force is possible.

If the "stop" button is pressed during cleaning, that is, when the electric blower 8 is rotating, the microcomputer 25 stops outputting the trigger signal, and
Stops its rotation.

Next, operation control by remote control from the operation button 11 of the hand operation unit 4 will be described. Operation button 11
When the button is pressed, the button operation information is encoded by the encoding circuit 83 into a 4-bit signal. This encoded signal is a DTM
A predetermined time, for example, 150 ms
Frequency (DTMF) signal. At the same time, the carrier signal generation circuit 80 generates a 150 ms carrier signal. This carrier signal is frequency-modulated by the two frequency signals by the frequency modulation circuit 81, amplified by the drive circuit 82 and output to the ultrasonic element 14. . Ultrasonic element 14
Converts the modulated carrier signal into an ultrasonic signal and emits it into the air. The ultrasonic signal is emitted for 150 ms every time the operation button 11 of the hand operation unit 4 is pressed, and the operation information of the operation button 11 is frequency-modulated and given to the ultrasonic signal. . FIG. 7 shows a timing chart of such an ultrasonic signal.

The ultrasonic signal propagates in the air, is received by the microphone 10, and is converted into an electric signal. The button operation information component included in this electric signal is BPF-B
The signal is extracted at 22 and input to the amplifier circuit 85 of the remote signal detector 24. Then, the signal is frequency-demodulated by the next-stage frequency demodulation circuit 86 to become an original two-frequency (DTMF) signal. This DTMF signal is detected by the DTMF signal detection circuit 87 as to which two frequencies are combined, and is converted into a 4-bit coded signal by the decoding circuit 88 at the next stage. That is, the two-frequency signal is decoded into a 4-bit code here. This 4-bit encoded signal is input to the input port Pi2 of the microcomputer 25. Then, the microcomputer 25 decodes the 4-bit code, that is, the operation information of the operation buttons 11 on the operation unit 4 at hand, by using software programmed in advance. The following operation is the same as the case of the main body operation button 29 described above, and thus the description is omitted.

FIG. 8 shows an example of the spectrum of the sound collected by the microphone 10. This broadband spectrum is obtained when the electric blower 8 is rotating. When the vacuum cleaner is running, it produces various sounds. The main ones are the rotational vibration noise and fluid noise of the electric blower 8. Fluid noise is a so-called wind noise generated when turbulent noise generated in a high-speed rotating blower (impeller) and airflow (wind) generated from a pressure difference due to the rotation of the blower collide with an obstacle. The components are distributed over a wide frequency band. The largest component is the rotational vibration sound component of the electric blower 8 indicated by a in FIG. This is a component due to vibration caused by the eccentricity of the rotating shaft of the electric blower 8 and is generated once per rotation, and is emitted as sound by vibrating the main body case 1 to which the electric blower 8 is fixed. . Therefore, the rotational frequency of the electric blower 8 can be detected by extracting the rotational vibration sound component and analyzing the frequency. Note that the spectral component indicated by b in the figure is an ultrasonic signal component from the hand operation unit 4.

The microphone 10 has wide frequency characteristics, and has sensitivity even in the ultrasonic range, although the conversion efficiency is reduced. Therefore, as described above, BPF-B2
The operation information of the operation button 11 can be obtained by extracting the signal in the step 2 and amplifying it by the amplifier 85 and then demodulating it.

FIG. 9 shows a signal of a rotational vibration sound component extracted by the BPF-A 21 from the electric signal converted by the microphone 10. As shown in the figure, for example, when the rotation speed of the electric blower 8 is large, the microphone 10
The frequency of the rotational vibration sound component of the electric blower 8 detected by the BPF-A 21 and output from the BPF-A 21 increases (for example, the frequency of the rotational vibration sound when the rotational speed of the electric blower 8 is 30,000 revolutions / minute is 500 Hz). Further, the frequency of the rotational vibration sound component output when the rotation speed of the electric blower 8 is low (for example, the rotation speed of the electric blower 8 is 18000)
(Rotation vibration sound at rotation / minute is 300 Hz). When the electric signal of the rotational vibration sound component of the electric blower 8 is input to the comparator 89 of the rotation speed detecting circuit 23 and compared with the reference voltage 90, the rotational vibration sound frequency of the electric blower 8 as shown in FIG. An output signal having a corresponding pulse waveform can be obtained. The output signal is taken into the input port Pi1 of the microcomputer 25.

The microcomputer 25 detects the frequency (or repetition period) of the pulse waveform by using pre-programmed software. As a simple method, it can be performed by counting the number of pulses per unit time. The number of pulses per minute directly becomes the number of rotations (rotation / minute). In this case, the rotation speed detection
Obtained every minute. Therefore, when it is desired to obtain the rotation speed information in a shorter cycle, the number of rotations (rotation / minute) can be obtained every second by counting the number of pulses per second and multiplying the number by 60, for example. it can. This rotation speed information is
It is used for power control of the electric blower 8 described later.

According to the above embodiment, the operation information of the operation button 11 of the hand operation unit 4 is transmitted to the control device of the cleaner body by ultrasonic waves, and the operation of the electric blower 8 can be controlled cordlessly. Moreover, since the operation button information is frequency-modulated on the ultrasonic signal, the operation button information is not disturbed by other ultrasonic wave sources, for example, glass or tableware breaking noise generated at home. In addition, since external ultrasonic waves are blocked by the walls and glass of the house, there is no external interference. Furthermore, since a signal that cannot occur naturally, such as a DTMF signal, is used for modulation, it is sufficiently robust against interference from other sources. The directional characteristics of the ultrasonic element 14 and the microphone 10 are wide, and the ultrasonic wave itself resonates well on the wall, ceiling, floor, etc., so that transmission and reception are almost omnidirectional, and the ultrasonic element 14 for transmission and the microphone 10 for reception are used. Even if an obstacle such as a person intervenes between them, information transmission is rarely obstructed. Further, the electro-acoustic conversion efficiency of the ultrasonic element 14 is one order of magnitude higher than the electro-optical conversion efficiency of the infrared light emitting element, so that the power consumption for information transmission is reduced by one order, and the life of the dry battery or the like can be extended. it can. Further, the output signal of one microphone 10 is band-separated by a band-pass filter, so that the rotation speed of the electric blower 8 can be detected and the operation button information from the hand operation unit 4 can be detected. can do.

FIGS. 10A, 10B, and 10C show another embodiment for attaching the ultrasonic element 14 to the operation unit 4 at hand.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 10A, the radiating surface of the ultrasonic element 14 is directed substantially upward, and while the vacuum cleaner is used indoors, the ultrasonic element 14 emits ultrasonic waves. This is an example in which sound waves are attached so as to resonate on the ceiling through the opening 4b. In the embodiment shown in FIG.
Is attached to the rear end of the grip of the hand operation unit 4 and emits ultrasonic waves toward the microphone 10 attached to the cleaner body located behind. In this configuration, when a user intervenes on a line connecting the radiation surface of the ultrasonic element 14 and the microphone 10, the ultrasonic wave is blocked and becomes difficult to be transmitted. The ultrasonic element 14 generally has a wide directivity, and the ultrasonic wave reverberates easily and goes around the back side of the obstacle. However, significant attenuation is inevitable.

This embodiment is devised so as to avoid fluctuation of the energy level due to attenuation of the transmitted ultrasonic wave. The radiated ultrasonic wave is once reflected on the ceiling and then received by the microphone 10, so that the ultrasonic wave is received. The sound waves can be prevented from being blocked by the user. However, the transmission distance is lengthened by echoing the ultrasonic waves on the ceiling, and the attenuation increases accordingly, but the ultrasonic waves having a stable energy level reach the microphone 10.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 10B is a combination of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and the embodiment shown in FIG. The ultrasonic element 14a is provided at the rear end of the grip portion and emits ultrasonic waves rearward through the opening 4a, and the ultrasonic element 14b emits ultrasonic waves upward through the opening 4b. This embodiment requires two ultrasonic elements, but has the advantage of more reliable information transmission.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 10C, the ultrasonic radiation in two directions in the embodiment shown in FIG. 10B is realized by one ultrasonic element. A wedge-shaped reflector 41 for reflecting the ultrasonic waves is provided facing the radiation surface of the ultrasonic element 14 installed at the rear end of the grip portion, and the ultrasonic waves output from one ultrasonic element 14 are opened at the rear. It is configured to radiate from the portion 4a and the upper opening 4b.

FIG. 11 shows another embodiment of the main controller in the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention. The same components as those of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description will be omitted. 31 is a low-pass filter (hereinafter referred to as LPF), 32 is a BPF-C, and 33 is an amplitude level detection circuit.

FIG. 12 shows the internal configuration of the amplitude level detection circuit 33, where 91 is a rectifier circuit and 92 is a smoothing circuit.

FIG. 13 shows a part of the main body of a vacuum cleaner using such a main controller, and the microphone 10
Unlike the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, is installed at the bottom of a small box 34 having an open top surface and a small hole 34a formed on the side surface. 1
And is installed in the dust collection chamber 7 so as to be connected to the opening 1a.

The microphone 10 placed in communication with the dust collecting chamber 7 receives the ultrasonic wave from the hand operation unit 4 through the opening 1a, collects the rotational vibration sound of the electric blower 8, and furthermore, The sound trapped in the dust collecting chamber 7 is also collected from the hole 34a on the side surface of the small box 34. Vacuum cleaner, suction unit 2
A continuous air introduction path is formed by the extension pipe 5, the hand operation unit 4 and the hose 3 in order to guide the surrounding air to the dust collection filter 6 of the dust collection chamber 7 together with the dust. A suction port of the electric blower 8 is opened behind the dust collection chamber 7. Dust around the suction port 2 is conveyed through the introduction path by the airflow sucked by the electric blower 8 and collected by the dust collection filter 6. Accordingly, the sound in the dust collection chamber 7 includes a sound generated in the suction port 2 and a sound generated in the impeller of the electric blower 8. In this embodiment, the characteristics of these sounds are extracted and the relationship between the mouth portion 2 and the floor to be cleaned, specifically, the state of the floor surface and the lifting state of the mouth portion 2 (when the mouth portion is on the floor) A function to detect whether the object is in contact with the surface) has been added.

First, detection of the floor condition will be described.
FIG. 14 shows the state of contact between the bottom surface of the mouth part 2 and the floor surface. The mouthpiece 2 has wheels that roll in contact with the floor surface. A rotary brush 36, which is rotated by an electric motor or the like, is attached to the suction port 35. The brush of the rotary brush 36 scrapes up dust adhering to a tatami mat, a jutan, or the like as a floor surface, and reaches the dust collecting filter 6 by an air flow. Transport. Rubber pieces 37a and 37b are provided at the front and rear positions of the suction port 35, and serve as a cushioning material between the floor surface and the suction port portion 2 to regulate the suction airflow when the suction port 35 is floated from the floor surface. Is done. When the suction opening 2 is moved in the front-rear direction on the floor surface during cleaning, the pressure at the suction opening 35 varies with the elastic deformation of the tips of the rubber pieces 37a and 37b. This fluctuation is about 10 Hz when viewed as sound, ie, compressional waves of air.
The following components are included. The microphone 10 collects this sound, and the LPF 31 extracts this component.

FIG. 15 shows an example of the waveform of the output signal of the LPF 31. Pressure fluctuations occur due to elastic deformation of the rubber pieces 37a and 37b in synchronization with the movement and reversal of the mouthpiece 2, and a spike-like waveform is observed. The elastic deformation of the rubber pieces 37a and 37b due to the movement and reversal is as follows.
It depends on the contact friction between the rubber pieces 37a and 37b and the floor surface. That is, the output waveform of the LPF 31 differs depending on the state of the floor surface (boarding, tatami, jutan). The output of this LPF 31 is the AD converter terminal AD of the microcomputer 25.
The digital signal is input to the digital camera 1 and converted into a digital value by an AD converter built in the microcomputer, and is processed by a program stored in advance. The detection of the floor surface state by this program will be described later.

Next, the operation of detecting the lifting state of the mouthpiece will be described. Fluid noise generated by the impeller of the electric blower 8 is muffled in the dust collection chamber. The frequency band of this noise is about 100 Hz to 10 KHz. This fluid noise is caused by the load of the electric blower 8, that is, the suction port, the hand operation section,
The generation level varies depending on the state of contact between the air introduction passage formed by a hose, a dust collection filter, and the like and the floor surface. The change during cleaning is noticeable in the transition between when the mouth is in contact with the floor and when the mouth is lifted. This change is detected by the amplitude level detection circuit 33 including the BPF-C 32, the rectifier circuit 91, and the smoothing circuit 92. B
The PF-C 32 extracts and outputs components from 100 Hz to 10 KHz. The output is rectified by a rectifier circuit 91, and the rectified waveform is smoothed by a smoothing circuit 92 and converted into an amplitude level signal. This amplitude level signal is supplied to the microcomputer 25
, And is converted into a digital value by an AD converter built in the microcomputer, and processed by a program stored in advance. Lifting of the mouthpiece is detected by a change in the amplitude level. This detection method will be described later.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the operation of the electric blower 8 can be controlled cordlessly by sending the information of the operation button 11 of the hand operation unit 4 to the main body by ultrasonic waves, similarly to the embodiment of FIG.
In addition, the output of one microphone 10 is band-separated by a BPF, and each is processed, thereby detecting the rotation speed of the electric blower 8, detecting the floor surface state, detecting the lifting of the suction port, and operating the previous operation unit 4 from the hand. Button information can be simultaneously detected.

First, detection of the floor condition will be described.
FIG. 14 shows the state of contact between the bottom surface of the mouth part 2 and the floor surface. The mouthpiece 2 has wheels that roll in contact with the floor surface. A rotary brush 36, which is rotated by an electric motor or the like, is attached to the suction port 35. The brush of the rotary brush 36 scrapes up dust adhering to a tatami mat, a jutan, or the like as a floor surface, and reaches the dust collecting filter 6 by an air flow. Transport. Rubber pieces 37a and 37b are provided at the front and rear positions of the suction port 35, and serve as a cushioning material between the floor surface and the suction port portion 2 to regulate the suction airflow when the suction port 35 is floated from the floor surface. Is done. When the suction opening 2 is moved in the front-rear direction on the floor surface during cleaning, the pressure at the suction opening 35 varies with the elastic deformation of the tips of the rubber pieces 37a and 37b. This fluctuation is about 10 Hz when viewed as sound, ie, compressional waves of air.
The following components are included. The microphone 10 collects this sound, and the LPF 31 extracts this component.

FIG. 15 shows an example of the output signal waveform of the LPF 31. Pressure fluctuations occur due to elastic deformation of the rubber pieces 37a and 37b in synchronization with the movement and reversal of the mouthpiece 2, and a spike-like waveform is observed. The elastic deformation states of the rubber pieces 37a and 37b due to the movement and the reversal differ depending on the contact friction between the rubber pieces 37a and 37b and the floor surface. That is, the waveform of the output signal of the LPF 31 differs depending on the state of the floor surface (boarding, tatami, jutan, etc.). The output signal of the LPF 31 is input to an AD converter terminal AD1 of the microcomputer 25, is converted into a digital value by an AD converter built in the microcomputer 25, and is processed by a program stored in advance. The method of detecting the floor surface state by this program will be described later.

Next, detection of the lifting state of the mouth portion 2 will be described. Fluid noise generated by the impeller of the electric blower 8 is muffled in the dust collection chamber 7. The frequency band of this noise is approximately 100 Hz to 10 KHz. The generation level of this fluid noise varies depending on the load on the electric blower 8, that is, the state of contact between the floor and the air introduction passage formed by the suction port 2, the hand operation section 4, the hose 3, the dust filter 6, and the like. . The level change during cleaning is noticeable in the transition between when the mouthpiece 2 is in contact with the floor and when it is lifted. This change is detected by the BPF-C 32 and the amplitude level detection circuit 33 composed of the rectifier circuit 91 and the smoothing circuit 92. BPF-C32 is 100Hz-1
The component of 0 KHz is extracted. The output signal is rectified by the rectifier circuit 91, and the smoothing circuit 92 smoothes the rectified waveform and converts it into an amplitude level signal. This amplitude level signal is input to an AD converter terminal AD2 of the microcomputer 25, is converted into a digital value by an AD converter built in the microcomputer, is processed by a pre-installed program, and is controlled by a change in the amplitude level. Lifting of the part 2 is detected. This detection method will be described later.

In this embodiment, similarly to the previous embodiment, the operation of the electric blower 8 can be controlled cordlessly by transmitting the information of the operation button 11 of the hand operation unit 4 to the main controller of the cleaner body by ultrasonic waves. Further, the output signal of one microphone 10 is band-separated by a BPF and processed respectively, thereby detecting the rotation speed of the electric blower 8, detecting the floor surface state, detecting the lifting of the suction port 2, and detecting the signal from the hand operation section 4. Enables detection of operation button information.

FIG. 16 shows still another embodiment of the main controller. The same components as those in the embodiment shown in FIG. 11 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description is omitted. This embodiment is modified so that the lifting of the mouthpiece 2 is detected by the amplitude change of the rotational vibration sound. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 11, the output signal of the BPF-C 32 is guided to the amplitude level detection circuit 33.
−C 32 is omitted, and the output signal of the BPF-A 21 is input to the amplitude level detection circuit 33. That is, the air blower 8 is modified so as to detect the lifting of the mouthpiece 2 based on the level change of the rotational vibration sound of the electric blower 8. Electric blower 8
The rotational vibration noise caused by the rotation of the electric motor also changes in the load state similarly to the above-mentioned fluid noise because the impeller is fixed to the electric motor shaft. Therefore, by monitoring this level change, it is possible to detect the lifting of the mouthpiece 2 as in the embodiment of FIG.

The natural resonance frequency determined by the shape and volume of the small box 34 installed in the dust collecting chamber 7 shown in FIG.
It is preferable to match with the pass frequency of PF-A21. That is, the small box 34 is an BP which is an electric filter.
By having the same acoustic filter as FA,
By assisting the characteristics of the BPF-A, the circuit configuration of the BPF-A can be simplified.

In this embodiment, the lifting of the mouthpiece 2 can be detected as in the embodiment shown in FIG.
By omitting the BPF-C32, the effect of reducing the circuit scale can be obtained.

Next, a description will be given of a method of transmitting information detected by the mouth part 2 from the hand operation part 4 or the mouth part 2 to the main control device of the cleaner main body in the same manner as the operation button information for remote control.

FIG. 17 shows a hand-operated part 4 and a mouthpiece of a vacuum cleaner in which information on the lifting and floor surface detected at the mouth part 2 is transmitted from the hand-operated part 4 to the cleaner body using ultrasonic waves as a medium. 2 shows an electric circuit of a section 2. Constituent means equivalent to those of the embodiment shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the floor surface state information detected by the mouthpiece 2 is transmitted to the main controller of the cleaner body using ultrasonic waves as a medium in the same manner as the transmission of operation button information.

A choke coil 93, a capacitor 94, a carrier demodulation circuit 95,
A serial / parallel conversion circuit 96 and a selection switch 97 are added. Further, a signal line 98 is laid on the extension pipe 5, a mouth part circuit board 38 is provided on the mouth part 2, and a floor state detection circuit 9 is provided on the mouth part circuit board 38.
9, encoding circuit 100, parallel-serial conversion circuit 10
1, a carrier modulation circuit 102, a capacitor 94, and a choke coil 93 are provided.

The configuration for transmitting the operation button information has already been described with reference to FIG.
Therefore, a method of sending the lifting information of the mouth part 2 and the floor surface state information to the main body will be described here.

FIG. 18 shows the internal configuration of the floor condition detecting circuit 99. 103 is a piezoelectric vibrator, 104 is an intermittent oscillation circuit, 105 is a changeover switch, 106 is an amplifier circuit,
07 is a rectifier circuit, 108 is a smoothing circuit, and 109 is a judgment circuit.

FIG. 19 shows the structure of the piezoelectric vibrating body 103. On the thin metal plate 110, the conductor thin film 11 is formed on one side.
The piezoelectric ceramics 112 on which 1 is deposited are adhered, and a needle-shaped vibrating rod 113 is fixed to the metal plate 110, and a small plastic ball 114 is fixed to the tip of the vibrating rod 113. The piezoelectric vibrator 103 is attached to the bottom wall of the mouthpiece 2 with the cushioning material 115 so that the plastic ball 114 comes into contact with the floor surface. Piezoelectric ceramics 1
Reference numeral 12 generates distortion by an applied voltage due to the electrostriction effect, and generates a voltage when the distortion is applied. A lead 116 is connected to the metal plate 110 and the conductive thin film 111 in order to apply the voltage and take out the generated voltage.

The intermittent oscillation circuit 104 outputs a sine wave voltage of a predetermined frequency at a predetermined cycle. Figure 2 shows this situation.
0 (a). The sine wave voltage is applied to the piezoelectric ceramics 112 from the lead wire 116 via the changeover switch 105 that switches between the output circuit of the intermittent oscillation circuit 104 and the input circuit of the amplifier circuit 106 in synchronization with the cycle. When a sine wave voltage is applied to the piezoelectric ceramic 112, the piezoelectric ceramic 112 vibrates at the frequency of the sine wave voltage. This vibration excites the vibration bar 113. The resonance frequency of the vibration bar 113 determined by the shape and dimensions of the vibration bar 113 is close to or coincides with the frequency of the sine wave voltage,
When Q is high, the vibration of the piezoelectric vibrating body 103 due to the sine wave voltage continues (continues) even when the application of the sine wave voltage to the piezoelectric ceramics 112 is stopped. As a result, the vibrating rod 113
Vibration distorts the piezoelectric ceramics 112 to generate a voltage. FIG. 20B shows this state. At this time, if the changeover switch 105 is switched to the input circuit to the amplification circuit 106, this voltage is amplified by the amplification circuit 106, rectified and smoothed by the rectification circuit 107 and the smoothing circuit 108, and converted into the amplitude level of the oscillation voltage. be able to.

The plastic balls 114 are in contact with the floor surface. Therefore, a difference in the contact resistance between the floor and the plastic balls 114 occurs due to a difference in the material of the floor surface, specifically, whether the floor is a board, a tatami or a jutan. This causes a change in the resonance frequency and Q of the vibrating bar 113. Therefore, the vibration voltage amplitude varies depending on the floor surface material. If the floor is a jutan, the tip of the hair only contacts the plastic ball 114, the contact resistance is small, the resonance frequency and Q hardly change, and the vibration amplitude is large. If it is a board, a board and a plastic ball 11
4, the contact resistance is large due to friction, and the resonance frequency and Q
Greatly fluctuates, so that the vibration amplitude is small. In the case of tatami mats, the amplitude is in between these two. Naturally, the state in which the plastic ball 114 is not in contact with the floor surface,
The amplitude of the state in which the robot is lifted is the largest, and this is the criterion for the judgment. The determination circuit 109 determines the floor surface based on the amplitude level, and determines the “lifted state”, “boarding”,
A floor condition signal such as "tatami" or "jutan" is output.

The encoding circuit 100 encodes the lifting state and floor state signals into 4-bit data. The 4-bit data has a different code from the operation button information. For example, the MSB is set to “1” to indicate floor condition data, “lift” is “1000”, “boarding” is “1001”,
"Tatami" is "1010", "Jutan" is "1011"
Is encoded. This data is converted into serial data by the parallel-serial conversion circuit 101 and input to the carrier modulation circuit 102. The carrier modulation circuit 102
The bit data is carrier-modulated and output to the communication line 98 via the capacitor 94. FIG. 21 shows the state of carrier modulation. Bit "1" indicates a predetermined frequency, for example, 50K
A sine wave signal of Hz (this is called a carrier signal) is output for a certain period of time. In the case of bit "0", nothing is output for a fixed time. Expressing the bit information by the presence or absence of the carrier signal in this way is called carrier modulation. At the beginning of the data, a fixed start bit “101” representing its existence and representing a fixed time is shown.
"0" is added.

The carrier signal carrying the floor surface information is transmitted through the communication line 98 arranged on the extension pipe 5 and is transmitted to the remote control board 1.
The signal is input to the carrier demodulation circuit 95 via the second capacitor 94. Here, demodulation is performed to restore the original serial floor condition data. Carrier demodulation outputs bit "1" if there is a carrier, and outputs bit "0" if there is no carrier. From the first start bit, the existence of the floor condition data and a certain period of time are known, and the floor condition data is reproduced according to this. Next, the serial 4-bit floor surface state data is converted into a parallel 4
The data is converted into bit data, selected by the selection switch 97 and input to the DTMF signal generation circuit 84 to generate a DTMF signal. The selection switch 97 selects the output circuit of the serial / parallel conversion circuit 96 when the floor information is received by the carrier demodulation circuit 95, and selects the output circuit of the encoding circuit 83 when the operation button 11 is pressed. Works like that.

The floor state data is then transmitted to the cleaner body by being superposed on the ultrasonic waves in the same manner as the transmission of the operation button information. This operation has been described above and will not be described.

The battery 13 is connected to the remote control device board 12
The power supply voltage is supplied to each circuit and the choke coil 9
3. The power supply voltage is also supplied to each circuit of the mouth part circuit board 38 via the signal line 98 and the choke coil 93. The choke coil 93 increases the impedance of the signal line 98 with respect to the carrier signal, and prevents the carrier signal on the signal line 98 from being short-circuited and attenuated by the power supply impedance of each circuit. Capacitor 94 passes the carrier signal but blocks the passage of the DC voltage. This prevents a DC voltage from being applied to the input / output circuit of the carrier modulation / demodulation circuit 102, and enables a carrier signal to be transmitted by being superimposed on the DC voltage of the dry cell 13 via the signal line 98.

In the above embodiment, the linear vibration bar 113 is used.
However, it may be deformed into a spring shape. If it is made into a spring shape, the plastic ball 1 can be used even for some unevenness on the floor.
14 can be stably contacted. Further, the plastic ball 114 is used to roll the vibrating rod 11 so as to roll on the floor.
3 is preferred.

According to this embodiment, similarly to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the information of the operation button 11 of the hand operation unit 4 is sent to the cleaner body using the ultrasonic wave generated by the ultrasonic element 14 as a medium. The operation of the electric blower 8 can be controlled cordlessly, and the lifting state and the floor state detected by the mouthpiece 2 are also transmitted to the cleaner body using the same ultrasonic element 4 for lifting and flooring. Control of the electric blower 8 suitable for the state becomes possible.

The method of controlling the electric blower 8 based on the lifting of the mouthpiece 2 and the state of the floor surface will be described later.

FIG. 22 shows the lifting information and floor information detected by the mouthpiece 2 and the operation button information of the hand operation unit 4.
FIG. 3 shows an electric circuit diagram of the hand operation unit 4 and the mouthpiece 2 in the vacuum cleaner that transmits ultrasonic waves radiated from the mouthpiece 2 to a cleaner body using a medium as a medium. Components equivalent to those in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 17 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted. In this embodiment, the hand operation unit 4
The operation information of the operation button 11 is sent to the mouthpiece 2, and together with the lifting information and the floor surface state information detected by the mouthpiece 2, the mouthpiece 2 is transmitted similarly to the transmission of the operation button information described above.
Is transmitted to the cleaner body by ultrasonic waves.

The remote control device board 12 of the hand operation unit 4
, An operation button 11, an encoding circuit 83, a parallel serial circuit 101, a carrier modulation circuit 102, a capacitor 94, and a choke coil 93 are mounted. The information at the time when the operation button 11 is pressed is encoded by the encoding circuit 83 into parallel 4-bit data.
02, and the dry cell 13
And is sent to the suction port circuit board 38.

The mouthpiece 2 is provided with the ultrasonic element 14, and the mouthpiece circuit board 38 includes a driver circuit 82, a frequency modulation circuit 81, a carrier signal oscillation circuit 80, and a DTM.
An F signal generating circuit 84 is provided, and transmits information from the mouthpiece 2 to the cleaner body using ultrasonic waves as a medium. Further, a serial / parallel conversion circuit 96, a carrier demodulation circuit 95, a capacitor 94, and a choke coil 93 are provided, and receive operation button information together with a DC voltage supplied from the hand operation unit 4. A floor state detection circuit 117, an encoding circuit 100, and a selection switch 118 are provided. The floor state detection circuit 117 detects the floor state using the ultrasonic element 14, and the encoding circuit 100 converts the floor state into a parallel state. The data is encoded into 4-bit data and supplied to a DTMF signal generation circuit 84.

Here, detection of the floor surface state by the ultrasonic element 14 will be described. FIG. 23 shows a state where the ultrasonic element 14 is attached to the mouthpiece 2. Ultrasonic element 14
A wedge-shaped reflector 39 is attached to face the radiation surface of
Half of the output ultrasonic wave is radiated from the opening 2a to above the mouthpiece 2, and the other half is formed by the elongated waveguide 40 into the opening 2a.
b and radiates from the opening 2b below the mouthpiece 2. The tip of the waveguide 40 is attached so as to emit the ultrasonic waves toward the floor surface when the mouthpiece 2 is in contact with the floor and performs cleaning. The cross-sectional area of the waveguide 40 is determined by the wavelength of the ultrasonic wave used.

FIG. 24 shows the internal configuration of the floor condition detection circuit 117. 119 is an intermittent oscillation circuit, 120 is a changeover switch, 121 is an amplifier circuit, 122 is a rectifier circuit,
23 is a smoothing circuit, and 124 is a judgment circuit.

The ultrasonic element 14 has been described as an electro-acoustic transducer for converting an electric signal into an ultrasonic wave. However, if a low conversion efficiency is sufficient, the ultrasonic element 14 receives the ultrasonic wave and converts it into an electric signal. It is also possible to use it.
Generally, the ultrasonic element 14 includes the piezoelectric vibrator 103 described above.
In the same manner as described above, the electrostriction effect of piezoelectric ceramics is used. This means that it can be used as a reversible (bidirectional) conversion means.

FIG. 25 shows the structure of the ultrasonic element 14 used as a reversible conversion means. A piezoelectric ceramic 127 having a conductive thin film 126 deposited on one side thereof is adhered onto a thin metal plate 125, and a bowl-shaped thin metal plate cone 128 is fixed to the metal plate 125. This metal plate cone 12
8 is a nominal frequency of the ultrasonic element 14, for example, 40 KHz
And the acoustic coupling with the air is matched at that frequency. Therefore, the vibration of the piezoelectric ceramic is efficiently converted into air vibration, that is, a sound wave, and the air vibration is received by the metal plate cone 128, and the piezoelectric ceramic 1
27, and a voltage can be generated by the vibration distortion. However, since the metal cone 128 is configured to be thin and light in order to drive air, a large vibration distortion cannot be given to the piezoelectric ceramics 127 on the metal plate 125 which is thicker and heavier. Gets worse.

When detecting the floor condition, the ultrasonic element 1
Ultrasonic waves are radiated intermittently from 4, guided to the floor by the waveguide 40, and ultrasonic waves reflected from the floor are received by the same ultrasonic element 14. The reflectivity of the ultrasonic wave changes greatly depending on the floor condition. In the case of a board, most of the radiated ultrasonic waves are reflected, and in the case of a jutan, a large amount is absorbed and the amount of reflection is small. Naturally, the emitted ultrasonic waves are not reflected back when the mouthpiece 2 is raised. Even if the amount of lifting is small and there is some return, the amount of reception is very small because the distance is long and the reflection angle is shifted.

The intermittent oscillation circuit 119 outputs a sine wave signal voltage of a predetermined frequency at a predetermined cycle. This situation is shown in FIG. The intermittent sine wave signal is output from the output circuit of the intermittent oscillation circuit 119 and the amplifying circuit 12 in synchronization with the cycle.
It is applied to the ultrasonic element 14 via a changeover switch 120 and a selection switch 118 for switching one input circuit.
When a sine wave signal voltage is applied to the ultrasonic element 14, the sine wave signal is guided as a sound wave to the waveguide 40, reflected on the floor surface and returned to the ultrasonic element 14, and the electric signal is transmitted to the ultrasonic element 14. Generate. This electric signal has the same frequency as the emitted ultrasonic waves. The electric signal of the received ultrasonic wave is shown in FIG. Since the sound speed is 340 m / S, if the length of the tube is Lm, the received ultrasonic signal will be 2 L /
Delay 340 seconds. If the length of the tube is 10 cm, about 59
ms. This electric signal is amplified by the amplifier circuit 121, rectified and smoothed by the rectifier circuit 122 and the smoothing circuit 123, and converted into an amplitude level. The determination circuit 124 determines the floor surface state based on the amplitude level, and outputs a floor surface state signal such as “lifted state”, “boarding”, “tatami” or “jutan”.

The encoding circuit 100 encodes the floor state signal into 4-bit data. The 4-bit data has a different code from the information of the operation button 11. For example, M
SB is set to “1” to represent floor condition data, “lifting condition” is “1000”, “boarding” is “1001”,
"Tatami" is "1010", "Jutan" is "1011"
Is encoded.

This 4-bit data is selected by the selection switch 97, and the DTMF signal generation circuit 84
Generate a frequency signal. The frequency modulation circuit 81 frequency-modulates the carrier signal generated by the carrier signal oscillation circuit 80 with the two frequency signals, and amplifies the carrier signal with the driver circuit 82 and supplies the amplified signal to the ultrasonic element 14. The modulated carrier signal carrying the lifting information and the floor information is converted into an ultrasonic wave and radiated into the air. The ultrasonic waves are received by the microphone 10 of the cleaner body, demodulated by the remote signal detection unit 24, converted into the original 4-bit data, and input to the input port Pi2 of the microcomputer 25.

The operation information of the operation buttons 11 on the hand operation unit 4 is encoded into 4-bit data by an encoding circuit 83.
The data is converted into 4-bit serial data by the parallel-serial conversion circuit 101. The serial data is carrier-modulated by the carrier modulation circuit 102 in the same manner as described above, is superimposed on the DC voltage of the dry cell 13 via the capacitor 94, and is transmitted to the mouth part circuit board 38 via the signal line 98 in the extension tube 5. Can be The mouth part circuit board 38 receives the signal via the capacitor 94 and restores it to the original 4-bit serial data by the carrier demodulation circuit 95. The 4-bit serial data is converted into 4-bit parallel data by a serial / parallel conversion circuit 96, selected by a selection switch 97 and input to a DTMF signal generation circuit 84. Thereafter, as in the case of the above-described floor condition, the operation button information is transmitted by supersonic waves to the microcomputer 25 of the cleaner body.

In this embodiment, the dry battery 13 is arranged in the hand operation section 4, but it is obvious that the dry battery 13 may be arranged in the mouthpiece section 2.

According to the above embodiment, similarly to the embodiment shown in FIG. 17, information of the operation button 11 of the hand operation unit 4 is transmitted to the ultrasonic wave using the ultrasonic element 14 installed in the mouthpiece 2. The operation of the electric blower 8 can be cordlessly controlled by being transmitted to the cleaner body as a medium, and the ultrasonic element 1
4 is used to convert the lifted state and the floor state detected by the mouthpiece 2 into ultrasonic waves using the same ultrasonic element 14 and transmitted to the cleaner body, and the electric blower suitable for the lift and the floor state 8 can be performed.

A method for controlling the electric blower according to the lifting of the mouthpiece 2 and the state of the floor surface will be described later.

FIG. 27 shows another embodiment of the electric circuit of the remote control device provided in the hand operation unit 4. FIG.
The same reference numerals are given to constituent means equivalent to the embodiment shown in FIG. This embodiment is similar to the embodiment shown in FIG.
The ultrasonic wave generated in the above is guided to the bottom surface of the mouth part 2 by the extension pipe 5 and the waveguide 40 provided in the mouth part 2 and radiated toward the floor surface, and the ultrasonic wave reflected from the floor surface is emitted. Ultrasonic element 14
The floor state detection circuit 117 detects the lifting state of the mouthpiece 2 and the floor state.
Further, the detected lifting state, floor surface state information, and operation button information can be converted into ultrasonic waves by the same ultrasonic element 14 and sent to the cleaner body.

In this embodiment, transmission of operation button information using ultrasonic waves as a medium, lifting by reflection of ultrasonic waves, detection of a floor surface state, and transmission thereof are the same as those in the embodiment shown in FIG. Is omitted.

FIG. 28 shows the state in which the ultrasonic element 1 is
4 shows an installation structure of the ultrasonic wave guide 43 and an installation structure of the ultrasonic waveguide 43 in the extension pipe 5 and the mouth part 2. Part of the ultrasonic wave output from the ultrasonic element 14 is radiated toward the cleaner body as a remote signal, and the other part of the ultrasonic wave needs to be radiated toward the floor in order to detect the lifting and the floor surface state. For this purpose, a wedge-shaped reflector 41 is provided so as to face the ultrasonic element 14 installed in the hand operation unit 4, and radiates about half of the output ultrasonic wave from the opening 4c toward the upper ceiling, The other half is guided to the elongated waveguide 42. The waveguide 42 communicates with a waveguide 43 installed in the extension tube 5 and a waveguide 44 installed in the mouth part 2. The waveguide 44 of the mouth part 2 communicates with the opening 2b on the bottom surface, and the waveguides 42, 43, 44
The transmitted ultrasonic waves are radiated from here to the floor. The ultrasonic waves reflected on the floor surface are transmitted to the waveguides 42, 43, and 44.
And returns to the ultrasonic element 14. In this configuration, since the length L of the waveguide is longer than that of the embodiment shown in FIG. 23, the propagation delay time shown in FIG. 26 is increased.

According to this embodiment, similarly to the embodiment shown in FIG. 17, information of the operation button 11 of the hand operation unit 4 is transmitted by using the ultrasonic element 14 provided in the operation unit as an ultrasonic wave as a medium. The operation of the electric blower 8 can be cordlessly controlled by being transmitted to the main body of the vacuum cleaner, and the ultrasonic waves output from the same ultrasonic element 14 are guided to the suction port 2 to lift the suction port 2 and the floor surface. The state is also detected, and the same ultrasonic element 14 is detected.
The ultrasonic wave is transmitted to the cleaner body using ultrasonic waves, and the electric blower 8 suitable for lifting and floor condition can be controlled. Further, unlike the embodiment shown in FIG. 17, there is no need to lay an electric circuit 98 in the extension pipe 5 and the mouth part 2, and each signal for transmitting information on the lifting and the floor surface state through the signal line 98. Circuits can also be omitted.

The method of converting the operation button information of the hand operation unit 4 and the floor state information of the mouth unit 2 into ultrasonic waves by the electroacoustic converter and transmitting the ultrasonic waves to the cleaner body cordlessly has been described. In addition to the method of detecting the transmission information using the acousto-electric converter in the cleaner body and the output signal of the same acousto-electric converter besides the transmission information, the electric blower 8 is used in the cleaner body.
The method of detecting the number of rotations, the lifting of the mouthpiece 2 and the state of the floor surface has been described.

Next, a method of controlling the electric blower of the main body of the cleaner using the detection information will be described with reference to the drawings.
This control is performed by signal processing by the microcomputer 25 in the main control device. The operation start / performance switching / stop of the vacuum cleaner by controlling the phase of the electric blower 8 with the operation buttons 11 and 29 of the cleaner body and the operation unit at hand is omitted since it has been described above.

First, based on the rotation speed detected by the rotation speed detection circuit 23 in the embodiment shown in FIG.
A method for controlling the power of the power supply will be described.

FIG. 29 shows the relationship between the air volume Q, the pressure (degree of vacuum) H, the number of revolutions N, the power consumption W, and the suction power P when the power control of the electric blower 8 used in the vacuum cleaner is not performed. ing. As shown in the figure, when the air volume Q increases, the pressure (degree of vacuum) H and the rotation speed N decrease. As the air volume Q increases, the power consumption W increases accordingly.

On the other hand, the suction power P, which is proportional to the product of the pressure H and the air volume Q, has a maximum value P2 'at the air volume Q2. The power consumption W2 'at this time is smaller than the power consumption W1 of the open air volume Q1. Normally, the air volume at the time of cleaning is set near the maximum suction power. This is because this point allows the most efficient cleaning. The vicinity of the open air volume Q1 is a state in which the suction opening 2 of the vacuum cleaner is separated from the floor surface, that is, a state in which cleaning is not performed. On the other hand, the electric blower 8 has an allowable maximum power consumption Wmax. The maximum power consumption Wmax refers to power consumption that causes destruction when the electric blower 8 is continuously operated with this power, and is a function of the air volume. The reason is that the electric blower 8 sends air generated by the blower to the electric motor and cools the electric motor. Normally, the value is slightly larger than the power consumption W1 of the open air volume Q1, but on the low air volume side, the cooling effect due to the wind is lost, so that the allowable power consumption drops sharply. When the power control is not performed, the actual cleaning is performed with the power consumption W2 ′ lower than the power consumption W1 when the cleaning is not performed. Therefore, when cleaning, the maximum power consumption W
The control for causing the operation to be performed with the power consumption close to max and increasing the degree of vacuum to obtain a suction power higher than the maximum value P2 ′ of the suction power is detected by the rotation speed detection circuit 23 of this embodiment. This is the purpose of power control based on the rotation speed N.

As shown in FIG. 29, as shown in FIG.
Are approximately proportional. Therefore, the pressure H is detected by an expensive semiconductor pressure sensor, and various controls performed based on the pressure H are changed to controls based on the rotational speed N detected from the rotational vibration sound obtained by the inexpensive microphone 10. It is possible.

FIG. 30 shows the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8, the power consumption W,
The relationship of the suction power P is shown. The characteristic shown by the broken line in the figure is when power control is not performed. In the embodiment of the present invention, the power consumption W is increased, the rotational speed N of the electric blower 8 is increased, and the suction power P is increased in the air volume region (Q6 <Q <Q4) where the cleaning is performed normally. As described above, in the air volume region where normal cleaning is performed (Q6 <Q <Q4), the suction power P is increased so that the maximum suction power P2 is obtained in terms of the air volume Q2.

When the operation is performed with increased power consumption, if the air volume increases, the power consumption may exceed the allowable value Wmax. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the rotation speed N and limit the power consumption in the large air volume side region. In addition, the large air volume side area (Q> Q5)
Since the user lifts the floor suction port 2 of the vacuum cleaner from the floor surface, that is, is in a state where cleaning is not performed, the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8 is reduced to reduce the power consumption W. I am holding it down. Thus, noise of the electric blower 8 when cleaning is not performed can be reduced.

On the other hand, in the small air volume side region, when the operation is performed with the power consumption increased, if the air volume is reduced, the allowable power consumption value is extremely reduced, and the power consumption may exceed the allowable power consumption value, resulting in destruction. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the rotation speed N and suppress the power consumption even in the small air volume side region. In addition, the small air volume side region (Q <
Q6) is a state in which the flow path is closed due to clogging of the dust collection filter 6 in the dust collection chamber 7 and an obstruction clogging the extension pipe 5 or the hose 3 or the like, or substantially similar thereto, so that the cleaning is substantially performed. In this state, the number of rotations N of the electric blower 7 is reduced to reduce the power consumption W in order to prevent overheating of the electric blower 8.

As described above, the power consumption W is increased in the air volume region (Q6 <Q <Q4) where cleaning is normally performed, the suction power P is increased, and the large air volume side region (Q> Q5).
By suppressing the power consumption W in the small air volume side region (Q <Q6), it is possible to efficiently obtain the suction power P with the power consumption not more than the allowable power consumption.

In this embodiment, the small air volume side region (Q
Means 28 for notifying the clogging of the dust collection filter 6 in the dust collection chamber 7 in <Q6) is provided to notify the clogging of the dust collection filter 6.

Next, an example of control in the case where power control is performed by detecting the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8 will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS.

The user turns on the power of the vacuum cleaner,
When the "strong" operation is commanded, the microcomputer 25
Sets the trigger timing time t of the bidirectional semiconductor device 18 to t2 in the process 311 and determines the set value in the process 312 to output a trigger signal with the timing time t = t2, 18 is turned on to bring the electric blower 8 into a control state of operating at the power consumption W2. Of course, the timing time t is determined so that the power consumption W2 is equal to or less than the allowable power consumption. Here, when the user lowers the floor suction port 2 of the electric vacuum cleaner onto the floor for cleaning, the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8 varies with the contact state between the floor surface and the suction port 2. Are stable in the region of N4 <N <N6. That is, the suction power P is stabilized around the rotation speed N2 at which the maximum suction power P2 is reached. At this time, when the user removes the floor suction port 2 of the vacuum cleaner from the floor, that is, when the floor suction port 2 is lifted, the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8 decreases. . When the microcomputer 25 detects N <N4 in the process 313, the process proceeds to the process 314, in which the trigger signal timing time t is changed to t = t1 (set).
Thereafter, the on-time of the bidirectional semiconductor element 18 is changed, and the energization time of the electric blower 8 is changed to change the electric blower 8.
In this case, the operation control state is entered in which the number of revolutions N is reduced to reduce the power consumption W. Next, when the user attaches the floor suction port 2 to the floor again and resumes cleaning, the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8 increases. In the process 316, the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8 is N ≧
When it is detected that N5 has been reached, the process proceeds to step 317 to change (set) the timing time t of the trigger signal to t = t2.
Thereafter, the on-time of the bidirectional semiconductor element 18 is changed, and the energization time of the electric blower 8 is changed to change the electric blower 8.
, The power consumption W is increased by increasing the rotation speed N. In this way, the cleaning is performed again near the rotation speed N2 where the suction power P becomes the maximum suction power P2.

On the other hand, when the timing time t of the trigger signal is t
= T2, when the bidirectional semiconductor element 18 is turned on and the electric blower 8 is energized to energize the electric blower 8 and the flow path is blocked for any reason,
For example, when the dust collecting filter 6 in the dust collecting chamber 7 is clogged, or when the extension pipe 5 or the hose 3 is clogged with an obstacle, the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8 increases. If it is detected in process 313 that the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8 has reached N> N6, the process proceeds to process 315, in which the trigger signal timing time t is changed (set) to t = t3, and the bidirectional semiconductor element 18 is set.
By changing the power-on time of the electric blower 8 by changing the ON time of the electric blower 8, the number of revolutions N of the electric blower 8 is reduced to reduce the power consumption W. At this time, the filter clogging notifying unit 28 is turned on to notify the clogging of the dust collecting filter 6 in the dust collecting chamber 7.

When the obstruction of the flow path is released from this state, the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8 decreases. Process 318
When it is detected that the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8 has reached N ≦ N7, the process proceeds to step 319 to change (set) the timing time t of the trigger signal to t = t2. At this time,
At the same time as changing the timing time of the trigger signal, the lighting of the filter clogging informing means 28 is stopped. As a result, again, the rotational speed N becomes equal to the maximum suction power P
It becomes stable around the rotation speed N2 at which the rotation speed becomes 2.

If the recovery of the state cannot be detected within a certain period of time after the notification of the clogging, it is determined that the user has neglected the work for eliminating the failure of the flow path, and the electric power is not changed. Since the blower 8 may be broken, the operation of the electric blower 8 may be automatically stopped for safety.
This control can be realized by providing the microcomputer 25 with a timer counter, starting counting of this counter from the time of notification of clogging, and stopping generation of a trigger signal when a predetermined number is reached.

FIG. 32 shows an electric circuit of a main controller of a cleaner main body according to still another embodiment. Constituent means equivalent to those of the embodiment shown in FIG. 45 is a current detecting element, and 46 is a current detecting circuit. In this embodiment, the current flowing through the electric blower 8 is determined by the current detecting element 45 including a micro resistor or a current transformer and the current detecting circuit 46 including an amplifier circuit and an LPF together with the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8. It is configured to detect.

FIG. 33 shows a detection waveform of the load current of the electric blower 8 detected by the current detection circuit 46 together with an applied voltage waveform. The current waveform is distorted by the inductance of the motor coil. The microcomputer 25 converts the current detection waveform signal into an AD conversion input port A.
D3, the average load current i flowing through the electric blower 8
Seeking. By calculating the load current i flowing through the electric blower 8 in addition to the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8, the air volume Q of the electric vacuum cleaner 8 can be calculated. That is, the air volume Q of the vacuum cleaner 8 is generally given by Q = i × N, and in this embodiment, the air volume Q of the vacuum cleaner is Q = K
× i × N (where K is a proportional constant). By performing power control of the electric blower 8 based on the air volume Q obtained by the calculation in this manner, more accurate power control can be performed than when power control is performed based only on the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8. Becomes

FIG. 34 is a control flowchart in the case where the vacuum cleaner performs power control while calculating the air volume Q with reference to the load current i. When the user turns on the power of the vacuum cleaner and instructs the "strong" operation, the microcomputer 25 sets the trigger signal timing time t to t = t2 in process 341 and thereafter sets the trigger signal at this timing. To turn on the bidirectional semiconductor element 18 to energize the electric blower 8. Here, when the user is cleaning the floor suction opening 2 of the vacuum cleaner by lowering it on the floor, the air volume Q is such that the suction power P is the maximum suction power P2 in the region of Q6 <Q <Q4. Becomes stable near the air volume Q2. This air volume Q is obtained by calculation in processing 342, and is monitored in processing 344 after processing 343.
At this time, when the user separates the floor suction port 2 of the vacuum cleaner from the floor surface, that is, when the floor suction port 2 is lifted, the air volume Q increases. In the process 344, when it is detected that the air volume Q has reached Q> Q4, the process proceeds to a process 345 to change (set) the timing t of the trigger signal to t = t1, and thereafter to set the ON time of the bidirectional semiconductor element 18 to By changing the energizing time of the electric blower 8 at this timing, the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8 is reduced, and the power consumption W
Low. Then, when the user attaches the floor suction port 2 to the floor again and resumes cleaning, the air volume Q decreases and the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8 increases. And processing 347
, When it is detected that the air volume Q has reached Q ≦ Q5,
Proceeding to the process 348, the trigger signal timing time t is set to t.
= T2 (set), and thereafter, the bidirectional semiconductor element 18
By changing the power-on time of the electric blower 8 by changing the ON time of the electric blower to this timing, the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8 is increased and the power consumption W is increased. In this way, cleaning is performed again near the point of the air volume Q2 at which the suction power P is maximized.

On the other hand, when the timing time t of the trigger signal is t
= T2, the bidirectional semiconductor element 18 is turned on at this timing, the electric blower 8 is energized, and when the electric blower 8 is operated, the flow path is blocked for some reason. If the dust collection filter 6 in the dust collection chamber 7 is clogged or the extension pipe 4 or the hose 3 is clogged with an obstacle, the air volume Q decreases and the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8 increases. When it is detected in the process 344 that the air volume Q has become Q <Q6, the process proceeds to a process 346, in which the trigger signal timing time t is changed (set) to t = t3, and thereafter, the on-time of the bidirectional semiconductor element 18 is reduced. By changing the energization time of the electric blower 8 by changing to this timing, the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8 is reduced and the power consumption W is suppressed. At this time, at the same time as changing the on-timing time t of the trigger signal to t = t3, the filter clogging notifying unit 28 is turned on to perform control for notifying the clogging of the dust collecting filter 6 in the dust collecting chamber 7. When the obstruction of the flow path is cleared from this state, the air volume Q increases, and the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8 decreases. In the process 349, the air volume Q is Q ≧ Q7.
When it is detected that the time has become, the process proceeds to step 350 to change (set) the timing time t of the trigger signal to t = t2. At this time, the lighting of the filter clogging notification means 28 is stopped. Thereby, the air volume Q is again in a stable cleaning state in the vicinity of Q2 where the suction power P becomes the maximum suction power P2.

The power control described above is for the case of "strong" operation, that is, generally when the air volume of the vacuum cleaner is large, and the air volume Q2 at which the suction power P becomes the maximum suction power P2. This is the control of the electric blower 8 such that the power consumption W is maximized.

Next, a description will be given of the control of the electric blower 8 during the "weak" operation, that is, when the air volume of the vacuum cleaner is generally small.

FIG. 35 shows the number of revolutions N of the electric blower 8 with respect to the air volume Q during the "weak" operation. FIG.
Shows a control flowchart in the case where the control of the electric blower 8 during the “weak” operation is executed with reference to the rotation speed N.

When the user turns on the power of the vacuum cleaner and instructs “weak” operation, the microcomputer 25
Is the timing t of the trigger signal in the process 361
Is set to t = t10, and thereafter, by outputting a trigger signal at this timing, the bidirectional semiconductor element 18 is turned on and the electric blower 8 is energized. Then, for example, the number of revolutions N of the electric blower 8 becomes N ≧ due to a decrease in the air volume Q due to clogging of the dust collection filter 6 in the dust collection chamber 7 of the vacuum cleaner.
When it is detected in steps 362 and 363 that N10 has been reached, the process proceeds to step 364 and the trigger signal timing time t
Is changed (set) to t = t11, and the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8 is increased. Thus, even when the operation is in the “weak” operation, that is, in the operation state where the air volume Q is small as a whole and the dust accumulates in the dust collection filter 6 and a certain degree of clogging occurs, the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8 is increased. Is increased, the decrease in the air volume Q is reduced, and the cleaning can be continued. Further, when clogging of the dust collecting filter 6 in the dust collecting chamber 7 progresses and the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8 becomes N> N12, the filter clogging notifying means 28 is turned on to notify the clogging of the dust collecting filter 6. I do. When the closing of the flow path is released and the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8 decreases and returns to N = N12, the lighting of the filter clogging notification unit 28 is stopped. And N ≦ N11
When the processing 365 is detected in the processing 365, the processing shifts to the processing 366, and the timing time t of the trigger signal is changed (set) to t = t10.

When the clogging notification state continues for a predetermined time, the electric blower 8 may be broken.
It is preferable that the operation of the electric blower 8 is automatically stopped for safety. This control is performed by the microcomputer 25
The counter can be realized by starting counting at the time of notification of clogging and stopping generation of a trigger signal when a predetermined number is reached.

Next, a control process in the case where the control at the time of “weak” operation in this embodiment is executed with reference to the air volume Q is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In this control,
The air volume Q is calculated from the rotation speed N and the average current i, and power consumption is controlled based on the air volume Q.

When the user turns on the power of the vacuum cleaner and instructs “weak” operation, the microcomputer 25
Is the timing time t of the trigger signal in the process 371.
Is set to t = t10, and thereafter, a trigger signal is output at this timing, the bidirectional semiconductor element 18 is turned on, and the electric blower 8 is energized. The air volume Q in this state is obtained by calculation in process 372, and is monitored in process 374 after process 373. Here, for example, when clogging of the dust collection filter 6 in the dust collection chamber 7 of the vacuum cleaner occurs, the air volume Q decreases. When it is detected that the air volume Q has decreased to Q ≦ Q10, the process proceeds to step 375 to change (set) the timing time t of the trigger signal to t = t11, and thereafter, the trigger signal is generated at this timing. Number of rotations N of electric blower 8
To increase the air volume Q. Accordingly, even when dust is accumulated in the dust collecting filter 6 and a certain degree of clogging occurs in the “weak” operation, that is, in an operation state in which the air volume Q is small as a whole,
By increasing the number of revolutions N of the electric blower 8, a decrease in the air volume Q is reduced, and cleaning can be continued. Further, clogging of the dust collecting filter 6 in the dust collecting chamber 7 progresses, and the air volume Q becomes Q <
At Q12, the filter clogging notifying unit 28 is turned on to notify the clogging of the dust collecting filter 6 in the dust collecting chamber 7. When the closing of the flow path is released by any means from the filter clogging notification state, the air volume Q increases. Then, when the air volume Q returns to Q = Q12, the lighting of the filter clogging informing means 28 is stopped. When it is detected in step 376 that the air volume Q further increases and Q ≧ Q11, the process proceeds to step 377 to change (set) the timing time t of the trigger signal to t = t10, and return to the normal cleaning state. .

Next, the constant air volume control will be described. As shown in FIG. 29, the air volume Q and the rotation speed N are in an inverse proportional relationship, and the air volume Q and the power consumption W are in a proportional relationship. Therefore,
The power consumption W of the electric blower 8 may be controlled such that the rotation speed N becomes constant while monitoring the rotation speed N. Specifically, the timing time t of the trigger signal to the bidirectional semiconductor element 18
Is finely adjusted, it is possible to control the rotation speed N and the air volume Q to be constant.

FIG. 38 shows a flowchart of the constant air volume control. A rotation speed Nc for obtaining a desired air volume Qc is determined in advance from the relationship between the air volume Q and the rotation speed N, and a timing time t = tc at which power consumption corresponding to the rotation speed Nc is provided.
Is decided. First, in a process 381, a trigger signal is output at a timing time t = tc to start the rotation of the electric blower 8. Next, in step 382, the number of revolutions N is detected, and in step 383, the number of revolutions N is compared with the number of revolutions Nc. If N> Nc, the process proceeds to step 384 and t = tc−Δ
At t, that is, control is performed to slightly shorten the timing time, increase power consumption, and reduce the number of revolutions, and return to step 382. N
If <Nc, the process proceeds from step 385 to step 386, and t =
tc + Δt, that is, control is performed to increase the rotation speed by slightly increasing the timing time to reduce power consumption and perform processing 382.
Return to If N = Nc, the process returns to step 382 without changing the timing time. By continuing the above control processing, the rotation speed N converges to Nc, and as a result, the air volume converges to a constant value Qc.

The pressure H and power consumption W other than the air volume Q are uniquely determined by the rotation speed N. Therefore, it is clear that constant control of pressure and power consumption is possible with the same control flow as described above.

According to this control method, even if the electric blower 8 changes, the rotation speed can be controlled to be constant by all the electric blowers, but the air volume Q is controlled to a constant value different for each electric blower. This is because the characteristics shown in FIG. 29 vary for each electric blower. In order to control the same air flow even if the electric blowers are different, a control processing flow for monitoring the air flow Q and making it constant is required. That is,
It is necessary to finely adjust the timing time while providing an air volume sensor and comparing the detected air volume Q with the desired air volume Qc.

According to this embodiment, simple control of the air volume, pressure or power consumption can be performed with reference to the rotation speed N.

Next, detection of the floor surface state in the embodiment shown in FIG. 11 will be described. The sound signal collected by the microphone 9 is converted into an electric signal, and the output signal waveform having passed through the LPF 31 is shown in FIG. FIG. 15A shows a case where the mouthpiece 2 is reciprocated on a jutan, and FIG. 15B shows a case on a board floor. Rubber piece 37a accompanying movement and reversal,
A large downward spike waveform due to pressure fluctuation caused by the large elastic deformation of 37b is observed. The spike waveform differs depending on the floor material. Also, the appearance of the irregularities between the spike waveforms differs depending on the floor material. This is rubber piece 3
7a and 37b are pressure fluctuations caused by minute vibration deformation when the floor is rubbed. The characteristics of these waveforms are parameterized, and the state of the floor surface, that is, whether the floor is a jutan or a board is determined with reference to the parameters.

FIG. 39 shows an example of a flowchart of the floor detecting process. The microcomputer 25 samples and accumulates the waveform data for a certain period of time by the built-in AD converter in the processing 391, and extracts the characteristic parameter therefrom in the processing 392. As feature parameters,
The average amplitude level Av obtained by cumulatively adding the squares of the sampled values and dividing by time, a fixed reference value, for example, the number of times the zero level crosses, the so-called zero-crossing number Zc, the average pulse width Tw of the spike waveform at the average amplitude level. Ask for. Next, processing 393
In step (1), the combination of the characteristic parameters is input to the identification function to determine the floor surface. For example, as shown in FIG. 40, as the discrimination function, planes a and b determined by the determination threshold value of each parameter in a three-dimensional space spanned by Av-Tw-Zc are determined. "Jutan", "tatami" between plane a and plane b, and "boarding" above plane b. It is apparent that the parameters are not limited to those described above, and that an average of spike peak values may be added. In that case, the number of spatial dimensions increases as it is. Further, a neural network may be used instead of the determination using the identification function.

In this case, a network having a hierarchical structure shown in FIG. 41 is prepared, and the characteristic parameters are input to the input layer.
Each output of the output layer is "jutan", "tatami", "boarding"
And The coupling coefficient of this network is determined in advance by the back-propagation method using actual data on each floor.

Next, control of the electric blower 8 using the result of this floor determination will be described. It is preferable that the dust collection by the rotation of the brush provided in the suction or suction port is changed depending on the state of the floor surface. For example, considering the rotation of the brush, in the case of a board floor, if the rotation is accelerated, the board may be damaged, and the noise increases. Conversely, in the case of the jutan, the hair, thread, and the like attached to the hair cannot be collected unless the brush is rotated at a high speed. Therefore, in a vacuum cleaner in which the rotation of the brush is performed by an air turbine, it is preferable to change the air flow rate to thereby change the rotation speed of the air turbine and thus the brush rotation speed. For this purpose, the electric blower 8 according to the floor information
The power consumption is controlled to change the air volume.

FIG. 42 shows a control flowchart of such control. The user sets the operation button 11 to “strong”
, The floor is detected at regular intervals. Then, the timing t of the trigger signal is controlled based on the detection result to change the air volume. First,
Assuming “tatami”, in a process 421, t = t1 is set and the operation is started. The detection result in the floor detection process 422 is determined in the process 422, and when "jutan" is detected, the process proceeds to the process 424, where t = t1-ta, the power consumption is increased, and the air volume is increased. Conversely, if “board floor” is detected in process 425, the process moves to process 426 and t = t1
+ Ta to reduce the power consumption and reduce the air volume.

Next, detection of lifting of the mouthpiece 2 in the embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 16 will be described. The embodiment shown in FIG. 11 uses the BPF-C32 to determine the amplitude level of the broadband signal including the rotational vibration sound signal and performs the lift detection, but the embodiment shown in FIG. -The amplitude level of the rotational vibration sound of A21 is determined and detected. Generally, the level of the rotational vibration sound is about 10 dB higher than the others. Therefore, it is preferable to perform the lift detection at the amplitude level of the output signal of the BPF-A21 because the number of filter circuits can be reduced.

FIG. 43 shows a state in which the floor suction port 2 is separated from the floor surface during use of the vacuum cleaner, that is, a state in which the floor suction port 2 is lifted, and FIG. When the surface mouthpiece 2 is in contact with the floor, the microphone 10
3 shows an output signal obtained by processing the electric signal of the rotational vibration sound detected by the BPF-A21. As shown in the figure, when the electrical signal corresponding to the rotational vibration detected by the microphone 10 is processed by the BPF-A21, the amplitude when the floor surface mouth portion 2 is in contact with the floor surface (holding state). A is A =
A2, and the amplitude A when the floor surface mouth portion 2 is separated from the floor surface (lifted state) is A = A1. As described above, the floor mouthpiece 2 is in the “holding state”.
, The amplitude A is larger than that in the “lifted state”. The output signal of the BPF-A21 is rectified and smoothed by the rectifying circuit 91 and the smoothing circuit 92 in the amplitude level detecting circuit 33, and as shown in FIG. Electric signal of the same level can be obtained. This electric signal output from the amplitude level detection circuit 33 is taken in by the AD conversion port AD2 of the microcomputer 25 and discriminated, and “lift” / “lift” of the floor mouthpiece 2 is detected. As shown in FIG. 44, the amplitude level detection circuit 3
When the electric signal corresponding to the rotational vibration output from 3 becomes large, the floor surface mouth portion 2 is separated from the floor surface, that is,
Judge that it was "lifted" from the floor. In this case, the amplitude A of the electric signal changes from A = A1 to A = A2.
Further, when the electric signal corresponding to the level of the rotational vibration becomes small, the floor surface mouth portion 2 comes into contact with the floor surface, that is,
Judge that it has been "dropped". In this case, the amplitude A of the electric signal changes from A = A2 to A = A1.

FIG. 45 shows a control flow chart for detecting whether the floor suction port 2 is "lifted" or "lifted". When the operation is started, the microcomputer 25 sets the timing time t of the trigger signal to t = t2, outputs a trigger signal at this timing to turn on the bidirectional semiconductor element 18, and energizes the electric blower 8. When cleaning is performed by bringing the floor mouthpiece 2 into contact with the floor surface, as shown in FIG. 44, the output level A of the rotational vibration electric signal output from the amplitude level detection circuit 33 is A = A1. When the floor suction port 2 is lifted from the floor, the output level A of the electric signal of the rotational vibration output from the rectifier circuit 14 becomes A = A2.
Here, when the output level difference AX of the electric signal of the rotational vibration output from the rectifier circuit 14 is calculated, it becomes AX = A2-A1 and takes a positive value. In the process 452, the output level difference A
Compare X with the positive comparison level AREF (+), AX> AREF (+)
In this case, it is determined that the floor mouthpiece 2 has been lifted from the floor. Then, the process proceeds to step 453, in which the trigger signal timing time t is changed (set) to t = t1, and the on-time of the bidirectional semiconductor element 18 is changed to change the energization time of the electric blower 8. The number of revolutions N is reduced to keep the power consumption W low.

Also, from this state, the floor suction port 2
When a touches the floor, the output level A of the electric signal of the rotational vibration of the electric blower 8 output from the amplitude level detection circuit 33 changes from A = A2 to A = A1, as shown in FIG. Here, when the output level difference of the electric signal of the rotational vibration output from the amplitude level detection circuit 33 is calculated, A
X = A1−A2, and takes a negative value. In processing 452, the output level difference AX is compared with the negative comparison level AREF (-), and when AX <AREF (-), it is determined that the floor mouthpiece 2 has been "held down". Then, the process proceeds to step 454 to change the trigger signal timing time t from t = t1 to t.
= T2, and changing the ON time of the bidirectional semiconductor element 18 to change the energization time of the electric blower 8, thereby increasing the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8 and returning to the normal cleaning state.

As shown in FIG. 46, when the air volume Q of the vacuum cleaner increases, the amplitude A of the electric signal of the rotational vibration tends to increase. From this, power control as shown in FIG. 34 is also possible by detecting the amplitude A of the electric signal of the rotational vibration.

Next, as another embodiment of the present invention, a description will be given of an electric vacuum cleaner which controls the electric power by detecting the number of revolutions of the electric blower by a reflection type photo interrupter.

FIG. 47 is a vertical sectional side view of the electric blower 8 used in this embodiment. 129 is a casing, 1
30 is an impeller, 131 is a diffuser, and these constitute a blower. 132 is a stator, 133 is a rotor,
134 is a commutator, 135 is a carbon brush, and 136 is a housing, and these constitute an electric motor. Impeller 1
Numeral 30 is fixed to a shaft of the rotor 133 with a nut and rotates together with the rotor 133. The diffuser 131 is fixed to the stator 132 with bolts, and the stator 132 is fixed to the housing 136 with bolts. As shown in FIG. 48, the back surface of the impeller 130 is divided into two equal parts in the rotation direction to give black and white shading. The reflection type photointerrupter 47 in which the infrared LED 137, the phototransistor 138, the infrared optical filter and the lens are integrated,
The infrared light output from D137 is reflected on the shaded back surface of the impeller 130, and the reflected infrared light is
38, it is fixed to the diffuser 131.

FIG. 49 is an electric diagram showing an embodiment of a main control device provided in the main body of the vacuum cleaner. FIG.
The same components as those of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description will be omitted. 48 is a coupling capacitor that passes only an AC component from the output signal of the phototransistor 138, 49 is an amplifier circuit, 50 is a low-pass filter (LPF), 51 is a comparator that converts an electric signal output from the LPF 50 into a square wave pulse signal. This is a rotation speed detection circuit composed of a reference voltage. The input port Pi1 of the microcomputer 25 receives this square wave pulse signal.

FIG. 50 shows an electric signal output from the phototransistor 138 of the photointerrupter 47. A constant current is supplied to the infrared LED 137 from a power supply via a resistor, and the infrared LED 137 generates a constant amount of infrared light and radiates it to the back surface of the impeller 1130. This infrared light is reflected by the back surface of the impeller 130 and enters the phototransistor 138. Phototransistor 138
Is connected to a power supply via a resistor and is in a constant bias state. As is well known, the phototransistor 1
Reference numeral 38 designates a current depending on the amount of incident light. In this embodiment, the amount of reflected and incident infrared light determines the current.

In this embodiment, when the output of the infrared light output from the infrared LED 137 is large and the back surface of the impeller 130 is not dirty, that is, in a new period just after the use of the vacuum cleaner is started, FIG. (A), the output signal voltage of the phototransistor 138 is 0 V
It changes within a range of about 3V. In the region where the reflection surface of the impeller 130 is white, most of the emitted infrared light is reflected and incident on the phototransistor 138, so that a large amount of current flows and the output voltage is almost 0V. In a region where the reflection surface of the impeller 130 is black, the amount of infrared reflection is small, and the phototransistor 1
The current flowing through 38 decreases and the output voltage becomes 3V. Thus, the output voltage changes from 0V to 3V for each rotation of the impeller 130. However, when the usage period is prolonged, the carbon powder of the brush generated by friction between the brush 135 and the commutator 134 adheres to the lens provided on the front surface of the photointerrupter 47 and the back surface of the impeller 130, and this surface is It will be soiled with powder. For this reason, the amount of infrared rays to be output and received is reduced, and further, the difference in shading on the back surface of the impeller 130 is reduced, and the difference in the amount of infrared reflection is also reduced. Then, as shown in (b) of FIG. 50, the output signal voltage changes in the vicinity of the power supply voltage of 2.5 V, and the change width becomes small. As the time elapses, the average voltage and amplitude of the output voltage of the phototransistor 138 change. Therefore, if the output signal voltage of the phototransistor 138 is simply input to the comparator and compared with a predetermined reference voltage, the output voltage difference disappears, and a change in the signal voltage due to the rotation of the electric blower 8 cannot be detected. Therefore, in this embodiment, only the fluctuation component of the output signal voltage of the phototransistor 138 is extracted through the coupling capacitor 48. FIG. 51 shows the output signal voltage waveform. This output signal voltage waveform is an AC signal that changes around a predetermined potential (2.5 V).

The amplifying circuit 49 amplifies this AC signal,
The PF 50 removes high-frequency components due to roughness of the back surface of the impeller 130 reflecting the infrared light of the photointerrupter 47 or noise from other electric circuits, and then rotates the rotation speed circuit 5.
1 to generate a square-wave pulse signal and input to the microcomputer 25. Microcomputer 25
Counts the number of pulses per predetermined time to detect the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8. If this predetermined time is one minute,
This count value becomes the value of rotation / minute.

In this embodiment, the back surface of the impeller 130 is painted in black and white to generate a difference in the infrared reflectance for detecting the number of rotations. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
For example, it is obvious that the back surface of the impeller 130 may be roughened by sandblasting or the like, and the difference in the infrared reflectance may be generated based on the difference in roughness. The paint is not limited to a black and white paint, but may be any paint that produces a difference in infrared reflectance.
Further, it is also possible to use black and white and black and white four-color coating. That is,
The only requirement is that the infrared reflectance changes with rotation.

According to this embodiment, as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 11, the rotation is not detected from the indirect vibration sound, but the rotation of the electric motor, that is, the impeller 130 is directly detected by light. Therefore, reliability can be improved.

Based on the rotational speed N of the electric blower 8 detected by the photo interrupter 47, power control similar to that of the embodiment shown in FIG. 31 is performed. Since the current i flowing through the electric blower 8 is detected by the current detection circuit 46, the air flow Q
Can be obtained by calculation, and based on the air volume Q,
Power control similar to that of the embodiment shown in FIG. 34 can be performed.

FIG. 52 shows an electric circuit of still another embodiment of the main controller provided in the main body of the vacuum cleaner. FIG.
The same components as those of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description will be omitted. 52 is a pressure sensor circuit composed of a semiconductor pressure sensor or the like. In this embodiment, in addition to the suction pressure, the semiconductor pressure sensor is used for lifting and detecting the floor surface state and the rotation speed N of the electric blower 8, and based on these, the same as the embodiment shown in FIG. It controls the electric blower 8.

FIG. 53 shows the internal structure of the pressure sensor circuit 52. In the figure, 139 is a constant current circuit, 14
0 is a semiconductor pressure sensor, 141 is a DC differential amplifier, 14
2 is a DC amplifier and 143 is an AC amplifier.

The semiconductor pressure sensor 140 detects pressure by utilizing the fact that the resistance of the silicon diaphragm changes due to stress deformation. In general, a bridge circuit is formed by three fixed resistors and a variable resistor formed by a diaphragm, and a constant current is applied to the bridge circuit to detect a pressure by a potential change between two terminals of the bridge. One surface of the diaphragm guides air from the dust collection chamber 7 by a tube or the like, and the other surface is guided to outside air. For this reason, when the pressure in the dust collection chamber 7 becomes different from the outside air, the diaphragm is deformed and its resistance value changes, so that the voltage between the terminals of the bridge 2 changes. Normally, when the semiconductor pressure sensor 140 is placed in the atmosphere, the bridge circuit is adjusted so that the voltage between the two terminals becomes zero. The pressure in the dust collection chamber 7 is detected by a voltage change due to the pressure difference from the atmosphere. As described above, the purpose of the semiconductor pressure sensor 140 is to detect a static pressure. However, the silicon diaphragm is a thin plate, and is slightly deformed by sound, that is, compressional waves of air (small fluctuation of air pressure). The resistance value changes.
Therefore, the sensitivity can be reduced, but it can be used as a substitute for a microphone. Then, similarly to the embodiment shown in FIG. 11, if the rotational vibration sound in the dust collecting chamber 7 is guided to the semiconductor pressure sensor 140 by a tube or the like, the rotational speed N of the electric blower 8 can be detected.

The constant current circuit 139 includes the semiconductor pressure sensor 1
It is configured so that a constant current flows through 40. The differential DC amplifier 141 amplifies a potential difference between two terminals of the bridge circuit in the semiconductor pressure sensor 140. This output voltage is further amplified by DC amplifier 142. The output voltage of the DC amplifier 142 includes a DC voltage component proportional to the static pressure in the dust collection chamber 7 and an AC voltage component that is a fluctuation component superimposed on the DC voltage. The LPF 31 removes the high frequency component of 10 Hz or more from this DC voltage and
Input to terminal AD1. The microcomputer 25
By processing this signal, the DC voltage to the static pressure,
From the transition of the DC voltage, the lifting state of the mouth part 2, 10H
A floor surface state is detected from a fluctuation waveform equal to or less than z.

The AC amplifier circuit 143 amplifies only the variation superimposed on the DC voltage, that is, only the AC component. That is, amplification is performed by removing the DC voltage component. The BPF-A 21 extracts a signal component corresponding to the rotational vibration sound of the electric blower 8 having a frequency of 300 to 500 Hz from the AC component, converts the signal component into a pulse signal by the rotation speed detection circuit 23, and outputs the signal to the microcomputer 25.
To the input port Pi2. Then, the number of revolutions N is detected by pre-installed software. Since this processing has been described in the description of the embodiment in FIG. 2, the description is omitted.

FIG. 54 shows an output signal of the DC amplifier 142. The figure also shows the relationship with the atmospheric pressure. When the electric blower 8 rotates, the pressure in the dust collection chamber 7 decreases to a certain value. Here, when the mouthpiece 2 is placed on the floor, the suction port of the mouthpiece 2 is closed, and the pressure further decreases. By monitoring this transition, it is possible to detect that the mouthpiece 2 has been lowered. Here, when cleaning is performed by reciprocating the suction port 2, the DC voltage is reduced to the level shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, a voltage waveform corresponding to a pressure change due to elastic deformation of the rubber pieces 37a and 37b is superimposed. This waveform differs depending on the floor condition. Here, when the mouthpiece 2 is lifted, the pressure returns to the original level. By monitoring this transition, lifting of the mouthpiece 2 can be detected.

The microcomputer 25 converts the output signal of the DC amplifier 142 from analog to digital and converts it into a digital value. The digital value is processed and the static pressure, lifting detection and floor surface state detection are performed. For example, the static pressure is obtained by averaging the AD conversion values to obtain a DC voltage, converting the DC voltage into a pressure value using a table lookup. The floor surface state detection is the same as the control flowchart shown in FIG. 39, and a description thereof will be omitted. The detection of lifting is the same as that described in the control flowchart shown in FIG. 45 by replacing the amplitude level A with a DC voltage, and therefore the description thereof is omitted.

According to this embodiment, the rotation speed N can be detected from the rotational vibration sound using the conventional semiconductor pressure sensor 140 in the same manner as in the embodiment of FIG.

Based on the rotational speed N of the electric blower 8 detected by the semiconductor pressure sensor 140, power control similar to that of the embodiment shown in FIG. 31 can be performed. Further, since the current i flowing through the electric blower 8 is detected by the current detection circuit 46, the air volume Q can be calculated.
Based on this, it is possible to perform power control as in the embodiment shown in FIG.

According to the various embodiments described above, the operation button information of the hand operation unit of the vacuum cleaner or the lifting information and floor surface information detected by the mouthpiece are cordlessly ultrasonically transmitted to the main body of the cleaner main body. It is possible to realize the transmission of the omnidirectional, highly reliable, and low power consumption remote control signal transmitted to the control device. Then, by eliminating the electric wiring of the hose portion and reducing the weight of the hose portion, there is an effect that the user can easily clean the hose portion. Further, since the power consumption is smaller than that of the conventional cordless transmission using infrared rays, there is an effect that the life of the dry battery can be extended. Furthermore, floor surface information detected at the suction opening during cleaning and information on lifting of the suction opening can also be sent cordlessly to the main controller of the cleaner main body, and based on this, the electric blower 8 is optimally controlled. be able to. As a result, there is an effect that it is possible to provide a vacuum cleaner that is low noise, easy to clean, and does not damage the floor.

In place of the expensive semiconductor pressure sensor,
Using one low-priced microphone 10 and a plurality of filters, information on the number of revolutions of the electric blower 8, floor information, information on lifting of the mouthpiece, and information on remote operation control from the hand operation unit 4 or the mouthpiece 2 are simplified. It can be obtained with a circuit configuration. And the electric blower 8 can be optimally controlled based on such information. The result is low noise, easy cleaning,
There is also an effect that an inexpensive vacuum cleaner that does not damage the floor can be provided.

Furthermore, by controlling the electric blower 8 during cleaning based on the information on the number of revolutions of the electric blower 8, the maximum suction power within the maximum power consumption allowed for the electric blower 8 can be obtained. . As a result, it is possible to provide a vacuum cleaner capable of performing efficient power-saving cleaning.

[0159]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the acoustic-electric conversion means receives a control information signal transmitted in the form of an ultrasonic wave from the remote control means, converts the control information signal into an electric signal, and converts the information in the cleaner body into an electric signal. Since it is used so as to convert it into a signal, an effect is obtained in which a plurality of types of reference information for controlling the electric blower can be obtained with an inexpensive configuration.

A second invention is a remote control device.
The operation buttons of the operation signal and the mouth portion of the state detection signal or the like
The control information signal of
Convert the combined multi-frequency signal and convert the carrier signal
After frequency modulation with this multi-frequency signal,
Than the carrier signal and configured to transmit to the main control unit in an ultrasonic forms of radiation in the air is converted into ultrasound, and reliably achieve child information signal transmission with low power consumption at low cost
The effect that can be obtained is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view showing an overall configuration of a vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an electric circuit diagram showing an embodiment of a main control device in a cleaner main body of the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an electric circuit diagram showing an embodiment of a remote operation control device in a hand operation unit of the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an electric circuit diagram showing an internal configuration of a remote signal detection unit in the main control device shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is an electric circuit diagram showing an internal configuration of a rotation speed detection circuit in the main control device shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing a relationship between a trigger signal and a terminal voltage of the electric blower.

FIG. 7 is a timing chart of an ultrasonic remote operation control signal according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a spectrum of a sound collected by a microphone.

FIG. 9 is an output signal waveform diagram in which an electric signal of a rotational vibration sound detected by a microphone is processed by a bandpass filter (BPF).

FIG. 10 is a vertical sectional side view illustrating an installation mode of an ultrasonic element on a hand operation unit.

FIG. 11 is an electric circuit diagram showing another embodiment of the main control device in the cleaner main body of the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

12 is an electric circuit diagram showing an internal configuration of an amplitude level detection circuit in the main control device shown in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a longitudinal sectional side view illustrating an installation mode of a microphone on a cleaner body.

FIG. 14 is a longitudinal sectional side view of the mouthpiece showing a contact state between the bottom surface and the floor surface of the mouthpiece.

15 is an output signal waveform diagram of a low-pass filter (LPF) in the main control device shown in FIG.

FIG. 16 is an electric circuit diagram showing still another embodiment of the main controller in the cleaner main body of the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

FIG. 17 is an electric circuit diagram showing another embodiment of the control device in the hand operation unit, the extension pipe, and the mouthpiece of the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

18 is an electric circuit diagram showing an internal configuration of a floor state detection circuit in the control device shown in FIG.

19 is a vertical sectional front view showing the internal configuration of the piezoelectric vibrating body shown in FIG.

FIG. 20 is a signal waveform diagram showing a relationship between a piezoelectric vibrator driving signal and a reception signal.

FIG. 21 is a signal waveform diagram illustrating a carrier modulation signal.

FIG. 22 is an electric circuit diagram showing still another embodiment of the control device in the hand operation unit, the extension pipe, and the mouthpiece of the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a vertical sectional front view showing an installation mode of an ultrasonic element in a mouth portion of the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

24 is an electric circuit diagram showing an internal configuration of a floor state detection circuit in the control device shown in FIG.

25 is a vertical sectional side view showing the internal structure of the ultrasonic element in the control device shown in FIG.

FIG. 26 is a signal waveform diagram showing a relationship between an ultrasonic drive signal and an ultrasonic reception signal.

FIG. 27 is an electric circuit diagram showing another embodiment of the remote operation control device of the hand operation unit of the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

FIG. 28 is a longitudinal sectional side view of a hand operation unit, an extension tube, and a mouthpiece showing an installation mode of an ultrasonic element and an ultrasonic waveguide.

FIG. 29 is a characteristic diagram showing a relationship between a pressure (vacuum degree) H, a rotation speed N, power consumption W, and a suction power P with respect to an air volume Q in the vacuum cleaner.

FIG. 30 is a characteristic diagram showing a relationship between pressure (degree of vacuum) H, rotation speed N, power consumption W, and suction power P with respect to air volume Q in the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

FIG. 31 is a control flowchart illustrating an example of power control during “strong” operation in the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

FIG. 32 is an electric circuit diagram showing still another embodiment of the main control device in the cleaner main body of the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

FIG. 33 is a waveform diagram showing terminal voltage and current waveforms of the electric blower.

FIG. 34 is a control flowchart illustrating another example of power control during “strong” operation in the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

FIG. 35 is a characteristic diagram showing a relationship between the air flow rate Q and the number of revolutions N during “weak” operation.

FIG. 36 is a control flowchart illustrating an example of power control during “weak” operation.

FIG. 37 is a diagram illustrating a control flowchart illustrating another example of power control during “weak” operation.

FIG. 38 is a control flowchart for performing air volume constant control.

FIG. 39 is a control flowchart for detecting a floor surface state.

FIG. 40 is a characteristic diagram showing an identification function for detecting a floor surface state.

FIG. 41 is a block diagram showing a floor determination neural network.

FIG. 42 is a control flowchart of air volume control based on floor detection.

FIG. 43 shows a bandpass filter (BPF-
FIG. 3A is an output signal waveform diagram.

FIG. 44 is an amplitude level fluctuation characteristic diagram of a detection signal for floor surface detection.

FIG. 45 is a control flowchart for detecting lifting of the mouthpiece.

FIG. 46 is a characteristic diagram illustrating a relationship between an air flow Q and an amplitude level A of a detection signal.

FIG. 47 is a vertical sectional side view showing the internal configuration of the electric blower.

48 is a front view showing a pattern on the back surface of the impeller of the electric blower shown in FIG. 47.

FIG. 49 is an electric circuit diagram showing still another embodiment of the main controller in the cleaner main body of the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

50 is an output signal waveform diagram of the phototransistor in the embodiment shown in FIG. 49.

FIG. 51 is an output signal waveform diagram of the coupling capacitor in the embodiment shown in FIG. 49.

FIG. 52 is an electric circuit diagram showing still another embodiment of the main controller in the cleaner main body of the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention.

FIG. 53 is an electric circuit diagram showing the internal configuration of the pressure sensor circuit in the embodiment shown in FIG. 52.

54 is an output signal waveform diagram of a DC amplifier in the pressure sensor circuit shown in FIG. 53.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vacuum cleaner case, 2 ... Floor suction opening, 3 ... Hose, 4 ... Hand operation part, 5 ... Extension tube, 6 ... Dust collection filter,
7: dust collecting chamber, 8: electric blower, 10: microphone,
11 ... operation button, 14 ... ultrasonic element, 18 ... bidirectional semiconductor element, 21 ... BPF-A, 22 ... BPF-B, 2
3 ... Rotation speed detection circuit, 24 ... Remote signal detection unit, 25 ... Microcomputer, 28 ... Filter clogging notification means, 29 ... Main body operation button, 31 ... LPF, 32 ... BP
FC, 33: amplitude level detection circuit, 34: small box,
37: rubber piece, 39: reflector, 40: waveguide, 41: reflector, 42, 43, 44: waveguide, 45: current detection element, 46: current detection circuit, 47: reflection type photo interrupter, 48: coupling capacitor, 51: rotation speed detection circuit,
52: pressure sensor circuit, 80: carrier signal oscillation circuit,
81: frequency modulation circuit, 83: coding circuit, 84: DT
MF signal generation circuit, 86: frequency demodulation circuit, 87: DT
MF signal detection circuit, 88: decoding circuit, 89: hysteresis comparator, 91: rectifier circuit, 92: smoothing circuit,
93: choke coil, 94: capacitor, 95: carrier demodulation circuit, 96: serial-parallel conversion circuit, 98
... signal line, 99 ... floor surface detection circuit, 100 ... encoding circuit, 101 ... parallel-serial conversion circuit, 102 ... carrier demodulation circuit, 103 ... piezoelectric vibrator, 104 ... intermittent oscillation circuit, 109 ... determination circuit, 112 ... Piezoelectric ceramics, 113 vibration bar, 114 plastic, 117
Floor surface state detection circuit, 119 intermittent oscillation circuit, 124 judgment circuit, 127 piezoelectric ceramic, 128 metal cone, 137 infrared LED, 138 phototransistor, 139 constant current circuit, 140 semiconductor pressure sensor,
142 ... DC amplifier circuit, 143 ... AC amplifier circuit.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Atsushi Hosokawa 1-1-1, Higashitaga-cho, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture Living Equipment Division, Hitachi, Ltd. (56) References JP-A-3-210226 (JP, A JP-A-2-131727 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) A47L 9/28

Claims (16)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cleaner main body having an electric blower, a dust collection chamber, and a main control device for controlling the electric blower, and a hand operation unit connected to the cleaner main body through a hose and communicating with the dust collection chamber. A mouth portion connected to the hand operation portion and the hand operation portion or the mouth portion, and the control information signal is converted into an ultrasonic wave by the ultrasonic wave transmitting means and transmitted.
In the electric vacuum cleaner and a remote operation control device for transmitting to the main control device is propagated through the atmosphere by Rukoto, before Symbol main control unit, the ultrasound transmitted from the transmitting means ultrasound and vacuum cleaner Acousto-electric conversion means for converting vibration or pressure fluctuation generated in the body into an electric signal; and discriminating the electric signal output from the acousto-electric conversion means to restore the control information signal and the vibration in the cleaner body. Or pressure
Electrical signal processing means for generating an internal information signal according to the force fluctuation, the control information signal restored and the generated
Controlling the electric blower based on an internal information signal;
Vacuum cleaner which is characterized in the thing. 2. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein said acoustic-electrical conversion means is a microphone. 3. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein said acoustic-electric conversion means is an electret condenser microphone. 4. An electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein said acoustic-electric conversion means is installed in a main body case containing said electric blower. 5. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the acoustic-electrical conversion means is installed in the main body case so as to communicate with the dust collection chamber. 6. The acoustoelectric conversion means according to claim 1, wherein said acoustoelectric conversion means is housed in a box having a plurality of openings.
A vacuum cleaner attached to a main body case so that one opening is opened to the atmosphere and the other is opened to a dust collection chamber. 7. An electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein said signal processing means includes a plurality of electric filters for discriminating electric signals output from the acoustoelectric conversion means. 8. The electric filter according to claim 7, wherein:
An electric vacuum cleaner having a frequency characteristic for extracting an electric signal of a frequency component according to a rotational vibration sound of the electric blower. 9. The signal processing device according to claim 8, wherein
A vacuum cleaner characterized in that a relative relationship between the mouth portion and a floor is determined based on an amplitude of an electric signal of a frequency component corresponding to the extracted rotational vibration sound. 10. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 7, wherein said electric filter has a frequency characteristic for extracting an electric signal of a low frequency component of 10 Hz or less. 11. An electric apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said signal processing means determines a state of a floor surface on which said mouth portion operates based on a variation pattern of the extracted low-frequency component. Vacuum cleaner. 12. A cleaner main body having an electric blower, a dust collecting chamber, and a main control device for controlling the electric blower, and a hand operating unit connected to the cleaner main body via a hose and communicating with the dust collecting chamber. A mouth portion connected to the hand operation portion and the hand operation portion or the mouth portion, and the control information signal is converted into an ultrasonic wave by the ultrasonic wave transmitting means and transmitted.
A remote control device that transmits the air to the main control device by transmitting the control information signal to the main control device.
Multi-frequency signal obtained by combining a plurality of frequencies in the relationship
Frequency conversion means for converting the carrier signal into a signal , a carrier signal generation means, a frequency modulation means for frequency-modulating the carrier signal output from the carrier signal generation means with the multiplex frequency signal, and an ultrasonic wave for the modulated carrier signal. Electroacoustic conversion means for converting the ultrasonic waves into air and receiving the ultrasonic waves, and converting the electric signals into electric signals; and control information from the electric signals. vacuum cleaner, characterized in that it includes a demodulation means you demodulating a signal, an electrical signal processing means for controlling said electric blower on the basis of the demodulated control information signal. 13. The remote control device according to claim 12, further comprising an operation button provided on the hand operation unit, and an encoding unit for encoding the operation button information as a control information signal. conversion means, vacuum cleaner, wherein the benzalkonium <br/> to convert the encoded symbols in the encoding means on multiple frequency signal. 14. The remote control device according to claim 12, wherein the remote control device comprises: a floor condition detecting means provided in the mouthpiece; and an encoding means for encoding the floor condition detection information as a control information signal. wherein the multiple frequency conversion means, vacuum cleaner, wherein the benzalkonium convert the encoded symbols in the encoding means on multiple frequency signal. 15. The remote operation control device according to claim 12, wherein the remote control device includes an operation button provided on the hand operation unit, and a first information which encodes the operation button information as a control information signal .
Encoding means, floor state detection means provided in the mouthpiece, and second encoding means for encoding this floor state detection information as a control information signal , Multiple frequencies
Conversion means, vacuum cleaner, wherein the Turkey to convert the encoded symbols in these encoding means selectively multiple frequency signal. 16. The floor detecting means according to claim 14, wherein said floor detecting means emits an ultrasonic wave generated by said electroacoustic converting means to a floor.
And the reflected wave is received by the ultrasonic element to change the floor condition.
An electric vacuum cleaner characterized by detecting .