JPH0779790B2 - Vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric cleaning system that automatically detects a floor surface and controls the number of rotations of a motor, driving and stopping an electric nozzle, raising and lowering a brush of a nozzle, and the like. It is about machines.

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional vacuum cleaner, the number of rotations of a motor is adjusted or the driving of an electric nozzle is stopped manually according to the floor surface to be cleaned by a user.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention As described above, the conventional vacuum cleaner is very troublesome because the user has to manually perform each operation according to the floor surface to be cleaned. was there.

In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electric vacuum cleaner that can automatically detect a floor surface and optimally control it according to the floor surface to be cleaned.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, a first means of the present invention is to provide a vibration detection rod inside a nozzle, a vibration detection element for detecting a vibration state of the vibration detection rod, and the vibration detection. A mechanism for moving the rod up and down, a detection circuit for detecting the type of floor surface to be cleaned by the output signal of the vibration detection element, and the result of this detection circuit as an input signal for the motor rotation speed and the rotation of the rotating brush of the electric nozzle. At least one of driving, stopping, and raising and lowering the brush of the nozzle.

A second means of the present invention is the above first means, wherein the detection circuit detects the type of floor surface by comparing the output signal of the vibration detection element with a reference signal that is differentiated.

A third means of the present invention is the same as the first means, further comprising a circuit for integrating the output signal of the vibration detecting element as a detection circuit, and comparing the level of the integrated signal with a predetermined reference signal. Then, the type of floor surface is detected.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first means, the detection circuit measures a circuit for integrating the output signal of the vibration detection element and a time when the integrated signal exceeds a predetermined reference level. It is equipped with a timer circuit.

Further, a fifth means of the present invention is the above-mentioned first means, wherein as the detection circuit, a plurality of band pass filters for selecting the output signal of the vibration detection element according to the frequency band, and the floor surface according to the level of the output signal. And a floor surface estimation circuit for estimating

Further, a sixth means of the present invention is a frictional force detecting means including a movable plate having a brush attached to one surface and a magnet attached to the other surface, and a frictional force detecting means including a magnet detecting element provided to face the magnet. The output signal from the magnet detecting element controls at least one of the number of rotations of the motor, driving and stopping of rotation of the rotating brush of the electric nozzle, raising and lowering of the brush of the nozzle, and the like.

Further, a seventh means of the present invention is the above-mentioned sixth means, wherein the frictional force detecting means based on the output signal has a constant time timer such as one-shut multi.

With the above-described configuration, the present invention detects the vibration of the vibration detection rod generated when the vibration detection rod collides with the floor surface by the vibration detection element, and outputs the output signal by the above-mentioned first means. In order to use the rising portion of the signal in order to speed up the surface determination, the output signal is differentiated to determine the floor surface. The second means is noise or a floor surface on the floor surface. Focusing on avoiding erroneous operation when the vibration detection rod hits an object having a hardness different from that, the output signal is integrated to determine the floor surface, and the third means enables further determination. In order to increase the number of types of floor surfaces, the integrated signal measures the time over which the reference level is exceeded, and attempts to determine the floor surface based on the magnitude of this time. In the fourth means, as another method for increasing the types of floor surfaces that can be discriminated, the floor surface is discriminated by using the frequency characteristic of the signal and the characteristic of the characteristic. In the fifth means, the magnet attached to the movable plate provided in the nozzle detects that the magnet moves during cleaning due to the frictional resistance with the floor surface, and the type of floor surface is determined by the magnitude of the signal. is there. The sixth means has the same configuration as the fifth means, and its signal output is
After exceeding the discrimination level, each controlled element is driven for a certain period of time.

Example An example will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a vibration detecting rod, which is driven by connecting rods 7 and 8 linked to an electromagnetic solenoid 3 and moves up and down to repeatedly collide with the floor. Reference numeral 2 denotes a vibration detecting element (for example, a piezoelectric ceramic vibrator or the like), which is fixed to the vibration detecting rod 1. Reference numeral 4 denotes a detection circuit, which performs signal processing using the output signal of the vibration detection element 2 as an input signal to detect the type of floor surface, and the output control device 5 drives some control elements of the cleaner.

In the above structure, FIG. 2 shows an output signal waveform of the vibration detecting element 2 when the floor surface is a carpet, and FIG. 3 shows a waveform when the floor surface is a wooden floor. FIG. 4 shows a specific circuit configuration of the detection circuit 4. The vibration detecting element 2 is connected to the first stage amplifier 10. Reference numeral 11 is a capacitor, and 12 is a buffer amplifier that constitutes a voltage follower. Reference numeral 13 is a comparator, the reference value of which is the voltage V ₁₅ at the connection point 15. The input signal is amplified by the first stage amplifier 10 and then differentiated by the capacitor 11. 5 and 6 show the output terminal 14 of the buffer amplifier 12 when the floor surface is a carpet or a wooden floor, respectively.
It is a signal waveform in. These voltages are
Is compared with the reference value V _{15 of the above} and becomes the input signal of the output control device of the next stage. In the case of a carpet, the differential waveform becomes small because the surface has elasticity as shown in FIG. On the other hand, when the floor surface is hard, such as a wooden floor, the waveform when the vibration detection rod 1 collides with the floor surface has a high peak value and a rapid decay as shown in FIG. For this reason, the fine waveform also has a higher peak value in the case of the wooden floor, which is a clear difference from the case of the carpet. Thereby, the floor surface can be detected depending on whether it is higher or lower than the reference value V ₁₅ .

FIG. 7 is a detection circuit diagram in the second means. The vibration detecting element 2 is connected to the first stage amplifier 10. 16 is a diode and 17 is a capacitor. Reference numeral 12 is a buffer amplifier which constitutes a voltage follower. Reference numeral 13 is a comparator, the reference value of which is the voltage V ₁₅ at the connection point 15.
The input signal is amplified by the first stage amplifier 10, rectified by the diode 16, and integrated by the capacitor 17. 8 and 9 show signal waveforms at the output terminal 14 of the buffer amplifier 12 when the floor surface is a carpet or a wooden floor, respectively. These voltages are compared with the reference voltage V ₁₅ of the comparator and become the input signals of the output control device of the next stage. In the case of carpet, it is the eighth
As shown in the figure, the integral waveform has the shape of the envelope of the peak in FIG. 2, and therefore rises slowly. On the other hand, in the case of a wooden floor, the peak value when the detection rod collides with the floor becomes high as shown in FIG. 3, but the attenuation is fast, so that the integrated waveform has a low peak as shown in FIG. The floor surface can be detected by comparing this with the reference value V ₁₅ . By using the integral waveform, since the envelope of the signal waveform is used due to the above characteristics, other factors such as noise or a signal for a very brief moment from the floor surface is not used, and a smoothed signal is used. It will have a strong function.

FIG. 10 is a detection circuit diagram of the third means. The process up to the comparator 13 is exactly the same as in FIG. In the third means, a timer circuit 18 is arranged at the next stage of the comparator 13. With the above configuration, the reference value of V ₁₅ is set low, and the time that exceeds this reference value is shown in Figs.
When measured as t ₁ and t _{2 in} the figure, the time t can be set in advance according to the characteristics of various floor surfaces, so that it is possible to distinguish many types of floors, and the output control device can be driven by this output signal. Finer control is possible.

FIG. 13 is a detection circuit diagram in the fourth means. Up to the first stage amplifier, it is similar to the first to third means. After this,
A plurality of band pass filters 19 to 21 placed in parallel are connected, and the output is connected to the floor surface detection circuit 22 in the next stage. The detection circuit 4 having this structure is intended to detect the floor surface by paying attention to the frequency characteristic of the signal and this characteristic. FIG. 14 shows the frequency characteristics of each bandpass filter. Figure 15 shows the frequency characteristics of signals for carpets and wooden floors. Since the carpet is elastic, its frequency characteristics are characterized by the lower one.
On the other hand, a hard wooden floor has a small elasticity, and therefore has a characteristic that its peak exists at a high frequency. It is possible to detect and estimate the floor surface by storing and setting these features in the floor surface detection circuit 22 with reference to these characteristics in advance and comparing with the output signals of the band pass filters 19 to 21.

In this case, many types of floor surfaces can be detected by the number of patterns of frequency characteristics that can be set in advance.

FIG. 16 is a basic configuration diagram of the fifth means. 31 is the outer wall of the nozzle. 26 is a brush and 30 is a magnet, both of which are movable plates 27
Are fixed on opposite sides of each other. Reference numeral 29 denotes a spring, which connects the movable plate 27 to the outer wall 31 of the nozzle and is installed so that the movable plate 27 can move back and forth in the same direction as the moving direction of the nozzle. Reference numeral 28 is a magnetic detection element, which generates an output signal in response to movement of the magnet 30. This output signal is connected to the detection circuit 32, detects the floor surface, and outputs a signal corresponding thereto.
Based on this input signal, the output control device 33 drives the input of the motor and the controlled elements such as ON / OFF of the power nozzle.

In the above structure, FIGS. 17 and 18 show the output signals of the magnetic detection element (for example, Hall element) when the floor surface is a carpet or a wooden floor, respectively. As shown in Fig. 17, the friction between the brush 26 and the floor surface of the carpet is large, and the signal is large. On the flat wooden floor and tiles, the friction force of the brush 26 is small as shown in Fig. 18, so the output signal is large. Becomes smaller.
The detection circuit 32 compares this output signal with the determination level to detect the floor surface.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the output control device of the sixth means. Reference numeral 34 is a timer circuit, which is composed of a one-shot multivibrator or the like that maintains a state for a certain period of time (about 5 to 10 seconds) once a signal of a judgment level or higher is input. While cleaning this constant floor surface, the optimum control state can be maintained, so even if the motor input fluctuates greatly, the power nozzle drive is turned ON-
You can prevent repeated OFF and perform comfortable cleaning according to the actual feeling.

Obviously, the electromagnetic solenoids for driving the upper and lower sides of the detection rod in the first embodiment can achieve the same purpose by using a motor or another driving method. In the fifth and sixth means as the method of detecting the amount of movement by detecting the magnitude of friction with the brush, an example of a magnet and a hall element is described. However, a magnet and a coil, a slide volume, a piezoelectric element, etc. Obviously, the same effect can be obtained with other movement amount detection methods.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As described above, since the detection rod of the present invention uses the vibration waveform when it collides with the floor surface, it has a simple configuration, and the method of differentiating the signal on the floor surface can detect the signal quickly. It is possible to optimally control the motor input, the power nozzle, etc. according to the floor surface of the target. Further, when the input signal is integrated into the detection signal, a device that is resistant to malfunction due to noise or the like can be configured. Further, in the method of measuring the time when the integrated waveform exceeds the reference level, it is possible to discriminate many kinds of floor surfaces. With the method of detecting the frequency characteristic, it is possible to determine the type of floor surface more finely.

Further, in the method in which the floor surface detection brush is provided in the nozzle and the movement amount due to friction with the floor surface is used, the same purpose can be achieved at a low cost with a simpler configuration.

Further, when the floor surface is detected by the signals obtained by these means, the method of maintaining the state for a certain period of time allows comfortable cleaning without changing the control state frequently.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a detector rod using an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a vibration waveform diagram when the detector rod collides with a carpet, and FIG. 3 is a similar waveform diagram in the case of a wooden floor. ,
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the detection circuit, FIGS. 5 and 6 are output waveform diagrams of the buffer amplifier in the case of a carpet and a wooden floor, respectively. FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the detection circuit using integration, and FIG. , Fig. 9 is the output waveform diagram of the buffer amplifier,
Fig. 10 is a block diagram of a detection circuit using a timer circuit, Figs. 11 and 12 are waveform diagrams of the detection time of the timer circuit, and Fig. 13 is a block diagram of the detection circuit using frequency characteristics, Fig. 14 The figure shows the frequency characteristics of the bandpass filter,
FIG. 15 is a frequency characteristic diagram of the vibration waveform of each floor, FIG. 16 is a schematic configuration diagram of a brush is used, and FIGS. 17 and 18 are output waveform diagrams of the magnetic sensing element corresponding to each floor. FIG. 19 is a block diagram of an output control device using a timer circuit. 1 ... Vibration detection rod, 2 ... Vibration detection element, 4 ... Detection circuit, 5 ... Output control circuit, 11 ... Capacitor, 10 ... Amplifier.

Claims (7)

[Claims] Claims: 1. A vibration detecting rod, a vibration detecting element for detecting the vibration state of the vibration detecting rod, a mechanism for moving the vibration detecting rod up and down, and an output signal of the vibration detecting element for cleaning inside the nozzle. And a detection circuit for detecting the type of floor surface to be controlled, and at least one of the motor rotation speed, driving and stopping of rotation of the rotating brush of the electric nozzle, raising and lowering of the brush of the nozzle, etc. are controlled by using the result of this detection circuit as an input signal An electric vacuum cleaner characterized in that. 2. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the detection circuit detects the type of floor surface by comparing the output signal of the vibration detection element with a reference signal that is differentiated. 3. A detection circuit comprising a circuit for integrating an output signal of a vibration detection element, and comparing the level of the integration signal with a predetermined reference signal to detect the type of floor surface. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, 4. A detection circuit comprising a circuit for integrating the output signal of the vibration detecting element and a timer circuit for measuring the time when the integrated signal exceeds a predetermined reference level. Vacuum cleaner as described. 5. A detection circuit comprising a plurality of band pass filters for selecting an output signal of a vibration detection element according to a frequency band, and a floor surface estimation circuit for estimating a floor surface according to the level of the output signal. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, which is characterized. 6. A frictional force detecting means comprising a movable plate having a brush on one surface and a magnet on the other surface, and a magnet detecting element provided facing the magnet, and an output from the magnet detecting element. An electric vacuum cleaner which controls at least one of a motor rotation speed, driving and stopping of rotation of a rotating brush of an electric nozzle, raising and lowering of a brush of a nozzle, etc. by a signal. 7. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 6, wherein the frictional force detection means based on the output signal has a timer for a fixed time such as a one-shut multi.