JP2017153787A - Self-travel type vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently remove dust on a corner part and a part close to a wall in a room.SOLUTION: A self-travel type vacuum cleaner comprises a housing which self travels on a floor face. A floor face facing surface of the housing has a triangular peripheral edge, and comprises: a pair of drive wheels which are arranged coaxially; a dust collector for sucking dust from a suction port of the floor face facing surface of the housing and collecting dust; a side brush for sweeping the dust on the floor face to the suction port; a bumper for relaxing impact of collision with an obstacle on outside; a sensor for detecting an obstacle on outside through the bumper; and a control part for receiving an output of the sensor for controlling drive of the drive wheels, the dust collector and the side brush. The pair of drive wheels are arranged so that shafts of the drive wheels are parallel to one side of the triangular peripheral edge, and the bumper is arranged so as to cover a part of the peripheral edge containing the one side.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a self-propelled cleaner.

  As background art of the present invention, there are a traveling wheel on the floor surface facing the casing, a suction port for sucking dust from the floor surface, and a side brush provided near the suction port for sweeping dust to the suction port. In the self-propelled vacuum cleaner that cleans while self-propelled on the floor surface, one with a bumper around the entire circumference of the casing and one with a fixed relative position between the side brush and the traveling wheel are known (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

JP 2014-233531 A

  However, a self-propelled cleaner with a bumper around the entire circumference of the housing is inadvertently equipped with a sensor that interlocks with the bumper when a part of the entire bumper comes into contact with the wall when cleaning the corners of a room or near the wall. There is a problem in that the vacuum cleaner reacts and leaves the corner and the wall with dust left behind. In addition, a self-propelled cleaner with a fixed relative position between the side brush and the running wheel will not allow the side brush to follow the corners or walls of the room due to the movement of the running wheel, and will sufficiently sweep the dust to the suction port. However, there is a need for improvement. The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and provides a self-propelled vacuum cleaner that can sufficiently sweep dust to a suction port with a side brush and perform cleaning effectively.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a housing that is self-propelled on a floor surface, and the housing has a pair of drive wheels that are coaxially arranged and a pair of drive wheels that have a triangular peripheral edge on the floor surface. Reduces the impact of collisions with external obstacles, a dust collector that sucks and collects dust from the suction port on the opposite surface of the body, a side brush that sweeps dust from the floor to the suction port A pair of driving wheels, comprising: a bumper; a sensor that detects an external obstacle through the bumper; and a control unit that drives and controls the driving wheel, the dust collector, and the side brush in response to an output of the sensor. Is a self-propelled cleaner that is arranged so that its axis is parallel to one side of the periphery of the triangle, and the bumper is provided so as to cover a part of the periphery including the one side. It is.

  In addition, as a second invention, a housing that self-runs on the floor surface is provided, and the housing sucks dust from a pair of drive wheels arranged coaxially and a suction port on a surface facing the floor surface of the housing. A dust collector that collects dust on the floor, a side brush that sweeps the dust on the floor to the suction port, a sensor that detects an external obstacle, and the output of the sensor, the drive wheel, the dust collector, and the side brush A control unit that drives and controls the housing, the housing includes a central housing portion and an outer shell housing portion that is rotatably supported around the central housing portion in parallel with the floor surface, The present invention provides a self-propelled cleaner in which a side brush is provided in an outer casing and the driving wheel is provided in a central casing.

According to the first invention, since the bumper is installed in a necessary and sufficient area, the sensor interlocked with the bumper does not operate carelessly and the cleaner does not move away from the wall or corner. Dust is sufficiently swept to the suction port by the side brush, and an effective cleaning result is obtained.
Further, according to the second invention, since the position of the side brush can be changed with respect to the moving direction of the housing by the traveling wheel, it is possible to easily place the side brush along the wall or the corner, and to prevent dust from adhering to the wall. It can be swept sufficiently from the corner to the suction port.

It is an upper surface perspective view of the self-propelled cleaner concerning a 1st embodiment of this invention. It is a bottom view of the self-propelled cleaner shown in FIG. It is a block diagram of the control circuit of the self-propelled cleaner shown in FIG. It is internal structure explanatory drawing seen from the side of the self-propelled cleaner shown in FIG. It is a figure corresponding to FIG. 2 which shows the installation range of the bumper in 1st Embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 2 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 3 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 4 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view explaining cleaning operation by a 2nd embodiment of this invention. FIG. 7 is a view corresponding to FIG. 6 according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a view corresponding to FIG. 8 according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

  A self-propelled cleaner of the present invention includes a housing that self-propels on a floor surface, and the housing has a pair of drive wheels that are coaxially disposed with a pair of driving wheels that have a triangular peripheral edge on the floor surface. Reduces the impact of collisions with external obstacles, a dust collector that sucks and collects dust from the suction port on the opposite surface of the body, a side brush that sweeps dust from the floor to the suction port A pair of driving wheels, comprising: a bumper; a sensor that detects an external obstacle through the bumper; and a control unit that drives and controls the driving wheel, the dust collector, and the side brush in response to an output of the sensor. Is arranged such that its axis is parallel to one side of the periphery of the triangle, and the bumper is provided so as to cover a part of the periphery including the one side.

  The self-propelled cleaner of the present invention includes a housing that self-propels on the floor surface, and the housing includes a pair of drive wheels disposed coaxially and a suction port on a surface facing the floor surface of the housing. A dust collecting device that sucks and collects dust; a side brush that sweeps dust on the floor surface toward the suction port; a sensor that detects an external obstacle; A control unit that drives and controls the apparatus and the side brush, and the casing is supported by the central casing and the outer casing that is rotatably supported around the central casing in parallel with the floor surface. 61, wherein the side brush is provided in the outer casing and the driving wheel is provided in the central casing.

  The suction port and the dust collecting device may be provided on the outer shell casing.

  The suction port and the dust collector may be provided in a central housing part.

  You may further provide the drive mechanism which rotates an outer shell housing | casing part with respect to a center housing | casing part.

(First embodiment)
The self-propelled cleaner (hereinafter referred to as a cleaning robot) according to the first embodiment of the present invention sucks dust on the floor together with air and exhausts the air from which dust is removed while traveling on the floor. To clean the floor.

  1 is a top perspective view of the self-propelled cleaner according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the self-propelled cleaner shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. It is a block diagram of the control circuit of the self-propelled cleaner shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the internal structure as seen from the side of the self-propelled cleaner shown in FIG.

  As shown in these drawings, the cleaning robot 1A includes a housing 2 having a substantially equilateral triangular outline when viewed from above. As shown in FIG. 2, a substantially equilateral triangular bottom plate 2a is provided with a rotating brush 3, a pair of side brushes 4, a suction port 11, a pair of driving wheels 5, a rear wheel 7, and two floor surface detection sensors 12. ing. The floor detection sensor 12 includes an infrared light emitting diode and a phototransistor, and the detection surface is exposed toward the floor.

  Further, in the housing 2, as shown in FIG. 4, a suction path 10 connected to the suction port 11, a dust collection unit 20 provided on the downstream side of the suction path 10, and a downstream side of the dust collection unit 20 And an exhaust passage 40 that connects the electric blower 30 and the exhaust port 41 to each other.

As shown in FIG. 1, the housing 2 includes a lid 2b ₁ and a top plate 2b. Bumpers 8 are provided at positions corresponding to one side of the forward direction indicated by arrow X, and side plates 2c are provided at positions corresponding to the other two sides on the outer peripheral portions of the bottom plate 2a and the top plate 2b.

  The bumper 8 is supported from the inside of the housing 2 by an elastic member that elastically displaces and absorbs collision energy when colliding with an external obstacle, and the displacement of the bumper 8 is detected by a bumper sensor described later. It has come to be. The top panel 2b is provided with an operation panel 31 for inputting operation conditions and operation commands for the cleaning robot 1A.

  The bottom plate 2a (FIG. 2) is formed with a hole for projecting the lower part of the pair of drive wheels 5 from the inside of the housing 2 to the outside. Further, the bumper 8 is provided with a plurality of ultrasonic sensors 9 for detecting an obstacle in the forward direction indicated by the arrow X of the cleaning robot 1A as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the pair of drive wheels 5 is provided so as to be rotatable around a pair of rotation shafts 5 a that are parallel to the bottom plate 2 a of the housing 2 and coaxial with the straight line L. When rotating in the same direction, the housing 2 moves forward and backward in the direction of the arrow X or Y, and when the driving wheels 5 rotate in opposite directions, the housing 2 turns.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the rotation shafts 5 a of the pair of drive wheels 5 are connected to each other by a pair of travel motors 51 so that rotational force can be obtained individually via reduction gears 52. It is fixed to the inner surface of the bottom plate 2a of the housing 2 directly or via a suspension mechanism.

The rear wheel 7 is a free wheel, and is provided so as to be able to turn behind the bottom plate 2a of the housing 2 so as to come into contact with the floor surface.
In this way, the pair of driving wheels 5 are arranged in the middle in the front-rear direction with respect to the casing 2, and the casing 2 is attached to the casing 2 so that the entire weight of the cleaning robot 1 </ b> A can be supported by the pair of driving wheels 5 and the rear wheels 7. On the other hand, weight is distributed in the front-rear direction. Thereby, the dust ahead of the course can be efficiently guided to the suction port 11.

  The aforementioned rotating brush 3 is provided at the inlet of the suction port 11 so as to be rotatable about an axis parallel to the bottom plate 2a of the housing 2. Further, the side brushes 4 on the left and right sides of the suction port 11 in the bottom plate 2a rotate around an axis perpendicular to the bottom plate 2a. The rotating brush 3 is formed by implanting a brush spirally on the outer peripheral surface of a roller that is a rotating shaft.

  The side brush 4 has a plurality (four in this case) of brush bundles provided radially at the lower end of the rotation shaft. The rotating shaft of the rotating brush 3 and the rotating shaft of the pair of side brushes 4 are supported by the inner surface of the bottom plate 2a of the housing 2, and are respectively provided to a rotating brush motor and a side brush motor, which will be described later. It is connected via a power transmission mechanism.

  Since the floor surface detection sensor 12 for detecting the floor surface is arranged on both sides of the suction port 11 in the bottom plate 2a of the housing 2 as described above, when a downward step is detected by the floor surface detection sensor 12. The detection signal is transmitted to a control unit described later, and the control unit controls the both driving wheels 5 to stop.

  As a result, the cleaning robot 1A is prevented from falling to the down step. In addition, when the floor surface detection sensor 12 detects a down step, the control unit may perform control so as to avoid the down step.

  The housing 2 incorporates a battery, and a charging terminal (not shown) for charging the built-in battery is provided at the rear end of the side plate 2c of the housing 2. The cleaning robot 1 </ b> A that cleans the room while traveling by itself returns to the charging stand installed in the room when the cleaning is completed.

  Thereby, a charge terminal contacts the terminal part provided in the charging stand, and charge of a battery is performed. The charging stand connected to the commercial power source (outlet) is usually installed along the side wall of the room. The battery supplies electric power to each drive control element such as various motors as well as the control unit.

The dust collection unit 20 illustrated in FIG. 4 includes a dust collection box 21 connected to the suction path 10 and a filter 22 provided in the dust collection box 21 so as to be detachable. The dust collection box 21 is usually housed in the housing 2. However, when the dust collected in the dust collection box 21 is discarded, the lid 2 b ₁ (FIG. 1) of the housing 2 is opened. It comes to be taken in and out.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the control circuit for controlling the operation of the entire cleaning robot 1A includes program data such as a control unit 15a, an operation panel 31 for inputting setting conditions and operation commands related to the operation of the cleaning robot 1A, and a travel map 18a. , A motor driver 30 a for driving the electric blower 30, a motor driver 51 a for individually driving each traveling motor 51 of the pair of drive wheels 5, and a rotation for driving the rotating brush 3. A motor driver 17a for rotating the brush motor 17, a motor driver 42a for rotating the side brush motor 42 for simultaneously driving the pair of side brushes 4, a control unit 12a for controlling the floor detection sensor 12, and an ultrasonic wave Control unit 9a for controlling sensor 9 and control unit 13a for controlling bumper sensor 13 Equipped with a.

  The control unit 15a includes a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and commands stored in the storage unit 18 are preliminarily stored, commands from the operation panel 31, outputs from the floor detection sensor 12, the ultrasonic sensor 9, and the bumper sensor 13. Based on the program data, the control signals are individually transmitted to the motor drivers 30a, 51a, 17a, 42a, and the electric blower 30, the traveling motor 51, the rotary brush motor 17, and the side brush motor 42 are driven and controlled. Perform a series of cleaning operations. Note that the program data includes program data for a normal mode for cleaning a wide area of the floor, and for a wall-side mode for cleaning along a wall.

  In addition, the control unit 15 a accepts the setting conditions and operation commands by the user from the operation panel 31 and stores them in the storage unit 18. The travel map 18a stored in the storage unit 18 is information related to travel such as a travel route and travel speed around the installation location of the cleaning robot 1A, and is stored in the storage unit 18 in advance by the user or the cleaning robot 1A. It can automatically record itself during cleaning operation.

  In the cleaning robot 1 </ b> A configured as described above, the electric blower 30, the drive wheel 5, the rotating brush 3, and the side brush 4 are driven by a cleaning operation start command from the operation panel 31. As a result, the cleaning robot 1A is in a state where the rotating brush 3, the side brush 4, the drive wheel 5, and the rear wheel 7 are in contact with the floor surface, and the air containing dust on the floor surface from the suction port 11 while traveling in a predetermined range. Inhale.

  At this time, the dust on the floor surface is scraped up by the rotation of the rotating brush 3 and guided to the suction port 11. Further, the dust on the side of the suction port 11 is guided to the suction port 11 by the rotation of the side brush 4.

  Air containing dust sucked into the housing 2 from the suction port 11 flows into the dust collection box 21 through the suction path 10 (FIG. 4) of the housing 2. The airflow that has flowed into the dust collection box 21 passes through the filter 22 and dust is removed, then flows into the electric blower 30, is guided to the exhaust path 40, and is discharged from the exhaust port 41 to the outside. At this time, the dust contained in the airflow in the dust collection box 21 is captured by the filter 22 and accumulated in the dust collection box 21.

  Further, when the cleaning robot 1A detects an obstacle on the course as described above and reaches the periphery of the cleaning area, the driving wheel 5 temporarily stops, and then the left and right driving wheels 5 are moved in opposite directions. Rotate to change direction. Accordingly, the cleaning robot 1A can perform self-propelled cleaning while avoiding obstacles in the entire installation place or the entire desired range.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the bumper 8 is provided on the widest side surface corresponding to one side of the casing 2 in the forward direction, so that it is necessary for a collision with an obstacle in advance. It can cope enough.

In addition, even if the side plate 2c corresponding to the other two sides contacts the corner wall in the room when the housing 2 rotates, the bumper sensor 13 does not detect it. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the inconvenience that the side plate 2c comes into contact with the wall and the casing 2 is separated from the wall while cleaning the corner of the room.
The bumper 8 can obtain the same effect even if its installation area is expanded to the position of the center line L of the rotation shaft 5a of the two drive wheels 5 shown in FIG.

(Second Embodiment)
6 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 2 according to the second embodiment, FIG. 7 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 3 according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 4 according to the second embodiment.
In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, the housing 2 includes a central circular central housing portion 60 and an outer shell housing portion 61 around it. The outer casing 61 is rotatably supported on the outer periphery of the central casing 60 via a ring-shaped thrust bearing 62.

Further, an arc-shaped rack 63 is provided on the outer periphery of the central housing portion 60 over 180 degrees, and the output shaft of the outer shell housing portion motor 43 installed in the outer shell housing portion 61 has the pinion 64. It is coupled to the rack 63 via By driving the outer casing motor 65, the outer casing 61 can rotate 90 degrees clockwise and 90 degrees counterclockwise around the central casing 60 from the position shown in FIG. It has become.
The drive wheel 5, the reduction gear 52, the travel motor 51, and the rear wheel 7 described above are mounted on the central housing portion 60, and the others are mounted on the outer shell housing portion 61.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, the control circuit in this embodiment further connects a motor driver 43a to the control unit 15a of the control circuit (FIG. 3) of the first embodiment, whereby the outer shell motor 43 is connected. A function to control driving is added.

  In such a configuration, when the cleaning robot 1A runs on the floor surface of the room and executes cleaning, when it encounters a corner or wall surface of the room, the control unit 15a drives the motor 65 for the outer shell casing. Then, the outer shell housing part 61 is rotated, and the pair of guide brushes 4 (FIG. 6) are controlled so as to suitably follow the corners and the walls of the room.

FIG. 9 shows an example of control in the case of cleaning indoor walls and corners using the cleaning robot 1A according to the second embodiment.
When the cleaning robot 1 </ b> A shown in FIG. 5A moves in the direction of the arrow toward (b) and faces the wall W <b> 1 as shown in (b), the central housing portion 60 becomes the outer shell housing portion 61. On the other hand, it is rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise, and the state (c) is obtained.

  Therefore, the cleaning robot 1A advances toward the arrow (d) while moving the two side brushes 4 along the wall W1. When reaching the other wall W2 as shown in FIG. 4D, the outer casing 61 is rotated by 90 degrees counterclockwise with respect to the central casing 60, and then the central casing 60 is moved outside. It rotates by 90 degrees counterclockwise with respect to the shell housing part 61, and the state shown in FIG.

  The robot 1A advances toward the arrow (f) while keeping the two side brushes 4 along the wall W2. Similarly, from (g) to (h), the cleaning robot 1A travels so that the two side brushes 4 are always along the corner and the wall of the room, so that dust is efficiently sucked and removed by them.

(Third embodiment)
FIGS. 10 and 11 correspond to FIGS. 6 and 8 of this embodiment, respectively.
As shown in these drawings, in this embodiment, the suction port 11, the rotary brush 3, and the exhaust port 41 of the second embodiment are moved from the outer shell housing portion 61 to the central housing portion 60, and in the second embodiment. The suction path 10, the dust collecting part 20, the electric blower 30 and the exhaust path 40 are moved from the outer shell casing part 61 to the central casing part 60.

  Also in this embodiment, since the relative position of the side brush 4 and the drive wheel 5 can be changed as in the second embodiment, dust can be efficiently collected from the corners and the walls of the room as in the second embodiment. Can do. Moreover, even if the range in which the relative position between the outer shell housing part 61 and the central housing part 60 can be changed is small (for example, about 20 degrees to the left and right), the cleaning robot 1A approaches the wall or corner of the room. At that time, the range in which the side brush 4 can move along the wall or along the corner regardless of the direction of the cleaning robot 1A is increased compared to the conventional robot cleaner in which the relative position of the side brush and the drive wheel does not change. There is an effect that dust at the wall and corners can be removed without adjusting the direction by fine control of the drive wheels.

1A Cleaning robot, 2 housing, 2a bottom plate, 2b ₁ lid, 2b top plate, 2c side plate, 3 rotating brush, 4 side brush, 5 driving wheel, 5a rotating shaft, 7 rear wheel, 8 bumper, 9 ultrasonic sensor, 9a Control unit, 10 Suction path, 11 Suction port, 12 Floor detection sensor, 12a Control unit, 13 Bumper sensor, 13a Control unit, 15a Control unit, 17 Brush motor, 17a Motor driver, 18 Storage unit, 18a Travel map , 20 Dust collection unit, 21 Dust collection box, 22 Filter, 30 Electric blower, 30a Motor driver, 31 Operation panel, 40 Exhaust passage, 41 Exhaust port, 42 Side brush motor, 42a Motor driver, 43 Outer shell housing Motor, 43a motor driver, 51 travel motor, 51a motor driver, 52 reduction gear, 60 central housing Parts, 61 the outer shell casing, 62 a thrust bearing, 63 a rack 64 pinion

Claims (5)

  The housing includes a housing that is self-propelled on the floor surface, and the housing surface has a triangular peripheral edge, a pair of drive wheels arranged coaxially, and a suction port on the housing surface facing the floor surface. A dust collector that sucks and collects dust, a side brush that sweeps dust from the floor to the suction port, a bumper that reduces the impact of collision with external obstacles, and a bumper that removes external obstacles And a control unit that drives and controls the drive wheel, the dust collector, and the side brush in response to the output of the sensor, and the pair of drive wheels has an axis that is the periphery of the triangle. The self-propelled cleaner is arranged so as to be parallel to one side, and the bumper is provided so as to cover a part of the peripheral edge including the one side.   A housing that is self-propelled on the floor surface, and the housing includes a pair of drive wheels arranged coaxially, and a dust collector that sucks and collects dust from a suction port on a surface facing the floor surface of the housing; A side brush that sweeps dust on the floor to the suction port, a sensor that detects an external obstacle, and a controller that controls the drive wheel, the dust collector, and the side brush by receiving the output of the sensor; The housing comprises a central housing portion and an outer shell housing portion rotatably supported around the central housing portion in parallel with the floor surface, and the side brush is an outer shell housing portion. And a self-propelled cleaner in which the drive wheels are respectively provided in a central casing.   The self-propelled cleaner according to claim 2, wherein the suction port and the dust collecting device are provided in an outer shell casing.   The self-propelled cleaner according to claim 2, wherein the suction port and the dust collecting device are provided in a central casing.   The self-propelled cleaner as described in any one of Claims 2-4 further provided with the drive mechanism which rotates an outer shell housing | casing part with respect to a center housing | casing part.