CN106793906A - Self-propelled suction cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

Prevent the malfunction of the ground detection sensor (12). The self-propelled vacuum cleaner includes: a box body having a dust collection member capable of automatically walking on the ground; an optical floor detection sensor (12) exposed from the box body toward the ground; and a control unit controlling the dust collection unit , and receive the output of the ground detection sensor (12) to control the automatic walking action of the box body, the above-mentioned ground detection sensor (12) has: a light emitting element (14a), which illuminates the light beam (LF) towards the ground; a light receiving element (14b), which receives reflected light from the ground; and a stop element (B1) which limits the opening of the aforementioned light beam (LF) narrowly.

Description

self-propelled vacuum cleaner

technical field

The present invention relates to a self-propelled vacuum cleaner.

Background technique

As the background technology of the present invention, there is known a vacuum cleaner that sucks the dust on the ground together with the air into the box while autonomously moving, and discharges the dust-removed air to the outside. A type ground detection sensor is installed on the surface of the box body opposite to the ground to monitor the ground, and prevent the vacuum cleaner from falling into the steps (steep slopes) of the ground (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).

prior art literature

patent documents

Patent Document 1: JP-A-2012-130781

Contents of the invention

The problem to be solved by the invention

However, in this existing self-propelled vacuum cleaner, when the color of the ground is different, the intensity of the reflected light from the ground is different, so the ground detection sensor cannot accurately detect the ground, and the vacuum cleaner falls downward (steep slope). ) fall and other misoperations. The present invention was made in consideration of such a situation, and prevents malfunction of the vacuum cleaner by accurately maintaining the detection capability of the floor detection sensor against the change in the color of the floor.

solutions to problems

The self-propelled vacuum cleaner provided by the present invention has: a box body, which has components for dust collection and can automatically walk on the ground; an optical floor detection sensor, which is exposed from the box body toward the ground; Components, and receive the output of the ground detection sensor to control the automatic walking action of the box. The ground detection sensor has: a light emitting element, which irradiates a light beam toward the ground; a light receiving element, which receives reflected light from the ground; and an aperture element, which The opening of the aforementioned light beams is restricted narrowly.

Invention effect

According to the present invention, since the opening degree of the light beam of the light-emitting element that irradiates the ground is narrowed by the diaphragm element, the width of the light intensity distribution of the light beam is narrowed, which is caused by the change in the color of the ground (change in reflectance). The intensity variation of the reflected light received by the light receiving element becomes small. Therefore, the variation range of the detection distance to the floor due to the change in the color of the floor becomes smaller, the detection accuracy is improved, and malfunction of the vacuum cleaner can be prevented.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a top perspective view of a self-propelled (vacuum) cleaner according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the self-propelled vacuum cleaner shown in Fig. 1 .

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of a control circuit of the self-propelled cleaner shown in Fig. 1 .

Fig. 4 is an explanatory view of the internal structure seen from the side of the self-propelled cleaner shown in Fig. 1 .

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a conventional configuration and operation of a floor detection sensor.

FIG. 6 is a view corresponding to FIG. 5 of the floor detection sensor according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a modified example of the floor detection sensor shown in FIG. 6 .

FIG. 8 is a view corresponding to FIG. 7 of the ground surface detection sensor according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a view corresponding to FIG. 7 of the floor detection sensor according to the third embodiment.

detailed description

The self-propelled vacuum cleaner of the present invention is characterized in that it has: a box body, which has a dust collection member and can automatically walk on the ground; an optical floor detection sensor, which is exposed from the box body toward the ground; and a control unit, which controls The component for dust collection, and receives the output of the ground detection sensor to control the automatic walking action of the box. The above ground detection sensor has: a light emitting element, which irradiates a light beam toward the ground; a light receiving element, which receives reflected light from the ground; and a diaphragm An element that narrows the opening of the aforementioned light beam.

The aperture element may be a light blocking member that blocks the light beam on the side opposite to the light receiving element with respect to the optical axis of the light emitting element.

The aperture element may include an element having a through-hole for restricting and passing the light beam.

The aperture element may include an element having a slit for restricting and passing the light beam.

The above-mentioned aperture element may be integrally formed with the casing.

(first embodiment)

Fig. 1 is a perspective view from above of a self-propelled vacuum cleaner according to a first embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the self-propelled vacuum cleaner shown in Fig. 1 , and Fig. 3 is a self-propelled vacuum cleaner shown in Fig. 1 Block diagram of the control circuit. In addition, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the internal structure seen from the side of the self-propelled (vacuum) cleaner shown in FIG. 1 .

The self-propelled vacuum cleaner of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as a vacuum cleaner) automatically walks on the ground, sucks dust on the ground together with air, and discharges the dust-free air to vacuum the ground.

The cleaning robot 1A includes a disk-shaped housing 2 , and an exhaust port 41 is provided on the upper surface of the housing 2 . As shown in FIG. 2 , a rotating brush 3 , a pair of side brushes 4 , a suction port 11 , a pair of driving wheels 5 , a rear wheel 7 , a front wheel 8 , and a floor detection sensor 12 are provided on a bottom plate 2 a. In addition, the detection surface of the ground detection sensor 12 is exposed toward the ground from the bottom plate 2a.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 4 , the box body 2 is equipped with: a suction path 10 connected to the suction port 11; a dust collection unit 20 disposed on the downstream side of the suction path 10; The downstream side of the part 20; and the exhaust passage 40, which connects the electric blower 30 and the exhaust port 41.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the box body 2 is provided with: a top plate 2b, which is circular in plan view, has a cover 2b ₁ and an exhaust port 41 formed at a position behind the cover 2b ₁ ; and a side plate 2c, which is circular in plan view. , are arranged along the outer peripheral portions of the bottom plate 2a and the top plate 2b. The top plate 2b is provided with an operation panel 31 for inputting work conditions or work orders of the cleaning robot 1A.

A plurality of holes are formed in the bottom plate 2a ( FIG. 2 ) so that the lower parts of the front wheel 8 and the pair of driving wheels 5 protrude from the inside of the case 2 to the outside. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 1, the some ultrasonic sensor 9 which detects the obstacle in the advancing direction of 1 A of cleaning robots is provided in front of the side plate 2c.

A pair of driving wheels 5 is set to be able to rotate around the axis 5a (Fig. 2) parallel to the bottom plate 2a of the casing 2. When the pair of driving wheels 5 rotates in the same direction, the casing 2 advances and retreats, and each driving wheel 5 When rotating in opposite directions, the case 2 rotates.

The rotating shafts of the pair of driving wheels 5 are connected so as to obtain rotational force independently from a pair of travel motors described later, and each travel motor is fixed to the inner surface of the bottom plate 2a of the housing 2 directly or via a suspension mechanism.

The front wheel 8 includes a roller, and is provided on the bottom plate 2a of the box body 2 at a position slightly raised from the ground contacted by the driving wheel 5, and is freely rotatable so that the box body 2 can Easily cross the ascending steps.

The rear wheel 7 includes a universal wheel, is provided on a part of the bottom plate 2a of the housing 2 so as to be in contact with the ground, and is rotatable.

In this way, a pair of driving wheels 5 are arranged in the middle of the front-to-back direction of the casing 2, and the front wheels 8 are floated from the ground, so that the whole weight of the cleaning robot 1A can be supported by the pair of driving wheels 5 and the rear wheels 7. The weight of the box body 2 is distributed in the front-rear direction. Thereby, the dust ahead of the traveling road can be guided to the suction port 11 without being blocked by the front wheels 8 .

The above-mentioned rotating brush 3 is provided at the inlet of the suction port 11 and is rotatable about an axis parallel to the bottom plate 2 a of the housing 2 . In addition, the side brushes 4 on the left and right sides of the suction port 11 of the bottom plate 2a rotate around an axis perpendicular to the bottom plate 2a. The rotating brush 3 is formed by helically planting a brush on the outer peripheral surface of a roller as a rotating shaft.

The side brush 4 has a rotating shaft perpendicular to the bottom plate 2a, and a plurality of brush bundles radially provided at the lower end of the rotating shaft. The rotating shafts of the rotating brush 3 and the pair of side brushes 4 are supported on the inner surface of the bottom plate 2a of the housing 2, and are connected to a brush driving motor, which will be described later, provided near it via a power transmission mechanism including a pulley and a belt.

In front of the front wheels 8 on the bottom plate 2a of the housing 2, a ground detection sensor 12 for detecting the ground as described above is arranged to detect a descending step on the ground. When a downward step is detected by the floor detection sensor 12, the detection signal is sent to a control unit described later, and the control unit controls the two driving wheels 5 to stop. Thereby, 1 A of cleaning robots can be prevented from falling down a downward step. In addition, the control part may perform control so that a descending step may be avoided and walking may be performed, when the floor surface detection sensor 12 detects a descending step.

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

As a result, the charging terminal comes into contact with the terminal portion provided on the charging stand, and the battery is charged. Charging stands connected to a commercial power source (socket) are usually located along the side walls of the room. In addition, the battery supplies electric power to various drive control elements such as various motors.

The dust collection part 20 shown in FIG. 4 has the dust collection box 21 connected to the suction path 10, and the filter 22 provided in the dust collection box 21 and detachable. The dust box 21 is usually stored in the box body 2, but when the dust collected in the dust box 21 is discarded, the cover 2b ₁ ( FIG. 1 ) of the box body 2 is opened to take it out and put it in.

As shown in Figure 3, the control circuit that carries out the overall action control of the cleaning robot 1A has: a control unit 15a; an operation panel 31 for inputting setting conditions or work instructions related to the action of the cleaning robot 1A; Storage unit 18; motor driver 30a for driving electric blower 30; motor driver 51a for driving traveling motor 51 of driving wheel 5; brush motor 17 for driving rotating brush 3 and side brush 4 A motor driver 17a; a control unit 12a that controls the ground detection sensor 12; a control unit 9a that controls the ultrasonic sensor 9, and the like.

The control unit 15a is equipped with a microcomputer including CPU, ROM, and RAM, and sends control signals to the motor drivers 30a, 51a, and 17a independently based on the program data stored in the storage unit 18, and controls the electric blower 30, the travel motor 51, and the brush motor. 17 is carried out drive control, carries out a series of vacuuming operation. In addition, the program data includes program data for a normal mode for cleaning a large area on the floor, program data for a wall side mode for cleaning along a wall, and the like.

In addition, the control unit 15 a receives a setting condition or an operation command from the user from the operation panel 31 and stores it in the storage unit 18 . The walking map 18a stored in the storage unit 18 is information related to walking such as the walking route or walking speed around the installation site of the cleaning robot 1A, and can be stored in the storage unit 18 by the user in advance, or the cleaning robot 1A itself can be stored in the storage unit 18. Automatic recording during vacuuming operation.

In 1 A of cleaning robots comprised in this way, the electric blower 30, the drive wheel 5, the rotating brush 3, and the side brush 4 are driven according to the instruction|command from the operation panel 31 to start a cleaning operation. Thus, 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 ground, the cleaning robot 1A sucks in air containing dust on the ground from the suction port 11 while automatically moving within a predetermined range. .

At this time, by the rotation of the rotating brush 3 , dust on the ground is swept up and guided to the suction port 11 . In addition, dust on the sides of the suction port 11 is guided to the suction port 11 by the rotation of the side brush 4 .

Air including dust sucked into the box body 2 from the suction port 11 flows into the dust collecting box 21 through the suction path 10 ( FIG. 4 ) of the box body 2 . The airflow flowing into dust box 21 passes through filter 22 to remove dust, flows into electric blower 30 , is guided to exhaust passage 40 , and is discharged to the outside from exhaust port 41 . At this time, the dust contained in the airflow in the dust collecting box 21 is captured and collected by the filter 22 and accumulated in the dust collecting box 21 .

In addition, as described above, when the cleaning robot 1A detects an obstacle on the traveling road and reaches the periphery of the cleaning area, the drive wheels 5 stop once, and then the left and right drive wheels 5 are turned in opposite directions. Orientation Rotate to change orientation. Thereby, 1 A of cleaning robots can autonomously run and clean the whole installation place or the whole desired range, avoiding an obstacle.

In addition, the cleaning robot 1A performs weight distribution in such a balance that the left and right driving wheels 5 and the rear wheels 7 are in contact with each other at three points so that the rear wheels 7 do not float from the ground even if they stop suddenly while moving forward.

Therefore, even if the cleaning robot 1A stops suddenly in front of the descending step while advancing, it is possible to prevent the cleaning robot 1A from leaning forward and falling down the descending step. In addition, the drive wheel 5 is formed by fitting a rubber tire with grooves into the wheel so that it does not slip even when it stops suddenly.

＜About the ground detection sensor＞

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the conventional configuration and function of the floor detection sensor 12 . As shown in this figure, the ground detection sensor 12 is an optical sensor, has a housing 13, and is equipped with a light emitting element (infrared light emitting diode) 14a and a light receiving element (phototransistor) 14b in the housing 13, and is equipped with a protective light emitting element 14a and The transparent protective plate 15 of the light receiving element 14b.

5 shows that the light beam LF emitted from the light emitting element 14a illuminates the black floor FB at the normal position and the white floor FW1 at the position of the descending step through the transparent protective plate 15, and the reflected light is received through the transparent protective plate 15. Condition accepted by element 14b.

The output corresponding to the intensity of the light received by the light receiving element 14b is compared with a predetermined value by the control unit 12a ( FIG. 3 ). The control unit 12a judges that the ground is normal when the intensity of light received by the light receiving element 14b is greater than a predetermined value, and judges that the ground is abnormal when the intensity is less than a predetermined value, that is, it is judged to be a "downward step". And these determination results are input to the control part 15a.

As shown in FIG. 5 , the light beam LF emitted from the light emitting element 14 a diverges in a conical shape with an opening (divergence angle) of an angle θ (for example, 20 degrees) centered on the optical axis Xa. The intensity distribution of light perpendicular to the optical axis Xa of the light beam LF generally exhibits a Gaussian distribution centered on the optical axis Xa that decreases radially away from the optical axis Xa.

Therefore, regarding the black floor FB with low light reflectance, light with high intensity along the optical axis Xa irradiates the floor FB at a distance HB from the base plate 2a, and light along the optical axis Xb with high light-receiving sensitivity When reflected light, that is, reflected light from the ground surface FB at the intersection point P1 of the optical axes Xa and Xb enters the light receiving element 14b, the control unit 12a judges that "the ground is normal".

On the other hand, regarding the white ground FW1 with high light reflectance, the light with low intensity that is far away from the optical axis Xa in the radial direction irradiates the ground FW1 whose distance from the ground 2a is the distance HW1, and along the light Reflected light on the axis Xb, that is, reflected light from the ground surface FW1 at an intersection P2 where light radially departing from the optical axis Xa of the light beam LF intersects the optical axis Xb enters the light receiving element 14b.

At this time, when the light reflectance of the white floor FW1 is much higher than that of the black floor FB, and the reflected light has the same light intensity as the reflected light of the black floor FB, the control unit 12a determines that "The ground is normal".

Therefore, the white ground floor FW1 (positioned at the depth of HW1 from the bottom plate 2a) shown in FIG. 5 is not judged as a "descending step".

Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6 , an aperture element B1 that narrows the opening (divergence angle) of the light beam LF irradiated from the light emitting element 14 a is provided in the irradiation light path of the light emitting element 14 a. The aperture element B1 blocks a part of the light flux LF on the side opposite to the light receiving element 14b with respect to the optical axis Xa of the light emitting element 14a.

As a result, the low-intensity light of the light beam LF that is largely separated from the optical axis Xa in the radial direction does not reach the white floor FW1, and therefore exists on the white floor FW2 at the intersection of the light near the optical axis Xa and the optical axis Xb. At P3, the reflected light from the white floor FW2 located at a distance HW2 from the bottom plate 2a is received by the light receiving element 14b, and the floor is judged to be normal. That is, the distance to the white ground judged to be "normal" is shortened from HW1 to HW2.

Therefore, even if the color of the ground, that is, the reflectance of light changes, the change in the distance until the ground where "the ground is normal" is detected is small, and the accuracy of detecting the descending step by the ground sensor 12 is improved.

FIG. 7 is a modified example of this embodiment, in which the aperture member B1 is integrally formed with the bottom plate 2a.

(second embodiment)

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the floor detection sensor of the embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 8 , in this embodiment, the aperture element B1 shown in FIG. 6 is replaced with an aperture element B2 . The diaphragm element B2 includes a long and thin through-hole 42 that narrows the opening of the passing light beam LF. In addition, the diaphragm element B2 can also be integrally formed with the base plate 2a. Other configurations and functions are the same as those of the first embodiment.

(third embodiment)

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the floor detection sensor of the embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 9 , in this embodiment, the aperture element B1 shown in FIG. 6 is replaced with an aperture element B3 . The diaphragm element B3 includes a slit 43 that narrows the opening of the passing light beam LF. In addition, the diaphragm element B3 can also be integrally formed with the base plate 2a. Other configurations and functions are the same as those of the first embodiment.

Explanation of reference signs

1A Vacuum Robot

2 cabinets

2a Bottom plate

2b ₁ cover

2b top plate

2c side panel

3 rotating brushes

4 side brushes

5 drive wheels

7 rear wheels

8 front wheels

9 Ultrasonic sensor

10 attraction way

11 Suction port

12 Ground detection sensor

13 Shell

14a Light emitting element

14b Light receiving element

15 Protection plate

20 Dust collection section

21 Dust box

22 filters

30 electric blower

31 Operation panel

40 exhaust line

41 Exhaust port

42 through hole

43 slits

B1～B3 Aperture components.

Claims (5)

1. a kind of self-propelled suction cleaner, it is characterised in that possess：Casing, it has dust suction component and can be automatic on the ground Walking；Optical profile type ground detection sensor, it exposes from casing towards ground；And control unit, its control dust suction component, and And receive the output of ground detection sensor and acted the automatically walk that controls casing, above-mentioned ground detection sensor possesses：Hair Optical element, it is towards ground illumination beam；Photo detector, it receives the reflected light from ground；And aperture member, it will be upper The aperture for stating light beam limits narrow.

2. self-propelled suction cleaner according to claim 1,

Above-mentioned aperture member is that above-mentioned light beam is blocked in the side opposite with photo detector in the optical axis relative to light-emitting component Light obstructing member.

3. self-propelled suction cleaner according to claim 1,

Above-mentioned aperture member includes the element with the above-mentioned light beam of limitation and the through hole being passed to.

4. self-propelled suction cleaner according to claim 1,

Above-mentioned aperture member includes the element with the above-mentioned light beam of limitation and the slit being passed to.

5. according to the self-propelled suction cleaner that any one of Claims 1 to 4 is described,

Above-mentioned aperture member forms as one with casing.