Electric dust collector

Abstract

The invention provides an electric dust collector which operates by using a DC power supply part as a power supply, and enables a user to recognize information related to an operation mode while driving a motor according to the operation mode. The electric vacuum cleaner operates using the DC power supply unit (1) as a power supply. The electric vacuum cleaner is provided with a vacuum cleaner main body and a cleaning tool (6) which is electrically connected with the vacuum cleaner main body through a power line and a grounding line. The vacuum cleaner main body is provided with an electric blower for generating a vacuum force, and a main body control part for selectively setting the operation of the electric blower to input one of a plurality of different operation modes. The cleaning tool (6) is provided with: a motor that performs PWM control in accordance with a duty ratio corresponding to the input of the electric blower in the operation mode and that sucks dust from the dust-suctioned portion; a notification means (65) that can perform notification in a plurality of different notification forms; and a determination means (66) that switches the notification forms of the notification means (65) in accordance with the duty ratio.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] An embodiment of the present invention relates to an electric vacuum cleaner that operates using a DC power supply as a power supply. Background Art

[0002] In the past, in an electric vacuum cleaner that uses a commercial AC power supply as a power supply, there is known an electric vacuum cleaner that is provided with a rotating cleaning body that rotates a floor brush as a cleaning tool through a motor, and a notification mechanism such as a lamp. In this electric vacuum cleaner, the electric blower is phase-controlled with respect to the positive voltage half-cycle portion of the AC, and the voltage is smoothed in the floor brush and compared by a voltage comparison circuit, so that the notification mechanism displays the operating intensity, that is, the operating mode of the electric blower, and the motor is phase-controlled with respect to the negative voltage half-cycle portion of the AC according to the power suitable for the vacuumed part calculated based on the motor current value to set the driving power of the motor. The floor brush is located close to the user's line of sight when vacuuming, so by providing the notification mechanism on the floor brush, the user can easily visually confirm the operating mode of the electric blower while vacuuming. In addition, by using the AC power supply to be divided into positive and negative states according to each half cycle, one side is used for displaying the operating mode and the other side is used for controlling the speed of the motor, so that the operating mode can be displayed independently of the driving force of the motor.

[0003] In recent years, cordless cleaners that use a DC power supply such as a battery as a power supply have been widely used. Even in the case of an electric vacuum cleaner using such a DC power supply, it is desirable to be able to notify the operation mode of the electric blower in the floor brush.

[0004] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 6258143 Summary of the invention

[0005] The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an electric vacuum cleaner which operates with a DC power supply as a power supply, drives a motor according to an operation mode, and enables a user to recognize information related to the operation mode.

[0006] The electric vacuum cleaner of the embodiment operates with a DC power supply as a power supply. The electric vacuum cleaner includes a vacuum cleaner body and a cleaning tool electrically connected to the vacuum cleaner body through two wires, namely a power line and a ground line. The vacuum cleaner body includes an electric blower for generating a suction force, and a control mechanism for selectively setting the action of the electric blower to one of a plurality of operation modes with different inputs. The cleaning tool includes a motor for vacuuming a vacuumed portion by PWM control according to a duty cycle corresponding to the input of the electric blower in the operation mode, a notification mechanism capable of notifying in a plurality of different notification forms, and a determination mechanism for switching the notification form of the notification mechanism according to the duty cycle.

[0007] Effects of the Invention According to the electric vacuum cleaner of the present invention, the user can easily visually check information related to the operation mode while performing vacuuming. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] Figure 1 This is a circuit diagram showing an example of the notification mechanism and the determination mechanism of the electric vacuum cleaner according to the first embodiment.

[0009] Figure 2 It is the circuit diagram of the cleaning tool of the same electric vacuum cleaner.

[0010] Figure 3 It is a three-dimensional diagram showing the same electric vacuum cleaner.

[0011] Figure 4 (a) is a plan view showing an example of a notification form when the above notification mechanism operates in a weak mode, and (b) is a plan view showing an example of a notification form when the above notification mechanism operates in a strong mode.

[0012] Figure 5 This is a table showing an example of the correspondence between the operation mode of the electric vacuum cleaner, the input of the electric blower, the duty ratio of the PWM signal for driving the motor, and the notification form of the notification means.

[0013] Figure 6 1 is a graph showing the step-down of the peak voltage of the PWM signal by the step-down circuit of the electric vacuum cleaner.

[0014] Figure 7 1 is a graph showing the relationship between the on-voltage of the switching element of the above electric vacuum cleaner and the control voltage at each duty ratio.

[0015] Figure 8 This is a table showing examples of the correspondence between the operating mode of the electric vacuum cleaner of the second embodiment, the input of the electric blower, the duty cycle of the PWM signal for driving the motor, and the notification form of the notification mechanism, (a) represents one example, and (b) represents other examples.

[0016] Fig. 9 This is a circuit diagram showing a partial example of a determination mechanism of the electric vacuum cleaner according to the third embodiment.

[0017] Fig.10 This is a table showing an example of the correspondence relationship among the operation mode of the electric vacuum cleaner according to the fourth embodiment, the input to the electric blower, the duty ratio of the PWM signal for driving the motor, and the notification form of the notification means.

[0018] Explanation of symbols

[0019] CL Electric Vacuum Cleaner

[0020] L1 Power Line

[0021] L2 Ground wire

[0022] S PWM signal

[0023] 1 DC power supply unit

[0024] 2 Electric blower

[0025] 5 Vacuum cleaner body

[0026] 6 Cleaning tools

[0027] 52 Main control unit as control mechanism

[0028] 63 Motor

[0029] 65 Notification Body

[0030] 66 Determination Agency

[0031] 66120 Switching element

[0032] 66130 Comparator DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] (First Embodiment)

[0034] Hereinafter, a first embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0035] exist Figure 3 In the figure, CL represents an electric vacuum cleaner. In the present embodiment, the electric vacuum cleaner CL is a suction-type electric vacuum cleaner as follows: a DC power supply unit 1 is used as a power supply, and dust is sucked into the separation unit 3 together with air by utilizing the negative pressure generated by driving the electric blower 2 as a suction source. The electric blower 2 is also called a suction motor, etc., and generates a suction force by its action. The DC power supply unit 1 can be a battery or a secondary battery, or an AC-DC adapter that can be detached from a commercial AC power supply. In the present embodiment, the DC power supply unit 1 is a battery or a secondary battery, and the electric vacuum cleaner CL is a cordless electric vacuum cleaner.

[0036] Then, the electric vacuum cleaner CL has a vacuum cleaner body 5 and a cleaning tool 6. In the illustrated example, the electric vacuum cleaner CL is described as a pole-type / handheld electric vacuum cleaner in which the cleaning tool 6 can be directly or indirectly attached to the vacuum cleaner body 5 via a straight extension tube 7 as a tube portion. The present invention is not limited thereto, and the electric vacuum cleaner CL may also be a floor-moving type or a horizontal type in which the vacuum cleaner body 5 and the cleaning tool 6 can be detached using a tube portion such as a hose body, or a vertical type in which the cleaning tool 6 is integrally connected to the vacuum cleaner body 5.

[0037] A hand operation unit 50, which is a gripping unit for vacuuming operations, is formed on the vacuum cleaner body 5. A switch 51 as a setting mechanism is disposed on the hand operation unit 50, and the switch 51 is used for the user to select and set the operating intensity, that is, the operating mode, of the electric vacuum cleaner CL. In addition, a main body control unit 52 as a control mechanism is disposed on the vacuum cleaner body 5, and the main body control unit 52 operates the electric blower 2 according to the operating mode set by the switch 51. The main body control unit 52 is configured as a circuit that controls the input from the DC power supply unit 1 to the electric blower 2, such as the power-on time or the power supply amount, according to the operating mode.

[0038] As the operation mode, a plurality of modes with different inputs to the electric blower 2, such as a strong mode and a weak mode, are set. The strong mode is an operation mode in which the input to the electric blower 2, i.e., the dust suction force, is relatively large, and the weak mode is an operation mode in which the input to the electric blower 2, i.e., the dust suction force, is relatively small. The operation modes are not limited to two, and three or more operation modes may be set.

[0039] In this embodiment, the electric blower 2 is built into the vacuum cleaner body 5, and the separation part 3 is detachably configured. The separation part 3 uses, for example, a dust collecting unit such as a cyclone dust collector for centrifugally separating dust from dust-laden air. In addition, a connection port 53 connected to the separation part 3 is formed on the vacuum cleaner body 5. With respect to the connection port 53, a cleaning tool 6 is indirectly, directly, mechanically, and fluidically connected via an extension pipe 7. In addition, an exhaust port 54 is formed on the vacuum cleaner body 5 to discharge the air from which the dust has been separated.

[0040] Figure 2 , Figure 3 , Figure 4 (a) and Figure 4 The cleaning tool 6 shown in (b) is also called a vacuum head or a floor brush, etc., and vacuums the vacuumed surface, i.e., the vacuumed part, such as the floor. The cleaning tool 6 includes a housing 60 and a connecting part, i.e., a connecting pipe 61, which is connected to the extension pipe 7 or the connecting port 53 of the vacuum cleaner body 5.

[0041] A dust collecting port is formed on the housing 60. In addition, a rotating cleaning body 62 is rotatably mounted on the housing 60. The rotating cleaning body 62 is rotated by a motor 63 disposed on the housing 60 and scrapes the dust from the dusted portion to the dust collecting port. That is, the motor 63 is used to vacuum the dusted portion, and the cleaning tool 6 is an active brush structure. In the present embodiment, the rotating cleaning body 62 is disposed at the dust collecting port. In the illustrated example, the dust collecting port is fluidically connected to the connecting pipe 61, and the connecting pipe 61 is mechanically connected to the extension pipe 7, whereby the dust collecting port is fluidically connected to the extension pipe 7 via the connecting pipe 61, and the dust collecting port is acted on by a suction force or negative pressure generated by the action of the electric blower 2. That is, in the present embodiment, the dust collecting port is a suction port for sucking dust-laden air into the separation portion 3, and the cleaning tool 6 is a suction port body.

[0042] The motor 63 is PWM controlled. The motor 63 is driven by a drive circuit 64 disposed on the cleaning tool 6, and a PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 is input to the drive circuit 64. The PWM signal S is a pulse voltage obtained by modulating the DC voltage supplied from the DC power supply unit 1 according to the duty ratio of power on / off, and is supplied between the power line L1 and the ground line L2 that electrically connect the cleaning tool 6 side and the vacuum cleaner body 5 side. That is, the peak voltage value of the PWM signal S is equal to or approximately equal to the DC voltage value supplied from the DC power supply unit 1. Through the power line L1 and the ground line L2, it is possible to balance the power supply and information transmission from the vacuum cleaner body 5 side or the main body control unit 52 to the cleaning tool 6 side or the drive circuit 64. The PWM signal S is generated, for example, by switching of a switching element provided in the main body control unit 52 of the vacuum cleaner body 5.

[0043] The power line L1 and the ground line L2 are electrically connected to the terminals formed on the connecting tube 61, for example. These terminals are electrically connected to the terminal blocks formed on the extension tube 7 and the connecting port 53 through the mechanical connection between the connecting tube 61 and the extension tube 7 and / or the connecting port 53. Through the connection between the terminals and the terminal blocks, the DC power supply unit 1 and the main control unit 52 arranged on the vacuum cleaner body 5 are electrically connected to the power line L1 and the ground line L2. In this embodiment, the vacuum cleaner 6 is electrically connected to the vacuum cleaner body 5 only through the two lines of the power line L1 and the ground line L2.

[0044] Then, motor 63 operates in conjunction with switch 51 to turn on electric blower 2, and stops in conjunction with turning off electric blower 2. This is not limiting, and for example, as long as electric blower 2 is in operation, motor 63 may be independently switched on and off.

[0045] The action of the motor 63 is set according to the setting of the operation mode by the switch 51. The duty cycle of the PWM signal S is linked to the input of the electric blower 2 in the operation mode and is set according to the input. In the present embodiment, the duty cycle of the PWM signal S corresponding to the operation mode in which the input of the electric blower 2 is larger is set to be greater than the duty cycle of the PWM signal S corresponding to the operation mode in which the input of the electric blower 2 is smaller. For example, it is set that the larger the operation mode in which the input of the electric blower 2 is, the larger the duty cycle of the PWM signal S is. Therefore, the input of the electric blower 2 in each operation mode and the duty cycle of the PWM signal S are set as a group or combination, and in the present embodiment, these values ​​are positively correlated with each other. In this embodiment, for example, when the strong mode is driven, the duty cycle of the PWM signal S is relatively large, so the rotational speed and rotational torque of the motor 63 and the rotating cleaning body 62 are set to be larger. When the weak mode is driven, the duty cycle of the PWM signal S is smaller than that of the strong mode, so the rotational speed and rotational torque of the motor 63 and the rotating cleaning body 62 are set to be smaller than that of the strong mode.

[0046] In addition, the cleaning tool 6 is provided with a notification mechanism 65 for notifying information. The notification mechanism 65 is a display mechanism that displays information in a manner that the user can visually confirm, and is arranged, for example, at a position that the user can visually confirm during vacuuming, such as the upper part of the housing 60. In the example shown in the figure, the notification mechanism 65 is arranged at a position near one side of the upper part of the housing 60 so as to extend in the left-right direction.

[0047] The notification mechanism 65 has a plurality of different display forms. In the present embodiment, the notification mechanism 65 is composed of a plurality of light-emitting elements, namely lamps 650. In the illustrated example, the notification mechanism 65 is an indicator in which the lamps 650 are arranged in a left-right arrangement and can notify information related to the operation mode, such as the current operation mode, according to the number of lamps 650 that are lit. That is, in the present embodiment, the notification mechanism 65 has a plurality of notification forms with different numbers of lamps 650 that are lit, and the more the number of lamps 650 that are lit, the more the notification is that the operation is being performed in an operation mode with a greater input, suction force or dust suction capacity of the electric blower 2. For example, LEDs are used for the lamps 650. These lamps 650 may all be the same, or lamps with different luminous colors, forward voltages, etc. may be used in combination.

[0048] The notification form of the notification mechanism 65 can be switched by the determination mechanism 66. The determination mechanism 66 is also called a notification selection circuit, etc., and determines the information notified by the notification mechanism 65 based on the duty ratio of the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63, and switches the notification form of the notification mechanism 65 based on the determination. In the present embodiment, the determination mechanism 66 switches the number of lights 650 of the notification mechanism 65 that are turned on based on the determination.

[0049] In this embodiment, the notification means 65 and the determination means 66 are unitized as a notification control circuit and provided in the cleaning tool 6 , and are connected in parallel with the motor 63 with respect to the power line L1 and the ground line L2 when viewed from the cleaner body 5 .

[0050] Figure 1 Specific examples of the notification unit 65 and the determination unit 66 are shown.

[0051] The lamp 650 of the notification mechanism 65 includes, for example, four lamps 6500 to 6503 connected in parallel. Resistors 6510 to 6513 as impedance elements for current limiting are connected in series with each of the lamps 6500 to 6503. In the example shown in the figure, the resistors 6510 to 6513 are connected to the anode side of the lamps 6500 to 6503 which are LEDs, but the resistors 6510 to 6513 may be connected to the cathode side of the lamps 6500 to 6503.

[0052] The cathode of lamp 6500 is grounded, and the motor 63 ( Figure 2 The cathodes of the lamps 6501 to 6503 are connected to the determination mechanism 66, and the motor 63 ( Figure 2 In the present embodiment, four lamps 6500 to 6503 are set for the lamp 650, but the number is not limited, and may be two, three, or five or more.

[0053] The determination mechanism 66 includes a voltage generation circuit 660, which generates a voltage for operating the notification mechanism 65, that is, for lighting the lamp 650, based on the input of the DC power supply unit 1, that is, the PWM signal S. In the example shown in the figure, the voltage generation circuit 660 is a constant voltage circuit composed of a series circuit of a resistor 6600 as an impedance element for circuit protection, a rectifier element 6601 such as a diode for backflow prevention, and a regulator 6602. As the regulator 6602, for example, a three-terminal regulator is used. On the input side of the regulator 6602, a capacitor 6603 as a capacitor element for input voltage stabilization and noise prevention is connected in parallel with the regulator 6602 with respect to the cathode side of the rectifier element 6601, and on the output side of the regulator 6602, a capacitor 6604 as a capacitor element for output voltage stabilization is connected in parallel with the notification mechanism 65, and these capacitors 6603 and 6604 are grounded together with the ground terminal of the regulator 6602.

[0054] The resistor 6600 is a voltage-dropping resistor for preventing the regulator 6602 from being destroyed by heat due to input of the peak voltage of the PWM signal S during the on-period of the PWM signal S. That is, the resistor 6600 disperses excessive heat generated in the regulator 6602 by heat by voltage drop.

[0055] The capacitor 6603 is used to store power for driving the lamp 650 during the off period of the PWM signal S, which has a voltage of 0, that is, lower than the input voltage obtained by the regulator 6602. In addition, in order to prevent the power stored in the capacitor 6603 from being supplied to the vacuum cleaner body 5 ( Figure 3 As shown) side, motor 63 ( Figure 2 As shown) side escape, a rectifying element 6601 is provided.

[0056] In addition, the determination mechanism 66 includes a determination circuit 661 connected in parallel with the voltage generation circuit 660 with respect to the DC power supply unit 1. The determination circuit 661 determines the operation mode based on the PWM signal S, and controls the lighting / extinguishing of the lamps 6501 to 6503 of the notification mechanism 65 according to the determined operation mode. In the present embodiment, the determination circuit 661 includes a step-down circuit 6610, a smoothing circuit 6611, and a selection circuit 6612.

[0057] The step-down circuit 6610 steps down the peak voltage of the PWM signal S to a predetermined voltage. In the example shown in the figure, the step-down circuit 6610 includes a resistor 66100 as an impedance element for current limiting, and a constant voltage element 66101 is connected in parallel with the circuit from the resistor 66100 to the smoothing circuit 6611. For example, a Zener diode whose breakdown voltage is a predetermined voltage lower than the peak voltage of the PWM signal S is used as the constant voltage element 66101.

[0058] The smoothing circuit 6611 is for smoothing the PWM signal S after the voltage reduction by the voltage reduction circuit 6610, and extracting the driving voltage of the selection circuit 6612. The smoothing circuit 6611 and the voltage reduction circuit 6610 constitute a power supply stabilization circuit. In the example shown in the figure, the smoothing circuit 6611 is a parallel circuit of a capacitor 66110 as a capacitance element for smoothing, a resistor 66111 as an impedance element for setting a voltage value, and a series circuit of resistors 66112 and 66113 as impedance elements, and is connected in parallel with the constant voltage element 66101 relative to the resistor 66100 of the voltage reduction circuit 6610.

[0059] The capacitor 66110 suppresses a peak voltage deviation of the output voltage when a battery is used as the DC power supply unit 1 , or a deviation or variation of the input current due to a variation, through voltage reduction by the voltage reduction circuit 6610 .

[0060] The resistor 66111 sets the voltage V1 between both ends of the series circuit of the resistor 66112 and the resistor 66113 by setting the output current of the capacitor 66110. The smaller the difference between the input current and the output current of the capacitor 66110, the closer the voltage V1 between both ends is to the peak voltage after the voltage is stepped down by the step-down circuit 6610 according to the PWM signal S, that is, the product of the voltage set by the constant voltage element 66101 and the duty cycle of the PWM signal S. The resistance value of the resistor 66111 is set according to the resistance value of the resistor 66100 of the step-down circuit 6610.

[0061] The voltage V1 between both ends of the resistors 66112 and 66113 is set according to the impedance value, i.e., the resistance value, of the resistor 66100 of the step-down circuit 6610 and the combined impedance value, i.e., the combined resistance value, of the resistors 66111, 66112, and 66113. The resistors 66112 and 66113 divide the voltage V1 between both ends according to the ratio of their resistance values. The voltage set by the resistor 66113 according to the ratio of the resistance values ​​of the resistors 66112 and 66113 becomes the driving voltage V2 of the selection circuit 6612.

[0062] The selection circuit 6612 switches the notification form of the notification mechanism 65 according to the driving voltage V2 generated by the smoothing circuit 6611. In the example shown in the figure, the selection circuit 6612 includes a switch element 66120, which is connected to the connection point between the resistor 66112 and the resistor 66113 of the smoothing circuit 6611 via a resistor 66121, which is an impedance element for generating the control voltage V3 of the switch element 66120. In this embodiment, the switch element 66120 uses an NPN type bipolar transistor, and its base terminal as a control terminal is connected between the resistors 66112 and 66113 of the smoothing circuit 6611 via the resistor 66121 as a base resistor, the collector terminal is connected to the cathode side of the lamps 6501 to 6503 of the notification mechanism 65, and the emitter terminal is grounded. In addition, a capacitor 66122 as a capacitive element is connected to the base terminal of the switch element 66120 in parallel with the resistor 66121, and the capacitor 66122 is grounded. The base current for switching the switch element 66120 on and off is generated by the resistor 66121 according to the driving voltage V2 generated by the smoothing circuit 6611. That is, the magnitude of the control voltage V3 of the switch element 66120 is switched according to the magnitude of the driving voltage V2 generated by the smoothing circuit 6611, thereby switching the switch element 66120 on and off. Figure 2The on / off state of the switch element 66120 is switched according to the duty ratio of the input corresponding to the duty ratio of the input (as shown), and the on / off state of the lamps 6501 to 6503 is switched according to the on / off switching of the switch element 66120, that is, the notification form of the notification mechanism 65 is switched.

[0063] In addition, the notification unit 65 and the determination unit 66 are not limited to the configurations shown in the drawings, and any elements or circuits that perform equivalent operations to these can be used.

[0064] Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described.

[0065] In this embodiment, for example, Figure 5 1 and 2. The relationship between the operation mode and the duty cycle of the PWM signal S as shown in the table is described as an example of an electric vacuum cleaner CL. The duty cycle of the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 corresponding to the operation mode in which the input of the electric blower 2 is relatively large is set to a prescribed multiple or more of the duty cycle corresponding to the operation mode in which the input of the electric blower 2 is relatively small. That is, when any two of the plurality of operation modes are compared, the duty cycle of the PWM signal S in the operation mode in which the input of the electric blower 2 is relatively large becomes a prescribed multiple or more relative to the duty cycle of the PWM signal S in the operation mode in which the input of the electric blower 2 is relatively small. In the example shown in the figure, the duty cycle of the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 corresponding to the strong mode is set to a prescribed multiple or more of the duty cycle corresponding to the weak mode. For example, the "prescribed multiple" is set based on the ratio between the maximum value of the supply voltage from the battery as the DC power supply unit 1, i.e., when fully charged, and the minimum value, i.e., the voltage immediately before the discharge stops, and is set to 1.5 times in the present embodiment.

[0066] In this electric vacuum cleaner CL, the determination mechanism 66 switches the notification form of the notification mechanism 65 according to the duty ratio of the PWM signal S. By switching the notification form of the notification mechanism 65, the user can visually confirm information related to the operation mode, for example, which operation mode is being operated. That is, the circuit constants of the notification mechanism 65 and the determination mechanism 66 are set so that the control voltage V3 set according to the driving voltage V2 generated by the smoothing circuit 6611 and the control current flowing through the resistor 66121 with respect to the on-voltage Vf of the switch element 66120 of the selection circuit 66712 of the determination mechanism 66 becomes smaller when the duty ratio of the PWM signal S corresponding to the operation mode is smaller, and becomes larger when the duty ratio of the PWM signal S is larger.

[0067] In the present embodiment, the peak voltage of the output voltage of the DC power supply unit 1 is set to about 14.5 to 20.5 V. That is, the peak voltage Vp of the PWM signal S is about 14.5 to 20.5 V.

[0068] The resistance values ​​of the resistors 6510 to 6513 of the notification mechanism 65 are each set to, for example, 1 kΩ.

[0069] In the voltage generating circuit 660 of the determination mechanism 66, the input current of the capacitor 6603 is required to be significantly greater than the output current of the capacitor 6603, so the resistance value of the resistor 6600 is set to a sufficiently small value compared with the resistance values ​​of the resistors 6510 to 6513. In this embodiment, the resistance value of the resistor 6600 is set to, for example, 100Ω, the capacitances of the capacitors 6603 and 6604 are set to, for example, 4.7μF, and the output voltage of the regulator 6602 is, for example, 5V. In addition, considering the heat generated by the input current of the capacitor 6603, the resistor 6600 uses, for example, a rated power of 2W.

[0070] In the determination circuit 661 of the determination mechanism 66, the resistance value of the resistor 66100 of the voltage-reducing circuit 6610 is set to, for example, 4.7 kΩ, and the constant voltage element 66101 uses an element having a breakdown voltage of, for example, 5.1 V. Therefore, through the voltage-reducing circuit 6610, in the determination circuit 661, the peak voltage Vp of the PWM signal S is stepped down to the breakdown voltage V_zd ( Figure 6 In addition, the capacitance of the capacitor 66110 of the smoothing circuit 6611 is set to 4.7 μF, for example.

[0071] Here, if the input current of the capacitor 66110 is larger than the output current, the voltage value of the voltage V1 between the two ends generated by the smoothing circuit 6611 when the duty ratio of the PWM signal S is small becomes larger than the value obtained by multiplying the voltage value set by the step-down circuit 6610 by the duty ratio, so even when the duty ratio of the PWM signal S is small, the selection circuit 6612 may operate and the lamps 6501 to 6503 may be turned on. On the other hand, if the input current of the capacitor 66110 is smaller than the output current, the voltage value of the voltage V1 between the two ends generated by the smoothing circuit 6611 when the duty ratio of the PWM signal S is large becomes smaller than the voltage value set by the step-down circuit 6610, so even when the duty ratio of the PWM signal S is large, the selection circuit 6612 may not operate and the lamps 6501 to 6503 may not be turned on.

[0072] Therefore, in the smoothing circuit 6611, by setting the resistance value of the resistor 66111 to, for example, 4.7 kΩ, the resistance value of the resistor 66112 to 2.2 kΩ, and the resistance value of the resistor 66113 to 680 Ω, the input current of the capacitor 66110 and the output current are made close to each other, and the selection circuit 6612 operates appropriately according to the duty ratio of the PWM signal S. For example, in these examples, the input current of the capacitor 66110 is 2.0 to 3.8 mA, and the output current is set to a value obtained by adding 2.86 mA to the control current of the switch element 66120 of the selection circuit 6612.

[0073] In addition, the switch element 66120 of the selection circuit 6612 uses, for example, an element having an on-state voltage Vf of, for example, 0.56 to 0.68 V and an amplification factor hfe of about 400. Here, when the resistance value of the resistor 66121 of the selection circuit 6612 is too small, the control current or base current of the control element flowing through the switch element 66120 becomes large, and thus the drive voltage V2 and the control voltage V3 of the selection circuit 6612 generated by the smoothing circuit 6611 are easily changed by switching the on and off state of the switch element 66120. In addition, when the resistance value of the resistor 66121 of the selection circuit 6612 is too large, the control current or base current of the control element flowing through the switch element 66120 becomes small, and thus the on-state voltage Vf of the switch element 66120 is easily changed. That is, when the control current value set by the resistor 66121 is smaller than the value obtained by dividing the sum of the currents flowing through the lamps 6501 to 6503 set by the resistors 6511 to 6513 by the amplification factor hfe of the switch element 66120, the switch element 66120 does not conduct. That is, due to the deviation of the amplification factor hfe of the switch element 66120, the switch element 66120 may be turned on or off. Therefore, in order to make the voltage value V_Hi of the control voltage V3 set according to the driving voltage V2 generated by the smoothing circuit 6611 when the duty ratio of the PWM signal S is large and the resistance value of the resistor 66121 of the selection circuit 6612 greater than the on-voltage Vf of the switch element 66120 (V_Hi>Vf), and the voltage value V_Lo of the control voltage V3 when the duty ratio of the PWM signal S is small is less than the on-voltage Vf (V_Lo<Vf)( Figure 7 In this embodiment, the resistance value of the resistor 66121 is set to 2.0 kΩ. In addition, the capacitance of the capacitor 66122 is set to 0.1 μF.

[0074] According to the above configuration, when the user operates the switch 51 and selects the operation mode, the main body control unit 52 controls the input of the electric blower 2 according to the selected operation mode, and generates a PWM signal S, which is supplied to the drive circuit 64 of the cleaning tool 6 via the power line L1 and the ground line L2, and the drive circuit 64 drives the motor 63, and the rotating cleaning body 62 rotates by the drive of the motor 63. Therefore, the user holds the hand operation unit 50, and while moving the cleaning tool 6 to the desired dust collection target area on the dust collection part, the user scrapes the dust from the dust collection part by the rotation of the rotating cleaning body 62, and the scraped dust is sucked into the separation part 3 together with the air by the suction force of the electric blower 2 acting from the dust collection port. In the separation part 3, the dust is separated and captured from the dust-containing air sucked. The air separated from the dust by the separation part 3 is discharged from the vacuum cleaner body 5 through the exhaust port 54 while cooling the electric blower 2.

[0075] For example, when the electric vacuum cleaner CL is operating in the weak mode, the duty cycle of the PWM signal S is 40%. Therefore, in the determination circuit 661 of the determination mechanism 66, the voltage value V_Lo of the control voltage V3 set by the step-down circuit 6610, the smoothing circuit 6611 and the selection circuit 6612 is lower than the conduction voltage Vf of the switch element 66120. Therefore, the switch element 66120 is not turned on, and thus in the notification mechanism 65, only the lamp 6500 that is not connected to the switch element 66120 becomes lit, and the lamps 6501 to 6503 connected to the switch element 66120 become extinguished. That is, the notification mechanism 65 becomes a display format in which only the lamp 650 is lit, and indirectly notifies the user that the electric vacuum cleaner CL or the electric blower 2 is operating in the weak mode ( Figure 4 (a) represents an example).

[0076] On the other hand, when the electric vacuum cleaner CL is operated in the strong mode, the duty cycle of the PWM signal S is 100%, so in the determination circuit 661 of the determination mechanism 66, the voltage value V_Hi of the control voltage V3 set by the step-down circuit 6610, the smoothing circuit 6611 and the selection circuit 6612 exceeds the conduction voltage Vf of the switch element 66120. Therefore, the switch element 66120 is turned on, and thereby in addition to the lamp 6500, the lamps 6501 to 6503 in the notification mechanism 65 are also turned on. That is, the notification mechanism 65 is in a display form in which all the lamps 650 are turned on, and indirectly notifies the user that the electric vacuum cleaner CL or the electric blower 2 is operating in the strong mode ( Figure 4 (b) represents an example).

[0077] When the operation of the electric vacuum cleaner CL is stopped by the operation of the switch 51, the duty ratio of the PWM signal S becomes 0, and therefore all the lamps 650 of the notification mechanism 65 are turned off.

[0078] In this way, by forming a structure in which the motor 63 of the cleaning tool 6 is PWM-controlled according to the duty ratio corresponding to the input of the electric blower 2 in the operation mode of the electric vacuum cleaner CL, and providing the notification mechanism 65 capable of notifying in a plurality of different notification forms and the determination mechanism 66 for switching the notification form of the notification mechanism 65 according to the duty ratio in the cleaning tool 6, the DC power supply unit 1 can be used as a power supply, and while the motor 63 corresponding to the operation mode is driven, the user can recognize the information related to the operation mode through the notification mechanism 65. The cleaning tool 6 is located near the part to be cleaned and close to the sight of the user during cleaning, so that the user can easily perceive the current operation mode or the input size of the electric blower 2 and other information related to the operation mode by referring to the notification of the notification mechanism 65 while cleaning.

[0079] Furthermore, since the operation mode is determined using the PWM signal S communicated through two lines, the power line L1 and the ground line L2 , no separate communication line is required, and a simple configuration is possible.

[0080] Furthermore, the larger the input of electric blower 2 is, the more lights 650 of notification mechanism 65 are turned on. Therefore, the user can intuitively perceive the operation mode or the input size of electric blower 2 based on the notification form of notification mechanism 65.

[0081] In addition, since the motor 63 can utilize the entire electric power of the DC power supply unit 1 at most, the control width of the operation corresponding to the duty ratio of the PWM signal S can be set to be large.

[0082] Furthermore, the duty cycle of the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 corresponding to the operation mode in which the input of the electric blower 2 is relatively large is set to be more than 1.5 times the duty cycle corresponding to the operation mode in which the input of the electric blower 2 is relatively small. This allows the deviation in the determination sensitivity of the determination mechanism 66 caused by the deviation in the constituent elements to be absorbed without using expensive components such as comparators, and allows the determination mechanism 66 with a simple structure to determine information related to the operation mode based on the duty cycle.

[0083] For example, the determination mechanism 66 includes a switching element 66120, to the control terminal of which is applied a voltage corresponding to the product of the voltage after the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 is stepped down and the duty cycle, or a divided voltage thereof. By switching the notification form of the notification mechanism 65 according to the on-off switching of the switching element 66120, the influence of the output voltage fluctuation on the determination sensitivity of the determination mechanism 66 when a battery is used as the DC power supply unit 1 can be mitigated by stepping down the voltage, and a simple and low-cost determination mechanism 66 can be formed.

[0084] (Second Embodiment)

[0085] Next, refer to Figure 8 The second embodiment will be described. Note that the same components and functions as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

[0086] In this embodiment, in the main control unit 52, an automatic mode is set as an operation mode of the electric vacuum cleaner CL in addition to the strong mode and the weak mode. The automatic mode is to autonomously set the input of the electric blower 2, i.e., the suction force, and the duty cycle of the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 according to the suction conditions.

[0087] Here, the so-called dust collection condition refers to, for example, the type of floor constituting the dust collection part, or the amount of dust collection by the dust collection part, etc. That is, the following operation mode may be provided: a dust collection condition detection mechanism such as a type detection mechanism for detecting the type of the dust collection part and / or a dust amount detection mechanism for detecting the amount of dust collection is combined, and the main body control unit 52 automatically selects and sets the input of the electric blower 2 and the duty ratio of the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63. The type detection mechanism and the dust amount detection mechanism may be any known configuration.

[0088] The automatic mode can set the input of the electric blower 2 and the duty ratio of the PWM signal S steplessly and arbitrarily within a prescribed range according to the dust collection condition, or can set it in stages by selecting a mode corresponding to the dust collection condition from a plurality of modes in which the input of the electric blower 2 and the duty ratio of the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 are pre-set in combination. In either case, it is preferred that the duty ratio of the PWM signal S corresponding to the operation mode in which the input of the electric blower 2 is larger is set to be greater than the duty ratio of the PWM signal S corresponding to the operation mode in which the input of the electric blower 2 is smaller.

[0089] In the example shown in the figure, in the automatic mode, a plurality of modes are set in which the duty ratio of the input of the electric blower 2 and the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 are pre-set in combination, for example, automatic modes 1 and 2. For example, in automatic modes 1 and 2, the duty ratio of the input of the electric blower 2 and the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 is set to be greater than the weak mode and less than the strong mode.

[0090] exist Figure 8 In the example shown in (a), in automatic mode 1, the input of the electric blower 2 is larger than that in the weak mode and smaller than that in the automatic mode 2, and the duty ratio of the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 is the same as that in the weak mode. In addition, in automatic mode 2, the input of the electric blower 2 is larger than that in the weak mode and the automatic mode 1 and smaller than that in the strong mode, and the duty ratio of the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 is the same as that in the strong mode. In this case, the input of the electric blower 2 is different in all the operation modes, but in this embodiment, the notification form of the notification mechanism 65 becomes two.

[0091] In addition, you can also Figure 8 As shown in the example (b), the duty ratios of the input of the electric blower 2 and the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 in automatic mode 1 are made the same as those in the weak mode, and the duty ratios of the input of the electric blower 2 and the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 in automatic mode 2 are made the same as those in the strong mode.

[0092] Then, when the user operates the switch 51 to select the automatic mode, the main body control unit 52 selects the automatic mode 1 or the automatic mode 2 based on the detection result of the dust collection condition detection mechanism. For example, when the dust collection part is a carpet or other dust collection part that is easy to be entangled with dust and the rotation resistance of the rotating cleaning body 62 is large, or when the amount of dust in the dust collection part is more than a predetermined amount, and when a stronger dust collection ability is required, the automatic mode 2 is selected, and the automatic mode 1 is selected in other cases. The main body control unit 52 controls the input of the electric blower 2 preset in the selected mode, and generates a PWM signal S, which is supplied to the drive circuit 64 of the cleaning tool 6 via the power line L1 and the ground line L2, and the drive circuit 64 drives the motor 63, and the rotating cleaning body 62 is rotated by the drive of the motor 63.

[0093] When the electric vacuum cleaner CL is operated in automatic mode 1, the switch element 66120 is not turned on, as in the case of operating in weak mode. Therefore, in the notification mechanism 65, only the lamp 6500 that is not connected to the switch element 66120 becomes lit, and the lamps 6501 to 6503 connected to the switch element 66120 become extinguished.

[0094] On the other hand, when the vacuum cleaner CL is operated in the automatic mode 2, similarly to the case of operating in the strong mode, the switch element 66120 is turned on, whereby the lamps 6501 to 6503 other than the lamp 6500 in the notification mechanism 65 are turned on.

[0095] In this way, by becoming a structure in which the motor 63 of the cleaning tool 6 is PWM-controlled with a duty cycle corresponding to the input of the electric blower 2 in the operation mode of the electric vacuum cleaner CL, and having a notification mechanism 65 that can notify in a plurality of different notification forms and a determination mechanism 66 that switches the notification form of the notification mechanism 65 according to the duty cycle, etc., which is the same structure as the first embodiment, in the electric vacuum cleaner CL using the DC power supply unit 1 as the power supply, the same effect as the first embodiment can be exerted, that is, the driving of the motor 63 corresponding to the operation mode can be realized, and the user can identify information related to the operation mode through the notification mechanism 65.

[0096] In addition, since the main control unit 52 automatically sets the input of the electric blower 2 and the duty cycle corresponding to the input according to the dust collection condition, that is, the automatic mode, the dust collection capacity can be automatically increased or decreased according to the dust collection condition, the utilization of the electric power supplied from the DC power supply unit 1 can be optimized, and the user can recognize the result in the form of a notification by the notification mechanism 65.

[0097] In particular, in the automatic mode, even when selecting from a pre-set combination of the duty ratio of the input of the electric blower 2 and the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63, by setting the duty ratio corresponding to the case where the input of the electric blower 2 is set relatively large to at least 1.5 times the duty ratio corresponding to the case where the input of the electric blower 2 is set relatively small, it is possible to absorb the deviation in the determination sensitivity of the determination mechanism 66 caused by the deviation in the constituent elements even without using, for example, a high-precision and expensive component such as a comparator, and to determine the information notified by the notification mechanism 65 based on the duty ratio by the simply constructed determination mechanism 66.

[0098] In addition, in the above example, in the notification mechanism 65, the weak mode and the automatic mode 1 become the same notification form, and the strong mode and the automatic mode 2 become the same notification form. Therefore, in order to prevent the user from misunderstanding the weak mode and the strong mode selected by the user himself, a notification content different from the automatic mode can also be added.

[0099] (Third Embodiment)

[0100] Next, refer to Fig. 9The third embodiment will be described. Note that the same components and functions as those in the respective embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

[0101] In the present embodiment, the determination circuit 661 of the determination unit 66 includes a comparison circuit 6613 instead of the voltage step-down circuit 6610 and the smoothing circuit 6611 .

[0102] The comparison circuit 6613 uses a comparator 66130 to compare a voltage slightly smaller than the peak voltage of the PWM signal S or its related values ​​such as a divided voltage and a voltage corresponding to the product of the peak voltage and the duty cycle or its related values ​​such as a divided voltage, and switches the on and off state of the switching element 66120 according to the comparison result, thereby switching the notification form of the notification mechanism 65 according to the switching of the on and off state.

[0103] In the present embodiment, the comparison circuit 6613 is a rectifier element 66131 such as a diode connected to the first input terminal or the inverting input terminal of the comparator 66130, and a resistor 66132 which is a current limiting impedance element connected to the second input terminal or the non-inverting input terminal of the comparator 66130, which are connected in parallel with the DC power supply unit 1. That is, the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 is supplied to the rectifier element 66131 and the resistor 66132, respectively. The rectifier element 66131 is connected to a capacitor 66133 as a capacitance element for smoothing, and the resistor 66132 is connected to a parallel circuit of a capacitor 66134 as a capacitance element for smoothing and a resistor 66135 as an impedance element.

[0104] The output terminal of the comparator 66130 is connected to, for example, a control terminal of the switch element 66120 of the selection circuit 6612. A predetermined voltage is supplied to the positive power supply terminal of the comparator 66130, and a negative power supply terminal is grounded. The present invention is not limited thereto, and the output terminal of the comparator 66130 may also be connected to any circuit that switches the on / off state of the switch element 66120 according to its output.

[0105] Then, the circuit constant of the comparison circuit 6613 is set to constitute a voltage extraction circuit that extracts a voltage value slightly smaller than the peak voltage of the PWM signal S or its related value, and the product of the peak voltage and the duty cycle of the PWM signal S or its related value, and inputs them into the comparator 66130.

[0106] For example, the resistance values ​​as the impedance values ​​of the resistors 66132 and 66135 are set so that the input current and the output current of the capacitor 66134 are substantially equal, and the capacitances of the capacitors 66133 and 66134 are each set to 4.7 μF, for example.

[0107] In the comparison circuit 6613, the input current of the capacitor 66133 is considerably larger than the output current, so a voltage obtained by subtracting a predetermined value, which is a forward voltage of the rectifying element 66131, from the peak voltage or a value related thereto is input to the first input terminal of the comparator 66130. On the other hand, since the input current of the capacitor 66134 is substantially equal to the output current, the product of the peak voltage and the duty cycle or a value related thereto is input to the second input terminal of the comparator 66130.

[0108] In the case of an operation mode in which the input of the electric blower 2 is small and the duty ratio of the PWM signal S is small, the product of the peak voltage and the duty ratio or the associated value thereof becomes smaller than the peak voltage, so the input of the first input terminal of the comparator 66130 becomes larger than the input of the second input terminal, thereby becoming a low level output. Therefore, the switch element 66120 is not turned on, and the lamps 6501 to 6503 of the notification mechanism 65 become extinguished.

[0109] In addition, in the case of an operation mode in which the input of the electric blower 2 is large and the duty ratio of the PWM signal S is large, the product of the peak voltage and the duty ratio or a related value thereof is close to the peak voltage, so the input of the second input terminal of the comparator 66130 becomes larger than the input of the first input terminal, and thus becomes a high level output. Therefore, the switch element 66120 is turned on, and the lamps 6501 to 6503 of the notification mechanism 65 become lit.

[0110] In this way, by providing a determination mechanism 66 that switches the notification form of the notification mechanism 65 according to the duty cycle on the cleaning tool 6, etc., which is the same as the configuration of each embodiment, in the electric vacuum cleaner CL that uses the DC power supply unit 1 as the power supply, the same effect as the configuration of each embodiment can be achieved, that is, the driving of the motor 63 corresponding to the operation mode can be realized, and the user can identify information related to the operation mode through the notification mechanism 65.

[0111] In addition, the voltage detection accuracy of the comparator 66130 is good, so even if the difference between the duty ratio of the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 corresponding to the operation mode in which the input of the electric blower 2 is relatively large and the duty ratio corresponding to the operation mode in which the input of the electric blower 2 is relatively small is small, the duty ratio can be determined. Therefore, for example, even if the difference between the duty ratio of the PWM signal S in the operation mode in which the input of the electric blower 2 is relatively small and the duty ratio of the PWM signal S in the operation mode in which the input of the electric blower 2 is relatively large is not increased, the information related to the operation mode can be determined by the determination unit 66. Therefore, the degree of freedom in setting the duty ratio of the PWM signal S in each operation mode can be increased.

[0112] Furthermore, the voltage values ​​compared by the comparator 66130 are values ​​that are positively correlated with the peak voltage of the output voltage of the DC power supply unit 1, that is, the peak voltage of the PWM signal S, and therefore, even if the output voltage fluctuates when a battery is used as the DC power supply unit 1, the magnitude relationship between them is hardly affected. Therefore, the influence of the fluctuation of the output voltage of the DC power supply unit 1 on the determination sensitivity of the determination mechanism 66 can be mitigated.

[0113] (Other embodiments)

[0114] In the above-mentioned embodiments, when there are three or more operation modes, the notification form of the notification mechanism 65 may be switched in a different manner for each operation mode by the determination mechanism 66. In this case, a plurality of determination circuits 661 are set according to the number of lamps 560 or the operation mode, and are set to generate a control voltage for each lamp 650 to be switched on / off, thereby making it possible to perform notifications in different notification forms according to the plurality of operation modes by the notification mechanism 65. As an example, Fig.10 As in the fourth embodiment shown in the figure, when the weak mode, the automatic mode (automatic mode 1, automatic mode 2), and the strong mode are set as the operation mode, three determination circuits 661 are provided, and the notification form of the notification mechanism 65 is made different in each of these modes. In this example, the duty ratio of the PWM signal S in the operation mode with a large input to the electric blower 2 is set to 1.5 times or more relative to the duty ratio of the PWM signal S in the operation mode with a small input to the electric blower 2. As in the first and second embodiments, for example, without using expensive components with high detection accuracy such as comparators, it is possible to absorb the deviation of the determination sensitivity of the determination mechanism 66 caused by the deviation of the constituent elements, and the determination mechanism 66 with a simple structure can determine the information related to the operation mode based on the duty ratio. Of course, as in the third embodiment, a plurality of comparison circuits 6613 using comparators 66130 may be provided according to the number of lamps 650, and the notification form of the notification mechanism 65 may be made different in each of the operation modes.

[0115] In addition, as different notification forms of the notification mechanism 65, an indicator in which the number of lit lights 560 of the same luminous color is different is shown as an example, but it is not limited to this. For example, different lighting states of the lights 560 such as lit and flashing, different brightness of the lights 560, different display colors of the notification mechanism 65 by using multiple lights 560 of different colors, or any combination of these, any different notification forms may be used.

[0116] Several embodiments of the present invention have been described, but these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These new embodiments can be implemented in various other ways, and various omissions, substitutions, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and their variations are included in the scope and purpose of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the scope of the patent claim and its equivalent scope.

Claims

1. An electric vacuum cleaner, which operates with a DC power supply as a power supply, characterized in that: have: Vacuum cleaner body; as well as The cleaning tool is electrically connected to the vacuum cleaner body through two wires, a power line and a ground line. The vacuum cleaner body comprises: Electric blower to generate suction force; as well as The control means selectively sets the operation of the electric blower to one of a plurality of different operation modes. The cleaning tool has: a motor, which is PWM-controlled according to a duty ratio corresponding to the input of the electric blower in the operation mode, for vacuuming the vacuumed part; Notification bodies, which can notify in a number of different notification forms; as well as The determining means switches the notification form of the notifying means according to the duty ratio.

2. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, characterized in that An automatic mode is provided as an operation mode, and in this automatic mode, the control means automatically sets an input to the electric blower and the duty ratio corresponding to the input according to a dust collection condition.

3. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The duty ratio corresponding to a case where an input to the electric blower in the operation mode is relatively large is 1.5 times or more of the duty ratio corresponding to a case where an input to the electric blower in the operation mode is relatively small.

4. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The determination mechanism includes a switching element, a control terminal of which is applied with a voltage corresponding to the product of a voltage after stepping down a PWM signal for driving the motor and the duty cycle or a divided voltage thereof, and the determination mechanism switches the notification form of the notification mechanism according to the switching of the on and off state of the switching element.

5. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The determination mechanism comprises: a comparator for comparing a peak voltage or a related value of a PWM signal for driving the motor with a voltage corresponding to the product of the peak voltage and the duty cycle or a related value thereof; and a switching element for switching on and off according to the comparison result of the comparator, and the determination mechanism switches the notification form of the notification mechanism according to the switching on and off of the switching element.

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