Vacuum cleaner

Abstract

To provide a vacuum cleaner allowing a user to recognize information relating to an operation mode while operating with a DC power supply part used as a power supply and driving a motor according to the operation mode.SOLUTION: A vacuum cleaner operates with a DC power supply part 1 used as a power supply. The vacuum cleaner comprises a cleaner body, and a cleaning tool 6 electrically connected to the cleaner body through two wires of a power line and a ground line. The cleaner body includes an electric blower for generating dust-sucking force, and a body control part for selectively setting an operation of the electric blower to any one of a plurality of operation modes with different inputs. The cleaning tool 6 includes a motor for cleaning a cleaning object part, being PWM-controlled at a duty ratio according to the input of the electric blower in the operation mode, notification means 65 capable of notifying in a plurality of different notification modes, and determination means 66 for switching the notification mode of the notification means 65 according to the duty ratio.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

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

[0002] Conventionally, there is known a vacuum cleaner that operates using a commercial AC power supply as a power source, in which a rotating cleaning body rotated by a motor and a notification means such as a lamp are provided on a floor brush, which is a cleaning tool. In this vacuum cleaner, the electric blower is phase-angle controlled for the positive voltage half-cycle of the AC, and the floor brush smoothes this voltage and compares it with a voltage comparison circuit to display the operation strength, i.e., the operation mode, of the electric blower on the notification means, and the motor is phase-angle controlled based on the power suitable for the part to be cleaned, which is calculated based on the motor current value, for the negative voltage half-cycle of the AC to set the driving power of the motor. Since the floor brush is located close to the line of sight of the user when cleaning, providing the notification means on the floor brush makes it easier for the user to visually check the operation mode of the electric blower while cleaning. In addition, by utilizing the fact that the AC power supply is divided into positive and negative for each half cycle, one side is used to display the operation mode and the other side is used to control the rotation speed of the motor, so that the operation 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 source have come into widespread use. Even in the case of electric vacuum cleaners that use such DC power supplies, it is desirable to be able to notify the user of the operating mode of the electric blower on the floor brush. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6258143 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The problem that the present invention aims to solve is to provide a vacuum cleaner that allows a user to recognize information related to the operation mode while operating using a DC power supply unit as a power supply and driving a motor in accordance with the operation mode. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The electric vacuum cleaner of the embodiment operates using a DC power supply unit as a power supply. The electric vacuum cleaner includes a vacuum cleaner body and a cleaning tool electrically connected to the vacuum cleaner body by two wires, a power line and a ground line. The vacuum cleaner body includes an electric blower that generates a suction force, and a control means that selectively sets the operation of the electric blower to one of a plurality of operation modes with different inputs. The cleaning tool includes a motor for cleaning a part to be cleaned that is PWM controlled with a duty ratio according to the input of the electric blower in the operation mode, a notification means that can notify in a plurality of different notification modes, and a determination means that switches the notification mode of the notification means according to the duty ratio. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] 2 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a notification unit and a determination unit of the vacuum cleaner of the first embodiment. FIG. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of the cleaning tool of the vacuum cleaner. [Diagram 3] FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4A is a plan view showing an example of an alerting manner of the alerting means in weak mode operation, and FIG. 4B is a plan view showing an example of an alerting manner of the alerting means in strong mode operation. [Diagram 5] 4 is a table showing an example of a correspondence relationship between an operation mode of the electric vacuum cleaner, an input to an electric blower, a duty ratio of a PWM signal for driving a motor, and a notification mode of a notification means. [Figure 6] 4 is a graph showing a step-down of the peak voltage of a PWM signal by a step-down circuit of the vacuum cleaner. [Figure 7]4 is a graph showing the relationship between the on-voltage of a switch element of the vacuum cleaner and the control voltage at each duty ratio. [Figure 8] 13 is a table showing an example of the correspondence between the operating mode of the vacuum cleaner of the second embodiment, the input of the electric blower, the duty ratio of the PWM signal for driving the motor, and the notification mode of the notification means, where (a) shows one example and (b) shows another example. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a part of a determination means of a vacuum cleaner according to a third embodiment. [Figure 10] 13 is a table showing an example of a correspondence relationship between an operation mode of the electric vacuum cleaner according to the fourth embodiment, an input to an electric blower, a duty ratio of a PWM signal for driving a motor, and a notification mode of a notification means. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] (First embodiment) Hereinafter, the first embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0009] In Fig. 3, CL denotes a vacuum cleaner. In this embodiment, the vacuum cleaner CL is a suction type vacuum cleaner that uses a DC power supply unit 1 as a power supply and sucks dust together with air into a separation unit 3 by negative pressure generated by driving an electric blower 2, which is a suction source. The electric blower 2 is also called a suction motor, etc., and generates a suction force when operated. The DC power supply unit 1 may be a battery or a secondary battery, or may be an AC-DC adapter that is detachably attached to a commercial AC power source. In this embodiment, the DC power supply unit 1 is a battery or a secondary battery, and the vacuum cleaner CL is a cordless vacuum cleaner.

[0010] 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 will be described as a stick type / handy type electric vacuum cleaner to which the cleaning tool 6 can be attached and detached directly to the vacuum cleaner body 5 or indirectly via a straight extension tube 7 that is a tube section. However, the electric vacuum cleaner CL is not limited to this, and may be a floor-traveling type or a canister type in which the vacuum cleaner body 5 and the cleaning tool 6 are detachable using a tube section such as a hose body, or an upright type in which the cleaning tool 6 is integrally connected to the vacuum cleaner body 5, etc.

[0011] The vacuum cleaner body 5 is formed with a hand-operated control unit 50, which is a grip for cleaning operations. The hand-operated control unit 50 is provided with a switch 51, which is a setting means for a user to select and set the operating intensity, i.e., the operating mode, of the vacuum cleaner CL. The vacuum cleaner body 5 also is provided with a body control unit 52, which is a control means for operating the electric blower 2 according to the operating mode set by the switch 51. The 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, for example, the energization time or the amount of energization, according to the operating mode.

[0012] As the operation mode, a plurality of modes, such as a strong mode and a weak mode, are set with different inputs to the electric blower 2. The strong mode is an operation mode in which the input, i.e., the suction power, of the electric blower 2 is relatively large, and the weak mode is an operation mode in which the input, i.e., the suction power, of the electric blower 2 is relatively small. The number of operation modes is not limited to two, and three or more modes may be set.

[0013] In this embodiment, the electric blower 2 is built into the vacuum cleaner body 5, and the separation section 3 is detachably arranged therein. The separation section 3 is, for example, a dust collection unit such as a cyclone dust collector for separating dust from dust-containing air by centrifugal separation. The vacuum cleaner body 5 is also formed with a connection port 53 that communicates with the separation section 3. The cleaning tool 6 is mechanically and fluidically connected to the connection port 53 indirectly via an extension tube 7 or directly. The vacuum cleaner body 5 is also formed with an exhaust port 54 for discharging the air from which dust has been separated.

[0014] The cleaning tool 6 shown in Figures 2, 3, 4(a) and 4(b) is also called a cleaning head or a floor brush, and cleans a part to be cleaned, which is a surface to be cleaned such as a floor. The cleaning tool 6 includes a case body 60 and a connection tube 61 which is a connection part for connecting to the extension tube 7 or the connection port 53 of the vacuum cleaner body 5.

[0015] The case body 60 has a dust collection port. The case body 60 also has a rotary cleaning body 62 rotatably attached thereto. The rotary cleaning body 62 is rotated by a motor 63 disposed in the case body 60 to sweep up dust from the part to be cleaned to the dust collection port. That is, the motor 63 is for cleaning the part to be cleaned, and the cleaning tool 6 has an active brush structure. In this embodiment, the rotary cleaning body 62 is disposed in the dust collection port. In the illustrated example, the dust collection port is fluidically connected to the connection pipe 61, and the connection pipe 61 is mechanically connected to the extension pipe 7, so that the dust collection port and the extension pipe 7 are fluidically connected via the connection pipe 61, and a suction force or negative pressure generated by the operation of the electric blower 2 acts on the dust collection port. That is, in this embodiment, the dust collection port is a suction port for sucking dust-containing air into the separation unit 3, and the cleaning tool 6 is a suction port body.

[0016] The motor 63 is PWM controlled. The motor 63 is driven by a drive circuit 64 arranged in 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 energization / de-energization, 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 main body 5 side. In other words, the peak voltage value of the PWM signal S is equal or approximately equal to the DC voltage value supplied from the DC power supply unit 1. The power line L1 and the ground line L2 allow both power supply and information transmission from the vacuum cleaner main 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 a switch element provided in the main body control unit 52 of the vacuum cleaner main body 5.

[0017] The power line L1 and the ground line L2 are electrically connected to terminals formed on the connection pipe 61, for example. These terminals are electrically connected to terminal receptacles formed on the extension pipe 7 and the connection port 53 by mechanical connection between the connection pipe 61 and the extension pipe 7 and / or the connection port 53. The connection between the terminals and the terminal receptacles electrically connects the power line L1 and the ground line L2 to the DC power supply unit 1 and the main body control unit 52 arranged in the vacuum cleaner main body 5. In this embodiment, the cleaning tool 6 is electrically connected to the vacuum cleaner main body 5 by only two wires, the power line L1 and the ground line L2.

[0018] Motor 63 is operated in conjunction with the ON operation of electric blower 2 by switch 51, and is stopped in conjunction with the OFF operation. However, without being limited thereto, for example, while electric blower 2 is in operation, motor 63 may be individually switchable on and off.

[0019] The operation of the motor 63 is set according to the operation mode set by the switch 51. The duty ratio of the PWM signal S is linked to the input of the electric blower 2 in the operation mode and is set according to this input. In this embodiment, the duty ratio of the PWM signal S corresponding to the operation mode in which the input of the electric blower 2 is large is set to be equal to or larger than the duty ratio of the PWM signal S corresponding to the operation mode in which the input of the electric blower 2 is small. For example, the duty ratio of the PWM signal S is set to be larger in the operation mode in which the input of the electric blower 2 is larger. Therefore, the input of the electric blower 2 and the duty ratio of the PWM signal S in each operation mode are set as one pair or set, and in this embodiment, these values ​​are positively correlated with each other. In this embodiment, for example, when driving in strong mode, the duty ratio of the PWM signal S is relatively large, so that the rotation speed and rotation torque of the motor 63 and the rotating cleaning body 62 are set high, and when driving in weak mode, the duty ratio of the PWM signal S is smaller than when operating in strong mode, so that the rotation speed and rotation torque of the motor 63 and the rotating cleaning body 62 are set smaller than when operating in strong mode.

[0020] The cleaning tool 6 is also provided with a notification means 65 that notifies information. The notification means 65 is a display means that displays information visibly to a user, and is disposed in a position that is visible to the user during cleaning, such as the upper part of the case body 60. In the illustrated example, the notification means 65 is disposed at a position near one side of the upper part of the case body 60, extending in the left-right direction.

[0021] The notification means 65 has a plurality of different display modes. In this embodiment, the notification means 65 is composed of a plurality of lamps 650 which are light-emitting elements. In the illustrated example, the notification means 65 is an indicator in which the lamps 650 are arranged side by side and can notify information related to the operation mode, for example, the current operation mode, according to the number of the lit lamps 650. That is, in this embodiment, the notification means 65 has a plurality of notification modes with different numbers of the lit lamps 650, and the more the number of the lit lamps 650, the more it notifies that the electric blower 2 is operating in an operation mode with a large input, suction power, or cleaning capacity. The lamps 650 are, for example, LEDs. These lamps 650 may all be the same, or may be used in combination with lamps having different light emission colors, forward voltages, etc.

[0022] The notification mode of the notification means 65 can be switched by the determination means 66. The determination means 66 is also called a notification selection circuit or the like, and determines the information to be notified by the notification means 65 from the duty ratio of the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63, and switches the notification mode of the notification means 65 in accordance with the determination. In this embodiment, the determination means 66 switches the number of lit lamps 650 of the notification means 65 in accordance with the determination.

[0023] In this embodiment, the notification means 55 and the determination means 66 are unitized as a notification control circuit and provided in the cleaning tool 6, and are connected in parallel to the motor 63 to the power line L1 and the ground line L2 when viewed from the cleaner body 5 side.

[0024] FIG. 1 shows a specific example of the notification means 65 and the determination means 66. In FIG.

[0025] The lamps 650 of the notification means 65 include, for example, four lamps 6500-6503 connected in parallel. Resistors 6510-6513, which are current-limiting impedance elements, are connected in series to these lamps 6500-6503, respectively. In the example shown in the figure, the resistors 6510-6513 are connected to the anode sides of the lamps 6500-6503, which are LEDs, but the resistors 6510-6513 may be connected to the cathode sides of the lamps 6500-6503.

[0026] The cathode of the lamp 6500 is grounded, and the lamp 6500 is always lit when the motor 63 (shown in FIG. 2) is in operation, regardless of the operation mode. The cathodes of the lamps 6501 to 6503 are connected to the determination means 66, and the lamps 6501 to 6503 are lit according to the operation of the motor 63 (shown in FIG. 2), that is, the operation mode. In this embodiment, the lamp 650 includes four lamps 6500 to 6503, but the number is not limited, and may be two, three, or five or more.

[0027] The determination means 66 includes a voltage generating circuit 660 that generates a voltage for operating the notification means 65, that is, for lighting the lamp 650, from the input of the DC power supply unit 1, that is, the PWM signal S. In the illustrated example, the voltage generating circuit 660 is a constant voltage circuit configured with a series circuit of a resistor 6600 that is an impedance element for circuit protection, a rectifying element 6601 such as a diode for preventing reverse current, and a regulator 6602. For example, a three-terminal regulator is used as the regulator 6602. On the input side of the regulator 6602, a capacitor 6603 that is a capacitance element for stabilizing the input voltage and preventing noise is connected in parallel to the regulator 6602 with respect to the cathode side of the rectifying element 6601, and on the output side of the regulator 6602, a capacitor 6604 that is a capacitance element for stabilizing the output voltage is connected in parallel to the notification means 65, and these capacitors 6603 and 6604 are grounded together with the ground terminal of the regulator 6602.

[0028] The resistor 6600 is a voltage step-down resistor for preventing heat damage to the regulator 6602 due to the input of the peak voltage of the PWM signal S during the on-period of the PWM signal S. In other words, the resistor 6600 disperses excessive heat generated in the regulator 6602 by generating heat due to voltage step-down.

[0029] Capacitor 6603 stores power for driving lamp 650 during the off period of PWM signal S when the voltage of PWM signal S is 0, that is, lower than the input voltage required by regulator 6602. Also, rectifying element 6601 is provided to prevent the power stored in capacitor 6603 during the off period of PWM signal S from escaping to the vacuum cleaner main body 5 (shown in FIG. 3) side or the motor 63 (shown in FIG. 2) side.

[0030] The determination means 66 further includes a determination circuit 661 connected in parallel to the voltage generating circuit 660 for the DC power supply unit 1. The determination circuit 661 determines the operation mode based on the PWM signal S, and controls the turning on / off of the lamps 6501-6503 of the notification means 65 according to the determined operation mode. In this embodiment, the determination circuit 661 includes a step-down circuit 6610, a smoothing circuit 6611, and a selection circuit 6612.

[0031] The step-down circuit 6610 steps down the peak voltage of the PWM signal S to a predetermined voltage. In the illustrated example, the step-down circuit 6610 includes a resistor 66100 which is an impedance element for current limiting, and a constant voltage element 66101 is connected in parallel to an electric path from the resistor 66100 to the smoothing circuit 6611. For example, a Zener diode having a breakdown voltage equal to a predetermined voltage lower than the peak voltage of the PWM signal S is used as the constant voltage element 66101.

[0032] The smoothing circuit 6611 smoothes the PWM signal S stepped down by the step-down circuit 6610, and extracts a voltage for driving the selection circuit 6612. The smoothing circuit 6611 and the step-down circuit 6610 form a power supply stabilization circuit. In the example shown in the figure, the smoothing circuit 6611 is a parallel circuit of a capacitor 66110 which is a smoothing capacitance element, a resistor 66111 which is an impedance element for setting a voltage value, and a series circuit of resistors 66112 and 66113 which are impedance elements, and is connected in parallel with a constant voltage element 66101 to a resistor 66100 of the step-down circuit 6610.

[0033] Capacitor 66110 reduces the voltage by step-down circuit 6610, thereby suppressing the variation or fluctuation of the input current caused by the variation or fluctuation of the peak voltage of the output voltage when a battery is used as DC power supply unit 1.

[0034] Resistor 66111 sets the output current of capacitor 66110, thereby setting voltage V1 across the series circuit of resistors 66112 and 66113. As the difference between the input current and output current of capacitor 66110 becomes smaller, voltage V1 across both ends approaches the peak voltage stepped down by step-down circuit 6610 in response to PWM signal S, i.e., the product of the voltage set by constant voltage element 66101 and the duty ratio of PWM signal S. The resistance value of resistor 66111 is set in accordance with the resistance value of resistor 66100 of step-down circuit 6610.

[0035] A voltage V1 between both ends of resistors 66112 and 66113 is set according to the impedance value, i.e., resistance value, of resistor 66100 of step-down circuit 6610 and a combined impedance value, i.e., combined resistance value, of resistors 66111, 66112, and 66113. Resistors 66112 and 66113 divide voltage V1 between both ends according to the ratio of their resistance values. A voltage set by resistor 66113 according to the ratio of the resistance values ​​of resistors 66112 and 66113 becomes voltage V2 for driving selection circuit 6612.

[0036] The selection circuit 6612 switches the notification mode of the notification means 65 according to the driving voltage V2 generated by the smoothing circuit 6611. In the illustrated example, the selection circuit 6612 includes a switch element 66120, and is connected to a connection point between the resistors 66112 and 66113 of the smoothing circuit 6611 via a resistor 66121 which is an impedance element for generating a control voltage V3 for the switch element 66120. In this embodiment, an NPN-type bipolar transistor is used for the switch element 66120, and the base terminal which is the control terminal is connected between the resistors 66112 and 66113 of the smoothing circuit 6611 via the resistor 66121 which is the base resistor, the collector terminal is connected to the cathode side of the lamps 6501 to 6503 of the notification means 65, and the emitter terminal is grounded. A capacitor 66122, which is 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 resistor 66121 generates a base current for switching the on / off of the switch element 66120 in response 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 in response to the magnitude of the driving voltage V2 generated by the smoothing circuit 6611, thereby switching the on / off of the switch element 66120. Therefore, the on / off of the switch element 66120 is switched by a duty ratio according to the input of the electric blower 2 (shown in FIG. 2) in the operation mode determined based on the PWM signal S, and the lamps 6501 to 6503 are switched on / off in response to the on / off switching of the switch element 66120, that is, the notification mode of the notification means 65 is switched.

[0037] The notification means 65 and the determination means 66 are not limited to the configurations shown in the figure, and any elements or circuits that perform equivalent operations may be used.

[0038] Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described.

[0039] In this embodiment, an electric vacuum cleaner CL having a relationship between the operation modes and the duty ratio of the PWM signal S as shown in the table in FIG. 5 will be described as an example. 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 is set to a predetermined multiple or more of the duty ratio corresponding to the operation mode in which the input of the electric blower 2 is relatively small. In other words, when comparing any two of the operation modes, the duty ratio of the PWM signal S for the operation mode in which the input of the electric blower 2 is relatively large is a predetermined multiple or more of the duty ratio of the PWM signal S for the operation mode in which the input of the electric blower 2 is relatively small. In the illustrated example, the duty ratio of the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 corresponding to the strong mode is set to a predetermined multiple or more of the duty ratio corresponding to the weak mode. For example, this "predetermined multiple" is set based on the ratio between the maximum value of the supply voltage from the battery, which is the DC power supply unit 1, that is, when fully charged, and the minimum value, that is, the voltage just before discharging stops, and is set to 1.5 times in this embodiment.

[0040] In such a vacuum cleaner CL, the determination means 66 switches the notification mode of the notification means 65 in response to the duty ratio of the PWM signal S, thereby enabling the user to visually recognize information related to the operation mode, for example, which operation mode the operation is being performed in, by switching the notification mode of the notification means 65. That is, the circuit constants of the notification means 65 and the determination means 66 are set so that the control voltage V3, which is set by the driving voltage V2 generated by the smoothing circuit 6611 and the control current flowing through the resistor 66121, relative to the on-voltage Vf of the switch element 66120 of the selection circuit 6612 of the determination means 66, is small when the duty ratio of the PWM signal S corresponding to the operation mode is small, and is large when the duty ratio of the PWM signal S is large.

[0041] In this 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.

[0042] The resistance value of each of resistors 6510 to 6513 of the notification means 65 is set to, for example, 1 kΩ.

[0043] In the voltage generating circuit 660 of the determining means 66, since the input current of the capacitor 6603 is required to be significantly larger than the output current of the capacitor 6603, the resistance value of the resistor 6600 is set to a value sufficiently smaller than the resistance values ​​of the resistors 6510 to 6513. In this embodiment, the resistance value of the resistor 6600 is set to, for example, 100 Ω, the capacitances of the capacitors 6603 and 6604 are each set to, for example, 4.7 μF, and the regulator 6602 has an output voltage of, for example, 5 V. Note that the resistor 6600 has a rated power of, for example, 2 W, taking into consideration heat generation due to the input current of the capacitor 6603.

[0044] In the determination circuit 661 of the determination means 66, the resistance value of the resistor 66100 of the step-down circuit 6610 is set to, for example, 4.7 kΩ, and the constant voltage element 66101 has a breakdown voltage of, for example, 5.1 V. Therefore, in the determination circuit 661, the peak voltage Vp of the PWM signal S is stepped down to the breakdown voltage V_zd of the constant voltage element 66101 by the step-down circuit 6610 (shown in FIG. 6). Also, the capacitance of the capacitor 66110 of the smoothing circuit 6611 is set to, for example, 4.7 μF.

[0045] Here, the greater the input current of the capacitor 66110 is, the greater the voltage value of the voltage V1 across both ends generated by the smoothing circuit 6611 becomes when the duty ratio of the PWM signal S is small, the greater the voltage value set by the step-down circuit 6610 multiplied by the duty ratio, which may cause the selection circuit 6612 to operate and the lamps 6501 to 6503 to light up even when the duty ratio of the PWM signal S is small. On the other hand, the smaller the input current of the capacitor 66110 is than the output current, the greater the voltage value of the voltage V1 across both ends generated by the smoothing circuit 6611 becomes when the duty ratio of the PWM signal S is large, the smaller the voltage value set by the step-down circuit 6610 becomes, which may cause the selection circuit 6612 to not operate and the lamps 6501 to 6503 to not light up even when the duty ratio of the PWM signal S is large.

[0046] Therefore, in the smoothing circuit 6611, the resistance value of the resistor 66111 is set 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, so that the input current and output current of the capacitor 66110 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 the control current of the switch element 66120 of the selection circuit 6612 to 2.86 mA.

[0047] Also, as the switching element 66120 of the selection circuit 6612, for example, one with an on-voltage Vf of, for example, 0.56 to 0.68 V and an amplification factor hfe of about 400 is used. Here, when the resistance value of the resistor 66121 of the selection circuit 6612 is too small, the control current or base current flowing through the control element of the switching element 66120 becomes large. Therefore, due to the on / off switching of the switching element 66120, the driving voltage V2 and the control voltage V3 of the selection circuit 6612 generated by the smoothing circuit 6611 are likely to fluctuate. Also, when the resistance value of the resistor 66121 of the selection circuit 6612 is too large, the control current or base current flowing through the control element of the switching element 66120 becomes small, so the on-voltage Vf of the switching element 66120 is likely to fluctuate. 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 switching element 66120, the switching element 66120 does not turn on. That is, due to variations in the amplification factor hfe of the switching element 66120, there is a possibility that the switching element 66120 may or may not turn on. Therefore, in order to make the voltage value V_Hi of the control voltage V3, set by the driving voltage V2 generated by the smoothing circuit 6611 and the resistance value of the resistor 66121 of the selection circuit 6612, larger than the on-voltage Vf of the switching element 66120 (V_Hi > Vf) when the duty ratio of the PWM signal S is large, and make the voltage value V_Lo of the control voltage V3 smaller than the on-voltage Vf (V_Lo < Vf) when the duty ratio of the PWM signal S is small (as shown in FIG. 7), in this embodiment, the resistance value of the resistor 66121 is set to 2.0 kΩ. Also, the capacitance of the capacitor 66122 is set to 0.1 μF.

[0048] With the above configuration, when a user operates the switch 51 to select an 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, which rotates the rotary cleaning body 62. Then, the user holds the hand-operated unit 50 and moves the cleaning tool 6 to a desired cleaning target area on the part to be cleaned, while the rotation of the rotary cleaning body 62 scoops up dust from the part to be cleaned, and the suction force of the electric blower 2 acting from the dust collection port sucks the scooped up dust together with air into the separation unit 3. In the separation unit 3, the dust is separated and collected from the sucked dust-containing air. The air from which the dust has been separated by the separation unit 3 is discharged from the vacuum cleaner main body 5 through the exhaust port 54 while cooling the electric blower 2.

[0049] For example, when the vacuum cleaner CL is operating in the low mode, the duty ratio of the PWM signal S is 40%, so that in the judgment circuit 661 of the judgment means 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 falls below the on-voltage Vf of the switch element 66120. Therefore, since the switch element 66120 is not turned on, in the notification means 65, only the lamp 650 not connected to the switch element 66120 is turned on, and the lamps 6501 to 6503 connected to the switch element 66120 are turned off. That is, the notification means 65 is in a display mode in which only one lamp 650 is turned on, thereby indirectly notifying the user that the vacuum cleaner CL or the electric blower 2 is operating in the low mode (an example is shown in FIG. 4(a)).

[0050] On the other hand, when the vacuum cleaner CL is operating in the strong mode, the duty ratio of the PWM signal S is 100%, so that in the determination circuit 661 of the determination means 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 on-voltage Vf of the switch element 66120. Therefore, when the switch element 66120 is turned on, the notification means 65 turns on the lamps 6501 to 6503 in addition to the lamp 6500. That is, the notification means 65 turns on a display mode in which all the lamps 650 are turned on, and indirectly notifies the user that the vacuum cleaner CL or the electric blower 2 is operating in the strong mode (an example is shown in FIG. 4(b)).

[0051] When the operation of the vacuum cleaner CL is stopped by operating the switch 51, the duty ratio of the PWM signal S becomes 0, so that all of the lamps 650 of the notification means 65 are turned off.

[0052] In this way, by configuring the motor 63 of the cleaning tool 6 to be PWM controlled with a duty ratio according to the input of the electric blower 2 in the operation mode of the vacuum cleaner CL, and providing the cleaning tool 6 with an alarm means 65 capable of issuing an alarm in a plurality of different alarm modes and a determination means 66 for switching the alarm mode of the alarm means 65 according to the duty ratio, the DC power supply unit 1 is used as the power supply, and the motor 63 is driven according to the operation mode, while the user can recognize information related to the operation mode by the alarm means 65. The cleaning tool 6 is located close to the part to be cleaned and close to the user's line of sight when cleaning, so that the user can easily perceive information related to the operation mode, such as the current operation mode or the magnitude of the input of the electric blower 2, by referring to the alarm from the alarm means 65 while cleaning.

[0053] In addition, since the operation mode is determined using the PWM signal S communicated via two wires, the power line L1 and the ground wire L2, no additional communication line is required, and the configuration can be simplified.

[0054] Furthermore, since the notification means 65 lights up more lamps 650 in the operation mode with a greater input power to the electric blower 2, the user can easily intuitively tell the operation mode or the magnitude of the input power to the electric blower 2 based on the notification manner of the notification means 65.

[0055] Furthermore, for the motor 63, the total power of the DC power supply unit 1 can be utilized at maximum, so that the control width of the operation according to the duty ratio of the PWM signal S can be set to a large range.

[0056] Furthermore, by setting the duty ratio of the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 corresponding to an operation mode in which the input to the electric blower 2 is relatively large to be 1.5 times or more of the duty ratio corresponding to an operation mode in which the input to the electric blower 2 is relatively small, it is possible to absorb variations in the judgment sensitivity of the determination means 66 caused by variations in the constituent elements without using expensive parts with high detection accuracy such as a comparator, and the simply configured determination means 66 can determine information related to the operation mode from the duty ratio.

[0057] For example, the determination means 66 includes a switch element 66120 to which a voltage corresponding to the product of the stepped-down voltage of the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 and the duty ratio or a divided voltage thereof is applied to a control terminal, and the notification mode of the notification means 65 is switched in response to switching on and off of the switch element 66120. This makes it possible to configure a simple and inexpensive determination means 66 while mitigating the effect of fluctuations in output voltage on the determination sensitivity of the determination means 66 when a battery is used as the DC power supply unit 1 by stepping down the voltage.

[0058] Second embodiment Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 8. Note that the same configurations and operations as those of the first embodiment will be denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

[0059] In this embodiment, in addition to a strong mode and a weak mode, the main body control unit 52 has set as operating modes for the vacuum cleaner CL an automatic mode in which the input to the electric blower 2, i.e., the suction force, and the duty ratio of the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 are autonomously set according to the cleaning situation.

[0060] Here, the cleaning status refers to, for example, the type of floor constituting the part to be cleaned, or the amount of dust suctioned on the part to be cleaned, etc. In other words, the main body control unit 52 may have an operation mode in which it automatically selects and sets the input to the electric blower 2 and the duty ratio of the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 in combination with a cleaning status detection means, such as a type detection means for detecting the type of the part to be cleaned and / or a dust amount detection means for detecting the amount of dust suction. The type detection means and dust amount detection means may be of any known configuration.

[0061] In the automatic mode, the input to the electric blower 2 and the duty ratio of the PWM signal S may be set arbitrarily and steplessly within a predetermined range according to the cleaning situation, or the input to the electric blower 2 and the duty ratio of the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 may be set stepwise by selecting one from a plurality of preset modes according to the cleaning situation. In either case, it is preferable that the duty ratio of the PWM signal S corresponding to the operation mode in which the input to the electric blower 2 is large is set to be equal to or larger than the duty ratio of the PWM signal S corresponding to the operation mode in which the input to the electric blower 2 is small.

[0062] In the illustrated example, in the automatic mode, a plurality of modes, for example automatic modes 1 and 2, in which the input to the electric blower 2 and the duty ratio of the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 are preset are set. For example, in the automatic modes 1 and 2, the duty ratio of the input to the electric blower 2 and the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 is set to be equal to or greater than the weak mode and equal to or less than the strong mode.

[0063] 8(a), in automatic mode 1, the input to electric blower 2 is greater than in the weak mode and less than in automatic mode 2, and the duty ratio of PWM signal S for driving motor 63 is the same as in the weak mode. Also, in automatic mode 2, the input to electric blower 2 is greater than in the weak mode and automatic mode 1 and less than in the strong mode, and the duty ratio of PWM signal S for driving motor 63 is the same as in the strong mode. In this case, although the input to electric blower 2 is different in all operation modes, in this embodiment, there are two types of notification manners of notification means 65.

[0064] In addition, as shown in the example of Figure 8 (b), the input to the electric blower 2 and the duty ratio of the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 in automatic mode 1 may be the same as those in the weak mode, and the input to the electric blower 2 and the duty ratio of the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 in automatic mode 2 may be the same as those in the strong mode.

[0065] 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 cleaning status detection means. For example, when the part to be cleaned is a carpet or the like on which dust easily gets entangled and the rotation resistance of the rotating cleaning body 62 is large, or when the amount of dust on the part to be cleaned is greater than a predetermined amount, and a stronger cleaning ability is required, the automatic mode 2 is selected, and in other cases, the automatic mode 1 is selected. The main body control unit 52 controls the input of the electric blower 2 preset to 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, which rotates the rotating cleaning body 62.

[0066] When the vacuum cleaner CL is operating in automatic mode 1, just as when it is operating in weak mode, the switch element 66120 is not turned on, and in the alarm means 65, only the lamp 6500 that is not connected to the switch element 66120 is turned on, and the lamps 6501 to 6503 that are connected to the switch element 66120 are turned off.

[0067] On the other hand, when the vacuum cleaner CL is operating in automatic mode 2, as in the case where it is operating in the strong mode, the switch element 66120 is turned on, and in the notification means 65, in addition to the lamp 6500, the lamps 6501 to 6503 are turned on.

[0068] In this way, the motor 63 of the cleaning tool 6 is PWM controlled with a duty ratio corresponding to the input to the electric blower 2 in the operating mode of the vacuum cleaner CL, and the cleaning tool 6 is provided with an alarm means 65 capable of alarming in a number of different alarm modes and a determination means 66 for switching the alarm mode of the alarm means 65 according to the duty ratio. This has the same configuration as the first embodiment, so that in the vacuum cleaner CL powered by the DC power supply unit 1, it is possible to achieve the same effects as the first embodiment, such as driving the motor 63 according to the operating mode while allowing the user to recognize information related to the operating mode by the alarm means 65.

[0069] In addition, it has an automatic mode, which is an operating mode in which the main body control unit 52 automatically sets the input to the electric blower 2 and the duty ratio corresponding to that input according to the cleaning situation, so that the cleaning capacity can be automatically increased or decreased according to the cleaning situation, optimizing the utilization of the power supplied from the DC power supply unit 1, and the result can be made known to the user by the notification mode of the notification means 65.

[0070] In particular, in the automatic mode, even when selecting from a preset set of the input to the electric blower 2 and the duty ratio of the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63, by setting the duty ratio corresponding to the case where the input to the electric blower 2 is set relatively large to be 1.5 times or more of the duty ratio corresponding to the case where the input to the electric blower 2 is set relatively small, it is possible to absorb the variation in the judgment sensitivity of the judgment means 66 caused by the variation in the constituent elements without using expensive parts with high detection accuracy such as a comparator, and the information to be notified by the notification means 65 can be determined from the duty ratio by the judgment means 66 of a simply configured configuration.

[0071] In the above example, the notification means 65 notifies the weak mode and the automatic mode 1 in the same manner, and the strong mode and the automatic mode 2 in the same manner. Therefore, for the weak mode and the strong mode selected by the user himself, a separate notification content may be added to distinguish them from the automatic mode to prevent any misunderstanding by the user.

[0072] (Third embodiment) Next, a third embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 9. Note that the same configurations and operations as those of the respective embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

[0073] In this embodiment, the judgment circuit 661 of the judgment means 66 has a comparison circuit 6613 instead of the step-down circuit 6610 and the smoothing circuit 6611 .

[0074] This comparison circuit 6613 uses a comparator 66130 to compare a voltage slightly smaller than the peak voltage of the PWM signal S or a related value such as its divided voltage with a voltage corresponding to the product of the peak voltage and the duty ratio or a related value such as its divided voltage, and switches the on / off of the switch element 66120 depending on the comparison result, thereby switching the notification mode of the notification means 65 depending on the on / off switching.

[0075] In this embodiment, the comparison circuit 6613 includes a rectifier element 66131 such as a diode connected to a first input terminal or an inverting input terminal of the comparator 66130, and a resistor 66132 which is a current limiting impedance element connected to a second input terminal or a non-inverting input terminal of the comparator 66130, which are connected in parallel to the DC power supply unit 1. That is, a PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 is supplied to the rectifier element 66131 and the resistor 66132. A capacitor 66133 which is a smoothing capacitive element is connected to the rectifier element 66131, and a parallel circuit of a capacitor 66134 which is a smoothing capacitive element and a resistor 66135 which is an impedance element is connected to the resistor 66132.

[0076] The output terminal of the comparator 66130 is connected to, for example, the 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 the negative power supply terminal is grounded. Without being limited to this, the output terminal of the comparator 66130 may be connected to any circuit that switches the switch element 66120 on and off depending on the output of the comparator 66130.

[0077] The circuit constants of the comparison circuit 6613 are set to form a voltage extraction circuit that extracts a voltage value slightly smaller than the peak voltage of the PWM signal S or a related value thereof, and the product of the peak voltage and the duty ratio of the PWM signal S or a related value thereof, and inputs these values ​​to the comparator 66130.

[0078] For example, the resistance values, which are the impedance values ​​of resistors 66132 and 66135, are set so that the input current and output current of capacitor 66134 approximately match, and the capacitances of capacitors 66133 and 66134 are each set to, for example, 4.7 μF.

[0079] In the comparison circuit 6613, since the input current of the capacitor 66133 is considerably larger than the output current, a voltage obtained by subtracting the forward voltage of the rectifying element 66131, i.e., a predetermined value, from the peak voltage, or a value related thereto is input to a first input terminal of the comparator 66130. On the other hand, since the input current and output current of the capacitor 66134 are approximately equal, the product of the peak voltage and the duty ratio, or a value related thereto is input to a second input terminal of the comparator 66130.

[0080] In an operation mode in which the input to 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 a related value becomes small relative to the peak voltage, so that the input to the first input terminal of the comparator 66130 becomes larger than the input to the second input terminal, resulting in a low level output. Therefore, the switch element 66120 is not turned on, and the lamps 6501 to 6503 of the notification means 65 are turned off.

[0081] In addition, in an operation mode in which the input to 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 approaches the peak voltage, so that the input to the second input terminal of the comparator 66130 becomes larger than the input to the first input terminal, resulting in a high level output. Then, the switch element 66120 turns on, and the lamps 6501 to 6503 of the notification means 65 turn on.

[0082] In this way, by having a configuration similar to that of each embodiment, such as providing the cleaning tool 6 with a determination means 66 that switches the notification mode of the notification means 65 depending on the duty ratio, in the electric vacuum cleaner CL powered by the DC power supply unit 1, it is possible to achieve the same effects as each embodiment, such as driving the motor 63 according to the operation mode while allowing the user to recognize information related to the operation mode by the notification means 65.

[0083] Furthermore, since the comparator 66130 has good voltage detection accuracy, it is possible to determine the duty ratio even if the difference between the duty ratio of the PWM signal S for driving the motor 63 corresponding to an operation mode in which the input to the electric blower 2 is relatively large and the duty ratio corresponding to an operation mode in which the input to the electric blower 2 is relatively small is small. Therefore, for example, even if the difference between the duty ratio of the PWM signal S in an operation mode in which the input to the electric blower 2 is small and the duty ratio of the PWM signal S in an operation mode in which the input to the electric blower 2 is large is not large, the determination means 66 can determine information related to the operation mode. This improves the degree of freedom in setting the duty ratio of the PWM signal S in each operation mode.

[0084] Moreover, since the voltage values ​​compared by the comparator 66130 are values ​​that have a positive correlation with the peak voltage of the PWM signal S, which is the peak voltage of the output voltage of the DC power supply unit 1, the magnitude relationship between them is unlikely to be affected even if the output voltage fluctuates when a battery is used as the DC power supply unit 1. Therefore, the effect of fluctuations in the output voltage of the DC power supply unit 1 on the judgment sensitivity of the judgment means 66 can be mitigated.

[0085] (Other embodiments) In each of the above embodiments, when there are three or more operation modes, the determination means 66 may switch the notification manner of the notification means 65 to be different for each operation mode. In this case, by setting a plurality of determination circuits 661 according to the number of lamps 560 or the operation mode, and setting them to generate a control voltage for each lamp 650 to be switched on / off, it becomes possible for the notification means 65 to notify in different notification manners according to the plurality of operation modes. As an example, as in the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 10, when the operation modes are set to a weak mode, an automatic mode (automatic mode 1, automatic mode 2), and a strong mode, three determination circuits 661 may be provided and the notification manner of the notification means 65 may be different for each of the modes. In this example, the duty ratio of the PWM signal S in an operation mode in which the input to the electric blower 2 is large is set to 1.5 times or more as compared with the duty ratio of the PWM signal S in an operation mode in which the input to the electric blower 2 is small, so that, as in the first and second embodiments, it is possible to absorb the variation in the judgment sensitivity of the judgment means 66 caused by the variation in the components without using expensive parts with high detection accuracy such as a comparator, and to determine information related to the operation mode from the duty ratio by the judgment means 66 with a simple configuration. 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 manner of the notification means 65 may be made different for each operation mode.

[0086] In addition, as an example of different notification modes by the notification means 65, an indicator in which multiple lamps 560 of the same light color are lit but different, may be used. For example, the different lighting states of the lamps 560 may be lit and flashing, the lamps 560 may be lit at different brightnesses, the notification means 65 may use different display colors by using multiple lamps 560 of different colors, or any combination of these.

[0087] Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples, and it is not intended that the scope of the invention be limited to these embodiments. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and spirit of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents described in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0088] CL Vacuum Cleaner L1 power line L2 ground wire S PWM signal 1 DC power supply section 2 electric blower 5 Vacuum cleaner body 6 Cleaning tools 52 Main body control unit as control means 63 Motor 65 Notification methods 66 Judgment means 66120 Switching element 66130 Comparator

Claims

1. A vacuum cleaner that operates using a DC power supply unit as a power supply, The vacuum cleaner body, a cleaning tool electrically connected to the vacuum cleaner body by two wires, a power wire and a ground wire; The vacuum cleaner body includes: An electric blower that generates a suction force; A control means for selectively setting the operation of the electric blower to one of a plurality of operation modes with different inputs; The cleaning tool is a motor for cleaning a part to be cleaned, the motor being PWM-controlled with a duty ratio corresponding to an input of the electric blower in the operation mode; A notification means capable of notifying in a plurality of different notification modes; A determination means for switching the notification mode of the notification means in accordance with the duty ratio. A vacuum cleaner characterized by:

2. The automatic mode is an operation mode in which the control means automatically sets the input of the electric blower and the duty ratio according to the input in accordance with the cleaning situation.

2. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1.

3. The duty ratio corresponding to a case where the input of 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 the input of the electric blower in the operation mode is relatively small.

3. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The determination means includes a switch element to which a voltage corresponding to the product of a voltage obtained by stepping down a PWM signal for driving the motor and the duty ratio or a divided voltage thereof is applied to a control terminal, and the determination means switches the notification mode of the notification means in response to the on / off switching of the switch element.

3. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1 or 2.

5. The determination means includes a comparator that compares a peak voltage or a value related thereto of a PWM signal for driving the motor with a voltage or a value related thereto corresponding to a product of the peak voltage and the duty ratio, and a switch element that is switched on and off in response to a comparison result of the comparator, and switches the notification mode of the notification means in response to the switching on and off of the switch element.

3. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1 or 2.

Images