Vacuum cleaner including blower device and method for controlling same

Abstract

A cleaner may include: a cleaner main body; a battery and a suction motor inside the cleaner main body, the suction motor configured to provide suction power such that a foreign object outside the cleaner is sucked into an inside of the cleaner; a blower device configured to be connected to the cleaner main body and to blow away the foreign object outside the cleaner; a power line configured to transfer power supplied from the battery to the cleaner main body and the blower device; a signal line configured to transfer a signal between the cleaner main body and the blower device; and a first processor configured to cause a first signal to be transmitted, via the signal line, to the blower device by controlling an operation of a first switch element, and further configured to receive, via the signal line, a second signal from the blower device.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT / KR2025 / 011298 designating the United States, filed on Jul. 29, 2025, in the Korean Intellectual Property Receiving Office, which claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2024-0117093, filed on Aug. 29, 2024, and Korean Patent Application No. 10-2024-0165304, filed on Nov. 19, 2024, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures of each of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.BACKGROUND1. Field

[0002] Some embodiments of the present disclosure relates to a vacuum cleaner including a blower device and a method for controlling the same.2. Description of Background Art

[0003] A cordless vacuum cleaner is a type of vacuum cleaner that receives power from a power supply (e.g., a battery) within the vacuum cleaner without the need for connecting a cord to an outlet. A cordless vacuum cleaner may include a suction motor that generates suction power, and may suck in foreign objects, such as dust, together with air from a vacuum cleaner head (e.g., brush) through the suction power generated by the suction motor, and collect the sucked dust or foreign objects while separating the air therefrom.

[0004] Recently, various types of vacuum cleaner heads (such as brushes) are becoming available for cordless vacuum cleaners. The brushes for cordless vacuum cleaners may be divided into main brushes, which are generally used for cleaning floors, and auxiliary brushes, which are used for special purposes. To enable application to various cleaning environments, the types of auxiliary brushes used for special purposes are becoming subdivided.

[0005] Various types of auxiliary brushes may include a wet mop brush, a bedding cleaning brush, a pet cleaning brush, and a niche brush for cleaning tight areas.

[0006] The above-described information may be provided as background description for the purpose of helping understanding of the present disclosure. No determination is made as to whether any of the foregoing is applicable as prior art in relation to the present disclosure.SUMMARY

[0007] A vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may provide a blower device that is disposed to be connectable to a main body of the cleaner.

[0008] A vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may identify whether a blower device is coupled, and selectively drive a blower motor and a suction motor disposed inside the main body of the cleaner in response to whether the blower device is coupled.

[0009] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a cleaner may be provided and include: a cleaner main body; a battery inside the cleaner main body; a suction motor inside the cleaner main body, the suction motor configured to provide suction power such that a foreign object outside the cleaner is sucked into an inside of the cleaner; a blower device configured to be connected to the cleaner main body and to blow away the foreign object outside the cleaner; a power line configured to transfer power supplied from the battery to the cleaner main body and the blower device; a signal line configured to transfer a signal between the cleaner main body and the blower device; and a first processor configured to cause a first signal to be transmitted, via the signal line, to the blower device by controlling an operation of a first switch element, and further configured to receive, via the signal line, a second signal from the blower device, wherein the first processor is further configured to: identify a state in which an external device is connected to the cleaner main body; transmit identification request information to the external device to identify the external device that is connected to the cleaner main body; receive identification information from the external device based on the identification request information; identify that the external device is the blower device based on the identification information; and stop driving of the suction motor based on identifying that the suction motor is driving and that the blower device is connected to the cleaner main body.

[0010] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a method for controlling a cleaner that is performed by at least one processor may be provided, the method may include: identifying a state in which an external device is connected to a cleaner main body of the cleaner; transmitting, through a signal line connected to the cleaner main body, identification request information to the external device to identify the external device that is connected; receiving, from the external device and through the signal line, identification information obtained based on the identification request information; identifying that the external device is a blower device based on the identification information; and stopping driving of a suction motor inside the cleaner main body based on identifying that the suction motor is driving, and that the blower device is connected to the cleaner main body.

[0011] The present disclosure is not limited to the foregoing example embodiments and various modifications or changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0012] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0013] FIG. 2A is a perspective view illustrating a vacuum cleaner in a state in which a blower device is coupled to an extension pipe according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0014] FIG. 2B is a perspective view illustrating a vacuum cleaner in a state in which a blower device is coupled to a main body of the vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0015] FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a blower device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0016] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a blower device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0017] FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a blower device coupled with a discharge nozzle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0018] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0019] FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram illustrating functions of a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0020] FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram illustrating signal line communication performed in a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0021] FIG. 9A is a circuit diagram illustrating a driving circuit included in a cleaner main body according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0022] FIG. 9B is a table illustrating a voltage flowing through each line of the driving circuit of FIG. 9A according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] FIG. 10 illustrates a circuit configuration of a blower motor according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] FIG. 11 is a control flowchart illustrating an operation for a cleaner main body included in a vacuum cleaner to identify a coupling of a blower device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] FIG. 12 is a control flowchart illustrating performing bi-lateral communication between a cleaner main body included in a vacuum cleaner and a blower device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 13 is a view illustrating an operation of transmitting a first signal from a cleaner main body to a blower device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0027] FIG. 14 is a view illustrating an operation of transmitting a second signal from a blower device to a cleaner main body according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0028] FIG. 15 is a view illustrating a data format included in a signal transferred between a cleaner main body and a blower device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0029] FIG. 16 is a view illustrating an operation of transmitting a signal between a cleaner main body and a blower device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0030] FIG. 17 is a signaling view illustrating an operation of transmitting a signal between a cleaner main body and a blower device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0031] FIG. 18 illustrates an input / output interface with a cleaner main body included in a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0032] FIG. 19 illustrates an example of an input / output interface of a vacuum cleaner and a user interface displayed on a display according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0033] FIG. 20 illustrates an example of an input / output interface of a vacuum cleaner and a user interface displayed on a display according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0034] FIGS. 21A, 21B, 21C, and 21D illustrate an example of a user interface in which a remaining driving time is displayed on a display according to the blowing intensity of a blower device or changes in blowing intensity of a blower device according to an input to a function button in FIG. 20 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0035] FIG. 22 illustrates an example of an input / output interface of a vacuum cleaner and a user interface displayed on a display according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] The example embodiments described in present disclosure and terms used in the present disclosure are not intended to limit the present disclosure to specific embodiments, and the present disclosure should be understood to include various modifications, equivalents, and substitutes of the example embodiments. With regard to the description of the drawings, similar reference numerals may be used to refer to similar or related elements. It is to be understood that a singular form of a noun corresponding to an item may include one or more of the things, unless the relevant context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, each of such phrases as “A or B,”“at least one of A and B,”“at least one of A or B,”“A, B, or C,”“at least one of A, B, and C,” and “at least one of A, B, or C,” may include all possible combinations of the items enumerated together in a corresponding one of the phrases. As used herein, such terms as “1st” and “2nd,” or “first” and “second” may be used to simply distinguish a corresponding component from another, and does not limit the components in other aspect (e.g., importance or order).

[0037] Unless mentioned otherwise in the present disclosure, “forward / backward direction,”“left / right direction,” and “upper / lower direction” in the present disclosure may be defined with respect to the direction in which the vacuum cleaner (e.g., the vacuum cleaner 1 of FIG. 1) is disposed. For example, in a state in which the extension pipe (e.g., the extension pipe 30 of FIG. 13) of the vacuum cleaner 1 is disposed in the vertical direction, the direction which the dust container (e.g., the dust container 20 of FIG. 1) included in the vacuum cleaner 1 faces may be defined as a forward direction of the vacuum cleaner 1, and the direction which the battery mount (e.g., the battery mount 12 of FIG. 1) of the vacuum cleaner 1 faces may be defined as a backward direction of the vacuum cleaner 1. For example, in a state in which the extension pipe 30 of the vacuum cleaner 1 is disposed in the vertical direction, the direction which the input / output interface (e.g., the input / output interface 16 of FIG. 1) of the vacuum cleaner 1 faces may be defined as an upper side of the vacuum cleaner 1, and the suction head (e.g., the suction head 40 of FIG. 1) of the vacuum cleaner 1 faces may be defined as a lower side of the vacuum cleaner 1. For example, when the dust container 20 of the vacuum cleaner 1 is viewed from the front, a facing direction of the left side of the vacuum cleaner 1 may be defined as a left direction, and a facing direction of the right side of the vacuum cleaner 1 may be defined as a right direction.

[0038] However, in the present disclosure, the terms “front and rear direction,”“left and right direction,” and “upper and lower direction” to be used below may be used with respect to the illustrated drawings, and the shape and position of each component are not limited thereto.

[0039] According to an embodiment, each component (e.g., a module or a program) of the above-described components may include a single entity or multiple entities. Some of the plurality of entities may be separately disposed in different components.

[0040] The cordless vacuum cleaner (e.g., the vacuum cleaner 1 of FIG. 1) described below is a non-limiting example to help understand the present disclosure, and various changes may be made thereto. Further, in some of the accompanying drawings, the dimensions of some components may be exaggerated rather than being shown at the actual scale to help understand the present disclosure.

[0041] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a vacuum cleaner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0042] FIG. 2A is a perspective view illustrating a vacuum cleaner (1) in a state in which a blower device 100 is coupled to an extension pipe according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0043] FIG. 2B is a perspective view illustrating a vacuum cleaner in a state in which a blower device 100 is coupled to a main body of the vacuum cleaner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0044] Referring to FIGS. 1, 2A, and 2B, a vacuum cleaner 1 may include a cleaner main body 10, a dust container 20 for receiving foreign objects such as dust, an extension pipe 30 detachably coupled to the cleaner main body 10, a suction head 40 for sucking foreign objects, and a battery 50.

[0045] According to an embodiment, the cleaner main body 10 may include a battery mount 12, a handle unit 14, an input / output interface 16, and a suction motor (e.g., the suction motor 650 of FIG. 6).

[0046] According to an embodiment, the battery mount 12 may be configured so that the battery 50 is mounted and fixed to the cleaner main body 10. The battery mount 12 may be configured so that the battery 50 is mounted in an upper / lower direction, for example. The battery mount 12 may be formed, for example, at the rear portion of the cleaner main body 10.

[0047] According to an embodiment, the handle unit 14 may be configured to allow the user to manipulate the vacuum cleaner 1 by gripping the vacuum cleaner 1. The user may, for example, clean the surface to be cleaned (e.g., the floor surface) by moving the vacuum cleaner 1 in the forward / backward direction after gripping the handle unit 14 (e.g., a handle portion).

[0048] According to an embodiment, the input / output interface 16 may be provided to receive various commands related to the operation of the vacuum cleaner 1 from the user. The input / output interface 16 may include, for example, an input device (e.g., the input button 621 of FIG. 6) such as a button, a switch, or a touch panel, and a display device (e.g., the display 623 of FIG. 6) such as a display. For example, the input / output interface 16 may be implemented as a touch screen panel (TSP), so that the input device and the display device may be integrally formed. The input / output interface 16 may include, for example, a power button (e.g., the power button 621a of FIG. 18) that adjusts turn-on or turn-off of the vacuum cleaner 1. The input / output interface 16 may include, for example, a function button (e.g., a first function button 621b and a second function button 621c of FIG. 18) for changing the operation mode of the vacuum cleaner 1.

[0049] According to an embodiment, the power button 621a may receive a user input for activating the function of a coupling nozzle in response to the type of the coupling nozzle coupled to the cleaner main body 10 and / or the extension pipe 30. For example, the blower device 100 of FIGS. 2A and 2B may be coupled to the cleaner main body 10 and / or the extension pipe 30, and the blower device 100 may be turned on based on the power button 621a being pressed.

[0050] According to an embodiment, the power button 621a may receive a user input for selecting a command for the operation of the vacuum cleaner 1. For example, the power button 621a may identify a notification displayed on the display 623 and receive a user input for returning to the previous user interface.

[0051] According to an embodiment, the function buttons (e.g., the first function button 621b and the second function button 621c) may receive a user input for adjusting the suction power of the vacuum cleaner 1. For example, the function buttons (e.g., the first function button 621b and the second function button 621c) may include a button for changing the cleaning modes including a normal mode, a strong mode, and a super-strong mode that determines the suction intensity (or cleaning power) of the vacuum cleaner 1. For example, the suction intensity of the vacuum cleaner may be set to increase in the order of normal mode, the strong mode, and the super-strong mode.

[0052] According to an embodiment, the function buttons (e.g., the first function button 621b and the second function button 621c) may activate functions corresponding to the type of the coupling nozzle coupled to the cleaner main body 10 and / or the extension pipe 30, and receive a user input for adjusting the intensity of the activated function. For example, when the blower device 100 is coupled to the cleaner main body 10 and / or the extension pipe 30, the function buttons (e.g., the first function button 621b and the second function button 621c) may receive a user input to change the operation mode of the blower device 100. For example, when the blower device 100 is coupled to the cleaner main body 10 and / or the extension pipe 30, the function buttons (e.g., the first function button 621b and the second function button 621c) may receive a user input to adjust the intensity of the operation mode of the blower device 100.

[0053] According to an embodiment, the display 623 may display operation information and state information about the vacuum cleaner 1. For example, the display 623 may display the driving mode and driving intensity of the vacuum cleaner 1 being driven. For example, the display 623 may display a notification for indicating the remaining power level of the battery of the vacuum cleaner 1 and instructing to empty the dust container 20.

[0054] According to an embodiment, the display 623 may display an operation state of the coupling nozzle in response to the coupling nozzle coupled to the cleaner main body 10 and / or the extension pipe 30, or may display a notification for instructing to manage the coupling nozzle. For example, when the blower device 100 is coupled to the cleaner main body 10 and / or the extension pipe 30, the display 623 may display the current driving state (e.g., driving mode or remaining driving time) and driving intensity according to the turn-on of the blower device 100. For example, when the blower device 100 is coupled to the cleaner main body 10 and / or the extension pipe 30, the display 623 may display a notification for indicating that the filter of the blower device 100 is blocked.

[0055] Hereinafter, an embodiment where information about the operation of the vacuum cleaner 1 is displayed on the display 623 and the user interface is changed according to an input to the function buttons (e.g., the first function button 621b and the second function button 621c) is described below with reference to FIG. 18.

[0056] According to an embodiment, a filter unit 18 may be provided and may filter foreign objects such as ultra-fine dust that are not filtered from the dust container 20. The filter unit 18 may receive, for example, a filter member therein. The filter member may include, for example, a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter, but the type of filter is not limited thereto. The filter member may further include, for example, a pre-filter and an electrostatic dust collecting filter, and a plurality of filters may be combined (e.g., disposed to overlap).

[0057] According to an embodiment, the suction motor 650 may provide suction power to the vacuum cleaner 1 so that foreign objects such as dust or hair present on the floor surface are sucked into the vacuum cleaner 1. In an embodiment, the vacuum cleaner 1 may form a rotational airflow (e.g., cyclone airflow) inside the dust container 20 due to the suction motor 650, and may separate the foreign objects and air sucked into the dust container 20. For example, the air sucked into the dust container 20 may be separated from foreign objects by the centrifugal force of the rotational airflow and discharged to the outside of the vacuum cleaner 1. For example, foreign objects sucked into the dust container 20 may be separated from the air by the centrifugal force of the rotational airflow and collected inside the dust container 20. According to some embodiments, the vacuum cleaner 1 may further include a suction fan that receives a driving force from the suction motor 650 to form a rotational airflow by driving the suction motor 650.

[0058] According to an embodiment, the dust container 20 may be configured to receive foreign objects sucked from the floor surface therein when the vacuum cleaner 1 operates. In an embodiment, the dust container 20 may be configured to collect foreign objects such as dust filtered from the air introduced through the suction head 40. In an embodiment, the dust container 20 may be detachably coupled to the cleaner main body 10. In an embodiment, the dust container 20 may be provided to have a substantially cylindrical shape. In an embodiment, the dust container 20 may be formed of a transparent material so that the user may identify the amount of dust collected in the dust container 20 from the outside.

[0059] According to an embodiment, the extension pipe 30 may form a flow path through which air or foreign objects introduced from the suction head 40 flow. In an embodiment, the extension pipe 30 may be detachably coupled to the cleaner main body 10, the dust container 20, and / or the suction head 40. For example, the extension pipe 30 may be provided so that one end of the extension pipe 30 is pivotally connected to the suction head 40 so that the suction head 40 may move jointly with respect to the extension pipe 30. In an embodiment, the extension pipe 30 may have a substantially hollow cylindrical shape. In an embodiment, the extension pipe 30 may be provided to extend in the upper / lower direction. The extension pipe 30 may have a double pipe shape whose length varies in the upper / lower direction according to the user's manipulation, for example.

[0060] According to an embodiment, the suction head 40 may be formed to suck up air and dust from the floor surface into the vacuum cleaner 1 while contacting the floor surface while the vacuum cleaner 1 is operating. In an embodiment, the suction head 40 may be configured to be rotatable in the upper / lower direction or the left / right direction. In an embodiment, the suction head 40 may be detachably coupled to the cleaner main body 10 and / or the extension pipe 30.

[0061] According to an embodiment, the vacuum cleaner 1 may include various types of coupling nozzles that may replace the suction head 40. For example, the coupling nozzle may include a blower device 100 to be described below. According to some embodiments, the coupling nozzle may include a wet mop brush, a bedding cleaning brush, a pet cleaning brush, and a niche brush.

[0062] According to an embodiment, the battery 50 may be formed to supply power to components for the operation of the vacuum cleaner 1, such as the suction motor 650. In an embodiment, the battery 50 may be detachably mounted on the cleaner main body 10. For example, the battery 50 may be coupled to the cleaner main body 10 in the vertical direction through the battery mount 12 of the cleaner main body 10. In an embodiment, the battery 50 may be provided as a rechargeable secondary battery. In an embodiment, the battery 50 may be electrically connected to a charging terminal provided on a vacuum cleaner holder or docking station. In this case, the battery 50 may be charged by receiving power from the charging terminal provided in the vacuum cleaner holder or docking station.

[0063] According to an embodiment, the battery 50 may be formed to supply power to an electric component included in the coupling nozzle, corresponding to the type of coupling nozzle coupled to the cleaner main body 10 and / or the extension pipe 30. For example, when the blower device 100 is coupled to the cleaner main body 10 and / or the extension pipe 30, the battery 50 may be configured to supply power to the blower motor 210 included in the blower device 100.

[0064] According to an embodiment, the vacuum cleaner 1 may further include a blower device 100 (e.g., the blower device 100 of FIGS. 2A and 2B). The blower device 100 may be configured to suck external air (e.g., ambient air of the blower device 100), compress the sucked external air, and discharge the sucked external air at a predetermined pressure.

[0065] According to an embodiment, the blower device 100 may be configured to discharge air having a predetermined pressure to blow foreign objects such as dust present in the room. For example, the blower device 100 may blow foreign objects that are present in areas that the user may not reach (e.g., high areas or narrow spaces indoors) and drop them to the floor.

[0066] According to an embodiment, the blower device 100 may be coupled to the cleaner main body 10 and / or the extension pipe 30 in the vertical direction.

[0067] Referring to FIG. 2A, the blower device 100 may be coupled to the extension pipe 30.

[0068] According to an embodiment, the blower device 100 may be disposed under the extension pipe 30. The blower device 100 may include a connector (e.g., the connector 110 of FIG. 3) to be coupled to the extension pipe 30. The blower device 100 may be physically and / or electrically connected to the extension pipe 30 by the connector 110. According to some embodiments, the extension pipe 30 may include a signal line for being electrically connected to a connector receiving portion for being physically connected to the blower device 100.

[0069] According to an embodiment, the blower device 100 may be electrically connected to the cleaner main body (e.g., the cleaner main body 10 of FIG. 1) through the extension pipe 30. The blower device 100 may receive power from the cleaner main body 10. For example, the blower device 100 may drive the blower motor (e.g., the blower motor 210 of FIG. 4) using power supplied from the cleaner main body 10.

[0070] According to an embodiment, the extension pipe 30 may be formed to connect the cleaner main body 10 and the blower device 100. For example, the extension pipe 30 may be formed of a pipe having a predetermined rigidity or a flexible hose. The extension pipe 30 may be detachably connected to the blower device 100. The extension pipe 30 may be formed in a plurality of stages between the cleaner main body 10 and the blower device 100. There may be two or more extension pipes 30.

[0071] According to an embodiment, when the cleaner main body 10 and the blower device 100 are coupled by the extension pipe 30, the vacuum cleaner 1 may blow an area out of reach of the user (e.g., an area in a high position such as a ceiling or a narrow and deep area such as under a bed).

[0072] Referring to FIG. 2B, the blower device 100 may be directly coupled to the cleaner main body 10.

[0073] According to an embodiment, the blower device 100 may be disposed under the cleaner main body 10. The blower device 100 may include a connector 110 for coupling with the cleaner main body 10. The blower device 100 may be physically and / or electrically connected to the cleaner main body 10 by the connector 110. According to some embodiments, the cleaner main body 10 may include power lines (e.g., a positive power line L1 and a negative power line L2) and a signal line L3 to be electrically connected to the connector receiving portion to be physically connected to the blower device 100.

[0074] Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, each of the cleaner main body 10, the blower device 100, and the extension pipe 30 included in the vacuum cleaner 1 may include a positive power line L1, a negative power line L2, and a signal line L3.

[0075] According to an embodiment, the power lines (e.g., the positive power line L1 and the negative power line L2) may form a path for transferring power supplied from the battery 50 to the cleaner main body 10 and the blower device 100 coupled to the cleaner main body 10. The signal line L3 may be formed differently from the power lines (e.g., the positive power line L1 and the negative power line L2), and may form a path for transmitting / receiving signals between the cleaner main body 10 and the blower device 100.

[0076] According to an embodiment, each of the cleaner main body 10 and the blower device 100 may include a processor (e.g., a first processor 611 and a second processor 221 of FIG. 6). The processors (e.g., the first processor 611 and the second processor 221) included in the cleaner main body 10 and the blower device 100, respectively, may be configured to control the operation of electrical elements connected by the signal line L3, through which the cleaner main body 10 and the blower device 100 may perform bi-directional communication with each other. Hereinafter, the bi-directional communication performed between the cleaner main body 10 and the blower device 100 is described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 17.

[0077] According to an embodiment, the blower device 100 may be electrically connected to the cleaner main body (e.g., the cleaner main body 10 of FIG. 1). The blower device 100 may receive power from the cleaner main body 10. For example, the blower device 100 may drive the blower motor (e.g., the blower motor 210 of FIG. 4) using power supplied from the cleaner main body 10.

[0078] According to an embodiment, the blower device 100 may be selectively coupled to the vacuum cleaner 1 by being disposed so as to be coupled to the cleaner main body 10 or the extension pipe 30.

[0079] According to an embodiment, the blower device 100 may be easily coupled or removed by replacing the suction head 40.

[0080] According to an embodiment, the blower device 100 may be driven by power supplied from the cleaner main body 10 without a separate power source. Therefore, the blower device 100 may be driven by the cleaner main body 1000 without a separate power supply device (e.g., a battery), and may implement a lightweight product.

[0081] According to an embodiment, the blower device 100 may transmit and / or receive control information with the cleaner main body 10 based on a predetermined communication interface method with the cleaner main body 10. Therefore, when the blower device 100 is coupled, the vacuum cleaner 1 may identify whether the blower device 100 is coupled and control the blower device 100 through manipulation of the cleaner main body 10.

[0082] In a comparative embodiment, considering the characteristics of a use environment of the vacuum cleaner 1, physical impacts due to repeated coupling and decoupling between the cleaner main body 10 and the blower device 100, physical impacts such as micro-vibration generated by the use of the vacuum cleaner 1, and electrical impacts or physical impacts during the charging process of the battery 50 may cause noise in data transmission / reception between the cleaner main body 10 and the blower device 100. As a result, an error may occur in the communication process between the cleaner main body 10 and the blower device 100 in a comparative embodiment. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a communication structure may be provided that is capable of performing stable communication despite noise as the cleaner main body 10 and the blower device 100 included in the vacuum cleaner 1 perform communication at a predetermined voltage level or higher through the signal line L3.

[0083] Hereinafter, the structure of the blower device 100 and the configuration included in the blower device 100 are described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

[0084] FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a blower device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0085] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a blower device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the blower device 100 of FIG. 3 taken along a line A-A′ of FIG. 3.

[0086] The embodiments of FIGS. 3 and 4 may be selectively combined with the embodiments of FIGS. 2A and 2B.

[0087] Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the blower device 100 may include housings (e.g., a main housing 101, a first cover housing 102, and a second cover housing 103) that form an overall appearance and a path for air flow, a blower motor 210 disposed inside the housings (e.g., the main housing 101, the first cover housing 102, and the second cover housing 103), and a blower controller 220 configured to control the blower motor 210.

[0088] According to an embodiment, the housings may include a main housing 101, a first cover housing 102, and a second cover housing 103.

[0089] According to an embodiment, the first cover housing 102 and the second cover housing 103 may be disposed on one surface of the main housing 101. For example, the first cover housing 102 and the second cover housing 103 may be coupled to an attachment portion formed on one surface of the main housing 101. For example, the attachment portion may be formed by cutting or removing a portion of the main housing 101. For example, the attachment portion may be formed from an opening in the main housing 101. For example, the first cover housing 102 and the second cover housing 103 may be attached to one surface of the main housing 101.

[0090] According to an embodiment, an intake port 140 may be formed in the first cover housing 102. The intake port 140 may form an inlet through which the blower device 100 sucks ambient air. For example, the intake port 140 may be formed by cutting or removing a portion of the first cover housing 102. For example, the intake port 140 may be formed from at least one opening in the first cover housing 102. For example, a plurality of the intake port 140 may be provided.

[0091] According to an embodiment, the blower device 100 may further include an intake port filter 141 formed to filter foreign objects included in the external air sucked into the intake port 140. For example, the intake port filter 141 may include a pre-filter, an electrostatic dust collecting filter, or a HEPA filter, or a combination thereof.

[0092] According to an embodiment, the intake port filter 141 may limit the accumulation of foreign objects included in the air flowing into the intake port 140, around the blower motor 210.

[0093] According to an embodiment, the blower device 100 may further include a button 120 for coupling the blower device 100 to or removing the blower device 100 from the cleaner main body 10 and / or the extension pipe 30. For example, the button 120 may be disposed to be coupled with the second cover housing 103. For example, the button 120 may be physically connected to an outer surface of the second cover housing 103.

[0094] According to an embodiment, the button 120 may include a protruding portion 121 formed to protrude from the second cover housing 103, and a pressing portion 123 connected to the protruding portion 121 and formed to be pressurized by the user. For example, the connector 110, which is described below, may be configured to be inserted into the main housing 101 by a predetermined distance when the pressing portion 123 is pressed by the user.

[0095] According to an embodiment, the connector 110 may physically and / or electrically connect the cleaner main body 10 (or the extension pipe 30 coupled to the cleaner main body 10) and the blower device 100. The connector 110 may include a plurality of lines L for electrically connecting the cleaner main body 10 and the blower device 100. The plurality of lines L may include, for example, a positive power line L1, a negative power line L2, and a signal line L3.

[0096] According to an embodiment, the positive power line L1 and the negative power line L2 may be power lines for supplying power.

[0097] According to an embodiment, the signal line L3 may be a signal line for transmitting / receiving a control signal and for determining whether the cleaner main body 10 and the blower device 100 are connected.

[0098] According to some embodiments, the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the vacuum cleaner 1 of FIG. 1) may further include a connector receiving portion disposed at a position corresponding to the connector 110 when the blower device 100 is coupled to the cleaner main body 10. The connector receiving portion may include lines corresponding to the positive power line L1, the negative power line L2, and the signal line L3. Further, when the blower device 100 is coupled to the extension pipe (e.g., the extension pipe 30 of FIG. 1), the vacuum cleaner 1 may further include a connector receiving portion disposed at a position corresponding to the extension pipe 30.

[0099] According to an embodiment, the blower device 100 may include a discharge nozzle 150 forming a path through which external air sucked through the intake port 140 passes through the housings (e.g., the main housing 101, the first cover housing 102, and the second cover housing 103) and is discharged by the blower motor 210. The discharge nozzle 150 may be disposed to be coupled to the main housing 101.

[0100] According to an embodiment, the inside of the discharge nozzle 150 may form a path through which external air sucked through the intake port 140 flows by the blower motor 210. For example, the inside of the discharge nozzle 150 (e.g., a discharge portion) may be formed as an empty space. The outlet of the discharge nozzle 150 may form a discharge port 150a. The air introduced into the housings (e.g., the main housing 101, the first cover housing 102, and the second cover housing 103) by the blower motor 210 may flow along the inner space of the discharge nozzle 150 and may be discharged to the discharge port 150a.

[0101] According to some embodiments, the blower device 100 may further include a discharge port filter disposed near the discharge port 150a. For example, the discharge port filter may be formed to filter foreign objects included in the air discharged through the discharge port 150a.

[0102] According to an embodiment, the blower device 100 may include a filter sensor (e.g., the filter sensor of FIG. 6) configured to detect whether the intake port filter 141 and the discharge port filter are blocked. The filter sensor may be configured to detect whether foreign objects having a threshold level or higher are collected in the intake port filter 141 and the discharge port filter.

[0103] According to an embodiment, the discharge nozzle 150 may be disposed to be coupled to the main housing 101. For example, the discharge nozzle 150 may be fastened to one side of the main housing 101 by fitting.

[0104] According to an embodiment, the discharge flow path formed inside the discharge nozzle 150 may form a path through which air pressurized or accelerated by the blower motor 210 flows. For example, the flow path cross-sectional area of the discharge flow path may be formed to be relatively narrow compared to the flow path cross-sectional area inside the main housing 101. For example, the flow path cross-sectional area of the discharge flow path may be formed to be relatively narrow compared to the flow path cross-sectional area positioned at the output end of the blower motor 210. As the flow path cross-sectional area of the discharge flow path is relatively narrow, the air discharged from the blower device 100 may be compressed to a predetermined pressure.

[0105] According to an embodiment, the blower motor 210 may be configured to discharge external air sucked through the intake port 140 to the discharge nozzle 150. The blower motor 210 may include a driving motor and a blower fan formed to rotate by driving the driving motor. For example, the blower fan may be formed to rotate together by the driving motor and a rotating shaft. For example, when the driving motor is driven, the driving motor provides a driving force to rotate the rotating shaft, and the blower fan may be rotated in conjunction with the blower fan by the rotation of the rotating shaft.

[0106] According to an embodiment, the driving motor included in the blower motor 210 may be implemented as a brushless direct current (DC) motor or an alternating current (AC) motor.

[0107] According to an embodiment, the rotational speed of the blower fan of the blower motor 210 may be determined by the driving speed of the driving motor. For example, based on the rotational speed of the blower fan according to the driving speed of the driving motor, the blower motor 210 may determine the air volume and / or wind speed for discharging the sucked air.

[0108] According to an embodiment, the driving of the blower motor 210 may be controlled in response to receiving a user input to an input button (e.g., the input button 621 of FIG. 6) included in the input / output interface 16. For example, the blower motor 210 may be turned on or off in response to receiving a user input to a power button (e.g., the power button 621a of FIG. 9). For example, the wind speed of the blower motor 210 may be controlled in response to receiving a user input to the function button (e.g., the first function button 621b and the second function button 621c of FIG. 9).

[0109] According to an embodiment, the blower motor 210 may be disposed in an inner space formed by the housings (e.g., the main housing 101, the first cover housing 102, and the second cover housing 103).

[0110] According to an embodiment, the blower motor 210 may be disposed at the front side of the inner space. For example, the blower motor 210 may be disposed adjacent to the discharge nozzle 150.

[0111] According to an embodiment, the blower motor 210 may be seated on a motor bracket 163 disposed in the inner space formed by the housings (e.g., the main housing 101, the first cover housing 102, and the second cover housing 103). The motor bracket 163 may form a space for stably supporting the blower motor 210. For example, the blower motor 210 may be fixed to the inside of the motor bracket 163.

[0112] According to an embodiment, when the blower motor 210 is seated in the inner space of the motor bracket 163, a buffer member 165 may be disposed between the motor bracket 163 and the blower motor 210. For example, when the blower motor 210 is driven, the buffer member 165 attenuates the vibration level generated by the blower motor 210, thereby reducing the noise level caused by the driving of the blower device 100. For example, the buffer member 165 may protect the blower motor 210 from damage caused by an impact applied to the blower device 100.

[0113] According to an embodiment, the buffer member 165 may be formed of a material having predetermined elasticity or buffering properties to attenuate vibration caused by driving the blower motor 210 and protect the blower motor 210 from external impact. For example, the buffer member 165 may include sponge, urethane, silicone rubber, ethylene propylene diene terpolymer (EPDM) rubber, and plastic elastomer (e.g., thermoplastic elastomers (TPE)).

[0114] According to an embodiment, the blower controller 220 may be configured to receive a control command for the blower device 100 from the cleaner main body 10 and control the driving of the blower motor 210 based on the control command. The blower controller 220 may be implemented as a control circuit. For example, the blower controller 220 may be configured by mounting various electrical elements on a printed circuit board (PCB). The blower controller 220 may be configured to transmit / receive signals to / from a first processor (e.g., the first processor 611 of FIG. 6) disposed inside the cleaner main body 10.

[0115] According to an embodiment, the blower controller 220 may include a second processor (e.g., the second processor 221 of FIG. 6) configured to control the operation and / or function of the blower device 100, a communication circuit, and a memory. The second processor 221, the communication circuit, and the memory included in the blower controller 220 may be implemented as a single integrated circuit or may be implemented separately.

[0116] According to an embodiment, the blower controller 220 may be electrically connected to the first processor (e.g., the first processor 611 of FIG. 6) disposed inside the cleaner main body 10. For example, when the blower device 100 is coupled to the cleaner main body 10 and / or the extension pipe 30, the blower controller 220 may be electrically connected to the first processor 611 by a signal line included in the connector 110.

[0117] According to an embodiment, the blower controller 220 may be physically and / or electrically connected to the blower motor 210. For example, the blower controller 220 may be connected to the blower motor 210 by a power line formed to exchange power and a signal line formed to exchange signals. The blower controller 220 may be configured to transmit a signal for controlling the blower motor 210 to the blower motor 210 by a control command generated from the first processor 611.

[0118] According to an embodiment, the blower controller 220 may be disposed inside a space formed by the housings (e.g., the main housing 101, the first cover housing 102, and the second cover housing 103). For example, the blower controller 220 may be disposed adjacent to the blower motor 210. For example, the blower controller 220 may be disposed on the rear surface of the blower motor 210 and electrically connected to the blower motor 210. However, without limitations to the illustration, the blower controller 220 may be disposed in an inner space S formed by a blocking wall 130 to be described below.

[0119] According to an embodiment, the blocking wall 130 may be formed to limit the flow of external air sucked through the intake port 140 into the cleaner main body 10. For example, the blocking wall 130 may be positioned inside the housings (e.g., the main housing 101, the first cover housing 102, and the second cover housing 103) adjacent to the connector 110.

[0120] For example, the blower controller 220 may be disposed inside the space S formed by the blocking wall 130. Since the blower controller 220 is disposed inside the space S, the blower controller 220 may be protected by an external impact.

[0121] FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a blower device 100 (e.g., the blower device 100 of FIGS. 2A and 2B) coupled with a discharge nozzle 150-1 (e.g., the discharge nozzle 150 of FIGS. 3 and 4) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0122] FIG. 5 may be understood as a perspective view illustrating a blower device 100 in a state where the discharge nozzle 150-1 formed to be detachable and / or attachable from / to the housings (e.g., the main housing 101, the first cover housing 102, and the second cover housing 103 of FIG. 3) is coupled. The discharge nozzle 150-1 to be described in connection with FIG. 5 may be understood as an embodiment of the discharge nozzle 150 of FIGS. 3 and 4. Therefore, repeated descriptions of overlapping configurations may be omitted, and the description may primary focus on the differences.

[0123] The embodiments of FIG. 5 may be selectively combined with the embodiments of FIGS. 3 and 4.

[0124] Referring to FIG. 5, the discharge nozzle 150-1 may be disposed to be detachable from the housings (e.g., the main housing 101, the first cover housing 102, and the second cover housing 103) of the blower device 100. For example, the discharge nozzle 150-1 may be disposed to be detachable from the outlet of the main housing 101.

[0125] According to an embodiment, the discharge nozzle 150-1 may include a housing 301, a housing cover 303, a coupling button 320, and a discharge pipe 330.

[0126] According to an embodiment, the housing 301 may be formed to be coupled to the main housing 101. For example, a connector 310 may be formed on one side of the housing 301 coupled to the main housing 101.

[0127] According to an embodiment, the housing cover 303 may be positioned on a side surface of the housing 301. A coupling button 320 may be disposed on one surface of the housing cover 303. For example, the coupling button 320 may be formed to protrude from one surface of the housing cover 303. The user may remove the discharge nozzle 150-1 by pressing the coupling button 320.

[0128] According to an embodiment, the coupling button 320 may include a protruding portion 321 formed to protrude from the housing cover 303, and a pressing portion 323 connected to the protruding portion 321 to be pressed by the user. For example, when the pressing portion 323 is pressed by the user, the connector 310 may be configured to be inserted into the housing 301 by a predetermined distance.

[0129] According to an embodiment, the discharge pipe 330 may be coupled to the outlet of the housing 301. The discharge pipe 330 may be formed to have various lengths and cross-sectional areas according to its purpose of use.

[0130] According to an embodiment, the blower device 100 may provide user convenience by including the discharge nozzle 150-1 formed to be easily detachable from the main housing 101.

[0131] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a vacuum cleaner (e.g., the vacuum cleaner 1 of FIGS. 1, 2A, and 2B) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0132] FIG. 6 may be understood as a block diagram illustrating a vacuum cleaner from the viewpoint of function, and some components may be omitted in some embodiments. For example, FIG. 6 may be understood as a block diagram where the suction head (e.g., the suction head 40 of FIG. 1) is removed from the cleaner main body (e.g., the cleaner main body 10 of FIG. 1) and / or the extension pipe 30 and the blower device (e.g., the blower device 100 of FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B) is coupled.

[0133] The embodiment of FIG. 6 may be selectively combined with the embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 5.

[0134] Referring to FIG. 6, the vacuum cleaner 1 may include a controller 610, an input button 621, a display 623, a communication part 630 (e.g., a communicator), a current sensor 640, a suction motor 650, a battery 50, and a blower device 100.

[0135] According to an embodiment, the controller 610 may be configured to control overall operations and functions performed by the vacuum cleaner 1. The controller 610 may include a first processor 611, a memory 613, and a first communication circuit 615.

[0136] According to an embodiment, the first processor 611 may be operatively connected to components of the vacuum cleaner 1 including the memory 613. For example, the first processor 61 may be configured to control the overall operation of the vacuum cleaner 1 by executing at least one instruction stored in the memory 613.

[0137] For example, the first processor 611 may control the operation and function of components (e.g., the input button 621, the display 623, the suction motor 650, and the battery 50) included in the cleaner main body (e.g., the cleaner main body 10 of FIG. 1).

[0138] According to an embodiment, the first processor 611 may be implemented in various ways. For example, the first processor 611 may be implemented as at least one from among an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an embedded processor, microprocessor, hardware control logic, hardware finite state machine (FSM), and a digital signal processor (DSP). For example, the processor 1100 may be implemented as a system-on-chip (SoC) with a built-in processing algorithm, a large scale integration (LSI), or a field programmable gate array (FPGA). For example, the first processor 611 may be configured to perform various functions by executing computer executable instructions stored in the memory 613.

[0139] According to an embodiment, the memory 613 may store at least one instruction related to the vacuum cleaner 1. The memory 613 may store various software programs or applications for operating the vacuum cleaner 1 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Further, the memory 613 may include a semiconductor memory such as a flash memory or a magnetic storage medium such as a hard disk.

[0140] According to an embodiment, the memory 613 may be implemented in the form of a memory embedded in the vacuum cleaner 1 according to a data storage purpose. For example, the memory 613 may be implemented in a memory form that may be detachable from the vacuum cleaner 1. For example, data for driving the vacuum cleaner 1 may be stored in a memory embedded in the vacuum cleaner 1.

[0141] For example, the memory embedded in the vacuum cleaner 1 may be implemented as at least one from among, for example, a volatile memory (e.g., a dynamic random-access memory (RAM) (DRAM), a static RAM (SRAM), a synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), etc.) or a non-volatile memory (e.g., a one time programmable read-only memory (ROM) (OTPROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable and programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable and programmable ROM (EEPROM), a mask ROM, a flash ROM, a flash memory (e.g., a NAND flash, or a NOR flash), a hard drive, or solid state drive (SSD).

[0142] According to an embodiment, the first communication circuit 615 may be a communication circuit for implementing bi-directional communication in a predetermined communication method with the second communication circuit 625 included in the blower device 100. The first communication circuit 615 may be included in the controller 610 in a form integrally implemented with the controller 610, or may be implemented as a separate component from the controller 610.

[0143] According to an embodiment, the first communication circuit 615 may include a switch element, be electrically connected to the first processor 611, and transmit predetermined data to the blower device 100 as the switch element is controlled by the first processor 611.

[0144] According to an embodiment, the first communication circuit 615 may receive data from the blower device 100 by an electrical signal generated from the second processor 221.

[0145] According to an embodiment, the communication part 630 may be configured to support communication between components included in the vacuum cleaner 1 or to support communication between the vacuum cleaner 1 and an external device. For example, the communication part 630 may receive and / or transmit a wired / wireless signal between an external wired / wireless communication system, an external server, and / or other devices according to a predetermined wired / wireless communication protocol. For example, the communication part 630 may be implemented as communication circuitry.

[0146] According to an embodiment, the communication part 630 may include a wired communication module supporting wired communication and a wireless communication module supporting wireless communication. The wired communication module and the wireless communication module may be implemented in the form of respective communication circuitry, or may be implemented as integrally combined communication circuitry.

[0147] According to an embodiment, the first communication circuit 615 described above may be included in the communication part 630. However, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the communication part 630 may be a component for implementing communication with other devices (e.g., user terminals or Internet of Things (IoT) servers), and the first communication circuit 615 may be classified as a component for implementing communication with the blower device 100.

[0148] According to an embodiment, the first processor 611, the memory 613, and the communication circuit constituting the communication part 630, included in the controller 610, may be implemented as one integrated circuit. For example, the first processor 611, the memory 613, and the communication part 630 may be disposed to be mounted on the same printed circuit board (PCB). For example, the printed circuit board may be disposed inside the cleaner main body 10. For example, the printed circuit board may be disposed near an input / output interface (e.g., the input / output interface 16 of FIG. 1).

[0149] According to an embodiment, the communication part 630 may support communication with an external device and a server based on a wired or wireless communication method.

[0150] According to an embodiment, the communication part 630 may include a Wi-Fi module, a Bluetooth module, an infrared (IR) module, a local area network (LAN) module, and an Ethernet module. The wireless communication module may include at least one communication chip performing communication according to various wireless communication standards, such as ZigBee, universal serial bus (USB), mobile industry processor interface camera serial interface (MIPI CSI), 3rd generation (3G), 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP), long-term evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-A), 4th generation (4G), 5th generation (5G), or the like, in addition to the above-described communication schemes.

[0151] According to an embodiment, the communication part 630 may support pulse width modulation (PWM), universal asynchronous receiver / transmitter (UART), or inter-integrated circuit (I2C). For example, the wired communication module and the wireless communication module of the communication part 630 may be implemented in the form of at least one hardware chip. However, the methods which communication part 630 may support are non-limiting examples, and the communication part 630 may use at least one communication module among various communication modules.

[0152] According to an embodiment, a communication module supporting communication with an external device and a communication module supporting communication with a server may be implemented as different modules. For example, the first processor 611 may obtain information about the unique information or the resistance of the resistor of a specific component (or module) from at least one from among the vacuum cleaner 1, various electric components included in the vacuum cleaner 1, an external device, and an external server through the communication part 630.

[0153] According to an embodiment, the first processor 611 may be configured to identify the type of the coupling nozzle from the resistance (e.g., an identification resistor 2500 of FIG. 7) of a resistor included in the coupling nozzle when the suction head (e.g., the suction head 40 of FIG. 1) of the vacuum cleaner 1 is removed, and any one of various types of coupling nozzles is coupled. For example, the blower device 100 may include an identification resistor with a specific resistance that the vacuum cleaner 1 may identify. The first processor 611 may identify that any coupling nozzle is coupled to the cleaner main body 10 and / or the extension pipe 30 based on the identification resistor.

[0154] According to an embodiment, the first communication circuit 615 may support communication between the cleaner main body 10 and the blower device 100 when the blower device 100 is coupled to the cleaner main body 10 and / or the extension pipe 30. For example, when the blower device 100 is coupled to the cleaner main body 10, the first processor 611 may perform bi-directional communication with the second processor (e.g., the second processor (221 of FIG. 6) included in the blower device 100 to identify that the coupled device is the blower device 100.

[0155] According to an embodiment, the current sensor 640 may be configured to detect the value of the current applied to the driving component. For example, the current sensor 640 may detect the value of the current applied to the suction motor 650 or the blower motor 210 and transmit an electric signal corresponding to the current value to the first processor 611. The first processor 611 may sense the current speed of the suction motor 650 being driven or the blower motor 210 being driven based on the electric signal.

[0156] According to an embodiment, the input / output interface 16 (e.g., a user panel) may include an input button 621 and a display 623.

[0157] According to an embodiment, the input button 621 may be configured to receive a user input for controlling the operation and function of the vacuum cleaner 1. For example, the input button 621 may receive an input by the user's physical pressure or an input by a touch.

[0158] According to an embodiment, the input button 621 may include a power button (e.g., the power button 621a of FIG. 9) for receiving a user input for turning on or off the vacuum cleaner 1 and / or the blower device 100, and a function button (e.g., the first function button 621b and the second function button 621c of FIG. 9) for receiving a user input for activating the function of the vacuum cleaner 1 and / or the blower device 100.

[0159] According to an embodiment, the first processor 611 may generate a control command based on a user input obtained by the input button 621.

[0160] According to an embodiment, the display 623 may be configured to display information about the operation state of the vacuum cleaner 1 and / or a notification for instructing to manage the vacuum cleaner 1. For example, the display 623 may display information about the remaining battery capacity of the vacuum cleaner 1 and whether charging is required according to the remaining battery capacity.

[0161] According to an embodiment, the display 623 may display whether the blower device 100 is coupled to the cleaner main body 10 and the operation state of the blower device 100 and / or a notification for instructing to manage the blower device 100. For example, the display 623 may display information about a current driving state of the blower device 100. For example, the display 623 may display a notification for instructing to manage the filter (e.g., the intake port filter 141 of FIG. 4) of the blower device 100.

[0162] According to an embodiment, the display 623 may include a display panel, a display module, and a display driver. For example, the display 623 may drive a light emitting element (e.g., a light-emitting diode (LED) pixel) included in the display module under the control of the first processor 611. For example, the first processor 611 may apply a predetermined driving voltage or driving current to the display driver to control the display module.

[0163] According to an embodiment, the input button 621 and the display 623 may be implemented integrally. For example, the input button 621 and the display 623 may be implemented as a touch screen panel and may be integrally formed.

[0164] According to an embodiment, the first processor 611 may control driving of the suction motor 650. For example, the first processor 611 may apply a driving current or a driving voltage for driving the suction motor 650. For example, when the blower device 100 is coupled, the first processor 611 may stop driving the suction motor 650.

[0165] According to an embodiment, the battery 50 may be configured to supply power for the electric components included in the vacuum cleaner 1. For example, the battery 50 may be configured to supply power for driving the display 623, the communication part 630, the suction motor 650, and the blower motor 210.

[0166] According to an embodiment, the first processor 611 may selectively control driving of the electric component. To the end, the first processor 611 may include a switching element 617. For example, the switching element 617 may be formed to branch power supplied by the battery 50. For example, the switching element 617 may be disposed in the power line connecting the battery 50 and the suction motor 650.

[0167] According to an embodiment, when the blower motor 210 is coupled to the cleaner main body 10, the first processor 611 may control the switching element 617 to stop power supplied from the battery 50 to the suction motor 650 and to supply power to the blower motor 210 through the second processor 221.

[0168] According to an embodiment, the blower device 100 may include a blower motor (e.g., the blower motor 210 of FIG. 4), a second processor 221, and a second communication circuit 625.

[0169] According to an embodiment, the second processor 221 may be provided to communicate with the first processor 611 through a predetermined communication scheme. For example, the second processor 221 may be configured to transmit / receive data to / from the first processor 611 based on I2C, UART, and general-purpose input / output (GPIO) schemes. The second processor 221 may transmit data for identifying that the device coupled to the cleaner main body 10 and / or the extension pipe 30 is the blower device 100 to the first processor 611.

[0170] According to an embodiment, when the second processor 221 and the first processor 611 perform bi-directional communication, they may perform communication using the second communication circuit 625 and the first communication circuit 615, respectively. For example, the second communication circuit 625 may include a second switch element (e.g., the second switch element 2435 of FIG. 7). The second processor 221 may control the second switch element to generate data transmitted from the blower device 100 to the cleaner main body 10. For example, the second communication circuit 625 may include an input circuit (e.g., the input circuit 2420 of FIG. 7) formed to receive data received from the cleaner main body 10.

[0171] According to an embodiment, the second processor 221 may be configured to control the overall operation and function of the blower device 100. For example, the second processor 221 may generate a control signal for driving the blower motor 210. For example, the second processor 221 may control the flow rate and wind speed discharged by the blower device 100 by driving the blower motor 210 at a preset driving speed. For example, the second processor 221 may control the driving speed of the blower motor 210 by adjusting the duty ratio of power input to the blower motor 210.

[0172] According to an embodiment, the second processor 221 may receive a driving command for the blower motor 210 from the first processor 611. For example, the driving command may be generated by a user input inputted to the input button 621.

[0173] According to an embodiment, the second processor 221 may receive data on a driving current or a driving voltage for driving the blower motor 210 from the first processor 611. For example, the second processor 221 may transmit data on the current driving speed of the blower motor 210 to the first processor 611.

[0174] According to an embodiment, the second processor 221 may obtain data on whether the filter (e.g., the intake port filter 141 of FIG. 4) is blocked from the filter sensor, and transmit data on whether the filter is blocked to the first processor 611. For example, the second processor 221 may identify a state where the blower motor 210 is not normally driven, and transmit data on the identified information to the first processor 611.

[0175] According to some embodiments, the blower device 100 may further include a memory. The second processor 221, the second communication circuit 625, and the memory may be configured as a single integrated circuit. For example, the second processor 221, the second communication circuit 625, and the memory may be implemented as a blower controller (e.g., the blower controller 220 of FIG. 4).

[0176] According to some embodiments, the vacuum cleaner 1 may further include a filter sensor. For example, the filter sensor may be configured to detect whether the intake port filter (e.g., intake port filter 141 of FIG. 4) and the discharge port filter are blocked. For example, the filter sensor may be configured to detect that foreign objects of a threshold level or more are collected in the intake port filter 141 and the discharge port filter. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, the intake port filter 141 and the discharge port filter is referred to as a “filter.”

[0177] For example, the filter sensor may include a position sensor, an infrared sensor, a pressure sensor, or a flow sensor. For example, when the filter sensor is implemented as a position sensor, the filter sensor may sense the physical deformation of the filter due to the accumulation of foreign objects in the filter. For example, when the filter sensor is implemented as an infrared sensor, the filter sensor may irradiate infrared rays from one side toward the filter and sense the amount of foreign objects accumulated in the filter in response to the amount of infrared light received from the other side. For example, when the filter sensor is implemented as a pressure sensor or a flow sensor, the filter sensor may detect the amount of foreign objects accumulated in the filter based on the flow rate around the filter or sensing the pressure of air flowing in the intake port (e.g., the intake port 140 of FIG. 3) or the discharge port 150a.

[0178] According to an embodiment, the first processor 611 may determine clogging of the filter without a filter sensor. For example, the first processor 611 may obtain information about the current driving speed of the blower motor 210 from the second processor 221, compare the target driving speed of the blower motor 210 with the current driving speed, and determine that the intake port 140 or the discharge port 150a is blocked when the driving speed of the blower motor 210 differs from the target speed by a threshold level or more.

[0179] According to an embodiment, the first processor 611 may determine the clogging of the filter based on the abnormal driving data of the blower motor 210 received from the blower device 100. For example, the cleaner main body 10 may transmit information requesting the driving state to the blower device 100, and the blower device 100 may transmit the driving information about the blower device 100 to the cleaner main body 10 in response to the information requesting the driving state. The cleaner main body 10 may identify that the blower device 100 is in an abnormal driving state based on the driving information received from the blower device 100.

[0180] According to an embodiment, the first processor 611 may display a notification for instructing to manage the filter on the display 623. For example, when the foreign objects accumulated in the filter exceed a threshold level, the first processor 611 may display a notification for instructing to manage the filter on the display 623. For example, the first processor 611 may predict the clogging of the filter based on the driving speed of the blower motor 210 and display a notification for instructing to manage the filter on the display 623.

[0181] FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram illustrating a function of a vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the vacuum cleaner 1 of FIG. 2A) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0182] FIG. 7 illustrates an example in which the blower device 2000 (e.g., the blower device 100 of FIG. 2A) is connected to the cleaner main body 1000 (e.g., the cleaner main body 10 of FIG. 1) by the extension pipe 3000 (e.g., the extension pipe 30 of FIG. 1). However, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto, and the cleaner main body 1000 and the blower device 2000 may be directly coupled, and the extension pipe 3000 may be omitted.

[0183] The embodiment of FIG. 7 may be selectively combined with the embodiments of FIGS. 2A, 2B, and FIGS. 3 to 6.

[0184] Referring to FIG. 7, the cleaner main body 1000 and the blower device 2000 (e.g., a brush device) may be physically connected to each other through an extension pipe 3000. For example, the extension pipe 3000 may include a positive power line L1, a negative power line L2, and a signal line L3. Therefore, even when the cleaner main body 1000 and the blower device 2000 are connected through the extension pipe 3000, the cleaner main body 1000 and the blower device 2000 may stably communicate with each other.

[0185] According to an embodiment, the cleaner main body 1000 may communicate with the blower device 2000. For example, the cleaner main body 1000 may communicate with the blower device 2000 through the signal line L3.

[0186] According to an embodiment, the cleaner main body 1000 may transmit a signal to the blower device 2000 through the signal line L3 and receive a signal from the blower device 2000. Hereinafter, in the present disclosure, the signal generated from the cleaner main body 1000 and transmitted to the blower device 2000 may be referred to as a “first signal,” and the signal generated from the blower device 2000 and transmitted to the cleaner main body 1000 may be referred to as a “second signal.”

[0187] According to an embodiment, the cleaner main body 1000 may include a driving circuit 1130. For example, the driving circuit 1130 may drive a suction motor (e.g., the suction motor 650 of FIG. 6) disposed inside the cleaner main body 1000.

[0188] According to an embodiment, the driving circuit 1130 may include a first processor 1131, an input circuit 1135, an output circuit 1136, and a power circuit 1138.

[0189] According to an embodiment, the input circuit 1135 may identify the type of the external device coupled based on the identification resistor 2500 included in the blower device 2000, or may receive a second signal transmitted from the blower device 2000.

[0190] According to an embodiment, the input circuit 1135 may include a first voltage divider 1137. For example, the first voltage divider 1137 may be formed to distribute the voltage input to the input port of the first processor 1131 through the signal line L3.

[0191] According to an embodiment, the output circuit 1136 may be formed to transmit a first signal from the cleaner main body 1000 to the blower device 2000. For example, the output circuit 1136 may include a first switch element 1132. For example, the first switch element 1132 may be implemented as a field effect transistor (FET) or a bipolar junction transistor (BJT). The output circuit 1136 may make the voltage of the signal line L3 0 (GND, low signal) based on the switching operation of the first switch element 1132.

[0192] According to an embodiment, the first processor 1131 may control the operation of the first switch element 1132 connected to the signal line L3, transmit the first signal to the blower device 2000 through the signal line L3, and receive the second signal transmitted from the blower device 2000 through the signal line L3.

[0193] According to an embodiment, the first processor 1131 may control the blower device 2000 by transmitting the first signal through the output circuit 1136. For example, the first processor 1131 may transmit, to the blower device 2000, a first signal including identification request information for identifying the device coupled to the cleaner main body 1000 and the target driving speed (e.g., target rpm) of the blower motor (e.g., the blower motor 210 of FIG. 4) included in the blower device 2000.

[0194] According to an embodiment, the power circuit 1138 may be connected to the battery 1600 (e.g., the battery 50 of FIG. 1) and may be a circuit for supplying power to the suction motor 650. The power circuit 1138 may be implemented as a step-down converter, and may be, for example, a DC / DC converter.

[0195] According to an embodiment, the blower device 2000 may include a driving circuit 2400 for signal line communication, and the driving circuit 2400 of the blower device 2000 may include a second processor 2410, an input circuit 2420, an output circuit 2430, a power circuit 2440, and an identification resistor 2500.

[0196] According to an embodiment, the input circuit 2420 may be formed to receive a first signal transmitted from the cleaner main body 1000. For example, the input circuit 2420 may include a switch element, which may be implemented as a PNP transistor or a P-channel FET. For example, the input circuit 2420 may include a second voltage divider. However, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto.

[0197] According to an embodiment, the output circuit 2430 may be formed to transmit a second signal from the blower device 2000 to the cleaner main body 1000. The output circuit 2430 may include a second switch element 2435. For example, the second switch element 2435 may be implemented as a field effect transistor (FET) or a bipolar junction transistor (BJT), but embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. For example, the second switch element 2435 may make the voltage of the signal line L3 0 (GND, Low) through a switching operation.

[0198] According to an embodiment, the second processor 2410 may control the operation of the second switch element 2435 connected to the signal line L3 to generate a second signal, and transmit the second signal to the cleaner main body 1000 through the signal line L3. For example, the second processor 2410 may receive the first signal transmitted from the cleaner main body 1000 through the signal line L3. For example, the second processor 2410 may adjust the blower motor 210 to the target driving speed in response to the first signal. For example, the second processor 2410 may generate identification information for identifying the blower device in response to the identification request information included in the first signal.

[0199] According to an embodiment, the second processor 2410 may generate state information about the blower device 2000 being driven. For example, the second processor 2410 may generate information about the abnormal driving state of the blower device 2000 or the current driving speed of the blower device 2000 being driven.

[0200] FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram illustrating signal line communication performed in a vacuum cleaner (e.g., the vacuum cleaner 1 of FIG. 2A or FIG. 2B) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0201] For convenience of description, in FIG. 8, it is assumed that “A” is 330 KΩ, “B” is 330 KΩ, and “C” is 68 KΩ, but embodiments of the present discourse are not limited thereto.

[0202] The embodiment of FIG. 8 may be selectively combined with the embodiment of FIG. 7.

[0203] Referring to FIG. 8, the cleaner main body 1000 and the blower device 2000 may perform bi-directional communication through a signal line L3. For example, the cleaner main body 1000 and the blower device 2000 may perform bi-directional communication using a GPIO communication scheme. By the GPIO communication scheme that performs communication using a relatively high voltage, the cleaner main body 1000 and the blower device 2000 may perform communication robust to each other despite noise caused by the external environment.

[0204] According to an embodiment, the first processor 1131 may identify the type of the blower device 2000 based on a voltage input to the input port (AD port). For example, the AD port input voltage of the first processor 1131 may be calculated by the following equation:AD⁢ port⁢ input⁢ voltage=battery⁢ supply⁢ voltage*{(C) / (A+B+C)}

[0205] According to an embodiment, the AD port input voltage of the first processor 1131 may be calculated as 25.2 [V]*(68 / 330+330+68)=2.353 [V] by the equation. The first processor 1131 may identify the device coupled to the cleaner main body 1000 in response to the AD port input voltage being 2.353 V. For example, each device coupled to the cleaner main body 1000 may have an identification resistor having a different resistance. However, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto, and the first processor 1131 may identify the coupled external device by transmitting / receiving identification request information to / from the second processor 2410 by a communication scheme through the signal line L3. This is described with reference to FIGS. 13 to 17.

[0206] According to an embodiment, the first processor 1131 may receive a signal through the input port and transmit a signal through the output port. For example, the first processor 1131 may receive the second signal generated from the blower device 2000 through the input port. For example, the first processor 1131 may generate the first signal transmitted to the blower device 2000 through the output port.

[0207] According to an embodiment, the first processor 1131 may output a High signal or a Low signal to the signal line L3 based on the voltage level of the signal output to the output port. For example, when the first processor 1131 outputs the Low signal through the output port, the first switch element 1132 may be turned off. In response to the first switch element 1132 being turned off, the voltage level applied to the signal line L3 may be calculated by the following equation:

[0208] The voltage level applied to the signal line L3 when the first processor 1131 outputs the Low signal=battery supply voltage*{(B+C) / (A+B+C)}

[0209] According to an embodiment, when the first processor 1131 outputs the Low signal by the equation, 25.2[V]*(330+68 / 330+330+68)=13.777[V] may be calculated at the signal line L3. Since the voltage applied to the signal line L3 becomes a High state as 13.777 [V], and the voltage of the signal line L3 is larger than 5 [V], the PNP transistor 2425 may be turned off, and a Low (0[V]) signal may be input to the input port of the second processor 2410.

[0210] According to an embodiment, when the first processor 1131 outputs a High signal through the output port, the first switch element 1132 may be turned on. In response to the first switch element 1132 being turned on, the voltage of 0[V] (GND) is applied to the signal line L3 and may become a low state. When the voltage applied to the signal line L3 becomes a low state, the PNP transistor 2425 is turned on, and a High signal (about 4.8[V]) may be input to the input port of the second processor 2410.

[0211] According to an embodiment, when the first processor 1131 outputs the Low signal through the output port, the Low signal may be input to the input port of the second processor 2410, and when the first processor 1131 outputs the High signal through the output port, the High signal may also be input to the input port of the second processor 2410.

[0212] According to an embodiment, the second processor 2410 included in the blower device 2000 may receive a signal through the input port and transmit a signal through the output port. For example, the second processor 2410 may receive the first signal generated from the cleaner main body 1000 through the input port. For example, the second processor 2410 may generate the second signal transmitted to the cleaner main body 1000 through the output port.

[0213] According to an embodiment, when the second processor 2410 outputs a High signal through the output port, the second switch element 2435 may be turned on. In response to the second switch element 2435 being turned on, a voltage of 0 [V] (GND) may be applied to the signal line L3 and may become a Low state. When the voltage of the signal line L3 is 0 [V], a Low signal 0 [V] may be input to the input port of the first processor 1131.

[0214] According to an embodiment, when the second processor 2410 outputs a Low signal through the output port, the second switch element 2435 may be turned off. In response to the second switch element 2435 being turned off, a voltage by the following equation may be applied to the signal line L3:

[0215] The voltage applied to the signal line L3 when the second processor 2410 outputs the Low signal through the output port=battery supply voltage*{(B+C) / (A+B+C)}

[0216] According to an embodiment, by the equation, the voltage applied to the signal line when the second processor 2410 outputs a Low signal may be 25.2[V]*(330+68 / 330+330+68)=13.777[V] and become a High state. When the voltage of the signal line is about 13.777 [V], about 2.353 [V] may be input to the input port of the first processor 1131. In this case, since the driving circuit 1130 of the cleaner main body 1000 includes a first voltage divider 1137, the high voltage (e.g., 13.777[V]) of the signal line L3 may be distributed and 2.353[V] may be input to the input port of the first processor 1131.

[0217] According to an embodiment, when the second processor 2410 outputs a High signal through the output port, a Low signal 0[V] may be input to the input port of the first processor 1131, and when the second processor 2410 outputs a Low signal through the output port, 2.353[V] may be input to the input port of the first processor 1131.

[0218] According to an embodiment, in the manner, the first processor 1131 and the second processor 2410 may perform communication through the signal line L3. For example, the first processor 1131 and the second processor 2410 may perform a communication protocol by combining the High signal H and the Low signal L.

[0219] According to an embodiment, when the first processor 1131 receives a signal from the second processor 2410, the driving circuit 1130 for signal line communication of the cleaner main body 1000 may implement stable signal transmission robust to noise by the signal line L3 by including the first voltage divider 1137. This is described in connection with FIGS. 9A-B.

[0220] FIG. 9A is a circuit diagram illustrating a driving circuit 1130 (e.g., the driving circuit 1130 of FIG. 7) included in a cleaner main body 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and FIG. 9B is a table 900 illustrating a voltage flowing through each line of the driving circuit 1130 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0221] Electrical elements constituting the driving circuit 1130 of FIGS. 9A and 9B may correspond to the driving circuit 1130 of FIG. 8. Therefore, overlapping descriptions may be omitted and the description may focus primarily on the differences.

[0222] The embodiments of FIGS. 9A and 9B may be selectively combined with the embodiments of FIGS. 7 and 8.

[0223] Referring to FIGS. 9A and 9B, the driving circuit 1130 of the cleaner main body 1000 may include a first voltage divider 1137. For the reason, when a noise voltage is applied to the signal line L3, the noise voltage may also be distributed and input to the input port (AD port) of the first processor 1131. Hereinafter, it is assumed that a noise of ±1.5V occurs as an example.

[0224] Referring to the table 900 of FIG. 9, in a general circuit, the AD port voltage in a circumstance where no noise occurs (normal) may be 3.3V, and the AD port voltage in a circumstance where ±1.5V noise occurs may be 1.8V to 4.8V. In other words, if noise occurs in the general circuit, the AD port voltage may exceed the AD port maximum voltage (e.g., 3.3V) of the microcomputer, so that the first processor 1131 may be easily burned down. Further, in the general circuit, the High signal may be misrecognized as the Low signal (or the Low signal as the High signal) by noise (±1.5V).

[0225] According to an embodiment, in the driving circuit 1130 of the present disclosure, the input port voltage of the first processor 1131 in the circumstance where noise does not occur (normal) may be 2.35V, and even when ±1.5V noise occurs, the input port voltage of the first processor 1131 may be 2.10V to 2.61V. In other words, according to the driving circuit 1130 including the first voltage divider 1137, even when noise occurs, since the input port voltage of the first processor 1131 does not exceed the AD port maximum voltage (e.g., 3.3V) of the microcomputer, robust signal transmission is possible. Further, even when ±1.5V noise occurs in the signal line L3, the input port of the first processor 1131 is only affected by about ±0.25V, so signal distortion (e.g., misrecognizing the High signal as the Low signal or misrecognizing the Low signal as the High signal) may be decreased.

[0226] FIG. 10 illustrates a circuit configuration of a blower motor 2450 (e.g., the blower motor 210 of FIG. 4) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0227] The embodiment of FIG. 10 may be selectively combined with the embodiments of FIGS. 4 and 6 to 8.

[0228] Referring to FIG. 10, the blower motor 2450 may be implemented as a brushless DC motor (BLDC). The rotational speed (e.g., rotation RPM) of the blower motor 2450 may be adjusted by the first processor (e.g., the first processor 1131 of FIG. 8).

[0229] According to an embodiment, the blower motor 2450 may include a motor 2451 and an inverter 2453 that adjusts power supplied to the motor 2451 by a switching operation.

[0230] According to an embodiment, the inverter 2453 may include a plurality of switch elements. For example, the inverter 2453 may be composed of six FETs, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, when the inverter 2453 is composed of six FETs, the respective switch elements may be referred to as switch elements S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, and S6, respectively.

[0231] According to an embodiment, the switch elements included in the inverter 2453 may be connected to the three motor phases of the motor 2451. For example, the inverter 2453 may be implemented in the form of a three-phase H-bridge structure.

[0232] According to an embodiment, in the blower motor 2450, as the switch elements included in the inverter 2453 connected to the three phases are controlled by the first processor 1131, three-phase power of the motor 2451 may be supplied as three bi-directional outputs. Accordingly, the blowing intensity according to the output of the blower motor 2450 may be adjusted.

[0233] FIG. 11 is a control flowchart illustrating an operation for a cleaner main body (e.g., the cleaner main body 10 of FIG. 1 or the cleaner main body 1000 of FIG. 7) included in a vacuum cleaner (e.g., the vacuum cleaner 1 of FIG. 1) to identify a coupling of a blower device (e.g., the blower device 100 of FIGS. 2A and 2B or the blower device 2000 of FIG. 7) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0234] FIG. 12 is a control flowchart illustrating performing bi-lateral communication between a cleaner main body 10 included in a vacuum cleaner 1 and a blower device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0235] Each operation illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12 is an example, and the same operation may be repeated or some operations may be omitted. Also, the order of each illustrated operation may be changed.

[0236] The embodiments of FIGS. 11 and 12 may be selectively combined with the embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 10.

[0237] Referring to FIG. 11, it is assumed that when the blower device 100 is coupled to the cleaner main body 10 of the vacuum cleaner 1, the cleaner main body 10 performs bi-directional communication with the blower device 100 to identify that the coupled device is the blower device 100. In FIG. 11, the cleaner main body 10 and the blower device 100 are in the state of FIG. 2A in which they are coupled by the extension pipe (e.g., the extension pipe 30 of FIG. 2A) or in the state of FIG. 2B in which they are coupled to each other without the extension pipe.

[0238] According to an embodiment, in operation S1110, the vacuum cleaner 1 may identify that an external device is coupled to the cleaner main body 10. For example, the external device may include various types of suction heads (e.g., the suction head 40 of FIG. 1) that may be coupled to the blower device 100 or the cleaner main body 10.

[0239] According to an embodiment, as the external device is coupled, the first processor (e.g., the first processor 611 of FIG. 6 or the first processor 1131 of FIG. 7) included in the cleaner main body 10 may receive, via the input port of the first processor 1131, an electrical signal having a particular voltage in response to the identification resistor (e.g., the identification resistor 2500 of FIG. 7) included in the external device. Accordingly, the cleaner main body 10 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may primarily identify that the external device is coupled based on the identification resistor 2500 (e.g., the particular voltage received based on the identification resistor 2500).

[0240] According to an embodiment, the cleaner main body 10 may primarily identify which type of device is the external device coupled in response to the magnitude of the identification resistor 2500 (e.g., the magnitude of the voltage). For example, the cleaner main body 10 may primarily identify whether it is an external device that performs signal line communication between processors according to an input signal according to a preset magnitude of the identification resistor 2500 (e.g., a preset magnitude of the voltage), whether it is an external device that directly supplies power from a battery (e.g., the battery 50 of FIG. 1) built into the cleaner main body 10, or whether the external device has a separate power supply.

[0241] According to an embodiment, the vacuum cleaner 1 may transmit identification request information to the external device in operation S1120. For example, the first processor 1131 included in the cleaner main body 10 may transmit identification request information to the external device through a signal line (e.g., the signal line L3 of FIG. 7). For example, the identification request information is information for identifying the coupled external device, and may be composed of code preset by a communication protocol.

[0242] According to an embodiment, in order for the cleaner main body 10 to generate identification request information, the first processor 1131 included in the cleaner main body 10 may generate a code corresponding to the identification request information by controlling the first switch element (e.g., the first switch element 1132 of FIG. 7). This is described with reference to FIGS. 13 and 15.

[0243] According to an embodiment, the vacuum cleaner 1 may receive identification information from the external device in operation S1130. For example, identification information generated from the external device (e.g., the blower device 100) may be received through the signal line L3. For example, the identification information may be information corresponding to identification request information transmitted from the cleaner main body 10. For example, identification information may be composed of code configured to identify what type of device the external device is by the communication protocol.

[0244] According to an embodiment, in order for the blower device 100 to generate identification information, the second processor 2410 included in the blower device 100 may generate a code corresponding to the identification request information by controlling the second switch element (e.g., the second switch element 2435 of FIG. 7). This is described with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15.

[0245] According to an embodiment, the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may identify that the external device is a blower device based on the identification information received from the external device in operation S1140. For example, the first processor 1131 included in the cleaner main body 10 may identify that the external device is the blower device 100 through identification request information received from the blower device 100.

[0246] According to an embodiment, in operation S1150, the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may determine whether the suction motor (e.g., the suction motor 650 of FIG. 6) disposed inside the cleaner main body 10 is being driven. For example, the cleaner main body 10 may determine whether the suction motor 650 is being driven based on the current input to the suction motor 650 or the power supplied to the suction motor 650.

[0247] According to an embodiment, when the vacuum cleaner 1 determines that the suction motor 650 is being driven, the driving of the suction motor 650 may be stopped in operation 1160. For example, the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may cut off power supplied from a battery (e.g., the battery 50 of FIG. 1 or the battery 1600 of FIG. 7) to the suction motor 650. For example, the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may supply power from the battery 50 to the blower motor (e.g., the blower motor 210 of FIG. 4 or the blower motor 2450 of FIG. 7).

[0248] According to some embodiments, the cleaner main body 10 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may display information about the coupled device on a display (e.g., the display 623 of FIG. 6) in response to identifying that the coupled external device is the blower device 100. The cleaner main body 10 may display information indicating that the blower device 100 may be controlled through manipulation of an input button (e.g., the input button 621 of FIG. 6) on the display 623. This is described below in connection with FIG. 19.

[0249] According to an embodiment, the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may drive the blower motor 210 through the power of the cleaner main body 10 by stopping the driving of the suction motor 650 when identifying that the blower device 100 is coupled to the cleaner main body 10. Accordingly, a separate power supply device may be omitted from the blower device 100, and the blower device 100 may be decreased in weight.

[0250] Referring to FIG. 12, it is assumed that the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) identifies that the blower device 100 is coupled to the cleaner main body 10 (operation S1210), and that the cleaner main body 10 (e.g., the first processor 1131) controls the driving of the blower device 100 through bi-directional communication with the blower device 100.

[0251] According to an embodiment, the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may transmit target driving information to the blower device 100 in operation S1220. For example, the target driving information may be information for determining the intensity of blowing generated by the blower device 100. The first processor 1311 included in the cleaner main body 10 may control the first switch element 1132 to generate a first signal corresponding to the target driving information. For example, the cleaner main body 10 may transmit the target driving information to the blower device 100 through the signal line L3.

[0252] According to an embodiment, in operation S1230, the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may receive current driving information from the blower device 100. For example, the current driving information may be information indicating the intensity of blowing currently being driven by the blower device 100. The second processor 2410 included in the blower device 100 may control the second switch element 2435 to generate a second signal corresponding to the current driving information. For example, the cleaner main body 10 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may receive the current driving information from the blower device 100 through the signal line L3.

[0253] According to an embodiment, in operation S1240, the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may determine whether the target driving information matches the current driving information. For example, if the target driving information transmitted by the cleaner main body 10 does not match the current driving information received, the cleaner main body 10 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may transmit the target driving information to the blower device 100 again.

[0254] According to an embodiment, in operation S1250, the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may determine whether abnormal driving information has been received from the blower device 100. For example, the abnormal driving information may include information indicating that driving of the blower device 100 is not smooth. For example, abnormal driving information may be information indicating that the difference between the driving speed of the blower motor 2450 according to the target driving information and the driving speed of the blower motor 2450 according to the current driving information is a threshold level or more. For example, if the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) determines that abnormal driving information has been received from the blower device 100, the cleaner main body 10 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may transmit the target driving information to the blower device 100 again.

[0255] According to some embodiments, in response to receiving the abnormal driving information, the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may indicate to the display 623 that there is an abnormality in the current driving of the blower device 100. For example, the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may display a notification for instructing to clean the filter of blower device 100 on display 623, or display a notification for instructing to recouple blower device 100 on display 623.

[0256] FIG. 13 is a view illustrating an operation of transmitting a first signal from a cleaner main body (e.g., the cleaner main body 10 of FIG. 1 or the cleaner main body 1000 of FIG. 7) to a blower device (e.g., the blower device 100 of FIGS. 2A and 2B or the blower device 2000 of FIG. 7) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0257] In FIG. 13, it is assumed that the cleaner main body 1000 transmits an 8-bit signal (e.g., 00111001) representing the fourth operation information (e.g., identification request information) described below to the blower device 2000, and that there is a transmission time of 10 ms per bit. However, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto.

[0258] The embodiment of FIG. 13 may be selectively combined with the embodiments of FIGS. 7, 8, 9A-B, 11, and 12.

[0259] Referring to FIG. 13, according to the communication protocol of the present disclosure, 0 and 1 may be distinguished based on the state of the signal line (e.g., the signal line L3 of FIG. 7). For example, 0 may be transmitted when the signal line L3 is in the Low state L, and 1 may be transmitted when the signal line L3 is in the High state H. For example, the first processor 1131 may turn on the first switch element 1132 to apply a voltage of a first level lower than a threshold to the signal line L3 to transmit a first code (e.g., code 0), and turn off the first switch element 1132 to apply a voltage of a second level higher than the threshold to the signal line L3 to transmit a second code (e.g., code 1).

[0260] According to an embodiment, the first processor 1131 may make the state of the signal line L3 LLHHHLLH in order to transmit 00111001 representing the fourth operation information to the second processor 2410. For example, the first processor 1131 may output a High signal (5V or 3.3V) through the output port for the first 10 ms and the second 10 ms to turn on the first switch element 1132 to make the state of the signal line L3 Low (0V), and then output a Low signal (0V) through the output port for the next 10 ms to turn off the first switch element 1132 to make the state of the signal line L3 High (14V) to generate a signal of “001” for 30 ms. In the way, the first processor 1131 may transfer 00111001 to the second processor 2410 for 80 ms. While the first processor 1131 transmits a signal, the output port of the second processor 2410 may maintain the Low (0V) state.

[0261] According to an embodiment, when the second processor 2410 receives the first signal 00111001 indicating the fourth operation information from the cleaner main body 1000, code information corresponding to the fourth operation information may be identified (e.g., by the second processor 2410) in the mapping table (e.g., the mapping table 1500 of FIG. 15) stored in the memory of the blower device 2000. In response to identifying the code information, the second processor 2410 may transmit identification information (e.g., fourth operation information) for identifying the external device to the cleaner main body 1000. An operation where the second processor 2410 transmits a second signal corresponding to identification information to the first processor 1131 is described with reference to FIG. 14.

[0262] FIG. 14 is a view illustrating an operation of transmitting a second signal from a blower device (e.g., the blower device 100 of FIGS. 2A and 2B or the blower device 2000 of FIG. 7) to a cleaner main body (e.g., the cleaner main body 10 of FIG. 1 or the cleaner main body 1000 of FIG. 7) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0263] In FIG. 14, it is assumed that the blower device 2000 transmits an 8-bit signal (e.g., 00111001) representing the fourth information (e.g., identification information) described below to the cleaner main body 1000, and that there is a transmission time of 10 ms per bit. However, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto.

[0264] The embodiment of FIG. 14 may be selectively combined with the embodiments of FIGS. 7, 8, 9A, 9B, 11, 12, and 13.

[0265] Referring to FIG. 14, according to the communication protocol of the present disclosure, 0 and 1 may be distinguished based on the state of the signal line L3. For example, 0 may be transmitted when the signal line L3 is in the Low state L, and 1 may be transmitted when the signal line L3 is in the High state H. Accordingly, the second processor 2410 may turn on the second switch element 2435 to apply a voltage of a first level lower than a threshold to the signal line L3 to transmit a first code (e.g., code 0), and turn off the second switch element 2435 to apply a voltage of a second level higher than the threshold to the signal line L3 to transmit a second code (e.g., code 1).

[0266] According to an embodiment, the second processor 2410 may make the state of the signal line L3 LLHHHLLH in order to transmit the fourth operation information (e.g., 00111001) indicating that the coupled device is the blower device 100 to the first processor 1131. For example, the second processor 2410 may output a High signal through the output port for the first 10 ms and the next 10 ms to turn on the second switch element 2435 to make the state of the signal line L3 Low (0V), and then output a Low signal (0V) through the output port for the next 10 ms to turn off the second switch element 2435 to make the state of the signal line L3 High (14V) to generate a signal of “001” for 30 ms. In the way, the second processor 2410 may transfer 00111001 to the first processor 1131 for 80 ms. While the second processor 2410 transmits a signal, the output port of the first processor 1131 may maintain the Low (0V) state.

[0267] According to an embodiment, when the first processor 1131 receives the second signal 00111001 indicating the fourth operation information from the blower device 2000, code information corresponding to the fourth operation information may be identified (e.g., by the first processor 1131) in the mapping table (e.g., the mapping table 1500 of FIG. 15) stored in the memory (e.g., the memory 613 of FIG. 6) of the cleaner main body 10. The first processor 1131 may identify that the coupled external device is the blower device 2000 in response to identifying the code information.

[0268] FIG. 15 is a view illustrating a data format included in a signal transferred between a cleaner main body (e.g., the cleaner main body 10 of FIG. 1 or the cleaner main body 1000 of FIG. 7) and a blower device (e.g., the blower device 100 of FIGS. 2A and 2B or the blower device 2000 of FIG. 7) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0269] The embodiments of FIG. 15 may be selectively combined with the embodiments of FIGS. 13 and 14.

[0270] Referring to FIG. 15, each of the memory (e.g., the memory 613 of FIG. 6) of the cleaner main body 10 and the memory of the blower device 100 may store a mapping table 1500 storing operation data 1510 indicating the operation information corresponding to the operation content of the cleaner main body 10 and the blower device 100, and code data 1520 indicating the code information corresponding to each of the operation table. For example, the operation data of the vacuum cleaner 1 corresponding to the operation information may include, but is not limited to, the driving speed of the blower motor (e.g., the blower motor 210 of FIG. 4 or the blower motor 2450 of FIG. 7) for controlling the driving intensity of the blower device 100, or data for identifying the blower device, driving errors of the blower device, and data indicating abnormal driving.

[0271] According to an embodiment, the code data 1520 corresponding to the operation data 1510 may be 8-bit data, but embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. For example, the code data 1520 may be 5-bit data.

[0272] According to an embodiment, when the code data 1520 corresponding to the operation data 1510 is composed of 8 bits, the code data 1520 may be composed of one start (START) bit, three command (COMMAND) bits, three parity (PARITY) bits, and one end (STOP) bit. For example, when the command bits increase, the operation data 1510 and the code data 1520 may increase.

[0273] According to an embodiment, the first operation information may be an operation condition for driving the blower device 100 at a low level. For example, the low level may be an operation condition where the current level applied to the blower motor 2450 is adjusted to about 2.4 A, so that the blower motor 2450 outputs about 60 W of power consumption. For example, the blower device 100 may blow at a speed of about 15 m / s by the first operation information.

[0274] For example, the code data according to the first operation information may be represented as 8 bits of “000011111,” and HEX CODE corresponding to the code data may be represented as “0x0F”.

[0275] According to an embodiment, the second operation information may be an operation condition for driving the blower device 100 at a mid-level. For example, the mid-level may be an operation condition where the current level applied to the blower motor 2450 is adjusted to about 3.4 A, so that the blower motor 2450 outputs about 90 W of power consumption. For example, the blower device 100 may blow at a speed of about 17 m / s by the second operation information.

[0276] For example, the code data according to the second operation information may be represented as 8 bits of “00011101,” and HEX CODE corresponding to the code data may be represented as “0x0D”.

[0277] According to an embodiment, the third operation information may be an operation condition for driving the blower device 100 at a high level. For example, the high level may be an operation condition where the current level applied to the blower motor 2450 is adjusted to about 4.7 A, so that the blower motor 2450 outputs about 120 W of power consumption. For example, the blower device 100 may blow at a speed of about 20 m / s by the third operation information.

[0278] For example, code data according to the third operation information may be represented as 8 bits of “00101011,” and HEX CODE corresponding to the code data may be represented as “0x2B”.

[0279] According to an embodiment, the fourth operation information may be an operation condition for identifying an external device coupled to the cleaner main body 10. For example, the fourth operation information included in the first signal transmitted by the cleaner main body 10 (e.g., the first processor 1131) to the blower device 100 may be an operation condition for requesting identification information from the external device coupled to the cleaner main body 10. For example, the fourth operation information included in the second signal transmitted by the blower device 100 (e.g., the second processor 2410) to the cleaner main body 10 may be an operation condition indicating identification information through which the blower device 100 may be identified as the blower device 100.

[0280] For example, the code data according to the fourth operation information may be represented as 8 bits of “00111001,” and HEX CODE corresponding to the code data may be represented as “0x39”.

[0281] According to an embodiment, the fifth operation information may be an operation condition indicating that an error occurs in the blower device 100 or abnormal driving of the blower motor 2450 is detected. For example, when the difference between the speed at which the blower motor 2450 is actually driven and the target driving speed indicated by the cleaner main body 10 exceeds a threshold level, the blower device 100 (e.g., the second processor 2410) may transmit a second signal including the fifth operation condition to inform the abnormal driving of the blower motor 2450 to the cleaner main body 10.

[0282] For example, the code data according to the fifth operation information may be represented as 8 bits of “01110001,” and HEX CODE corresponding to the code data may be represented as “0x71”.

[0283] According to an embodiment, the cleaner main body 10 and the blower device 100 may perform bi-directional communication based on the mapping table 1500 illustrated in FIG. 15. For example, the cleaner main body 10 (e.g., the first processor 1131) and the blower device 100 (e.g., the second processor 2410) described with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14 may perform bi-directional communication by transmitting the code data included in the mapping table 1500 as a first signal or a second signal.

[0284] FIG. 16 is a view illustrating an operation of transmitting a signal between a cleaner main body (e.g., the cleaner main body 10 of FIG. 1 or the cleaner main body 1000 of FIG. 7) and a blower device (e.g., the blower device 100 of FIGS. 2A and 2B or the blower device 2000 of FIG. 7) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0285] In FIG. 16, it is assumed that the cleaner main body 1000 operates as a master device and the blower device 2000 operates as a slave device. However, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto.

[0286] The embodiment of FIG. 16 may be selectively combined with the embodiments of FIGS. 13 to 15.

[0287] Referring to FIG. 16, the cleaner main body 1000 may receive a user input (power on) for supplying power. For example, the cleaner main body 1000 may be powered on through an input to a power button (e.g., the power button 621a of FIG. 18) included in the input button (e.g., the input button 621 of FIG. 6 and FIG. 18).

[0288] According to an embodiment, the cleaner main body 1000 may communicate with the blower device 2000 coupled to the cleaner main body 1000 through a signal line (e.g., the signal line L3 of FIG. 1) in response to the power-on. For example, the cleaner main body 1000 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may transmit an A1-A signal indicating the fourth operation information (e.g., the fourth operation information of FIG. 15) for identifying the device as the blower device 2000 to the blower device 2000 (operation 1610). For example, the A1-A signal may be transmitted for 80 ms. When the blower device 2000 (e.g., the second processor 2410) receives the A1-A signal, the blower device 2000 (e.g., the second processor 2410) may transmit the identification information, the A1-R signal, to the cleaner main body 1000 in response to the A1-A signal (operation 1620). For example, the A1-R signal may be transmitted for 80 ms.

[0289] According to an embodiment, when a predetermined time (e.g., 200 ms) elapses after transmitting the A1-A signal, the cleaner main body 1000 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may transmit the A2-A signal to the blower device 2000 (operation 1630). For example, the cleaner main body 1000 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may transmit an A2-A signal indicating the second operation information (e.g., the fifth operation information of FIG. 15) for controlling the driving intensity to the “high” level to the blower device 2000. For example, the A2-A signal may be transmitted for 80 ms. The blower device 2000 (e.g., the second processor 2410) may transmit the A2-R signal, which is information indicating the intensity at which it is currently being driven, to the cleaner main body 1000 in response to the A2-A signal (operation 1640). For example, the A2-R signal may be transmitted for 80 ms.

[0290] According to an embodiment, if the target driving speed of the blower device 2000 by the A2-A signal and the current target driving speed of the blower device 2000 by the A2-R signal do not match, the blower device 2000 (e.g., the second processor 2410) may command to adjust the driving speed to the target driving speed received from the cleaner main body 1000 (operation 1650).

[0291] According to an embodiment, the cleaner main body 1000 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may transmit the A3-A signal to the blower device 2000 if a predetermined time (e.g., 200 ms) elapses after transmitting the A2-A signal (operation 1660). In response to receiving the A3-A signal, the blower device 2000 (e.g., the second processor 2410) may transmit the A3-R signal indicating the current state to the cleaner main body 1000 (operation 1670).

[0292] According to an embodiment, the cleaner main body 1000 may adaptively control the operation of the blower device 2000 by continuously communicating with the blower device 2000 every predetermined time interval.

[0293] FIG. 17 is a signaling view illustrating an operation of transmitting a signal between a cleaner main body (e.g., the cleaner main body 10 of FIG. 1 or the cleaner main body 1000 of FIG. 7) and a blower device (e.g., the blower device 100 of FIGS. 2A and 2B or the blower device 2000 of FIG. 7) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0294] FIG. 17 may be understood as a signaling view illustrating that the cleaner main body 1000 and the blower device 2000 perform communication based on the operation data (e.g., operation data 1510 of FIG. 15) and code data (e.g., code data 1520 of FIG. 15) of the mapping table 1500 of FIG. 16.

[0295] In FIG. 17, assumed is a scenario in which as the blower device 2000 is coupled to the cleaner main body 1000, and the cleaner main body 1000 identifies the blower device 2000 and controls the driving of the blower device 2000. However, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto.

[0296] The embodiment of FIG. 17 may be selectively combined with the embodiments of FIGS. 13 to 16.

[0297] Referring to FIG. 17, the cleaner main body 1000 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may identify that an external device is coupled to the cleaner main body 1000 based on an identification resistor (e.g., the identification resistor 2500 of FIG. 7) in operation 1711.

[0298] According to an embodiment, in operation 1712, the cleaner main body 1000 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may transmit identification request information for identifying the coupled device to the blower device 2000. For example, the cleaner main body 1000 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may transmit a code (e.g., 0x39) corresponding to the fourth operation information of the mapping table 1500 to the blower device 2000.

[0299] According to an embodiment, in operation 1721, the blower device 2000 (e.g., the second processor 2410) may transmit identification information indicating that the coupled device is the blower device 2000 to the cleaner main body 1000 in response to the identification request information. For example, the blower device 2000 (e.g., the second processor 2410) may transmit a code (e.g., 0x39) corresponding to the fourth operation information of the mapping table 1500 to the cleaner main body 1000.

[0300] According to an embodiment, in operation 1713, the cleaner main body 1000 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may identify that the coupled external device is the blower device 2000 based on the code (e.g., 0x39) received from the blower device 2000.

[0301] According to an embodiment, in operation 1714, the cleaner main body 1000 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may transmit a signal for adjusting the blowing intensity of the blower device 2000. For example, the cleaner main body 1000 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may transmit the code (e.g., 0x1D) corresponding to the second operation information for controlling the driving intensity to the mid-level to the blower device 2000.

[0302] According to an embodiment, in operation 1722, the blower device 2000 (e.g., the second processor 2410) may transmit currently driven operation information to the cleaner main body 1000. For example, the blower device 2000 may transmit the code corresponding to being not currently driven to the cleaner main body 1000.

[0303] According to an embodiment, in operation 1723, the blower device 2000 (e.g., the second processor 2410) may perform the command corresponding to the data code (e.g., 0x1D) received from the cleaner main body 1000. For example, the blower device 2000 (e.g., the second processor 2410) may control the blower motor 2450 to be driven at a mid-level by controlling the power input to the blower motor (e.g., the blower motor 2450 of FIG. 7).

[0304] According to an embodiment, in operation 1715, the cleaner main body 1000 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may transmit a signal for adjusting the blowing intensity of the blower device 2000. For example, the cleaner main body 1000 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may transmit the code (e.g., 0x1D) corresponding to the second operation information for controlling the driving intensity to the mid-level to the blower device 2000.

[0305] According to an embodiment, in operation 1724, the blower device 2000 (e.g., the second processor 2410) may transmit currently driven operation information to the cleaner main body 1000. For example, the blower device 2000 (e.g., the second processor 2410) may transmit the code (e.g., 0x1D) corresponding to the second information indicating that it is currently being driven at the mid-level to the cleaner main body 1000.

[0306] According to an embodiment, in operation 1716, the cleaner main body 1000 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may transmit a signal for adjusting the blowing intensity of the blower device 2000. For example, the cleaner main body 1000 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may transmit the code (e.g., 0x0F) corresponding to the first operation information for controlling the driving intensity at the low level to the blower device 2000.

[0307] According to an embodiment, in operation 1725, the blower device 2000 (e.g., the second processor 2410) may transmit currently driven operation information to the cleaner main body 1000. For example, the blower device 2000 (e.g., the second processor 2410) may transmit the code (e.g., 0x1D) corresponding to the second information indicating that it is currently being driven at the mid-level to the cleaner main body 1000.

[0308] According to an embodiment, in operation 1726, the blower device 2000 (e.g., the second processor 2410) may perform a command corresponding to the data code (e.g., 0x0F) received from the cleaner main body 1000. For example, the blower device 2000 (e.g., the second processor 2410) may control the blower motor 2450 to be driven at a low level by controlling the power input to the blower motor 2450.

[0309] According to an embodiment, in operation 1717, the cleaner main body 1000 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may transmit a signal for adjusting the blowing intensity of the blower device 2000. For example, the cleaner main body 1000 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may transmit the code (e.g., 0x0F) corresponding to the first operation information for controlling the driving intensity to the low level to the blower device 2000.

[0310] According to an embodiment, in operation 1727, the blower device 2000 (e.g., the second processor 2410) may transmit currently driven operation information to the cleaner main body 1000. For example, the blower device 2000 (e.g., the second processor 2410) may transmit the code (e.g., 0x2B) corresponding to the first information indicating that it is currently being driven at a low level to the cleaner main body 1000. The cleaner main body 1000 may receive the code and identify that the blower device 2000 is being driven normally.

[0311] FIG. 18 illustrates an input / output interface 16 (e.g., the input / output interface 16 of FIG. 1) with a cleaner main body 10 (e.g., the cleaner main body 10 of FIG. 1 or the cleaner main body 1000 of FIG. 7) included in a vacuum cleaner (e.g., the vacuum cleaner 1 of FIG. 1) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0312] The embodiment of FIG. 18 may be selectively combined with the embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 17.

[0313] Referring to FIG. 18, the input / output interface 16 may be disposed at the upper side of the cleaner main body. The input / output interface 16 may include at least one input button 621 (e.g., the input button 621 of FIG. 6) formed to receive a user input, and a display 623 (e.g., the display 623 of FIG. 6) formed to display the operation state of the vacuum cleaner 1.

[0314] According to an embodiment, the at least one input button 621 may include a power button 621a for turning on or off the blower motor (e.g., the blower motor 210 of FIG. 4 or the blower motor 2450 of FIG. 7) included in the suction motor (e.g., the suction motor 650 of FIG. 6 and / or the blower device (e.g., the blower device 100 of FIGS. 2A and 2B)) included in the vacuum cleaner 1.

[0315] According to an embodiment, the power button 621a may receive a user input to selecting a driving mode. For example, when receiving a user input through the power button 621a, an object displayed on the display 623 may be selected.

[0316] According to an embodiment, the at least one input button 621 may include function buttons for activating the function of the vacuum cleaner 1 or adjusting the function of the vacuum cleaner 1. For example, the function buttons may include a first function button 621b and a second function button 621c.

[0317] According to an embodiment, the function buttons (e.g., the first function button 621b and the second function button 621c) may receive a user input for changing the driving speed of the suction motor 650 or the blower motor 210. For example, the first function button 621b may receive a user input for reducing the driving speed of the suction motor 650 or the blower motor 210. For example, the second function button 621c may receive a user input for increasing the driving speed of the suction motor 650 or the blower motor 210.

[0318] According to an embodiment, the function buttons (e.g., the first function button 621b and the second function button 621c) may receive a user input for moving the object displayed on the display 623. For example, when a plurality of objects are displayed on the display 623, an object positioned on the left side of the currently selected object may be selected by an input to the first function button 621b, and an object positioned on the right side of the currently selected object may be selected by an input to the second function button 621c.

[0319] FIG. 19 illustrates an example of an input / output interface (e.g., the input / output interface 16 of FIG. 1) of a vacuum cleaner (e.g., the vacuum cleaner 1 of FIG. 1) and a user interface 1800 displayed on a display (e.g., the display 623 of FIG. 6) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0320] The embodiment of FIG. 19 may be selectively combined with the embodiment of FIG. 18.

[0321] Referring to FIG. 19, the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may display a user interface 1800 on the display 623 to indicate that the blower device (e.g., the blower device 100 of FIGS. 2A and 2B or the blower device 2000 of FIG. 7) is coupled and to indicate the stopping of the driving of the suction motor (e.g., the suction motor 650 of FIG. 6).

[0322] According to an embodiment, the user interface 1800 may include a 1-1th object 1911 indicating that the blower device 100 is connected, a 1-2th object 1913 indicating that the suction motor 650 is stopped as the blower device 100 is connected, and a second object 1920 for receiving whether the user identifies the information indicated by the user interface 1800.

[0323] According to an embodiment, when the blower device 100 is coupled to the cleaner main body 10, the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may display the 1-1th object 1911 on the display 623 in response to identifying that the coupled device is the blower device 100.

[0324] According to an embodiment, when the blower device 100 is coupled to the cleaner main body 10 and the suction motor 650 disposed inside the cleaner main body 10 is being driven, the cleaner main body 10 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may stop the driving of the suction motor 650 and display a 1-2th object 1913 indicating that the driving of the suction motor 650 is stopped on the display 623.

[0325] According to an embodiment, in response to receiving an input to the input button 621, the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may control the display 623 to return to a previous screen. For example, as the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) receives the input to the function buttons (e.g., the first function button 621b and the second function button 621c) included in the input button 621, the user interface 1800 of FIG. 20 or subsequent figures may be displayed.

[0326] FIG. 20 illustrates an example of an input / output interface (e.g., the input / output interface 16 of FIG. 1) of a vacuum cleaner (e.g., the vacuum cleaner 1 of FIG. 1) and a user interface 1800 displayed on a display (e.g., the display 623 of FIG. 6) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0327] The embodiment of FIG. 20 may be selectively combined with the embodiment of FIG. 18.

[0328] Referring to FIG. 20, the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may display information about the ability to adjust the blowing intensity of the blower device (e.g., the blower device 100 of FIGS. 2A and 2B or the blower device 2000 of FIG. 7) on the display 623. For example, the user interface 1800 may include a first object 2010 indicating that the blowing intensity of the blower device 100 may be selected through the input to the function buttons (e.g., the first function button 621b and the second function button 621c).

[0329] According to an embodiment, a plurality of objects may be included according to the level of blowing intensity of the blower device 100. For example, the first object 2010 may include an object indicating that the blower device 100 has a “normal” (e.g., low) level, an object indicating that the blower device 100 has a “strong” (e.g., mid) level, and an object indicating that the blower device 100 has a “super-strong”(e.g., high) level.

[0330] According to an embodiment, the level of blowing intensity of the blower device 100 may increase the wind speed according to the order of normal, strong, and super-strong. The blower motor 210 may be configured to rotate at different speeds in response to the blowing intensity of the blower device 100.

[0331] According to an embodiment, the level of blowing intensity of the blower device 100 may be selected by an input to the function buttons (e.g., the first function button 621b and the second function button 621c). For example, when the current blowing intensity of the blower device 100 is the “strong” level, and an input to the first function button 621b is received, the blowing intensity may be changed to the “normal” level. For example, when the current blowing intensity of the blower device 100 is the “strong” level, and an input to the second function button 621c is received, the blowing intensity may be changed to the “super-strong” level.

[0332] FIGS. 21A to 21D illustrate an example of a user interface in which a remaining driving time is displayed on a display 623 (e.g., the display 623 of FIG. 19) according to the blowing intensity of a blower device (e.g., the blower device 100 of FIGS. 2A and 2B or the blower device 2000 of FIG. 7) or changes in blowing intensity of a blower device according to an input to a function button (e.g., the first function button 621b or the second function button 621c) in FIG. 20 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0333] FIGS. 21A to 21D are described in a scenario where in a state in which the blowing intensity of the blower device 100 is set to the “super-strong” level, the blowing intensity of the blower device 100 is set to the “super-strong” level by an input to the second function button 621c.

[0334] Referring to FIG. 21A, when the blower device 100 is turned on, the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may display the first object 2010 of FIG. 20 on the display 623, and after a predetermined time (e.g., 3 seconds) elapses, display the first object 2110 indicating that the blowing intensity of the blower device 100 is at the “strong” level on the display 623.

[0335] For example, when the blower device 100 is turned on, and the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) receives an input to the first function button 621b or the second function button 621c before a predetermined time elapses after displaying the first object 2010 of FIG. 20 on the display 623, the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may adjust the blowing intensity of the blower device 100 differently. For example, as an input to the first function button 621b is received before the predetermined time elapses, the vacuum cleaner 1 may display on the display 623 an object indicating that the blowing intensity of the blower device 100 is the “normal” level. For example, as an input to the second function button 621c is received before the predetermined time elapses, the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may display an object indicating that the blowing intensity of the blower device 100 is the “super-strong”level, on the display 623.

[0336] Referring to FIG. 21B, a predetermined time (e.g., 3 seconds) elapses after the first object 2110 of FIG. 21A is displayed on the display 623, the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may display, on the display 623, a user interface 2120 including a first object 2121 indicating the current blowing intensity of the blower device 100 and a second object 2123 indicating the available time according to the blowing intensity.

[0337] According to an embodiment, the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may display, on the display 623, a second object 2123 indicating the available time considering the power consumed according to the current blowing intensity (e.g., the strong level) of the blower device 100 and the remaining power of the battery (e.g., the battery 50 of FIG. 1).

[0338] Referring to FIG. 21C, the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may display, on the display 623, an object 2130 indicating that the blowing intensity of the blower device 100 is changed to the “super-strong” level in response to receiving an input to the second function button 621c in the state of FIG. 21B.

[0339] Referring to FIG. 21D, a predetermined time (e.g., 3 seconds) after the object 2130 of FIG. 21C is displayed on the display 623, the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may display, on the display 623, a user interface 2140 including a first object 2141 indicating the current blowing intensity of the blower device 100 and a second object 2143 indicating the available time according to the blowing intensity.

[0340] FIG. 22 illustrates an example of an input / output interface (e.g., the input / output interface 16 of FIG. 1) of a vacuum cleaner (e.g., the vacuum cleaner 1 of FIG. 1) and a user interface displayed on a display 623 (e.g., the display 623 of FIG. 6) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0341] FIG. 22 illustrates an example where the cleaner main body (e.g., the cleaner main body 10 of FIG. 1 or the cleaner main body 1000 of FIG. 7) displays, on the display 623, information according to receiving abnormal driving information where driving is not smooth from the blower device (e.g., the blower device 100 of FIGS. 2A and 2B or the blower device 2000 of FIG. 7).

[0342] According to an embodiment, the cleaner main body 10 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may identify that driving of the blower device 100 is not smooth according to bi-directional communication with the blower device 100. For example, the blower device 100 may identify an abnormal driving state based on the difference between the current driving speed of the blower motor (e.g., the blower motor 210 in FIG. 4 or the blower motor 2450 in FIG. 7) and the target driving speed of the blower motor received from the cleaner main body 10.

[0343] According to an embodiment, the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may display an object 2210 including information instructing to manage the filter on the display 623 by receiving the abnormal driving information.

[0344] According to an embodiment, the vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the first processor 1131) may display a notification for instructing to manage the filter on the display 623 whenever a preset period reaches, regardless of whether the filter is clogged.

[0345] A vacuum cleaner 1 (e.g., the vacuum cleaner 1 of FIG. 1) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include a blower device (e.g., the blower device 100 of FIGS. 2A and 2B) configured to suck and discharge external air.

[0346] The blower device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may receive power by a battery (e.g., the battery 50 of FIG. 1) disposed inside the cleaner main body (e.g., the cleaner main body 10 of FIG. 1) without a separate power source, thereby reducing weight of the product.

[0347] The vacuum cleaner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be configured to identify whether the blower device 100 is coupled and limit power supplied to a suction motor (e.g., the suction motor 650 of FIG. 6) in response to whether the blower device 100 is coupled.

[0348] The vacuum cleaner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may perform bi-directional communication between the cleaner main body 10 and the blower device 100 through a signal having a voltage higher than or equal to a predetermined level, thereby performing communication robust to external noise.

[0349] The vacuum cleaner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may perform bi-directional communication between the cleaner main body 10 and the blower device 100 to identify an external device and transmit / receive a signal for controlling the identified device.

[0350] The vacuum cleaner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may receive a user input to the blower device 100 through an input / output interface (e.g., the input / output interface 16 of FIG. 1) disposed in the cleaner main body 10, and transmit a control command corresponding to a user input to the blower device 100.

[0351] Effects obtainable from embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and other effects not mentioned of embodiments of the present disclosure may be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from descriptions in the present disclosure.

[0352] A cleaner (e.g., the vacuum cleaner 1 of FIG. 1) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include a cleaner main body 10 or 1000, a battery 50 disposed inside the cleaner main body 10 or 1000, a suction motor 650 disposed inside the cleaner main body 10 or 1000 and configured to provide suction power to the cleaner such that a foreign object outside the cleaner is sucked into an inside of the cleaner, a blower device 100 or 2000 disposed to be couplable to the cleaner main body 10 or 1000 to blow away the foreign object outside the cleaner, a power line (e.g., the first power line L1 (e.g., the positive power line) or the second power line L2 (e.g., the negative power line)) configured to transfer power supplied from the battery 50 to the cleaner main body 10 or 1000 and the blower device100 or 2000, a signal line L3 configured to transfer a signal between the cleaner main body 10 or 1000 and the blower device 100 or 2000, and a first processor 1131 configured to control an operation of a first switch element 1132 connected to the signal line L3 to transmit a first signal to the blower device 100 or 2000 and receive a second signal generated from the blower device 100 or 2000 and transmitted through the signal line L3. The first processor 1131 may be configured to identify (operation S1110) a state in which an external device is coupled to the cleaner main body 10 or 1000, transmit (operation S1120) identification request information to the external device to identify the coupled external device, receive (operation S1130) identification information generated from the coupled external device in response to the identification request information, identify (operation S1140) that the coupled external device is the blower device 100 or 2000 based on the identification information, and stop (operation S1160) driving of the suction motor in response to identifying that the suction motor is driving (operation S1150) and the blower device 100 or 2000 is coupled to the cleaner main body 10 or 1000.

[0353] In the vacuum cleaner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first processor 1131 may be configured to generate the first signal by transmitting a first code by applying a voltage of a first level lower than a threshold to the signal line L3 by turning on the first switch element 1132, and transmitting a second code by applying a voltage of a second level higher than the threshold to the signal line L3 by turning off the first switch element 1132.

[0354] In the vacuum cleaner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first signal may be composed of a combination of the first code and the second code transmitted by the first processor 1131.

[0355] In the vacuum cleaner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the blower device 100 or 2000 may include a second processor 2410 connected to a second switch element 2435 connected to the signal line L3. The second processor 2410 may be configured to receive the first signal and generate the second signal.

[0356] In the vacuum cleaner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the second processor 2410 may be configured to generate the second signal by transmitting a first code by applying a voltage of a first level lower than a threshold to the signal line L3 by turning on the second switch element 2435, and transmitting a second code by applying a voltage of a second level higher than the threshold to the signal line L3 by turning off the second switch element 2435.

[0357] In the vacuum cleaner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the second signal may be composed of a combination of the first code and the second code transmitted by the second processor 2410.

[0358] In the vacuum cleaner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first processor 1131 may be configured to transmit the first signal every preset period.

[0359] In the vacuum cleaner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first signal may include target driving information indicating a target driving level of the blower device 100 or 2000.

[0360] In the vacuum cleaner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the second signal may include current driving information indicating a current driving level of the blower device 100 or 2000.

[0361] In the vacuum cleaner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the second signal may include abnormal driving information generated in response to identifying abnormal driving of the blower device 100 or 2000.

[0362] In the vacuum cleaner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first processor 1131 may be configured to limit power supplied to the blower device 100 or 2000 in response to receiving the abnormal driving information from the second processor 2410.

[0363] In the vacuum cleaner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the blower device 100 or 2000 may further include an identification resistor 2500. The cleaner main body 10 or 1000 may further include a first voltage divider 1137 formed to distribute a voltage input from the signal line L3 to an input port of the first processor 1131.

[0364] In the vacuum cleaner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first processor 1131 may be configured to identify that the voltage input to the input port of the first processor 1131 by the first voltage divider 1137 is changed when the blower device 100 or 2000 is coupled and identify that the external device is coupled to the cleaner main body 10 or 1000 in response to identifying that the voltage is changed.

[0365] The vacuum cleaner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may further comprise an input / output interface 16 including an input button 621 and a display 623. The first processor 1131 may be configured to control power supplied to the blower motor 210 or 2450 by controlling on / off of switch elements constituting an inverter 2453 included in the blower motor 210 or 2450 in response to receiving an input regarding a target driving speed of the blower motor 210 or 2450 input to the input / output interface 16.

[0366] A method for controlling a cleaner couplable to a blower device 100 or 2000, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, may comprise identifying (operation S1110) a state in which an external device is coupled to a cleaner main body 10 or 1000 included in the cleaner, transmitting (operation S1120) identification request information to the external device through a signal line L3 connected to the cleaner main body 10 or 1000 to identify the coupled external device, receiving (operation S1130) identification information generated from the coupled external device in response to the identification request information through the signal line L3, identifying (operation S1140) that the coupled external device is the blower device 100 or 2000 based on the identification information, and stopping (operation S1160) driving of a suction motor disposed inside the cleaner main body 10 or 1000 in response to identifying (operation S1150) that the suction motor is driving, and the blower device 100 or 2000 is coupled.

[0367] In the method for controlling the vacuum cleaner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, transmitting a first signal from the cleaner main body 10 or 1000 to the blower device 100 or 2000 through the signal line L3 may include transmitting a first code by controlling to apply a voltage of a first level lower than a threshold to the signal line L3 and transmitting a second code by controlling to apply a voltage of a second level higher than the threshold to the signal line L3.

[0368] The method for controlling the vacuum cleaner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may further comprise transmitting the first signal every preset period.

[0369] In the method for controlling the vacuum cleaner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, transmitting a second signal from the blower device 100 or 2000 to the cleaner main body 10 or 1000 through the signal line L3 may include transmitting a first code by controlling to apply a voltage of a first level lower than a threshold to the signal line L3 and transmitting a second code by controlling to apply a voltage of a second level higher than the threshold to the signal line L3.

[0370] In the method for controlling the vacuum cleaner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, identifying the state in which the external device is coupled to the cleaner main body 10 or 1000 included in the cleaner may include identifying a change in voltage input by an identification resistor included in the blower device 100 or 2000 and identifying that the external device is coupled to the cleaner main body 10 or 1000 in response to identifying that the voltage is changed.

[0371] The method for controlling the vacuum cleaner 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may further comprise receiving an input regarding a target driving speed of a blower motor included in the blower device 100 or 2000 input to a user interface included in the cleaner main body 10 or 1000; and controlling power supplied to the blower motor.

Claims

1. A cleaner, comprising:a cleaner main body;a battery inside the cleaner main body;a suction motor inside the cleaner main body, the suction motor configured to provide suction power such that a foreign object outside the cleaner is sucked into an inside of the cleaner;a blower device configured to be connected to the cleaner main body and to blow away the foreign object outside the cleaner;a power line configured to transfer power supplied from the battery to the cleaner main body and the blower device;a signal line configured to transfer a signal between the cleaner main body and the blower device; anda first processor configured to cause a first signal to be transmitted, via the signal line, to the blower device by controlling an operation of a first switch element, and further configured to receive, via the signal line, a second signal from the blower device, wherein the first processor is further configured to:identify a state in which an external device is connected to the cleaner main body;transmit identification request information to the external device to identify the external device that is connected to the cleaner main body;receive identification information from the external device based on the identification request information;identify that the external device is the blower device based on the identification information; andstop driving of the suction motor based on identifying that the suction motor is driving and that the blower device is connected to the cleaner main body.

2. The cleaner of claim 1, wherein the first processor is further configured to generate the first signal by:transmitting a first code by causing a voltage of a first level lower than a threshold to be applied to the signal line by turning on the first switch element; andtransmitting a second code by causing a voltage of a second level higher than the threshold to be applied to the signal line by turning off the first switch element.

3. The cleaner of claim 2, wherein the first signal comprises the first code and the second code transmitted by the first processor.

4. The cleaner of claim 1, wherein the blower device comprises:a second switch element connected to the signal line; anda second processor connected to the second switch element, andwherein the second processor is configured to receive the first signal and generate the second signal.

5. The cleaner of claim 4, wherein the second processor is further configured to generate the second signal by:transmitting a first code by causing a voltage of a first level lower than a threshold to be applied to the signal line by turning on the second switch element; andtransmitting a second code by causing a voltage of a second level higher than the threshold to be applied to the signal line by turning off the second switch element.

6. The cleaner of claim 5, wherein the second signal comprises the first code and the second code transmitted by the second processor.

7. The cleaner of claim 1, wherein the first processor is configured to transmit the first signal every preset period.

8. The cleaner of claim 1, wherein the first signal comprises target driving information indicating a target driving level of the blower device.

9. The cleaner of claim 1, wherein the second signal comprises current driving information indicating a current driving level of the blower device.

10. The cleaner of claim 4, wherein the second signal comprises abnormal driving information obtained based on identifying abnormal driving of the blower device.

11. The cleaner of claim 10, wherein the first processor is further configured to limit the power supplied to the blower device based on receiving the abnormal driving information from the second processor.

12. The cleaner of claim 1, wherein the blower device comprises an identification resistor, andwherein the cleaner main body further comprises a first voltage divider that is configured to distribute a voltage input from the signal line to an input port of the first processor.

13. The cleaner of claim 12, wherein the first processor is further configured to:identify that the voltage input to the input port of the first processor by the first voltage divider is changed in a case where the blower device is connected to the cleaner main body; andidentify that the external device is connected to the cleaner main body based on identifying that the voltage is changed.

14. The cleaner of claim 1, further comprising an input / output interface comprising at least one input button and a display,wherein the first processor is further configured to, based on the input / output interface receiving an input regarding a target driving speed of a blower motor of the blower device, control the power supplied to the blower motor by controlling on or off of switch elements of an inverter of the blower motor.

15. A method for controlling a cleaner that is performed by at least one processor, the method comprising:identifying a state in which an external device is connected to a cleaner main body of the cleaner;transmitting, through a signal line connected to the cleaner main body, identification request information to the external device to identify the external device that is connected;receiving, from the external device and through the signal line, identification information obtained based on the identification request information;identifying that the external device is a blower device based on the identification information; andstopping driving of a suction motor inside the cleaner main body based on identifying that the suction motor is driving, and that the blower device is connected to the cleaner main body.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising transmitting, through the signal line, a first signal from the cleaner main body to the blower device, wherein the transmitting the first signal comprises:transmitting a first code by causing a voltage of a first level that is lower than a threshold to be applied to the signal line; andtransmitting a second code to the signal line by causing a voltage of a second level higher than the threshold to be applied to the signal line.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising transmitting the first signal every preset period.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising transmitting, through the signal line, a second signal from the blower device to the cleaner main body, wherein the transmitting the second signal comprises:transmitting a first code by causing a voltage of a first level lower than a threshold to be applied to the signal line; andtransmitting a second code by causing a voltage of a second level higher than the threshold to be applied to the signal line.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the identifying the state in which the external device is connected to the cleaner main body comprises:identifying a change in voltage input by an identification resistor of the blower device; andidentifying that the external device is connected to the cleaner main body based on identifying that the voltage is changed.

20. The method of claim 15, further comprising:receiving, via a user interface of the cleaner main body, an input regarding a target driving speed of a blower motor of the blower device; andcontrolling power supplied to the blower motor based on the input.

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