U.S. patent application number 11/055757 was filed with the patent office on 2005-09-01 for self-propelling cleaner.
This patent application is currently assigned to Funai Electric Co., Ltd.. Invention is credited to Takenaka, Hiroyuki.
Application Number | 20050188495 11/055757 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34879211 |
Filed Date | 2005-09-01 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050188495 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Takenaka, Hiroyuki |
September 1, 2005 |
Self-propelling cleaner
Abstract
When detecting suction of a lighted object such as a cigarette
or a match, a self-propelling cleaner 1 sends it to a dust room 12a
by controlling a valve 8a. The self-propelling cleaner 1 collects
ordinary dust such as dust and wastepaper into a dust room 12b by
controlling the valve 8a. Since a lighted object such as a
cigarette and ordinary dust are thus sent to two different dust
rooms in a discriminated manner, even if a lighted object such as a
cigarette is sucked other dust in the dust room can be prevented
from catching fire from it, whereby the self-propelling cleaner is
made safer from suction of a lighted object.
Inventors: |
Takenaka, Hiroyuki; (Osaka,
JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
OSHA LIANG L.L.P.
1221 MCKINNEY STREET
SUITE 2800
HOUSTON
TX
77010
US
|
Assignee: |
Funai Electric Co., Ltd.
Osaka
JP
|
Family ID: |
34879211 |
Appl. No.: |
11/055757 |
Filed: |
February 10, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
15/319 ; 15/339;
15/340.1; 15/347 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47L 2201/06 20130101;
A47L 9/2805 20130101; A47L 9/2852 20130101; A47L 9/2889
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
015/319 ;
015/340.1; 015/339; 015/347 |
International
Class: |
A47L 009/28 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Feb 10, 2004 |
JP |
JP2004-032920 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A self-propelling cleaner comprising: a main body provided with
a first and a second dust rooms for accommodating dust, the first
dust room includes a box made of an inflammable material for
accommodating the dust; a self-propelling section that propels the
main body; a sucking section provided with a suction mouth and a
suction fan, and collects into one of the first and second dust
rooms dust that is sucked through the suction mouth by rotating the
suction fan; a cleaning section that controls the self-propelling
section and the sucking section to perform cleaning while
propelling the main body within a preset cleaning area; a dust
temperature detecting section having a heat detection sensor
provided adjacent to the suction mouth and determines whether or
not a temperature of a sucked piece of the dust is higher than a
predetermined temperature; a water detecting section having a water
detection sensor provided adjacent to the suction mouth, and
determines whether or not water is sucked through the suction
mouth; a valve that is provided between the suction mouth and the
first and second dust rooms; a dust room switching section that
controls the valve to collect a piece of dust whose temperature is
determined higher than the predetermined temperature by the dust
temperature detecting section into the first dust room, to collect
a piece of dust whose temperature is determined not higher than the
predetermined temperature by the dust temperature detecting section
into the second dust room, to collect the water sucked through the
suction mouth into the first dust room.
2. A self-propelling cleaner comprising: a main body provided with
a first and a second dust rooms for accommodating dust; a
self-propelling section that propels the main body; a sucking
section provided with a suction mouth and a suction fan, and
collects into one of the first and second dust rooms dust that is
sucked through the suction mouth by rotating the suction fan; a
cleaning section that controls the self-propelling section and the
sucking section to perform cleaning while propelling the main body
within a preset cleaning area; a dust temperature detecting section
having a heat detection sensor provided adjacent to the suction
mouth and determines whether or not a temperature of a sucked piece
of the dust is higher than a predetermined temperature; a valve
that is provided between the suction mouth and the first and second
dust rooms; a dust room switching section that controls the valve
to collect a piece of dust whose temperature is determined higher
than the predetermined temperature by the dust temperature
detecting section into the first dust room, and to collect a piece
of dust whose temperature is determined not higher than the
predetermined temperature by the dust temperature detecting section
into the second dust room.
3. The self-propelling cleaner according to claim 2, further
comprising a water detecting section having a water detection
sensor provided adjacent to the suction mouth, and determines
whether or not water is sucked through the suction mouth, wherein
the dust room switching section controls the valve to collect the
water sucked through the suction mouth into the first dust
room.
4. The self-propelling cleaner according to claim 2, wherein the
first dust room includes a box made of an inflammable material for
accommodating the dust.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a self-propelling cleaner
that cleans a cleaning area by sucking dust existing there by
causing a main body to move autonomously in the cleaning area.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Among vacuum cleaners for cleaning dust such as dust on a
floor or the like is one in which the main body is equipped with
two dust rooms for collecting dust that is sucked into the main
body, one dust room being used as a dust room for collecting
ordinary dust such as dust and wastepaper and the other being as a
dust room for collecting special dust such as metal pieces and
glass pieces (refer to JP-A-7-047042). The vacuum cleaner described
in Patent document 1 is such that a user chooses a dust room for
collecting sucked dust in accordance with a type of dust that is
about to be sucked.
[0005] In recent years, self-propelling cleaners have been put in
practical use that clean a cleaning area that is set by a user by
sucking dust on a floor or the like as the main body moves
autonomously in the cleaning area. Since a self-propelling cleaner
cleans a cleaning area that is set irrespective of an action of a
user, the user can act irrespective of the cleaning of the cleaning
area being performed by the self-propelling cleaner once he or she
performs a manipulation for starting the cleaning on the main body;
for example, the user can watch TV or study. The load of cleaning
can thus be reduced to a large extent.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] However, a self-propelling cleaner may collide with
furniture or the like that is placed in a cleaning area while it
cleans the cleaning area that was set by a user by moving there. To
prevent the main body or a hit piece of furniture or the like from
being damaged, a buffer material or the like for reducing impact of
a collision is attached to the periphery of the main body of a
self-propelling cleaner. Therefore, the collision between the
self-propelling cleaner and furniture or the like is not
problematic in itself. However, the following problem may occur.
Impact of a collision between a self-propelling cleaner and a
table, for example, causes a lighted cigarette to drop from an
ashtray that is placed on the table, and the lighted cigarette is
sucked through the suction mouth. The dust in the dust room catches
fire from the lighted cigarette to cause a fire. In other words,
conventional self-propelling cleaners have a problem that a
sufficient safety measure is not taken against suction of a lighted
cigarette or the like.
[0007] One measure against this problem is to provide two dust
rooms and use them for collecting ordinary dust such as dust and
wastepaper and for receiving a lighted object, respectively, as
described in Patent document 1. With this measure, even if a
lighted object is sucked, the dust in the dust room can be
prevented from catching fire from it: the vacuum cleaner is safer
from suction of a lighted object. However, in the case of
self-propelling cleaners, since a cleaning area is cleaned
irrespective of an action of a user, it is necessary to switch
automatically between the dust rooms to be used for collecting
ordinary dust such as dust and wastepaper and for receiving a
lighted object, respectively. However, no technique for switching
between such dust rooms has been proposed yet.
[0008] One of objects of the present invention is to provide a
self-propelling cleaner that is safer from suction of a lighted
object because it sends a lighted object such as a cigarette and
ordinary dust to two different dust rooms in a discriminated
manner.
[0009] According to a first aspect of the invention, there is
provided a self-propelling cleaner including: a main body provided
with a first and a second dust rooms for accommodating dust, the
first dust room includes a box made of an inflammable material for
accommodating the dust; a self-propelling section that propels the
main body; a sucking section provided with a suction mouth and a
suction fan, and collects into one of the first and second dust
rooms dust that is sucked through the suction mouth by rotating the
suction fan; a cleaning section that controls the self-propelling
section and the sucking section to perform cleaning while
propelling the main body within a preset cleaning area; a dust
temperature detecting section having a heat detection sensor
provided adjacent to the suction mouth and determines whether or
not a temperature of a sucked piece of the dust is higher than a
predetermined temperature; a water detecting section having a water
detection sensor provided adjacent to the suction mouth, and
determines whether or not water is sucked through the suction
mouth; a valve that is provided between the suction mouth and the
first and second dust rooms; a dust room switching section that
controls the valve to collect a piece of dust whose temperature is
determined higher than the predetermined temperature by the dust
temperature detecting section into the first dust room, to collect
a piece of dust whose temperature is determined not higher than the
predetermined temperature by the dust temperature detecting section
into the second dust room, to collect the water sucked through the
suction mouth into the first dust room.
[0010] According to a second aspect of the invention, there is
provided a self-propelling cleaner including: a main body provided
with a first and a second dust rooms for accommodating dust; a
self-propelling section that propels the main body; a sucking
section provided with a suction mouth and a suction fan, and
collects into one of the first and second dust rooms dust that is
sucked through the suction mouth by rotating the suction fan; a
cleaning section that controls the self-propelling section and the
sucking section to perform cleaning while propelling the main body
within a preset cleaning area; a dust temperature detecting section
having a heat detection sensor provided adjacent to the suction
mouth and determines whether or not a temperature of a sucked piece
of the dust is higher than a predetermined temperature; a valve
that is provided between the suction mouth and the first and second
dust rooms; a dust room switching section that controls the valve
to collect a piece of dust whose temperature is determined higher
than the predetermined temperature by the dust temperature
detecting section into the first dust room, and to collect a piece
of dust whose temperature is determined not higher than the
predetermined temperature by the dust temperature detecting section
into the second dust room.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] The above objects and advantages of the present invention
will become more apparent by describing preferred exemplary
embodiments thereof in detail with reference to the accompanying
drawings, wherein:
[0012] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the
main part of a self-propelling cleaner according to an embodiment
of the present invention;
[0013] FIGS. 2A and 2B are schematic diagrams as internal sectional
and bottom views showing the structure of the self-propelling
cleaner according to the embodiment;
[0014] FIG. 3 shows the structure of dust rooms of the
self-propelling cleaner according to the embodiment;
[0015] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation relating to
cleaning of the self-propelling cleaner according to the
embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0016] A self-propelling cleaner according to an embodiment of the
present invention will be hereinafter described.
[0017] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the
main part of the self-propelling cleaner according to the
embodiment of the invention. FIGS. 2A and 2B are schematic diagrams
showing the internal structure of the self-propelling cleaner
according to the embodiment. FIG. 2A is a side sectional view and
FIG. 2B is a bottom view. The self-propelling cleaner 1 according
to the embodiment is equipped with a control section 2 for
controlling the operation of the main body, a sucking section 3 for
sucking dust into the main body, a moving section 3 for causing the
main body to move autonomously, a display/manipulation section 5
for displaying the status of the main body and receiving a
manipulation input to the main body, a temperature detecting
section 6 for judging whether the temperature of an object that has
been sucked into the main body is higher than a predetermined
temperature, a liquid detecting section 7 for detecting suction of
liquid such as water into the main body, and a dust room switching
section 8 for switching the dust room for collecting objects that
are sucked into the main body.
[0018] As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the self-propelling cleaner 1
has a disc-shaped appearance. A map in which a cleaning area to be
cleaned is set is stored in the control section 2. The map contains
information indicating a start position and end position of
cleaning and a movement route of the main body from the start
position to the end position. The control section 2 can store a
plurality of maps. A user can store a map of an arbitrary cleaning
area and delete a map stored in the control section 2 by performing
a prescribed input manipulation on the display/manipulation section
5. The sucking section 3 produces a suction air flow for sucking
dust through the suction mouth 10 and collecting the dust into a
dust room 12 by rotating a suction fan 11. The suction mouth 10 is
connected to the dust rooms via a pipe 15, and dust that is sucked
through the suction mouth 10 is sent to the dust room 12 through
the pipe 15.
[0019] As shown in FIG. 3, the self-propelling cleaner 1 according
to this embodiment the dust room 12 is divided into two rooms 12a
and 12b. The pipe 15 that connects the suction mouth 10 and the
dust room 12 branches off before the dust room 12 into two parts,
which are connected to the inlets of the dust rooms 12a and 12b,
respectively. A valve 8a for selectively closing one of the inlets
of the pipes that are connected to the respective dust rooms 12a
and 12b. The dust room switching section 8 switches the state of
the valve 8a. When the inlet of the pipe that is connected to the
one dust room 12a is closed by the valve 8a, dust that is sucked
through the suction mouth 10 is collected into the other dust room
12b. Conversely, when the inlet of the pipe that is connected to
the dust room 12b is closed by the valve 8a, dust that is sucked
through the suction mouth 10 is collected into the dust room 12a.
In other words, switching between the dust rooms 12a and 12b for
collecting dust that is sucked through the suction mouth 10 can be
made by the state of the valve 8a.
[0020] The one dust room (first dust room) 12a houses a box having
an open top and made of an inflammable material such as a steel
sheet. Dust that has entered the dust room 12a via the pipe 15
falls into the box. Dust that is sucked through the suction mouth
10 is collected into the box. The height of the box is
approximately a half of that of the dust room 12a, whereby a flow
path of a suction air flow that is produced by the rotation of the
suction fan 11 is secured. The other dust room (second dust room)
12b is configured so that a bag-shaped dust pack can be attached
thereto. Dust is collected into the dust pack. The dust pack is
made of paper of relatively coarse fiber. The opening portion of
the dust pack is attached to the inlet of the dust room 12b. The
one dust room 12a is used as a dust room for receiving a lighted
object such as a cigarette or a match as well as liquid such as
water. The other dust room 12b is used as a dust room for
collecting ordinary dust such as dust and wastepaper.
[0021] The moving section 3 performs, according to an instruction
from the control section 2, a rotation control on a motor for
rotating driving wheels 13 that move the main body. The driving
wheels 13 are a pair of wheels that are opposed to each other with
a proper interval. The moving section 3 controls the movement
direction of the main body by controlling the rotation directions
and rotation speeds of the two driving wheels 13 individually by a
known PWM control. Reference numeral 14 denotes a follower wheel
that is provided to secure sufficient stability of movement of the
main body.
[0022] A heat detection sensor 6a for detecting the temperature of
dust that is sucked through the suction mouth 10 and a pair of
electrodes 7a for detecting suction of liquid such as water through
the suction mouth 10 are attached to the periphery of the suction
mouth 10. The heat detection sensor 6a is a known sensor for
measuring the temperature of an object that passes a detection
position by utilizing infrared light. The temperature detecting
section 6 judges whether a lighted object such as a cigarette or a
match has been sucked through the suction mouth 10 on the basis of
a measurement result of the heat detection sensor 6a. More
specifically, the temperature detecting section 6 judges that a
lighted object has been sucked through the suction mouth 10 if a
temperature detected by the heat detection sensor 6a is higher than
a temperature (e.g., 50.degree. C.) that should not be exhibited by
objects as ordinarily found on the floor of a room, such as dust or
wastepaper. This temperature is determined in advance. The liquid
detecting section 7 measures the resistance value between the
electrodes 7a. The liquid detecting section 7 judges that liquid
has been sucked through the suction mouth 10 if the resistance
value is smaller than a predetermined value.
[0023] The display/manipulation section 5 has a receiving section
for receiving a control code that is transmitted from a remote
controller (not shown) to the main body.
[0024] Next, the operation of the self-propelling cleaner 1
according to the embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a
flowchart showing a cleaning operation of the self-propelling
cleaner 1 according to the embodiment. When receiving an input as
an instruction to start cleaning, the self-propelling cleaner 1
starts cleaning. An instruction to start cleaning can be input to
the self-propelling cleaner by a manipulation on keys that are
provided on the display/manipulation section 5 or a remote
manipulation on the remote controller (not shown). The instruction
to start cleaning contains information that specifies a cleaning
area that is going to be cleaned. When receiving the instruction to
start cleaning, first, the self-propelling cleaner 1 reads out a
stored map that corresponds to the cleaning area that has been
specified this time (s1) and moves the main body to a cleaning
start position that is indicated by the map (s2). The movement to
the cleaning start position is caused by the moving section 3. At
this time, the sucking section 3 does not rotate the suction fan
11.
[0025] When the main body has reached the cleaning start position,
the dust room switching section 8 sets the valve 8a to the state
(hereinafter referred to as "ordinary state") that dust that is
sucked through the suction mouth 10 is collected into the dust room
12b, that is, the state that the inlet to the dust room 12b is
closed (s3). After setting the valve 8a to the ordinary state, the
self-propelling cleaner 1 starts to clean the cleaning area that
was specified this time (s4). At step s4, the sucking section 3
starts rotating the suction fan 11 and the moving section 3 starts
moving the main body along the movement route from the cleaning
start position to the end position that is indicated by the map
that was read out at step s1.
[0026] After the cleaning was started at step s4, the
self-propelling cleaner 1 monitors whether a lighted object or
liquid has been sucked through the suction mouth until the main
body reaches the cleaning end position (s5-s7). The self-propelling
cleaner 1 judges that a lighted object has been sucked if the
temperature detecting section 6 has detected that an object whose
temperature is higher than the predetermined temperature has been
sucked through the suction mouth 10. The self-propelling cleaner 1
judges that liquid has been sucked if the liquid detecting section
7 has judged that the resistance value between the electrodes 7a
has become smaller than the predetermined value.
[0027] If the self-propelling cleaner 1 judges at step s5 that a
lighted object has been sucked, the dust room switching section 8
switches the valve 8a from the ordinary state to the state
(hereinafter referred to as "particular state") that dust that is
sucked through the suction mouth 10 is collected to the dust room
12a, that is, the state that the inlet to the dust room 12a is
closed (s8). As a result, the lighted object that has been sucked
through the suction mouth 10 this time is sent to the dust room 12a
rather than the dust room 12b. Therefore, the ordinary dust
collected in the dust room 12b does not catch fire from the lighted
object that has been sucked this time: occurrence of a fire can be
prevented. If a prescribed time has elapsed from the switching of
the valve to the particular state (s8), the self-propelling cleaner
1 returns the valve 8a to the ordinary state (s9 and s10). The
prescribed time should be a little longer than a time that is taken
by a piece of dust to travel from the suction mouth 10 to the dust
room 12, and is set at about 1 second. With this measure, the
self-propelling cleaner 1 reliably sends a lighted object that has
been sucked through the suction mouth 10 to the dust room 12a and
prevents ordinary dust such as dust or wastepaper from entering the
dust room 12a thereafter. In other words, the self-propelling
cleaner 1 prevents inflammable ordinary dust from entering the dust
room 12a.
[0028] If the self-propelling cleaner 1 judges at step s6 that
liquid such as water has been sucked, the dust room switching
section 8 switches the valve 8a from the ordinary state to the
particular state (s11) like it does so at step s8. At this time,
the moving section 3 suspends the movement of the main body (s12)
whereas the sucking section 3 continues to rotate the suction fan
11 rather than stops its rotation. As a result, the self-propelling
cleaner 1 can send liquid such as water that has been sucked
through the suction mouth 10 to the dust room 12a. Since the
movement of the main body is suspended when liquid is sucked
through the suction mouth 10, almost all of spilled liquid around
the stop position can be sent to the dust room 12a and part of the
spilled liquid is prevented from being dragged to reach another
place.
[0029] When the movement of the main body is suspended at step s12,
the self-propelling cleaner 1 waits until the resistance value
between the electrodes 7a becomes larger than the predetermined
value (s13). Since the suction fan 11 is rotating in this state,
the suction air flow from the suction mouth 10 to the dust room 12a
accelerates the drying of the electrodes. If detecting that the
resistance value between the electrodes 7a has become larger than
the predetermined value (s13), the self-propelling cleaner 1
switches the valve 8a from the particular state to the ordinary
state (s14) and the moving section 3 restarts movement of the main
body (s15).
[0030] As described above, the self-propelling cleaner 1 according
to the embodiment also sends liquid such as water that has been
sucked through the suction mouth 10 to the dust room 12a.
Therefore, if the self-propelling cleaner 1 sucked liquid such as
water before suction of a lighted object through the suction mouth
10, when the lighted object that has been sucked through the
suction mouth 10 enters the dust room 12a it is extinguished
quickly by the liquid already existing there. Occurrence of a fire
can thus be prevented more reliably. Since the dust room 12a is a
box made of an inflammable material, it does not catch fire from a
lighted object that enters it and liquid that has entered it does
not fall from it.
[0031] When the main body has reached the end position of the
cleaning area, the self-propelling cleaner 1 performs end
processing at step s16 and finished this process. The end
processing of step s16 is processing of stopping the suction fan 11
and causing the moving section 3 to move the main body to a standby
position. For example, the standby position is a place where a
charger for a battery (not shown) of the main body is
installed.
[0032] A user may put water in advance in the box that is housed in
the dust room 12.
[0033] As described above, according to the embodiment, the dust
room for collecting dust that is sucked through the suction mouth
is divided into the two dust rooms. The dust temperature detecting
section judges, using the heat detection sensor provided adjacent
to the suction mouth, whether the temperature of a piece of dust
sucked through the suction mouth is higher than the predetermined
temperature. The dust room switching sections sends, to the one
dust room, a piece of dust whose temperature is higher than the
predetermined temperature and collects, into the other dust room,
dust whose temperature is not higher than the predetermined
temperature, by controlling the valve that is disposed between the
suction mouth and the two dust rooms.
[0034] When the predetermined temperature is set at a preset
temperature (e.g., about 50.degree. C.) that should not be
exhibited by ordinary dust such as dust or wastepaper, switching
between the dust room for receiving a lighted object and the dust
room for collecting ordinary dust can be made automatically.
Therefore, when a lighted object is sucked, the other dust in the
dust room can be prevented from catching fire from it, whereby the
self-propelling cleaner is made safer from suction of a lighted
object.
[0035] According to the embodiment, when water is sucked through
the suction mouth, the water is sent to the one dust room for
receiving a lighted object. Therefore, when a lighted object is
sucked, it can be extinguished quickly if water already exists in
the one dust room. This makes it possible to prevent, more
reliably, occurrence of a fire when a lighted object is sucked.
[0036] The dust room for receiving a lighted object may be made of
an inflammable material such as a steel sheet. An alternative
structure is such that a resin dust room houses a box made of an
inflammable material and a lighted object is put into the box.
[0037] According to the embodiment, switching between the dust room
for receiving a lighted object and the dust room for collecting
ordinary dust can be made automatically. Therefore, when a lighted
object is sucked, the other dust in the dust room can be prevented
from catching fire from it, whereby the self-propelling cleaner is
made safer from suction of a lighted object.
[0038] Although the present invention has been shown and described
with reference to a specific preferred embodiment, various changes
and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art from
the teachings herein. Such changes and modifications as are obvious
are deemed to come within the spirit, scope and contemplation of
the invention as defined in the appended claims.
* * * * *