U.S. patent application number 15/108139 was filed with the patent office on 2017-01-05 for electric vacuum cleaner.
The applicant listed for this patent is TOSHIBA LIFESTYLE PRODUCTS & SERIVCES CORPORATION. Invention is credited to AKIHIRO ISHIZAWA.
Application Number | 20170000304 15/108139 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 53478318 |
Filed Date | 2017-01-05 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170000304 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
ISHIZAWA; AKIHIRO |
January 5, 2017 |
ELECTRIC VACUUM CLEANER
Abstract
An electric vacuum cleaner with power consumption reduced in
confirming whether or not a regular secondary battery is attached
to a body. The electric vacuum cleaner 1 comprising: a body 2 on
which a secondary battery 4 is detachably mountable; an electric
blower 8 housed in the body 2, the electric blower 8 being driven
by power supplied from the secondary battery 4 and generating
negative pressure; a connection determinator 45 that only at a time
of the secondary battery 4 being attached to the body 2, transmits
a confirmation signal to the secondary battery 4 and verifies if a
reception signal received from the secondary battery 4 and
verification information match with each other; and a control
member 46 that, if the connection determinator 45 confirms a match
between the reception signal and the verification information,
permits driving of the electric blower 8, and if the connection
determinator 45 confirms otherwise, prohibits driving of the
electric blower 8.
Inventors: |
ISHIZAWA; AKIHIRO; (HADANO,
JP) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
TOSHIBA LIFESTYLE PRODUCTS & SERIVCES CORPORATION |
Tokyo |
|
JP |
|
|
Family ID: |
53478318 |
Appl. No.: |
15/108139 |
Filed: |
December 3, 2014 |
PCT Filed: |
December 3, 2014 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/JP2014/082031 |
371 Date: |
June 24, 2016 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47L 9/2857 20130101;
A47L 5/362 20130101; A47L 9/2878 20130101; A47L 9/327 20130101;
A47L 9/2842 20130101; A47L 9/2884 20130101; A47L 9/24 20130101;
A47L 9/1683 20130101 |
International
Class: |
A47L 9/28 20060101
A47L009/28; A47L 9/24 20060101 A47L009/24; A47L 9/16 20060101
A47L009/16; A47L 9/32 20060101 A47L009/32; A47L 5/36 20060101
A47L005/36 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 27, 2013 |
JP |
2013-271317 |
Claims
1. An electric vacuum cleaner comprising: a body on which a
secondary battery is detachably mountable; an electric blower
housed in the body, the electric blower being driven by power
supplied from the secondary battery and generating negative
pressure; a connection determinator that only at a time of the
secondary battery being attached to the body, transmits a
confirmation signal to the secondary battery and verifies if a
reception signal received from the secondary battery and
verification information match with each other; and a control
member that, if the connection determinator confirms a match
between the reception signal and the verification information,
permits driving of the electric blower, and if the connection
determinator confirms otherwise, prohibits driving of the electric
blower.
2. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the
connection determinator stores the confirmation signal and the
verification information that are different from each other.
3. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, comprising a
notification member that provides notification of a mismatch
between the reception signal and the verification information,
based on a result of the confirmation by the connection
determinator.
4. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, comprising a
storage member that stores a mismatch between the reception signal
and the verification information, based on a result of the
confirmation by the connection determinator.
5. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 2, comprising a
notification member that provides notification of a mismatch
between the reception signal and the verification information,
based on a result of the confirmation by the connection
determinator.
6. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 2, comprising a
storage member that stores a mismatch between the reception signal
and the verification information, based on a result of the
confirmation by the connection determinator.
7. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 3, comprising a
storage member that stores a mismatch between the reception signal
and the verification information, based on a result of the
confirmation by the connection determinator.
8. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 5, comprising a
storage member that stores a mismatch between the reception signal
and the verification information, based on a result of the
confirmation by the connection determinator.
Description
FIELD
[0001] An embodiment described herein relates to an electric vacuum
cleaner.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Electric vacuum cleaners including a secondary battery as a
power supply for a electric blower are known.
PRIOR ART DOCUMENTS
Patent Documents
[0003] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
2005-13460
SUMMARY
Problems to be Solved by the Invention
[0004] In a conventional electric vacuum cleaner including a
secondary battery that can be attached to on a body, a pulsed
confirmation signal is continuously transmitted from the body to
the secondary battery to verify whether or not a regular secondary
battery is attached to the body.
[0005] In this conventional electric vacuum cleaner, the pulsed
confirmation signal is continuously transmitted, which results in
waste power consumption in the secondary battery.
[0006] Therefore, the present invention proposes an electric vacuum
cleaner with power consumption reduced in confirming whether or not
a regular secondary battery is attached to a body.
Means for Solving the Problems
[0007] In order to solve the aforementioned problem, an electric
vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention
comprises: a body on which a secondary battery is detachably
mountable; an electric blower housed in the body, the electric
blower being driven by power supplied from the secondary battery
and generating negative pressure; a connection determinator that
only at a time of the secondary battery being attached to the body,
transmits a confirmation signal to the secondary battery and
verifies if a reception signal received from the secondary battery
and verification information match with each other; and a control
member that, if the connection determinator confirms a match
between the reception signal and the verification information,
permits driving of the electric blower, and if the connection
determinator confirms otherwise, prohibits driving of the electric
blower.
Advantage of the Invention
[0008] The present invention enables provision of an electric
vacuum cleaner with power consumption reduced in confirming whether
or not a regular secondary battery is attached to a body.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an outer appearance of an
electric vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present
invention.
[0010] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the electric vacuum
cleaner according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[0011] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating secondary battery
recognition control in an electric vacuum cleaner according to the
present embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0012] An embodiment of an electric vacuum cleaner according to the
present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to
3.
[0013] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an outer appearance of an
electric vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present
invention.
[0014] As illustrated in FIG. 1, an electric vacuum cleaner 1
according to the present embodiment is what is called a
canister-type electric vacuum cleaner. The electric vacuum cleaner
1 includes a body 2 that can be moved on a surface to be cleaned, a
pipe section 3 detachably attached to the body 2, and a secondary
battery 4, which is a power supply detachably attached to the body
2. The body 2 and the pipe section 3 are fluidically connected.
[0015] The secondary battery 4, which is a lithium ion battery,
includes a protection circuit (not illustrated) for avoiding
overcharge and overdischarge.
[0016] The body 2 includes a body case 5, a pair of wheels 6
provided on opposite right and left sides of the body case 5, a
detachable dust separation/collection mechanism 7 disposed in a
front half portion of the body case 5, a electric blower 8 housed
in a rear half portion of the body case 5, a main controller 9 that
controls mainly the electric blower 8, and a power supply cord 11
that conducts power to the secondary battery 4.
[0017] The body 2 drives the electric blower 8 using power supplied
from the secondary battery 4, and makes negative pressure generated
as a result of the driving of the electric blower 8 be exerted in
the pipe section 3. The electric vacuum cleaner 1 draws in air
containing dust (hereinafter referred to as "dust-containing air")
from a surface to be cleaned, through the pipe section 3, separates
the dust from the dust-containing air, collects and accumulates the
dust after the separation and lets out the air after the
separation.
[0018] At a front portion of the body case 5, a connection port 12
is provided. The connection port 12, which is an inlet of the body
2, fluidically interconnects the pipe section 3 and the dust
separation/collection mechanism 7. In a back portion of the body
case 5, a joint mechanism (not illustrated) to which the secondary
battery 4 is mechanically connected is provided.
[0019] The wheels 6, which are large-diameter running wheels,
support the body 2.
[0020] The dust separation/collection mechanism 7 separates dust
from dust-containing air flowing into the body 2 and collects and
accumulates the dust, and sends clean air with the dust removed to
the electric blower 8. The dust separation/collection mechanism 7
may be of a centrifugal separation type or a filtration separation
type.
[0021] The electric blower 8 is driven by power supplied from the
secondary battery 4. The electric blower 8 draws air in from the
dust separation/collection mechanism 7 and thereby generates
negative pressure (suction negative pressure).
[0022] The main controller 9 includes a microprocessor (not
illustrated) and a storage device (not illustrated) that, e.g.,
stores various calculation programs to be executed by the
microprocessor, and parameters. In the storage device, a plurality
of operation modes set in advance is stored. The operation modes
set in advance are ones relating to magnitudes of a driving output
of the electric blower 8, and correspond to instructions provided
by a user operating the pipe section 3. For the respective
operation modes, mutually-different input values (input values for
the electric blower 8) are set. In response to an instruction
provided by the user operating the pipe section 3, the main
controller 9 selects a given operation mode corresponding to the
instruction from among the plurality of operation modes set in
advance, reads the operation mode from the storage device, and
controls the electric blower 8 according to the read operation
mode.
[0023] The power supply cord 11, which is detachably attached to
the body 2, supplies power from a plug-in connector for electric
distribution (a so-called receptacle outlet, which is not
illustrated) to the secondary battery 4. A plug 14 is provided at a
free end portion of the power supply cord 11. The secondary battery
4 is charged via the power supply cord 11.
[0024] The pipe section 3 draws in dust-containing air from a
surface to be cleaned to the body 2 by means of the negative
pressure exerted from the body 2 and guides the dust-containing
air. The pipe section 3 includes a connection pipe 19, which serves
as a joint, detachably connected to the body 2, a dust collection
hose 21 fluidically connected to the connection pipe 19, a hand
operation pipe 22 fluidically connected to the dust collection hose
21, a grip portion 23 projecting from the hand operation pipe 22,
an operation section 24 provided at the grip portion 23, an
extension pipe 25 detachably connected to the hand operation pipe
22, and a suction port body 26 detachably connected to the
extension pipe 25.
[0025] The connection pipe 19, which is a joint detachably
connected to the connection port 12, is fluidically connected to
the dust separation/collection mechanism 7 through the connection
port 12.
[0026] The dust collection hose 21 is a long and flexible hose
having a substantially cylindrical shape. One end portion (here, a
rear end portion) of the dust collection hose 21 is fluidically
connected to the connection pipe 19. The dust collection hose 21 is
fluidically connected to the dust separation/collection mechanism 7
through the connection pipe 19.
[0027] The hand operation pipe 22 links the dust collection hose 21
and the extension pipe 25. One end portion (here, a rear end
portion) of the hand operation pipe 22 is fluidically connected to
another end portion (here, a front end portion) of the dust
collection hose 21. The hand operation pipe 22 is fluidically
connected to the dust separation/collection mechanism 7 through the
dust collection hose 21 and the connection pipe 19.
[0028] The grip portion 23 is a part to be griped by a user with
his/her hand for operating the electric vacuum cleaner 1. The grip
portion 23, which has a proper shape enabling the user to easily
grip with his/her hand, projects from the hand operation pipe
22.
[0029] The operation section 24 includes switches associated with
respective operation modes. More specifically, the operation
section 24 includes a stop switch 24a associated with an
instruction to stop operation of the electric blower 8, a start
switch 24b associated with an instruction to start operation of the
electric blower 8, and a brush switch 24c associated with an
instruction to supply power to the suction port body 26. The stop
switch 24a and the start switch 24b are electrically connected to
the main controller 9. The user of the electric vacuum cleaner 1
can select one of the operation modes of the electric blower 8 by
operating the operation section 24. The start switch 24b functions
also as an operation mode selection switch during the electric
blower 8 operating. In this case, each time the main controller 9
receives an instruction signal from the start switch 24b, switches
operation modes in the order of strong, middle, weak, strong,
middle, weak . . . . Here, the operation section 24 may include a
strong operation switch (not illustrated), a middle operation
switch (not illustrated) and a weak operation switch (not
illustrated) individually, instead of the start switch 24b.
[0030] The extension pipe 25, which has a telescopic structure in
which a plurality of tubular bodies are put on one another, is an
extensible pipe having a substantially cylindrical elongated tube.
A joint mechanism detachably attached to another end portion (here,
a front end portion) of the hand operation pipe 22 is provided at
one end portion (here, a rear portion) of the extension pipe 25.
The extension pipe 25 is fluidically connected to the dust
separation/collection mechanism 7 through the hand operation pipe
22, the dust collection hose 21 and the connection pipe 19.
[0031] The suction port body 26 can run or glide on a surface to be
cleaned such as a wood floor or a carpet, and includes a suction
port 28 in a bottom surface facing the surface to be cleaned in a
running or gliding state. Also, the suction port body 26 includes a
rotational sweeping body 29, which is rotatable, disposed in the
suction port 28, and an electric motor 31 that drives the
rotational sweeping body 29. A joint mechanism detachably attached
to another end portion (here, a front end portion) of the extension
pipe 25 is provided at one end portion (here, a rear end portion)
of the suction port body 26. The suction port body 26 is
fluidically connected to the dust separation/collection mechanism 7
through the extension pipe 25, the hand operation pipe 22, the dust
collection hose 21 and the connection pipe 19. In other words, the
suction port body 26, the extension pipe 25, the hand operation
pipe 22, the dust collection hose 21, the connection pipe 19 and
the dust separation/collection mechanism 7 form a suction air
passageway leading to the suction port 28 from the electric blower
8. The electric motor 31 alternately starts and stops operating
each time the electric motor 31 receives an instruction signal from
the brush switch 24c.
[0032] Upon receipt of an instruction provided by the user
operating the start switch 24b, the electric vacuum cleaner 1
starts the electric blower 8. For example, upon receipt of an
instruction provided by the start switch 24b being operated in a
state in which the electric blower 8 is stopped, the electric
vacuum cleaner 1 first makes the electric blower 8 operate in a
strong operation mode. Then, upon receipt of an instruction
provided by the start switch 24b being operated again, the electric
vacuum cleaner 1 makes the electric blower 8 operate in a middle
operation mode, and upon receipt of an instruction, which is the
third, provided by the start switch 24b being operated, the
electric vacuum cleaner 1 makes the electric blower 8 operate in a
weak operation mode, and the above is repeated subsequently. The
strong operation mode, the middle operation mode and the weak
operation mode are included in the plurality of operation modes set
in advance, and a value input to the electric blower 8 is smaller
in the order of the strong operation mode, the middle operation
mode and the weak operation mode. The started electric blower 8
draws air out from the dust separation/collection mechanism 7 to
produce negative pressure inside the dust separation/collection
mechanism 7.
[0033] The negative pressure inside the dust separation/collection
mechanism 7 sequentially passes through the connection port 12, the
connection pipe 19, the dust collection hose 21, the hand operation
pipe 22, the extension pipe 25 and the suction port body 26, and is
then exerted in the suction port 28. The electric vacuum cleaner 1
draws in dust on the surface to be cleaned together with air, by
means of the negative pressure exerted in the suction port 28 and
thereby cleans the surface to be cleaned. The dust
separation/collection mechanism 7 separates and accumulates the
dust-containing air drawn into the electric vacuum cleaner 1, and
also sends air separated from the dust-containing air to the
electric blower 8. The electric blower 8 lets the air drawn in from
the dust separation/collection mechanism 7 out to the outside of
the body 2.
[0034] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the electric vacuum cleaner
according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[0035] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the electric vacuum cleaner 1
according to the present embodiment includes a control circuit 41
electrically connected to the secondary battery 4.
[0036] The control circuit 41 control operation of the electric
blower 8. The control circuit 41 includes: the electric blower 8
serially connected to the secondary battery 4; a switching element
42 that opens/closes an electric circuit connecting the secondary
battery 4 and the electric blower 8; a power supply circuit 43 for
control, the power supply circuit 43 converting a battery voltage
from the secondary battery 4 and thereby outputting power for
control; a connection determinator 45 that only at the time of the
secondary battery 4 being attached to the body 2, transmits a
confirmation signal to the secondary battery 4 and verifies if a
reception signal received from the secondary battery 4 and
body-side verification information match with each other; a control
member 46 that if the connection determinator 45 confirms a match
between the reception signal and the body-side verification
information, permits driving of the electric blower 8, and if the
connection determinator 45 confirms otherwise, prohibits driving of
the electric blower 8; and a notification member 47 that provides
notification of a mismatch between the reception signal and the
body-side verification information based on a result of the
confirmation by the connection determinator 45. Here, only at the
time of the secondary battery 4 being mounted on the body 2'' means
a period of time immediately after the secondary battery 4 being
mounted on the body 2, and is a limited period of time, for
example, around 10 seconds.
[0037] The switching element 42 is, for example, a field-effect
transistor (FET), and includes a gate connected to the main
controller 9. The switching element 42 varies an input to the
electric blower 8 according to variation in gate current.
[0038] The power supply circuit 43 converts a voltage of power
supplied from the secondary battery 4 to the control circuit 41
into a power supply voltage for control and supplies the power
supply voltage to the main controller 9.
[0039] The connection determinator 45 and the control member 46 are
programs to be executed by the main controller 9. The main
controller 9 is formed of a microcomputer, and includes a central
processing unit (not illustrated), a storage member 48, an I/O
member (not illustrated) and a timer (not illustrated).
[0040] The storage member 48 is a non-volatile memory, for example,
an EEPROM. The storage member 48 stores, e.g., a control program to
be executed by the central processing unit and data such as
constants necessary for execution of the control program, in
advance. The data include constants indicating input values for
each of the operation modes set in advance. Also, the storage
member 48 serves as a data storage area and a work area that
temporarily stores, e.g., calculation data from the central
processing unit. Furthermore, the storage member 48 stores a
mismatch between a reception signal and the body-side verification
information, from a result of confirmation by the connection
determinator 45.
[0041] The main controller 9 and the secondary battery 4 are
connected via an interactive communication line. The main
controller 9 performs secondary battery recognition control for
determining whether the secondary battery 4 is a regular product or
an irregular product while performing interactive communication
with the secondary battery 4.
[0042] Also, the main controller 9 periodically reads an
instruction signal output by the operation section 24, and performs
switching control of the switching element 42 according to the
selected operation mode to vary the input to the electric blower
8.
[0043] Furthermore, the main controller 9 varies the input to the
electric blower 8 according to, for example, three operation modes,
which are weak, middle and strong. The main controller 9 switches
operation modes each time the main controller 9 receives an
instruction signal from the start switch 24b and performs switching
control of the switching element 42.
[0044] The notification member 47 includes a display device such as
a lamp or a liquid-crystal monitor that provides notification in
the form of visual information to the user of the electric vacuum
cleaner 1, and for example, a speaker that provides notification in
the form of audio information to the user of the electric vacuum
cleaner 1. The notification member 47 provides notification of
connection of a secondary battery 4 that is an irregular product to
the body 2, according to an instruction from the main controller
9.
[0045] The secondary battery recognition control performed by the
main controller 9 will be described.
[0046] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of secondary battery recognition
control in the electric vacuum cleaner according to the present
embodiment.
[0047] As illustrated in FIG. 3, in the electric vacuum cleaner 1
according to the present embodiment, upon a voltage being applied
from the secondary battery 4 to the power supply circuit 43 as a
result of the secondary battery 4 being attached to the body 2,
power is supplied from the power supply circuit 43 to the main
controller 9 to start the main controller 9 (step S1). Upon the
start of the main controller 9, the connection determinator 45 of
the main controller 9 transmits a confirmation signal to the
secondary battery 4 (step S2). The confirmation signal is arbitrary
information stored in advance in the storage member 48 of the main
controller 9.
[0048] Upon receipt of the confirmation signal from the main
controller 9 on the body 2 side (step S3), the secondary battery 4
verifies if the confirmation signal and battery-side verification
information match with each other (step S4). The battery-side
verification information is stored in advance in the protection
circuit in the secondary battery 4. If the secondary battery 4
confirms that the confirmation signal and the battery-side
verification information matches with each other (step S4: match),
the secondary battery 4 transmits a confirmation response signal
including information indicating the confirmation of the match
(match information) back to the connection determinator 45 (step
S5). On the other hand, if the secondary battery 4 confirms a
mismatch between the confirmation signal and the battery-side
verification information (step S4; mismatch), the secondary battery
4 transmits a confirmation response signal including information
indicating the confirmation of the mismatch (mismatch information)
back to the connection determinator 45 (step S6).
[0049] Upon receipt of the confirmation response signal from the
secondary battery 4 (step S7), the connection determinator 45
verifies if the confirmation response signal and the body-side
verification information match with each other (step S8). If the
connection determinator 45 confirms a match between the
confirmation response signal and the body-side verification
information (step S8: match), the connection determinator 45
determines that the match is confirmed (step S9). On the other
hand, if the connection determinator 45 confirms a mismatch between
the confirmation response signal and the body-side verification
information (step S8: mismatch), the connection determinator 45
determines that the mismatch is confirmed (step S10). Here, the
secondary battery 4 that is an irregular product may have no
function that transmits a confirmation response signal back to the
connection determinator 45, irrespective of match information or
mismatch information. In this case, the connection determinator 45
can receive no confirmation response signal, and thus naturally
cannot perform verification between the confirmation response
signal and the body-side verification information, and recognizes a
mismatch between the confirmation response signal and the body-side
verification information (step S8: mismatch) and determines that
the mismatch is confirmed (step S10).
[0050] The confirmation response signal is a signal generated by
the secondary battery 4 based on a result of verification between
the confirmation signal and the battery-side verification
information, which is different from the confirmation signal
transmitted by the connection determinator 45 to the secondary
battery 4. In other words, the connection determinator 45 stores
the confirmation signal and the body-side verification information
that are different from each other. Also, in the verification
between the confirmation response signal and the body-side
verification information in the connection determinator 45, the
confirmation response signal may be a digital signal including a
plurality of bit string, a single-bit digital signal, a single
analog signal or a plurality of analog signals having an arbitrary
form such as a sinusoidal form, a semi-sinusoidal form, an impulse
form or a stepped form.
[0051] If the connection determinator 45 determines that the match
is confirmed, the control member 46 permits operation of the
electric blower 8 and ends the secondary battery recognition
control (step S11). Subsequently, the control member 46 makes the
electric blower 8 operate according to the operation mode selected
via the operation section 24.
[0052] On the other hand, if the connection determinator 45
determines that the mismatch is confirmed, the control member 46
prohibits operation of the electric blower 8 and ends the secondary
battery recognition control (step S12). Subsequently, the control
member 46 shuts off the power supply to the electric blower 8
irrespective of the operation mode selected via the operation
section 24. Also, the control member 46 provides notification of
the secondary battery 4 being an irregular product, to the user via
the notification member 47. Furthermore, the control member 46
makes the storage member 48 store information that the secondary
battery 4 is an irregular product.
[0053] As described above, the electric vacuum cleaner 1 according
to the present embodiment transmits the confirmation signal to the
secondary battery 4 only at the time of the secondary battery 4
being attached to the body 2, and verifies if a reception signal
received from the secondary battery 4 and verification information
match with each other, enabling substantial power consumption
reduction in confirming whether or not the secondary battery 4 is a
regular product, compared to the conventional electric vacuum
cleaners. In other words, as opposed to the conventional electric
vacuum cleaners, the electric vacuum cleaner 1 according to the
present embodiment does not continuously transmit the confirmation
signal, but verifies if a secondary battery 4 that is a regular
product is mounted on the body 2 only at the time of the secondary
battery 4 being mounted on the body 2, whereby power consumption is
substantially reduced.
[0054] Also, the electric vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present
embodiment stores the confirmation signal and the body-side
verification information that are different from each other,
enabling the cleaner body 2 and the secondary battery 4 to mutually
confirm whether or not the product on the opposite side is a
regular product.
[0055] Furthermore, the electric vacuum cleaner 1 according to the
present embodiment includes the notification member 47, and thus,
even if the electric blower 8 is not driven and the electric vacuum
cleaner 1 is suspected of having a failure as a result of a user
attaching a secondary battery 4 that is an irregular product to the
body 2 without knowing that the secondary battery 4 is an irregular
product, notification of a cause of the electric blower 8 being not
driven is reliably provided to the user, enabling urging the user
to take a proper countermeasure.
[0056] Also, the electric vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present
embodiment includes the storage member 48, and thus, e.g., if there
is a fear of failure of the body 2 as a result of a secondary
battery 4 that is an irregular product being attached to the body
2, prohibits subsequent driving of the electric blower 8 and urges
a manufacturer's inspection, and when identifying a cause of a
failure of the failed body 2, checks a history of use of the
irregular secondary battery 4 to promptly identify the cause of the
failure, enabling convenience enhancement in maintenance and
post-sales support.
[0057] Therefore, the electric vacuum cleaner 1 according to the
present invention enables power consumption reduction in confirming
whether or not a regular secondary battery 4 is connected to the
body 2.
[0058] The electric vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present
embodiment is not limited to a canister-type one, and may be of,
e.g., an upright type, a stick type or a handheld type. Also, the
electric vacuum cleaner 1 may be of a cordless type in which a
secondary battery is provided in addition to a commercial
alternating-current power supply E.
[0059] While certain the embodiment has been described, this
embodiment has been presented by way of example only, and is not
intended to limit the scope of the invention. Indeed, the novel
apparatuses and units described herein may be embodied in a variety
of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and
changes in the form of the apparatuses and units described herein
may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. The
accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover
such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and
spirit of the invention.
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST
[0060] 1 electric vacuum cleaner [0061] 2 body [0062] 3 pipe
section [0063] 4 secondary battery [0064] 5 body case [0065] 6
wheel [0066] 7 dust separation/collection mechanism [0067] 8
electric blower [0068] 9 main controller [0069] 11 power supply
cord [0070] 12 connection port [0071] 14 plug [0072] 19 connection
pipe [0073] 21 dust collection hose [0074] 22 hand operation pipe
[0075] 23 grip portion [0076] 24 operation section [0077] 24a stop
switch [0078] 24b start switch [0079] 24c brush switch [0080] 25
extension pipe [0081] 26 suction port body [0082] 28 suction port
[0083] 29 rotational sweeping body [0084] 31 electric motor [0085]
41 control circuit [0086] 42 switching element [0087] 43 power
supply circuit for control [0088] 45 connection determinator [0089]
46 control member [0090] 47 notification member [0091] 48 storage
member
* * * * *