JP2002112938A - Vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To save energy and suppress an unproductive electric bill even if a vacuum cleaner is stored while a power plug is connected to an outlet by reducing a standby power requirement in a vacuum cleaner having a control circuit comprising a microcomputer, or the like. SOLUTION: The operation of an electric blower 1 producing an attraction force, using a commercial power source 3 incorporated in a vacuum cleaner body 2 as a power source is controlled by a bidirectional thyristor 4, and the operation of the bidirectional thyristor 4 is controlled by a first control circuit 5 made up of a microcomputer, or the like, and power is supplied to the first control circuit 5 from a first power circuit 6. The first power circuit 6 turns off output when the vacuum cleaner body 2 has stopped for a prescribed period of time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner having a control circuit for controlling the operation of an electric blower.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the function of a vacuum cleaner has been developed in a wide variety of ways, and has a complicated control circuit composed of a microcomputer and the like. In addition, various sensors are arranged and an electric motor is operated in accordance with a signal from the sensor. Vacuum cleaners equipped with a large-scale electronic circuit for controlling the power consumption and the number of revolutions of the motor of the blower are increasing, and a power supply circuit for supplying electric power to the electronic circuit is also increasing in capacity.

[0003]

In such a conventional vacuum cleaner, if the power plug is left connected to the outlet when the vacuum cleaner is housed, the control circuit and the power supply circuit will not operate even when the motor is stopped. This standby power has been increasing more and more in recent years, and users have to pay extra electricity without knowing it.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and saves energy by reducing standby power, and suppresses unnecessary electricity bills even when a vacuum cleaner is stored with a power plug connected to an outlet. It is intended to be.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an electric blower which is built in a vacuum cleaner main body and generates suction using a commercial power supply as a power source, and a switching element for controlling the operation of the electric blower. And a first power supply circuit for supplying power to the first control circuit, wherein the first power supply circuit turns off the output when the vacuum cleaner main body is stationary for a predetermined time. It is configured to do so.

[0006] Thereby, the standby power when the vacuum cleaner body is not used can be reduced to save energy, and even if the vacuum cleaner is stored with the power plug connected to the outlet, it is useless. Electricity bills can be reduced.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is an electric blower which is built in a vacuum cleaner main body and generates suction power using a commercial power source as a power source, and a switching device for controlling the operation of the electric blower. Device, a first control circuit for controlling the operation of the switching element, and a first power supply circuit for supplying power to the first control circuit, wherein the first power supply circuit is a vacuum cleaner body It is configured to turn off the output when it is stationary for a predetermined period of time.This reduces standby power when the vacuum cleaner is not in use, saves energy, and saves power while the power plug is connected to an outlet. Even if a vacuum cleaner is stored, unnecessary electricity bills can be suppressed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the first power supply circuit is connected to a commercial power source when the vacuum cleaner main body is in a stowed state for a predetermined period of time. The output is turned off. When the main body of the vacuum cleaner is stored in a predetermined storage form without removing the power plug from the outlet after the cleaning is completed, the first control circuit and the first power supply circuit reduce the power. Consuming. After a lapse of a predetermined time in this state, the first power supply circuit can turn off the output, reduce the power consumed by the first control circuit to zero, and reduce the power consumed by the first power supply circuit, Even when the vacuum cleaner is stored while the power plug is connected to the outlet, useless electricity bills can be suppressed as energy saving.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or the second aspect of the present invention, the first power supply circuit includes a switch for turning on / off a commercial power supply, A state detection unit that detects a state, a second control circuit that controls the switch unit based on an output of the state detection unit, and a second power supply circuit that supplies power to the second control circuit. The connection between the first power supply circuit and the commercial power supply is opened or closed by the output of the state detection means. The main body of the vacuum cleaner is stored in a predetermined storage form, and the first control circuit and the first When the power supply circuit of 1 is continuously consuming power, the movement of the main body of the vacuum cleaner is detected by state detection means such as a vibration sensor, an inclination detection sensor, and a pressure sensor.
The second control means opens a switch means for connecting the first power supply circuit and the commercial power supply, reduces the power consumed by the first power supply circuit and the first control circuit, and saves unnecessary electric power as energy saving. Can be suppressed.

The fourth aspect of the present invention is the first aspect of the present invention.
In the invention described in any one of (1) to (3), there is provided state detection means for detecting a housed state of the vacuum cleaner main body, a moving state of the vacuum cleaner main body, and a stop state during movement of the vacuum cleaner main body. The output of the first power supply circuit is turned off when the housed state of the vacuum cleaner main body and the stopped state during the movement of the vacuum cleaner main body continue for a predetermined time.

[0011]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, an electric blower 1 is built in a vacuum cleaner main body 2 and generates a suction force using a commercial power supply 3 as a power source. A bidirectional thyristor 4, which is a type of switching element, is connected between the electric blower 1 and the commercial power supply 3, and controls on / off of the electric blower 1. The first control circuit 5 includes a microcomputer or the like, and outputs a gate trigger signal of the bidirectional thyristor 4 to control the operation of the bidirectional thyristor 4.

The first power supply circuit 6 supplies electric power to the first control circuit 5, and is connected to the commercial power supply 3 via the switch means 7. The state detecting means 8 includes a vibration sensor, an inclination detecting sensor, a pressure-sensitive sensor, and the like, and detects an angle and a vibration with respect to the floor surface of the vacuum cleaner main body 2, or a moving state, and outputs its output to a second terminal. Output to the control circuit 9.

The second control circuit 9 controls the switch means 7 based on the output of the state detection means 8 so as to open or close the connection between the first power supply circuit 6 and the commercial power supply 3. The second power supply circuit 10 supplies power to the second control means 9 and has a small capacity and high efficiency.

Here, the state detecting means 8 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, three contacts 12, 1, and 3 are provided at three of four corners in an insulating box-shaped case 11.
3 and 14 are arranged to receive the metal balls 18 and these 3
The two contacts 12, 13, and 14 are connected to the terminal 1 outside the case 11.
Metal balls 18, which are connected to 5, 16, 17 and are movably accommodated in the case 11, are received by the contacts 12, 13 and received by the contacts 13, 14. Therefore, according to the arrangement angle of the state detection means 8,
A circuit can be closed between a maximum of two contacts among the three contacts 12, 13, 14.

When the state detecting means 8 is attached to the vacuum cleaner main body 2 and the vacuum cleaner main body 2 is in an actual use state,
That is, in the case of the floor moving type vacuum cleaner, the vacuum cleaner main body 2
When all the rollers (not shown) that support the contact are in parallel with the floor and are in a freely movable state, the contacts 12 and 13 of the state detecting means 8 are arranged in parallel with the floor 19, and the contacts 13 and And the contact 14 are attached to the cleaner body 2 so as to be aligned vertically with the floor surface 19. At this time, case 11
The metal ball 18 inside the two contact points 1 arranged in parallel with the floor surface
It is located between 2 and 13 and electrically connects the contacts 12 and 13. That is, the terminal 15 and the terminal 16 are closed.

When the floor moving type vacuum cleaner is stored, the rear side of the cleaner main body 2 is placed on the floor, that is, the front-rear direction of the cleaner main body 2 is arranged perpendicular to the floor 19. In the state, the contacts 13 and 14 of the state detecting means 8 are arranged so as to be parallel to the floor 19, and the contacts 12 and 13 are arranged so as to be perpendicular to the floor. At this time, the metal sphere 18 in the case 11 has two contact points 13 arranged in parallel with the floor surface,
14 and electrically connects the contacts 13 and 14. That is, the circuit between the terminal 16 and the terminal 17 is closed.

During operation of the electric vacuum cleaner, the metal ball 18 is moved between the contacts arranged in parallel with the floor surface due to the vibration of the electric blower 1 or the vibration generated when the user moves the electric vacuum cleaner main body 2. Repeat the opening and closing path.

Next, the operation in a state where the state detecting means 8 is attached to the vacuum cleaner main body 2 will be described.

When a user connects a power plug (not shown) to an outlet, the commercial power supply 3
, And the second control circuit 9 operates functionally.
Here, the second control circuit 9 is connected to the terminal 1 of the state detecting means 8.
The switch means 7 is driven (turned on) for a predetermined time regardless of the connection state of 5, 16, and 17.

The first power supply circuit 6 receives power from the commercial power supply 3 via the switch means 7 and supplies power to the first control circuit 5. The first control circuit 5 operates the electric blower 1 by triggering the gate of the bidirectional thyristor 4 at the phase control timing according to the operation mode set by the user.

Next, when the user stops the vacuum cleaner, the second control circuit 9 causes each terminal 15 of the state detecting means 8 to operate.
The connection state between 16 and 17 is continuously observed for a predetermined time. Then, if there is no change in the connection state between the terminals 15, 16, 17 for a predetermined time, the drive signal to the switch means 7 is stopped (turned off). As a result, the operation of the first power supply circuit 6 stops, and the first control circuit 5
Is also stopped, and the power consumed by the switch means 7, the first power supply circuit 6, and the first control circuit 5 is reduced to zero.

Next, when the user moves the vacuum cleaner main body 2 to operate the vacuum cleaner, the state detecting means 8
Since the connection state between the terminals 15, 16, and 17 changes, the change is determined by the second control means 9, and the switch means 7 is driven (turned on) to turn on the first power supply circuit 6 and the commercial power supply 3.
Are closed, and the power supply to the first control circuit 5 is restarted. In this case, since the first control circuit 5 has been reset, the user needs to set the operation mode for operating the electric blower 1 again. In order to eliminate the inconvenience of this operation, a storage means such as a non-volatile memory is connected to the first control circuit 5, and the contents set by the user are stored in the storage means. What is necessary is just to read out the setting contents of the user from the storage means when the circuit 5 is restarted.

Also, the terminal 1 is stopped during the floor movement.
When the vacuum cleaner main body 2 is housed and the vacuum cleaner main body 2 is housed, the terminals 16 and 17 are in the connected state, so that it is possible to distinguish between the stopped state during floor movement and the housed state. Therefore, when restarting the movement from the stop state during the floor movement, the first control circuit 5 reads out the setting contents by the storage means,
When moving from the stored state, the setting contents of the storage means are not read out, and the operation of the electric blower 1 is actually received by receiving an operation set by the user. Electric blower 1 at the moment of moving
Can be solved.

The first control circuit 5 is preferably constituted by a microcomputer. The reason is that the first control circuit 5 is provided not only in the phase control of the electric blower 1 in the vacuum cleaner main body 2 but also in the function of receiving a signal from the operation section set and operated by the user, and in the vacuum cleaner main body or the operation section. This is because it is necessary to provide various functions, such as a function of controlling the driving of the display unit and a function of detecting the current of the electric blower 1 to suppress the power consumption to a predetermined level. Then, the power consumption in the first control circuit 5 increases, and the effect of reducing the standby power consumption is great.

As described above, when the vacuum cleaner main body 2 is stopped, the switch means 7, the first power supply circuit 6, and the first control circuit 5 are controlled according to the signal from the state detection means 8. Since the power consumption can be controlled, the power consumption of the electronic circuit can be reduced even if the power plug of the vacuum cleaner is left or stored in a stopped state while being connected to the outlet, thus saving energy. Can reduce unnecessary electricity bills.

[0027]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reduce standby power when the vacuum cleaner body is not used, thereby saving energy.
Wasted electricity bills can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, after the cleaning is completed, the power supply plug is stored in a predetermined storage form without disconnecting the power plug from the outlet, and when a predetermined time has elapsed, the first power supply circuit is closed. By turning off the output, it is possible to suppress unnecessary electricity bills as energy saving, and after determining that the vacuum cleaner is not actually being used,
Since the output of the power supply circuit is turned off, it is possible to prevent the power supply from being turned off arbitrarily during actual use and becoming unusable.

According to the invention of claim 3 of the present invention, when the vacuum cleaner is stopped, the second power supply circuit with low power consumption and small power supply capacity, and the second power supply circuit with low power consumption similarly The power consumption of the other control circuits can be reduced to zero except for the control circuit 2 and the functions of the power supply circuit and the control circuit can be quickly restored when the main body of the vacuum cleaner is moved to operate the vacuum cleaner. Therefore, power consumption (standby power) when not in use can be reduced without impairing usability.

According to the invention of claim 4 of the present invention, the housed state, the moving state, and the stopped state during the movement of the vacuum cleaner main body can be detected, and the first control circuit is controlled according to various states. Power can be supplied appropriately.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block circuit diagram of a vacuum cleaner according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a configuration of a state detecting means of the vacuum cleaner.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electric blower 2 Vacuum cleaner main body 3 Commercial power supply 4 Bidirectional thyristor (switching element) 5 1st control circuit 6 1st power supply circuit 7 Switch means 8 State detection means 9 2nd control circuit 10 2nd power supply circuit

Claims (4)

[Claims] An electric blower which is built in a main body of a vacuum cleaner and generates suction power using a commercial power supply as a power source, a switching element for controlling an operation of the electric blower, and a first element for controlling an operation of the switching element. A control circuit;
A first power supply circuit for supplying power to the control circuit, wherein the first power supply circuit is configured to turn off the output when the main body of the vacuum cleaner is stationary for a predetermined time. 2. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein an output of the first power supply circuit is turned off when the vacuum cleaner main body is connected to a commercial power supply and is stationary for a predetermined time in a housed state. 3. A first power supply circuit, comprising: switch means for turning on / off commercial power; state detection means for detecting a state of the vacuum cleaner main body; and control of the switch means by an output of the state detection means. A second control circuit; and a second power supply circuit for supplying power to the second control circuit. The connection between the first power supply circuit and the commercial power supply is opened or closed by an output of the state detection means. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein 4. A state in which the vacuum cleaner main body is stored, a state in which the vacuum cleaner main body is moved, and a state detecting means for detecting a stop state while the vacuum cleaner main body is moving, wherein the vacuum cleaner main body is stored. The vacuum cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein an output of the first power supply circuit is turned off when a stop state during movement of the vacuum cleaner body continues for a predetermined time.