JP6706770B2 - Autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner.

Generally, an autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner has a main body on which various components are mounted, a drive device for moving the main body, a main brush arranged on an intake port formed in the main body, for collecting dust existing on a cleaning surface, and , A suction device for sucking dust from the suction port of the main body. As disclosed in many documents including Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, a main body of a conventional autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner has an approximately circular shape. An autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner having a circular main body has high turning performance.

On the other hand, according to the conventional autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner having the circular main body, even if the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner approaches the corner limit of the cleaning target area, the suction port of the main body and the tip of the corner are separated. A relatively large space is formed between them. Therefore, there is a problem that dust existing at the corner of the cleaning target area may not be sufficiently sucked by the suction device.

To solve this problem, the improved conventional autonomous cleaner further includes one or more side brushes disposed on the bottom surface of the main body. Such improved autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaners are disclosed in Patent Documents 3 to 6, for example. In the improved self-propelled cleaner, the side brush includes a bristle bundle protruding outside the contour of the main body. The bristles bundle collects dust existing outside the contour of the main body in the suction port of the main body. For this reason, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaners of Patent Documents 3 to 6 can suck more dust existing in the corners of the cleaning target area.

However, according to the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaners of Patent Documents 3 to 6, the ability to suck dust existing at the corners of the cleaning target area (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as “corner cleaning ability”) is mainly It is considered to be determined by the aspect of the side brush. However, the shape of the bristles bundle is set under various constraints. For example, if the length of the bristle bundle is increased, the bristle bundle may be easily caught by an obstacle or may interfere with other components of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner such as a drive device. It may interfere with driving. Therefore, the corner cleaning ability obtained by the side brush is also affected by certain restrictions.

Also, when cleaning the dust existing in the corners of the cleaning target area with the side brush, the side brush can scrape out the dust existing in the corners, but it is not possible to send all the scraped dust directly to the suction port. It is difficult and the dust diffused by the side brush remains in the cleaning target area without being sucked through the suction port.

Therefore, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaners disclosed in Patent Documents 3 to 6, which clean the dust existing at the corners of the cleaning target area by the side brush, have room for improvement in the corner cleaning ability.

On the other hand, Patent Document 7 discloses an example of an autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner having further improved corner cleaning ability. The autonomous traveling cleaner of Patent Document 7 includes a main body having an approximately D shape, a suction port formed on the bottom surface side of the main body, and a pair of side brushes attached to the corners of the bottom surface of the main body. When the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner of Patent Document 7 is located at the corner of the cleaning target area, the shaft of the side brush is compared with the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner of Patent Documents 3 to 6 located at the corner of the target area, for example. And the suction opening of the body is closer to the corner apex. Therefore, the main body having the D-shape can suck more dust than the conventional autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaners disclosed in Patent Documents 3 to 6.

However, when the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner of Patent Document 7 is located at the corner of the cleaning target area, the front surface and one side surface of the main body having the D-shape contact the wall forming the corner, or in contact with the wall. They are so close to the wall that they cannot rotate there. For this reason, the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner of Patent Document 7 has a relatively large restriction on the trajectory when moving from the corner to another place after finishing the cleaning of the corner of the cleaning target area. There is a problem that it takes time.

JP, 2008-296007, A Special table 2014-504534 gazette JP, 2011-212444, A JP, 2014-073192, A JP, 2014-094233, A Japanese Patent Publication No. 2014-512247 JP, 2014-061375, A

The present invention has been made in view of the problem in the conventional autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner as described above, and it is possible to more surely suck the dust existing in the corner of the cleaning target area directly from the suction port, (EN) Provided is an autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner having high cleaning efficiency, which can quickly move from a corner of a cleaning symmetrical area to another place.

Specifically, the autonomous cleaner of the present invention includes a body having a suction port, a drive unit for moving the body, and an electric fan. The body has two tops that define the maximum width of the body, and the suction port is provided on the bottom surface side of the body and is arranged closer to the maximum width of the body than the drive unit.

With such a configuration, dust existing in the corner of the cleaning target area can be more surely sucked directly from the suction port, and can be quickly moved from the corner of the cleaning target area to another place, thereby improving the cleaning efficiency. Can be improved.

1 is a plan view of an autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a function of an electric system of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the operation of the conventional autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner. FIG. 5: is a top view for demonstrating operation|movement of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner of Embodiment 1 of this invention. FIG. 6 is another plan view for explaining the operation of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is another plan view for explaining the operation of the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a plan view of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a bottom view of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11: is a top view of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner of Embodiment 3 of this invention. FIG. 12 is a plan view showing the inside of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a bottom view of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 14: is the figure which looked at the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner of Embodiment 3 of this invention from the side. FIG. 15 is an exploded perspective view of a part of the configuration of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to the third embodiment of the present invention when viewed from the front side. FIG. 16 is an exploded perspective view of a part of the configuration of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to the third embodiment of the present invention when viewed from the bottom side. FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XVII-XVII of FIG. FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a part of the configuration of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to the third embodiment of the present invention is separated along line XVII-XVII in FIG. 11. FIG. 19 is a sectional view taken along line XIX-XIX in FIG. FIG. 20 is a perspective view showing the internal structure of the lower unit of the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner according to the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 21 is a perspective view of the internal structure of the lower unit of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to the third embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the side. FIG. 22 is a perspective view of the internal structure of the lower unit of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to the third embodiment of the present invention as seen from the front side. FIG. 23 is another perspective view of the internal structure of the lower unit of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to the third embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the front side. FIG. 24 is a perspective view of the upper unit of the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner according to the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 25 is a bottom view of the upper unit of the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner according to the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 26: is a block diagram which shows the function of the electric system of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner of Embodiment 3 of this invention. FIG. 27 is a perspective view of the trash can unit of the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 28 is a sectional view of the trash can unit according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 29 is a plan view of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to the first modification of the present invention. FIG. 30 is a plan view of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to the second modification of the present invention. FIG. 31: is a top view of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner of the modification 3 of this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

(Embodiment 1)
1 is a plan view of an autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a bottom view of autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 autonomously travels on a cleaning surface of a cleaning target area (hereinafter, may be referred to as “cleaning target area” or simply “target area”). , Is a robot type vacuum cleaner that sucks dust existing on the cleaning surface. The cleaning target area is, for example, a room, and the cleaning surface is, for example, the floor surface of the room.

According to the present embodiment, the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 collects the body 20 on which various components are mounted, the drive unit 30 (see FIG. 2) for moving the body 20, and the dust existing in the cleaning target area. It has a cleaning unit 40 (see FIG. 2) and a suction unit 50 that sucks dust into the body 20. The autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 further includes a trash can unit 60 that stores the dust sucked by the suction unit 50, and at least a drive unit 30, a cleaning unit 40, and a control unit 70 that controls the suction unit 50.

The autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment further includes a caster 90 that rotates following the rotation of the drive unit 30, a power supply that supplies power to the drive unit 30, the cleaning unit 40, the suction unit 50, and the like. Unit 80.

1 and 2, the upper side is the front side of the body 20, and the lower side is the rear side of the body 20. The width direction of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 is defined based on the forward direction (upper side in FIG. 1) of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10. For example, in the present embodiment, a direction (a left-right direction in FIGS. 1 and 2) substantially perpendicular to the forward direction of autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 is defined as the width direction of autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10.

In the present embodiment, a pair of drive units 30 is provided, and one drive unit 30 is disposed on each of the left side and the right side with respect to the center of the body 20 in the width direction in plan view (hereinafter, the left drive unit 30). 30 may be referred to as a first drive unit, and the right drive unit 30 may be referred to as a second drive unit). The number of drive units 30 is not limited to two, and may be one or three or more.

Further, the body 20 has a lower unit 100 (see FIG. 2) that forms the outer shape on the lower surface side of the body 20, and an upper unit 200 (see FIG. 1) that forms the outer shape on the upper surface side of the body 20. The body 20 is configured by combining the lower unit 100 and the upper unit 200 with each other. As shown in FIG. 1, the upper unit 200 includes a cover 210 that forms a main part of the upper unit 200, a lid 220 that can be opened and closed with respect to the cover 210, and a bumper 230 that is displaceable with respect to the cover 210. ..

The plane shape of the body 20 is preferably a Reuleaux triangle, or a Reuleaux polygon having approximately the same shape as a Reuleaux triangle, or a Reuleaux triangle or a Reuleaux polygon with an R-shaped top (FIGS. 11 and 12). It is a shape having an arc R) indicated by 31. Such a shape allows the body 20 to have the same or similar properties as the geometric properties of the Reuleaux triangle. That is, since the Reuleaux triangle is a constant-width figure, it can rotate while inscribed in a quadrilateral with a constant width (that is, the length of the side of an equilateral triangle inscribed in the Reuleaux triangle) in any direction. it can. As a result, the body 20 can draw a quadrangle (substantially square) trajectory. In the present embodiment, the body 20 has substantially the same planar shape as a Reuleaux triangle, as shown in FIG.

In addition, the body 20 has a plurality of outer peripheral surfaces and a plurality of tops. In the present embodiment, the plurality of outer peripheral surfaces are present on the forward side (upper side in FIG. 1) of autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10, and on the right rear side with respect to front surface 21 in plan view of body 20. The right side surface 22 and the left side surface 22 existing on the left rear side with respect to the front surface 21 are included. Further, in the present embodiment, front surface 21 has a curved surface that curves outward. The curved surface that curves outward may be formed on the bumper 230. At least a part of each side surface 22 has a curved surface that curves outward. In the present embodiment, the curved surface curved outward is formed on the side portion of bumper 230 and the side portion of cover 210.

In the present embodiment, the plurality of tops include a right front apex 23 defined by the front surface 21 and the right side surface 22, and a left front apex 23 defined by the front surface 21 and the left side surface 22. .. The plurality of tops may further include a rear top 24 defined by the right side 22 and the left side 22. As shown in FIG. 1, the angles formed by the tangent line L1 of the front surface 21 and the tangent lines L2, L3 of the two side surfaces 22 are both acute angles.

The maximum width of the body 20 is defined by the distance between the apexes of the tops of the body 20. In the present embodiment, the right front peak 23 and the left front peak 23 define the maximum width of the body 20. According to the example illustrated in FIG. 1 and the like, the maximum width of the body 20 is the distance between the apex of the right front apex 23 and the apex of the left front apex 23, that is, the three apexes of the Reuleaux triangle. Is defined by the distance between the two vertices of.

It should be noted that in the body 20, a line W connecting the apex of the right front apex 23 and the apex of the left front apex 23 (hereinafter, referred to as “maximum width line W of the body 20”) and its vicinity are referred to as “body 20”. Has a maximum width of "or a maximum width portion of the body 20". In addition, "the vicinity of the maximum width line W of the body 20" and "the portion close to the maximum width line W of the body 20" are the portions close to the maximum width line W of the body 20, that is, the maximum width line W of the body 20. The portion between the center of gravity G (see FIG. 2) of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 and the portion between the maximum width line W of the body 20 and the front surface 21. More specifically, the maximum width line W of the body 20. The portion between the wide line W and the tip of the drive unit 30 on the forward direction side of the body 20, and the portion between the maximum width line W of the body 20 and the front surface 21.

Further, the maximum width portion of the body 20 is preferably set at a position close to the front surface 21 of the body 20. The extending direction of the maximum width line W of the body 20 is preferably set to be substantially perpendicular to the forward direction of the body 20.

As shown in FIG. 2, the body 20 further includes a suction port 101 for sucking dust into the body 20. The suction port 101 is formed on the bottom surface of the lower unit 100 of the body 20. The suction port 101 has a horizontally long shape, preferably a rectangular shape or a substantially rectangular shape. The shape of the suction port 101 is not limited to these, and may be an elliptical shape, a trapezoidal shape, a shape curved along the outer peripheral shape of the body 20, or the like. In the present embodiment, it has a rectangular shape. Further, in the present embodiment, the suction port 101 is positioned such that its longitudinal direction is substantially the same as the width direction of the body 20 and its lateral direction is substantially the same as the front-back direction of the body 20. As described above, the lower unit 100 of the body 20 is arranged on the bottom surface.

Further, the suction port 101 is formed on the bottom surface of the lower unit 100 of the body 20 near a portion having the maximum width of the body 20, and more preferably at a portion near the maximum width line W of the body 20. This positional relationship is more specifically defined by the positional relationship of the suction port 101 with respect to other components of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10. For example, it is defined by one or both of the following two types of positional relationships.

The first positional relationship is that the suction port 101 is located on the front side of the body 20 with respect to the center of gravity G (see FIG. 2) of the autonomous traveling cleaner 10. More specifically, the center line M of the suction port 101 extending in the substantially same direction as the longitudinal direction of the suction port 101 (hereinafter referred to as the “center line of the suction port 101 in the longitudinal direction”) is the autonomous traveling cleaner 10. Is located on the front side of the body 20 with respect to the center of gravity G (see FIG. 2), that is, on the front part of the body 20, that is, on the maximum width portion of the body 20. The longitudinal centerline of the suction port 101 may be located closer to the front surface 21 than the maximum width line W of the body 20.

The second positional relationship is that the suction port 101 is closer to the maximum width line W of the body 20 than the drive unit 30, preferably on or near the maximum width line W of the body 20, and more preferably the body. 20 is located closer to the front surface 21 than the maximum width line W of 20.

Further, in the present embodiment, the width of the suction port 101 in the longitudinal direction is set to be wider than the inner distance between the right drive unit 30 and the left drive unit 30. Such a configuration can be realized by, for example, the second positional relationship regarding the suction port 101 described above. With such a configuration, the suction port 101 having a wider width can be provided, and the dust can be sucked more directly from the suction port 101 more reliably, and at the same time, the dust sucked by the suction unit 50 described below can be collected. The amount can be increased.

Next, the drive unit 30 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 2, each drive unit 30 is arranged on the bottom surface side of the lower unit 100 and has a plurality of elements such as a wheel 33 that travels on the cleaning surface. According to the present embodiment, each drive unit 30 includes a wheel 33 that travels on the cleaning surface, a traveling motor 31 that applies torque to wheel 33, and a housing 32 that houses traveling motor 31. Each wheel 33 is housed in a recess formed in the lower unit 100 and is supported by the lower unit 100 so as to be rotatable with respect to the lower unit 100.

Each wheel 33 is arranged on the outer side in the width direction of the body 20 with respect to the traveling motor 31 that applies torque to each wheel 33. With such a configuration, the distance between the right wheel 33 and the left wheel 33 becomes wider than that in the case where the wheel 33 is arranged inside the traveling motor 31 in the width direction, and thus the stability of the body 20 is improved. The property is improved.

The drive system of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment is an opposed two-wheel type. That is, the right drive unit 30 and the left drive unit 30 are arranged to face each other in the width direction of the body 20. Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the rotation axis H of the right wheel 33 and the rotation axis H of the left wheel 33 are arranged so as to be substantially coaxial.

The distance between the rotation axis H and the center of gravity G of the autonomous traveling cleaner 10 is set, for example, with the intention of giving the autonomous traveling cleaner 10 a predetermined turning performance. The predetermined turning performance is the turning performance that allows the body 20 to form a locus similar to or similar to the square locus formed by the above-described Reuleaux triangular contour. According to the present embodiment, the position of rotation axis H is set to the rear side of body 20 with respect to center of gravity G of autonomous cleaner 10 and the distance between rotation axis H and center of gravity G is set to a predetermined distance. It According to the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 having the opposed two-wheel type, with such a configuration, it is possible to form the locus by utilizing the contact between the body 20 and the surrounding objects.

Next, the cleaning unit 40 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cleaning unit 40 is arranged inside and outside the body 20 and has a plurality of elements such as a brush drive motor 41. According to the present embodiment, the cleaning unit 40 is arranged not only on the brush drive motor 41 arranged inside the body 20 (on the left side of the suction port 101) but also on the gear box 42 and the suction port 101 of the body 20. The main brush 43 has

The brush drive motor 41 and the gear box 42 are attached to the lower unit 100. The gear box 42 is connected to the output shaft of the brush drive motor 41 and the main brush 43, and transmits the torque of the brush drive motor 41 to the main brush 43.

The main brush 43 has a length that is approximately the same as the length of the suction port 101 in the longitudinal direction, and is supported by a bearing portion so as to be rotatable with respect to the lower unit 100. The bearing portion is formed on one or both of the gear box 42 and the lower unit 100, for example. According to the present embodiment, the rotation direction of main brush 43 is from the front of body 20 on the cleaning surface side, as indicated by arrow AM in FIG. 14, which shows the side view of autonomous cleaner 10. It is set in the backward direction.

Next, the suction unit 50 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the suction unit 50 is arranged inside the body 20 and has a plurality of elements such as a fan case 52. According to the present embodiment, the suction unit 50 is arranged on the rear side of the trash can unit 60 and on the front side of the power supply unit 80 described later. The suction unit 50 has a fan case 52 attached to the lower unit 100 (see FIG. 2) and an electric fan 51 arranged inside the fan case 52.

The electric fan 51 sucks air inside the trash can unit 60 and discharges the air to the outside of the electric fan 51. The air discharged from the electric fan 51 passes through the space inside the fan case 52 and the space around the fan case 52 inside the body 20, and is exhausted to the outside of the body 20.

Next, the trash can unit 60 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 2, the trash can unit 60 is arranged inside the body 20 on the rear side of the main brush 43 and on the front side of the suction unit 50, and is further arranged between the drive units 30. The body 20 and the trash box unit 60 have a detachable structure that allows the user to arbitrarily select a state in which the trash box unit 60 is attached to the body 20 and a state in which the trash box unit 60 is removed from the body 20.

Next, the control unit 70 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 70 is arranged inside the body 20 on the rear side of the suction unit 50. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 further includes a plurality of sensors. According to the present embodiment, the plurality of sensors include an obstacle detection sensor 71 (see FIG. 1) that detects an obstacle existing in front of body 20, and an object existing around body 20 and body 20. The distance measurement sensor 72 (refer to FIG. 1) for detecting the distance is included. The plurality of sensors further include a collision detection sensor 73 (see FIG. 1) that detects that the body 20 has collided with a surrounding object, and a plurality of floor surface detection sensors 74 that detect the cleaning surface existing on the bottom surface of the body 20. (See FIG. 2). The obstacle detection sensor 71, the distance measurement sensor 72, the collision detection sensor 73, and the floor surface detection sensor 74 each input a detection signal to the control unit 70.

An ultrasonic sensor, for example, is used as the obstacle detection sensor 71. The obstacle detection sensor 71 has a transmitter and a receiver. Infrared sensors, for example, are used as the distance measuring sensor 72 and the floor surface detecting sensor 74. The distance measuring sensor 72 and the floor surface detecting sensor 74 have a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit. As the collision detection sensor 73, for example, a contact displacement sensor is used. For example, the collision detection sensor 73 has a switch that is turned on when the bumper 230 is pushed into the cover 210.

As shown in FIG. 1, the distance measuring sensors 72 are arranged on the right side and the left side with respect to the center of the body 20 in the width direction in a plan view in the present embodiment. The right distance measuring sensor 72 is disposed on the right front apex 23 and outputs light toward the diagonally right front of the body 20. The left distance measuring sensor 72 is arranged at the left front apex 23 and outputs light toward the left diagonal front of the body 20. With this configuration, when the autonomous traveling cleaner 10 turns, it is possible to detect the distance between the body 20 and the surrounding object that is closest to the contour of the body 20.

As shown in FIG. 2, the plurality of floor surface detection sensors 74 are arranged, for example, on the front side and the rear side of the body 20 with respect to the drive unit 30.

Next, the power supply unit 80 will be described.
The autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 is a power supply unit that supplies electric power to the drive unit 30, the cleaning unit 40, the suction unit 50, the obstacle detection sensor 71, the distance measurement sensor 72, the collision detection sensor 73, and the floor surface detection sensor 74. Further having 80. The power supply unit 80 is arranged on the rear side of the body 20 with respect to the center of gravity G of the autonomous cleaner 10, further arranged on the rear side of the body 20 with respect to the suction unit 50, and has a plurality of elements such as a power supply case 81. .. According to the present embodiment, the power supply unit 80 includes a power supply case 81 attached to the lower unit 100, a storage battery 82 housed in the power supply case 81, and supply and stop of electric power from the power supply unit 80 to each of the above elements. It has a main switch 83 for switching between. As the storage battery 82, for example, a secondary battery is used.

Next, a control method of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 by the control unit 70 will be described.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the functions of the electric system of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10.

The control unit 70 is arranged on the power supply unit 80 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) inside the body 20 and electrically connected to the power supply unit 80. The control unit 70 further electrically connects with the obstacle detection sensor 71, the distance measurement sensor 72, the collision detection sensor 73, the floor detection sensor 74, the pair of traveling motors 31, the brush drive motor 41, and the electric fan 51. Connected.

Based on the detection signal input from the obstacle detection sensor 71, the control unit 70 determines whether or not there is an object that can hinder the traveling of the autonomous cleaner 10 within a predetermined range in front of the body 20. To judge. The control unit 70 calculates the distance between the object existing around the front apex 23 of the body 20 and the contour of the body 20 based on the detection signal input from the distance measuring sensor 72.

The control unit 70 determines whether the body 20 has collided with a surrounding object based on the detection signal input from the collision detection sensor 73. The control unit 70 determines whether the cleaning surface of the cleaning target area exists below the body 20 based on the detection signal input from the floor surface detection sensor 74.

The control unit 70 uses one or more of the results of the determinations and calculations described above so that the traveling motor 31, the brush drive motor 41, and the brush drive motor 41, so that the cleaning surface of the target area is cleaned by the autonomous traveling cleaner 10. Also, the electric fan 51 is controlled.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the operation of the conventional autonomous cleaner 900.

In FIG. 4, the room RX which is the target area for cleaning has, for example, a corner R3 formed by the first wall R1 and the second wall R2. According to the example illustrated in FIG. 4 and the like, the angle R3 is approximately a right angle. When the autonomous vacuum cleaner 900 reaches the corner R3, it cannot cover the tip portion R4 of the corner R3. Therefore, a relatively large space is formed between the suction port 910 and the tip portion R4 of the autonomous traveling cleaner 900. When the side brush is mounted on the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 900, it is possible to scrape out the dust existing at the tip end portion R4 by the side brush. However, since the dust existing at the tip end portion R4 is scraped out by the rotational force of the side brush and is diffused to the surroundings at the same time, the dust that is directly sucked from the suction port 910 provided at a position apart from the tip end portion R4. Are limited to a part of the dust existing in the tip portion R4.

Next, the operation of the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment when cleaning the corner R3 will be described.

5 to 7 are plan views for explaining the operation of the autonomous traveling cleaner 10 according to the present embodiment to clean the corner R3.

The control unit 70 cleans the corner R3 of the room RX by running the autonomously-running cleaner 10 as follows, for example. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the control unit 70 causes the body 20 to take a posture facing the first wall R1 while keeping the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 along the second wall R2. Move forward towards R1. At this time, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 travels while maintaining the state in which one of the front top portions 23 is in contact with the second wall R2, or the state in which the front top portion 23 is close to the second wall R2 to an extent equivalent thereto.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the front surface 21 of the body 20 contacts the first wall R1 or approaches the first wall R1 to the same extent as the front surface 21 of the body 20, the control unit 70 is autonomously driven at that position. The vacuum cleaner 10 is temporarily stopped. At this time, part of the front apex 23 covers part of the tip portion R4 of the corner R3. As described above, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment is different from the case where the conventional autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 900 (see FIG. 4) approaches the corner R3 to the limit, the suction port 101 of the body 20. Approaches the tip portion R4 of the corner R3.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the control unit 70 pivots so that the front surface 21 contacts the first wall R1 and pivots so that the right side surface 22 contacts the second wall R2. The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 is made to repeatedly perform the operation. Therefore, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 is operated by the reaction force acting on the body 20 by the contact between the front surface 21 and the first wall R1 and the reaction force acting on the body 20 by the contact between the side surface 22 and the second wall R2. Turn left while changing the position of the center of gravity G. This turning motion is similar to part of the motion when the Reuleaux triangle forms a quadrangle locus.

As the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 turns from a state of directly facing the first wall R1 over a predetermined angle, the front apex 23 on the right side is directed to the apex of the corner R3 or its vicinity as shown in FIG. , A state in which the front apex 23 is closest to the apex of the corner R3 is formed. At this time, the body 20 covers a relatively wide range of the tip portion R4. Further, as described above, since the suction port 101 is provided in the vicinity of the maximum width of the body 20 defined by the two front top portions 23, the suction port 101 of the body 20 and the tip end portion R4 of the corner R3 are formed. The distance is shorter than the distance between the suction port 910 and the tip portion R4 of the corner R3 when the conventional autonomous cleaner 900 (see FIG. 4) approaches the corner R3 to the limit.

With such a configuration, it becomes possible to more surely suck the dust existing at the tip end portion R4 of the corner R3 directly from the suction port 101, and the corner cleaning ability of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 is reduced to the conventional autonomous traveling type cleaning. It can be higher than the machine 900.

The corner cleaning ability of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 according to the present embodiment can be further described as follows. According to the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, as described above, the angle between the tangent line L1 of the front surface 21 and the tangent lines L2 and L3 of the two side surfaces 22 is an acute angle. For this reason, when the autonomous traveling cleaner 10 is located at the corner R3 of the cleaning target area, it can turn on the spot and take various postures with respect to the corner R3. The posture includes, for example, a posture in which the front apex portion 23 of the body 20 is directed to the tip end portion R4 including the apex of the corner R3 of the cleaning target region or the vicinity thereof.

When the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 takes such a posture, the contour of the body 20 is compared to when the conventional autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 900 having a circular main body approaches the corner R3 of the cleaning target area to the limit. Is closer to the apex of the corner R3, and the suction port 101 of the body 20 is also closer to the apex of the corner R3. Therefore, the dust existing on the cleaning surface of the corner R3 of the body 20 can be more surely sucked directly from the suction port 101. That is, according to the configuration of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, as compared with the conventional autonomous traveling type cleaner 900 having a circular main body, the dust existing at the corner R3 of the cleaning target area is more reliable. It is possible to directly suck the gas through the suction port 101.

Further, when the front apex 23 of the body 20 is in a posture in which the front apex 23 of the body 20 is directed to the tip portion R4 including the apex of the corner R3 or the vicinity thereof, the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 can rotate and change direction on the spot. .. For this reason, when moving from the corner R3 of the cleaning target area to another place, there is little possibility that the movement restriction is imposed as in the conventional autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner having the D-shaped main body. That is, according to the configuration of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, as compared with the conventional autonomous traveling type cleaner having the D-shaped main body, it is possible to move quickly from the corner R3 to another place. it can.

According to the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the following effects are further obtained.

(1) In the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the suction port 101 is provided near the maximum width line W of the body 20. With such a configuration, even when the width of the suction port 101 in the longitudinal direction is set to be narrower than the interval between the drive units 30, it is possible to more reliably directly collect dust from the suction port 101 as compared with the conventional autonomous cleaner 900. Can be sucked in, and more dust can be sucked in.

Further, according to the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the width of the suction port 101 in the longitudinal direction is set wider than the interval between the drive units 30. With such a configuration, a larger amount of dust can be sucked directly from the suction port 101 as compared with a configuration in which the width of the suction port 101 is narrower than the interval between the drive units 30. Therefore, the configuration in which the width of the suction port 101 is set wider than the interval between the drive units 30 is more preferable.

(2) In the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the suction port 101 is provided in the vicinity of the maximum width line W of the body 20. With such a configuration, even when the suction port 101 is formed between the drive units 30, the dust at the tip portion R4 of the corner R3 can be more reliably directly discharged from the suction port 101 than in the conventional autonomous cleaner 900. Can be aspirated.

According to the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the suction port 101 is located on the front side of the body 20 with respect to the drive unit 30, preferably near the maximum width line W of the body 20, and more preferably the body 20. Is formed in the vicinity of the maximum width portion of the body 20 at a position as close as possible to the front surface 21 of the. With such a configuration, when the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 approaches the wall, the suction port 101 is closer to the wall, as compared with the configuration in which the suction port 101 is formed between the drive units 30.

Therefore, the suction port 101 is located on the front side of the body 20 with respect to the drive unit 30, preferably in the vicinity of the maximum width line W of the body 20, and more preferably in the maximum width portion of the body 20 at a position as close to the front surface 21 of the body 20 as possible. Due to the configuration formed in the vicinity of, the dust can be sucked directly from the suction port 101 more reliably.

(3) According to the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the maximum width of the body 20 is defined by each front apex 23. That is, the maximum width of the body 20 is determined by the distance between the apex of the right front peak 23 and the left front peak 23.

In addition, according to the autonomous cleaner 10, the width of the rear portion of the body 20 is narrower than the width of the front portion of the body 20. That is, with the center of gravity G of the autonomous cleaner 10 as a reference, the width of the body 20 in the rear part, which is the rear side of the body 20 with respect to the center of gravity G, is larger in the front part, which is the front side of the body 20 than the center of gravity G. It is narrower than the width of 20.

With such a configuration, when turning in a place where there is an object around, the risk that the rear part of the body 20 comes into contact with the object is reduced, and the autonomous traveling cleaner 10 can move more quickly. The mobility of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 is enhanced.

(4) The steering type drive system can also be applied to the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment. On the other hand, as described above, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment can also employ the opposed two-wheel drive system. According to the configuration to which the opposed two-wheel drive system is applied, the structure can be simplified as compared with the steering type drive system. In this respect, the configuration to which the opposed two-wheel drive system is applied is more preferable.

(5) In the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the positional relationship between the rotation axis H of each drive unit 30 and the center of gravity G of the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 is a major factor that determines the movable locus of the body 20. This is one of the factors. The autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 may be configured such that the rotation axis H of the drive unit 30 is located rearward of the body 20 with respect to the center of gravity G of the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10. In the case of such a configuration, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 can easily form an operation of turning while changing the position of its own center of gravity G in the cleaning target region by utilizing contact with surrounding objects. Therefore, in the autonomous traveling cleaner 10, at least a part of the quadrangle locus drawn by the above-described Reuleaux triangle can be appropriately formed by the body 20, and the corner cleaning ability can be enhanced.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 8: is a top view of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of Embodiment 2 of this invention. FIG. 9 is a bottom view of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present exemplary embodiment further has the following configuration not specified in the first exemplary embodiment. In the description of the present embodiment, the elements denoted by the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment have the same or similar functions as the corresponding elements in the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 9, the cleaning unit 40 further includes a side brush 44 arranged on the bottom surface side of the lower unit 100 of the body 20, and a gear box 42 arranged on the left and right of the suction port 101. In the present embodiment, the side brushes 44 are provided one on each of the left and right sides on the bottom surface side of the lower unit 100 of the body 20.

The gearbox 42 on the one side (the right side in the plan view of the body 20) is connected to the output shaft of the brush drive motor 41, the main brush 43, and one side brush 44, and the torque of the brush drive motor 41 is controlled by the main brush 43 and the main brush 43. It is transmitted to one side brush 44. The gearbox 42 on the other side (the left side in the plan view of the body 20) is connected to the main brush 43 and the other side brush 44, and the torque of the main brush 43 is applied to the other side brush 4.
Communicate to 4.

In the present embodiment, each of the pair of side brushes 44 has a brush shaft 44A attached to the two front top portions 23 of the body 20 and a plurality of bristle bundles 44B attached to the brush shaft 44A. The position of the side brush 44 with respect to the body 20 is part of a rotation locus of the side brush 44 that can collect dust in the suction port 101 (a circular locus drawn by one rotation of the side brush 44. The same applies hereinafter). Is located in the maximum width portion of the body 20. According to the present embodiment, the number of bristle bundles 44B attached to each brush shaft 44A is three, and each bristle bundle 44B is attached to the brush shaft 44A at regular angular intervals.

Each brush shaft 44A has a rotation shaft extending in the same direction as the height direction of the body 20 or approximately the same direction, is supported by the body 20 so as to be rotatable with respect to the body 20, and extends in the longitudinal direction of the suction port 101. It is arranged on the front side of the body 20 with respect to the center line.

The bristle bundle 44B is composed of a plurality of bristles, and is fixed to the brush shaft 44A so as to extend in the same direction or approximately the same direction as the radial direction of each brush shaft 44A. According to the present embodiment, the length of each bristle bundle 44B is set so that the tip of each bristle bundle 44B protrudes outside the contour of body 20.

The rotation direction of each side brush 44 is set such that the rotation locus of the side brush 44 is directed from the front side of the body 20 to the rear side on the center side in the width direction of the body 20, as indicated by an arrow AS in FIG. 8. That is, the side brushes 44 rotate in opposite directions. In the present embodiment, each side brush 44 rotates from the front side to the rear side of body 20 in a portion of one rotation locus that is close to the rotation locus of the other side brush 44.

According to the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the following effects are further obtained in addition to the effects (1) to (5) obtained by the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the first embodiment described above. Be done.

(6) The autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment has the side brush 44. According to such a configuration, since the dust existing in the corner R3 (see FIGS. 5 to 7) of the cleaning target area is collected in the suction port 101 of the body 20 by the side brush 44, the corner of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 is collected. Cleaning ability is further enhanced.

(7) In the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the side brushes 44 are attached to the bottom surfaces of the two front top portions 23 of the body 20, respectively. With such a configuration, the brush shaft 44A of the side brush 44 can be brought closer to the apex of the angle R3, as compared with the conventional autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 900. Therefore, the corner cleaning ability of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 is further enhanced.

(8) According to the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the two side brushes 44 rotate in opposite directions. Each side brush 44 rotates from the front to the rear of the body 20 in a portion of one rotation locus that is close to the rotation locus of the other side brush 44. According to such a configuration, since the dust is collected from the front side of the body 20 to the suction port 101 by the side brush 44, as compared with the case where the dust is collected from the side of the suction port 101 to the suction port 101, for example. It is easy for dust to be sucked into the suction port 101. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently remove dust existing on the cleaning surface of the corner R3.

(9) According to the conventional autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner having the side brush, since the dust existing on the cleaning surface of the corner R3 is collected in the suction port 101 of the body 20, the length of the bristles bundle can be set to be long. Conceivable. However, when the length of the bristles bundle is set to be long, there is a high possibility that the bristles bundle will be caught by the surrounding objects when the autonomous traveling type cleaner travels.

On the other hand, in the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the side brushes 44 are provided on the two front top portions 23 of the body 20, respectively. With such a configuration, since the suction port 101 of the body 20 can be brought closer to the tip portion R4 of the corner R3, it is not necessary to set the length of the bristles bundle longer, and the length of the bristles bundle 44B can be compared. It can be set to a very short length. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the risk that the bristles bundle 44B is caught by the surrounding objects.

(10) According to the conventional autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner having the side brush, as the length of the bristle bundle becomes longer, the bristle bundle becomes easier to bend when moving the dust. When the bristles bundle is largely bent, the bristles bundle may not be able to properly move the dust to the suction port of the body.

On the other hand, in the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the length of the bristles bundle 44B can be set to be relatively short as described above. Since the length of the bristles bundle 44B can be set to such a relatively short length, the amount of bending of the bristles bundle 44B becomes small. Therefore, the dust existing at the corner R3 can be more reliably collected in the suction port 101 by the bristles bundle 44B.

(Embodiment 3)
FIG. 10: is a perspective view of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of Embodiment 3 of this invention. Autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present exemplary embodiment further has the following configuration not specified in the second exemplary embodiment. Note that, in the description of the third embodiment, the elements denoted by the same reference numerals as those in the second embodiment have the same or similar functions as the corresponding elements in the second embodiment.

The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 shown in FIG. 10 more specifically shows the autonomous traveling type cleaner 10 shown in FIGS. 1 to 9. As shown in FIG. 11, each of the front apex 23 and the rear apex 24 of the body 20 has an R shape (arc R). The upper unit 200 has a plurality of exhaust ports 211 that communicate the space inside the body 20 with the outside, a recess 214 formed on the front side of the lid 220, a light receiving unit 212 that is a communication unit arranged in the recess 214, and , Has a lid button 213 for opening the lid 220. The plurality of exhaust ports 211 are formed side by side along the edge of the lid 220, for example.

The light receiving unit 212 receives a signal output from a charging stand (not shown) that charges the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 or a signal output from a remote controller (not shown) that operates the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10. To do. When the light receiving section 212 receives a signal, it outputs a light receiving signal corresponding to the signal to the control unit 70 (see FIGS. 9 and 15). The surface 215 of the recess 214 including the edge of the recess 214 is inclined so that the outer peripheral side portion of the body 20 is lower than the central side portion of the body 20. With such a configuration, the concave portion 214 functions like a parabolic antenna, and the communication property of the light receiving portion 212 can be improved.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 has a shape that is substantially line-symmetric with respect to a center line extending in the front-rear direction of body 20 (in FIG. 11, the upper side is the front side and the lower side is the rear side). .. The bumper 230 has a pair of curved convex portions 231 protruding from the front top portion 23. The curved convex portion 231 is curved so as to follow the R shape (arc R) of the side surface 22 and forms a part of the contour of the body 20.

Next, the upper unit 200 of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment will be described.

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing a state in which lid 220 of autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present exemplary embodiment is opened. In addition to the cover 210, the lid 220, and the bumper 230, the upper unit 200 further includes an interface section 240 in which parts operated by a user are arranged, and a trash can receiver 250 that supports the trash can unit 60. The lid 220 has a pair of arms 221 that form the hinge structure of the lid 220. As shown in FIG. 24 showing the bottom surface side of the upper unit 200 and FIG. 25 showing the upper surface side of the upper unit 200, the upper unit 200 further includes a pair of arm housing portions 260 housing the arms 221.

As shown in FIG. 12, the interface section 240 constitutes a part of the cover 210, is closed by closing the lid 220 (see FIG. 11), and is opened by opening the lid 220. According to the present embodiment, interface unit 240 includes operation button 242 for turning on and off the operation of autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10, display section 243 for displaying information regarding autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10, and the like. It has a panel 241 including. Panel 241 further has operation buttons (not shown) for inputting various settings relating to the operation of autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10. The main switch 83 is arranged in the interface section 240 in the present embodiment.

FIG. 24 is a perspective view of the bottom surface side of the upper unit 200 of the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10.

The trash box receiver 250 is a box-shaped object that opens on the upper surface side of the upper unit 200, and has a bottom opening 251 that opens on the bottom side of the body 20, and a rear opening 252 that opens on the rear side of the body 20. As shown in FIG. 12, the trash can unit 60 is inserted into the trash can receiver 250.

Next, the lower unit 100 of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment will be described.

FIG. 13 is a bottom view of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment.

The lower unit 100 has a base 110 that forms a skeleton, and a support shaft 91 that is arranged parallel to the longitudinal direction of the suction port 101 and that supports the casters 90. The base 110 has a power supply port 102 that is open to the bottom surface side of the body 20 and has a shape corresponding to the power supply unit 80, and a pair of charging terminals 103 that are connected to a charging stand (not shown).

In this embodiment, the power supply port 102 is formed on the rear side of the body 20 with respect to the center of gravity G of the autonomous cleaner 10, and the power supply port 102 is partially formed between the pair of drive units 30. .. The charging terminal 103 is formed on the front side of the body 20 with respect to the suction port 101. According to the present embodiment, each charging terminal 103 is arranged on the bottom surface of base 110 on the side closer to front surface 21.

The base 110 further has a bottom bearing 111 for supporting the support shaft 91. The bottom bearing 111 is formed on the rear side of the body 20 with respect to the drive unit 30. According to the present embodiment, bottom bearing 111 is arranged on the bottom surface of base 110 on the rear side of body 20 with respect to power supply port 102 and on the bottom surface side of rear top 24.

The support shaft 91 is inserted into the caster 90 so that the caster 90 can rotate. Support shaft 9
One end of each is press-fitted into the bottom bearing 111. With such a configuration, the caster 90 is rotatably attached to the base 110.

The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment further includes a magnet 77 that can be detected by a hall element (not shown) arranged on the charging stand. The magnet 77 is preferably arranged near the charging terminal 103. According to the present embodiment, the distance between magnet 77 and charging terminal 103 is shorter than the distance between magnet 77 and suction inlet 101. With such a configuration, when the autonomous traveling cleaner 10 approaches the charging stand, the magnet 77 is easily detected by the charging stand.

FIG. 14: is the figure which looked at the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of this Embodiment from the side.
According to the present embodiment, main brush 43 rotates in the direction of arrow AM. The distance between the rotation axis of the wheel 33 of the drive unit 30 and the rotation axis of the caster 90 is wider than the distance between the rotation axis of the wheel 33 and the rotation axis of the main brush 43. With such a configuration, the posture of the body 20 can be stabilized.

FIG. 15 is an exploded perspective view of the lower unit 100 as seen from the front side.

A gear box 42 (a pair of gear boxes 42 in the present embodiment), a suction unit 50, a dustbin unit 60 (see FIG. 12), and a control unit 70 are attached to the upper surface side of the lower unit 100. The brush drive motor 41 is housed in the gear box 42 (one of the pair of gear boxes 42 in FIG. 15).

In addition to the base 110, the lower unit 100 further includes a brush housing 170 attached to the upper surface side of the base 110. The brush housing 170 has a space for accommodating the main brush 43 and also has a duct 171 connected to the trash can unit 60.

According to the present embodiment, fan case 52 has a front case 52A arranged on the front side of electric fan 51 and a rear case 52B arranged on the rear side of electric fan 51. The fan case 52 is configured by combining the front case 52A and the rear case 52B with each other. The fan case 52 further has a suction port 52C that faces the outlet 61B (see FIG. 17) of the dustbin 61, a discharge port 52D (see FIG. 19) that opens to the drive unit 30 side, and a louver 52E that covers the suction port 52C. ..

FIG. 16 is an exploded perspective view of the bottom side of lower unit 100 of autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment.

The drive unit 30, the main brush 43, the side brushes 44, the casters 90, and the power supply unit 80 are attached to the bottom surface side of the lower unit 100. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 16, a pair of drive units 30 is provided on the left and right sides of the lower unit 100, and a pair of side brushes 44 is also provided on the left and right sides. The number of the drive units 30 and the side brushes 44 provided is not limited to one pair. One or three or more may be provided.

The lower unit 100 further has a brush cover 180 attached to the bottom surface side of the brush housing 170, and a holding frame 190 attached to the power supply port 102 (see FIG. 13). By being fixed to the power supply port 102, the holding frame 190 cooperates with the base 110 to hold the power supply unit 80.

The base 110 and the brush cover 180 have a detachable structure that allows the user to arbitrarily select a state in which the brush cover 180 is attached to the base 110 and a state in which the brush cover 180 is removed from the base 110.

Further, the base 110 and the holding frame 190 have a detachable structure that allows the user to arbitrarily select the state in which the holding frame 190 is attached to the base 110 and the state in which the holding frame 190 is removed from the base 110.

FIG. 20 is a perspective view showing the structure of the lower unit 100 of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment. FIG. 21 is a perspective view of the lower unit 100 of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10 according to the present embodiment as viewed from the side. 22 is a perspective view of the lower unit 100 according to the present embodiment as viewed from the front side. The base 110 has a plurality of functional areas. For example, in the present embodiment, the base 110 has a drive part 120, a cleaning part 130, a trash can part 140, a suction part 150, and a power supply part 160 as a plurality of functional areas.

The drive part 120 is a functional area that houses the drive unit 30 and has a plurality of elements. For example, in the present embodiment, the drive part 120 has, as a plurality of elements, a wheel house 121 that opens to the bottom surface side of the base 110 and accommodates the drive unit 30, and a suspension spring that constitutes a suspension mechanism described later. It has a spring hook portion 122 to which 36 (see FIG. 21) is hooked. Further, in the present embodiment, a pair of wheel houses 121 is provided corresponding to the pair of drive units 30, and a pair of spring hooks 122 are provided corresponding to the pair of suspension springs 36. There is.

As shown in FIG. 20, each wheel house 121 projects upward from the upper surface of the base 110, and is formed in a portion of the base 110 near the side surface 22 (see FIG. 19). Each of the spring hooks 122 is formed in a front portion of the wheel house 121, and projects from the wheel house 121 approximately upward. As shown in FIG. 21, a wheel removal detection switch 75 is attached to the upper part of each wheel house 121. The wheel removal detection switch 75 is pushed by the spring hook portion 32B as the drive unit 30 (see FIG. 15) removes the wheel from the cleaning surface of the cleaning target area.

The cleaning part 130 shown in FIG. 20 is a functional region that supports the cleaning unit 40 (see FIG. 2) and has a plurality of elements. Specifically, the cleaning part 130 includes, as a plurality of elements, a pair of shaft insertion portions 131 supporting the brush shaft 44A (see FIG. 22) of the side brush 44 and a gear box 42 (in the present embodiment). (See FIG. 22) is arranged. The brush housing 170 and the brush cover 180 shown in FIG. 16 form a part of the cleaning part 130.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XVII-XVII of FIG. FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a part of the configuration of autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present exemplary embodiment is separated along line XVII-XVII in FIG. 11. FIG. 19 is a sectional view taken along line XIX-XIX in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 17, by disposing the main brush 43 inside the brush housing 170, both end portions of the main brush 43 project from the brush housing 170 to the coupling portion 132 (see FIG. 20 ). The brush shaft 44A of the side brush 44 shown in FIG. 15 is inserted into a hole formed in the shaft insertion portion 131 (see FIG. 20).

One gear box 42 shown in FIG. 15 is arranged in one coupling portion 132 (see FIG. 20) and is connected to one end of the main brush 43 and one brush shaft 44A. The other gearbox 42 is arranged in the other coupling portion 132 (see FIG. 20) and is connected to the main brush 4
3 is connected to the other end and the other brush shaft 44A.

As shown in FIG. 20, the trash can part 140 is a functional region formed between the cleaning part 130 and the suction part 150 in the front-rear direction of the body 20, and the trash can receiver 250 (see FIG. 18) is provided. It has a space to be placed. The suction part 150 is a functional region that supports the suction unit 50 (see FIG. 15 ), and is formed at or near the center of the base 110. A wheel house 121 is formed on a side portion of the suction part 150. In the present embodiment, a pair of wheel houses 121 is formed.

The power supply part 160 is a functional area that supports the power supply unit 80 (see FIG. 16 ), and is a concave portion that is recessed toward the upper surface side when viewed from the bottom surface of the base 110. The control unit 70 is mounted on the upper part of the power supply part 160.

As shown in FIG. 17, the brush cover 180 is attached to the base 110 so as to protrude below the bottom surface of the base 110. The brush cover 180 has a suction port 101 that exposes the main brush 43 to the outside of the body 20, and an inclined surface 181 formed in a front portion of the brush cover 180 . The inclined surface 181 is a surface whose distance from the bottom surface of the lower unit 100 increases from the front of the body 20 toward the rear. With such a configuration, the slope 181 can be brought into contact with a step existing on the cleaning surface of the cleaning target area to lift the front of the body 20.

The duct 171 has a shape that extends approximately in the vertical direction of the body 20, and has an inlet 172 that accommodates the upper portion of the main brush 43 and an outlet 173 that is connected to the space inside the trash can unit 60. The outlet 173 is inserted into the bottom opening 251 of the trash can receiver 250. The passage area of the outlet 173 is smaller than the passage area of the inlet 172. According to the example illustrated in FIG. 17 and the like, the passage in the duct 171 is slightly inclined toward the rear side of the body 20 from the inlet 172 to the outlet 173.

With such a configuration, the dust sucked into the body 20 through the suction port 101 can be guided to the filter 62 side described later.
As shown in FIG. 18, the trash can unit 60 includes a trash can 61 having a space for storing trash, and a filter 62 attached to the trash can 61. The trash box 61 has an inlet 61A connected to the outlet 173 of the duct 171, an outlet 61B in which the filter 62 is arranged, and a bottom portion 61C whose size is set smaller than that of the upper portion.

As shown in FIG. 19, the filter 62 is disposed in the rear opening 252 of the trash can receiver 250, is disposed over the entire width of the trash can 61, and faces the suction unit 50. As shown in FIG. 17, the bottom portion 61C of the dustbin 61 is arranged between the rear side of the duct 171 and the front side of the fan case 52. With such a configuration, the position of the bottom portion 61C in the height direction of the body 20 can be set to a lower position, and the center of gravity of the trash can 61 can be lowered.

As shown in FIG. 17, the suction unit 50 is inclined with respect to the base 110. Specifically, in the suction unit 50, the bottom of the suction unit 50 is located on the front side of the body 20 with respect to the top of the suction unit 50, and the top of the suction unit 50 is behind the body 20 with respect to the bottom of the suction unit 50. It is arranged to be located in. With such a configuration, the height of the body 20 can be set low.

As shown in FIG. 19, the fan case 52 has one side closed and a discharge port 52D provided on the other side. With such a configuration, the flow of air discharged from the electric fan 51 can be stabilized.

FIG. 23 is another perspective view of the internal structure of the lower unit 100 of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 according to the present embodiment, viewed from the front side and from a different viewpoint from FIG.

As shown in FIG. 21, FIG. 22, and FIG. 23, the lower unit 100 of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment includes a gear box 42, a main brush 43, a side brush 44, a suction unit 50, and a control unit. It has 70 and the power supply unit 80 (refer FIG. 17).

FIG. 25 is a bottom view of upper unit 200 of autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment.

The body 20 shown in FIG. 10 is configured by attaching the upper unit 200 shown in FIGS. 24 and 25 to the lower unit 100 described above.

Next, the drive unit 30 of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment will be described in detail.

The drive unit 30 has a function of moving the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 forward, backward, and turns, and is composed of a plurality of elements. For example, according to the present embodiment, each drive unit 30 includes, as a plurality of elements, a traveling motor 31 (see FIG. 19), a housing 32, and a wheel 33, as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16. The tire 34 is attached around the wheel 33 and provided with a block-shaped tread pattern.

In the present embodiment, each drive unit 30 further includes a support shaft 35 having a rotation shaft of the housing 32, and a suspension mechanism that absorbs an impact applied to the wheel 33 by a suspension spring 36 (see FIG. 21).

Each housing 32 has a motor housing portion 32A for housing the traveling motor 31, a spring hook portion 32B on which one end of the suspension spring 36 is hooked, and a bearing portion 32C into which the support shaft 35 is press fitted. Each wheel 33 is supported by the housing 32 so as to be rotatable with respect to the housing 32.

One end portion of the support shaft 35 is press-fitted into the bearing portion 32C, and the other end portion is inserted into the bearing portion formed in the driving part 120. With such a configuration, the housing 32 and the support shaft 35 can rotate with respect to the drive part 120 around the rotation axis of the support shaft 35.

As shown in FIG. 21, the other end of each suspension spring 36 is hooked on the spring hook 122 of the drive part 120. Each suspension spring 36 applies to the housing 32 a reaction force that acts in a direction in which the tire 34 (see FIG. 16) is pressed against the cleaning surface of the cleaning target area. With this configuration, the tire 34 is kept in contact with the cleaning surface.

On the other hand, when the force for pushing the tire 34 toward the body 20 side shown in FIG. 16 is input to the tire 34 from the cleaning surface, the housing 32 compresses the suspension spring 36 (see FIG. 21) around the center line of the support shaft 35. While rotating from the cleaning surface side to the body 20 side. With such a configuration, the force acting on the tire 34 is absorbed by the suspension spring 36.

Further, when the wheel 33 derails, the housing 32 rotates with respect to the driving part 120 due to the reaction force of the suspension spring 36 (see FIG. 21), and the spring hooking portion 32B causes the wheel derailment detection switch 75 (see FIG. 21). (Refer to). As a result, the wheel removal detection switch 75 shown in FIG. 21 outputs a signal to the control unit 70. The control unit 70 stops the traveling of the autonomous traveling cleaner 10 based on the signal.

The distance between the brush drive motor 41 and one of the pair of drive units 30 (the first drive unit 30 which is the left drive unit 30 in the present embodiment) is the brush drive motor 41 and the other drive unit 30. (In the present embodiment, it is shorter than the distance to the second drive unit 30 which is the drive unit 30 on the right side). Therefore, the weight of the brush drive motor 41 acts more strongly on the wheel 33 and the tire 34 of the first drive unit 30.

Therefore, when the suspension springs 36 that apply a reaction force to the drive units 30 have the same elastic coefficient, the positions of the wheels 33 with respect to the body 20 may not be balanced. Therefore, the elastic coefficient of the suspension spring 36 that gives a reaction force to the first drive unit 30 is set to be larger than the elastic coefficient of the suspension spring 36 that gives a reaction force to the second drive unit 30. With such a configuration, the balance of the position of the wheel 33 with respect to the body 20 is less likely to be lost.

As shown in FIGS. 21 to 23, the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 has a plurality of floor surface detection sensors 74. According to the present embodiment, the plurality of floor surface detection sensors 74 are more than the three floor surface detection sensors 74 arranged on the front side of the body 20 with respect to the pair of drive units 30 and the pair of drive units 30. It includes two floor surface detection sensors 74 arranged on the rear side of the body 20.

The three floor surface detection sensors 74 on the front side are attached to, for example, a sensor attached to the front center of the base 110, a sensor attached to the front top 23 on the right side of the base 110, and a front top 23 on the left side of the base 110. Sensor. As shown in FIG. 19, the two floor surface detection sensors 74 on the rear side are, for example, a sensor mounted near the right side surface 22 of the base 110 and a sensor mounted near the left side surface 22 of the base 110. Is.

As shown in FIG. 13, the base 110 has a plurality of sensor windows 112 corresponding to the floor surface detection sensors 74. The plurality of sensor windows 112 correspond to the sensor window 112 corresponding to the front center floor surface detection sensor 74, the sensor window 112 corresponding to the front right floor surface detection sensor 74, and the front left floor surface detection sensor 74. A sensor window 112 is included. The plurality of sensor windows 112 further include a sensor window 112 corresponding to the rear right floor surface detection sensor 74 and a sensor window 112 corresponding to the rear left floor surface detection sensor 74.

As shown in FIG. 24, the obstacle detection sensor 71 has one transmitter 71A that outputs an ultrasonic wave and two receivers 71B that receive the reflected ultrasonic waves. The transmitter 71A and the receiver 71B are attached to the back surface of the bumper 230, respectively.

The upper unit 200 has a plurality of windows in addition to the cover 210, the lid 220, and the bumper 230. According to the present embodiment, the plurality of windows are the transmission window 232 in the front center portion, the reception windows 233 on the front left and right sides, and the pair of distance measurement windows 234 on the left and right front top portions 23 shown in FIG. 10. including.

As shown in FIG. 19, the transmission window 232 is formed on the bumper 230 corresponding to the transmission portion 71A of the obstacle detection sensor 71. As a result, the ultrasonic waves output from the transmitter 71A are guided to the outside through the transmitter window 232.

The reception window 233 is formed in the bumper 230 so as to correspond to each reception unit 71B of the obstacle detection sensor 71. As a result, the ultrasonic waves reflected from the surrounding objects are guided to the receiving sections 71B by the receiving windows 233.

The pair of distance measuring windows 234 are formed on the bumper 230 so as to correspond to the distance measuring sensors 72, respectively. As indicated by the dashed arrow in FIG. 19, the light output from the distance measuring sensor 72 passes through the distance measuring window 234 and is directed obliquely forward of the body 20.

FIG. 26: is a block diagram which shows the function of the electric system of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of this Embodiment.

The control unit 70 includes an obstacle detection sensor 71, a distance measurement sensor 72, a collision detection sensor 73, a floor surface detection sensor 74, a wheel removal detection switch 75, a light receiving section 212, an operation button 242, a pair of traveling motors 31, a brush drive. The motor 41, the electric fan 51, and the display unit 243 are electrically connected.

The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment operates as follows, for example.

The control unit 70 starts the operation of the traveling motor 31, the brush drive motor 41, and the electric fan 51 on both left and right sides when the power of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 is turned on by operating the operation button 242. Let

By driving the electric fan 51, the air inside the trash box 61 shown in FIG. 17 is sucked into the electric fan 51, and at the same time, the air inside the electric fan 51 is discharged around the electric fan 51. Therefore, the air on the bottom surface side of the base 110 is sucked into the inside of the trash can 61 through the suction port 101 and the duct 171, and the air inside the fan case 52 is discharged through the plurality of exhaust ports 211 shown in FIG. It is exhausted to the outside of 20. That is, the air in the bottom portion of the base 110 shown in FIG. 17 has a suction port 101, a duct 171, a dustbin 61, a filter 62, an electric fan 51, a fan case 52, a space around the fan case 52 in the body 20, and It flows in the order of the exhaust port 211.

The control unit 70 shown in FIG. 26 is based on the detection signals input from the obstacle detection sensor 71, the distance measurement sensor 72, the collision detection sensor 73, and the floor surface detection sensor 74. The traveling route is set, and the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 is caused to travel according to the set traveling route. When the traveling route includes the corner R3 of the cleaning target area, the control unit 70 is similar to the case where the autonomous traveling cleaner 10 of the first embodiment cleans the corner R3 (see FIGS. 5 to 7). , Traveling, turning, etc., of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10.

According to the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment described above, in addition to the effects (1) to (10) obtained by the autonomous traveling type cleaner 10 of the second embodiment described above, for example, the following is provided. The effect is obtained.

(11) The autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment has a front top portion 23 and a rear top portion 24 provided with an R shape (arc R). With such a configuration, when the body 20 makes contact with a surrounding object and turns, the body 20 can softly contact the object.

(Embodiment 4)
FIG. 27 is a perspective view showing the structure of the trash can unit 300 provided in the autonomous traveling cleaner 10 according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 28 is a sectional view of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment.

The structure of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment roughly matches the structure of the autonomous traveling type cleaner 10 of the third embodiment, and mainly differs in the following two points.

The first point is that, as shown in FIGS. 27 and 28, a trash can unit 300 having a structure different from that of the trash can unit 60 of the third embodiment described above is provided.

The second point is that the structure around the trash can unit 300 in the body 20 is changed as shown in FIG. In the description of the present embodiment, the elements denoted by the same reference numerals as those in the third embodiment have the same or similar functions as the corresponding elements in the third embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 28, the position of the trash can unit 300 inside the body 20 is approximately the same as the position of the trash can unit 60 in the body 20 of the third embodiment described above. The body 20 and the trash can unit 300 have a detachable structure that allows the user to arbitrarily select a state in which the trash can unit 300 is attached to the body 20 and a condition in which the trash can unit 300 is removed from the body 20.

As shown in FIG. 27, the trash can unit 300 has a trash can 310 having a space 311 for storing trash, a lid 320 for closing an outlet 313 which is an opening of the trash can 310, and a filter 330 attached to the lid 320. The trash box 310 and the lid 320 are connected by a hinge 360. The trash can 310 has an inlet 312 connected to the outlet 173 (see FIG. 28) of the duct 171, and an outlet 313 in which the filter 330 is arranged.

As shown in FIG. 28, when the lid 320 is closed, the space 311 is closed by the lid 320. The duct 171 has a shape that extends approximately in the vertical direction of the body 20, and has an inlet 172 formed in front of the main brush 43 and an outlet 173 opened rearward of the body 20. The suction port 101 and the trash can 310 are connected by the flow path 174 formed inside the duct 171.

The autonomous cleaner 10 of the present embodiment further includes a dust detection sensor 76 that detects information regarding dust contained in the air flowing through the duct 171. As shown in FIG. 28, the dust detection sensor 76 is arranged in the flow path 174 of the duct 171. The dust detection sensor 76 preferably has a flow velocity in the flow passage 174 of the duct 171 that is higher than the flow velocity at the center line 175 of the flow passage 174 in the cross section obtained by cutting the flow passage 174 along the flow direction of the air in the flow passage 174. Placed in a fast area. For example, an infrared sensor is used as the dust detection sensor 76. The dust detection sensor 76 has a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit. The detection signal of the dust detection sensor 76 is input to the control unit 70.

As shown in FIG. 27, the filter 330 has a collection unit 340 that is a part that allows air to pass therethrough and collects dust in the air, and a frame 350 that supports the collection unit 340. The frame 350 and the lid 320 have a structure that can be attached to and detached from each other. The frame 350 has a pair of windows 351 in which the collection unit 340 is arranged, and an intermediate wall 352 that partitions the pair of windows 351.

When the space 311 is closed by the lid 320, the inlet 312 of the dustbin 310 faces the intermediate wall 352 of the frame 350, and does not face the collection unit 340. Therefore, the flow of air that has passed through the inlet 312 is separated into two flows by the intermediate wall 352, and the separated flows of air each pass through the collection unit 340 arranged in each of the pair of windows 351. To do.

According to the configuration of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment described above, in addition to the effects (1) to (11) obtained by the autonomous traveling type cleaner 10 of the first to third embodiments described above. The following effects can be obtained, for example.

(12) According to the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the dust detection sensor 76 cuts the flow passage 174 in the flow passage 174 of the duct 171 along the flow direction of the air in the flow passage 174. It is arranged in a region where the flow velocity is faster than the flow velocity at the center line 175 of the flow path 174 in the cross section. With such a configuration, even if dust adheres to the surface of the dust detection sensor 76, the attached dust is easily blown off from the surface of the dust detection sensor 76 by the air flowing through the flow path 174.

(13) Generally, the size of the trash can that can be mounted in the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner is limited. For this reason, when the collection part of the filter is arranged at a position facing the entrance of the trash can, the trash is concentrated in the part of the collection part facing the trash can, and the trash is accumulated in other parts of the collection part. Even if there is room for stacking, the entrance may be blocked by dust.

On the other hand, according to the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the entrance 312 of the dustbin 310 faces the intermediate wall 352 of the frame 350 and does not face the collection unit 340. With such a configuration, it is possible to prevent dust from being concentrated and concentrated in a portion of the collection unit 340 that faces the inlet 312 of the dustbin 310.

(Modification)
The present invention includes, in addition to the embodiments described above, the following modifications, for example.

The body 20 of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of Modifications 1 to 3 of the present invention has a contour different from that of the body 20 exemplified in each of the above-described embodiments.

(Modification 1)
FIG. 29: is a top view of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the modified example 1 of this invention. The two-dot chain line in FIG. 29 indicates the contour of the body 20 represented by the above-described first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 29, in the body 20 of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 according to the modified example 1 of the present invention, each side surface 22 has a side surface 22A on the front side and a side surface 22B on the rear side of the body 20 having mutually different shapes. Composed of and. According to this modification, the front side surface 22A has a curved shape, and the rear side surface 22B has a planar shape.

The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 configured by the body 20 having such a contour can also obtain the same effects as those obtained by the above-described embodiments.

(Modification 2)
FIG. 30: is a top view of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the modification 2 of this invention. The two-dot chain line in FIG. 30 shows the contour of the body 20 represented by the above-described first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 30, in the body 20 of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present modified example, a part of the rear portion of the body 20 including the rear top portion 24 is omitted and a rear surface 25 is newly formed. In the present modification, the rear surface 25 has a curved surface shape that is curved so as to expand outward. The rear surface 25 can also be formed in a planar shape or the like.

The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 configured by the body 20 having such a contour can also obtain the same effects as those obtained by the above-described embodiments.

(Modification 3)
FIG. 31: is a top view of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the modification 3 of this invention. The two-dot chain line in the figure shows the contour of the body 20 represented by the third embodiment described above. As shown in FIG. 31, in the body 20 of the present modification, a part of the rear portion of the body 20 including the rear apex 24 is omitted and a rear surface 25 is newly formed. The rear surface 25 has a planar shape. The rear surface 25 can also be formed by a curved surface that is curved so as to expand outward.

The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 configured by the body 20 having such a contour can also obtain the same effects as those obtained by the above-described embodiments.

(Modification 4)
In the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the modified example 4 of the present invention, each side brush 44 of the body 20 is located in a portion of the rotation locus of each side brush 44 that is close to the rotation locus of the other side brush 44. Rotate from back to front. According to such a configuration, the dust moved by the side brush 44 can be moved forward on the center side in the width direction of the body 20. This makes it easier for dust collected by the side brushes 44 to approach the suction port 101 when the autonomous traveling cleaner 10 is moving forward, so that dust is not left unsucked behind the suction port 101.

The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 having such a configuration can also obtain the same effects as those obtained by the above-described embodiments.

(Modification 5)
In the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the fifth modified example of the present invention, the side brush 44 has the bristle bundle 44B having the tip inside the front surface 21 and the side surface 22 of the body 20.

The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 having such a configuration can also obtain the same effects as those obtained by the above-described embodiments. For example, according to the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the second embodiment of the present invention described above, the side brushes 44 are respectively provided on the two front top portions 23 of the body 20, and the suction port 101 of the body 20 is angled. Since the tip portion R4 of R3 can be brought closer, the same effect as that obtained by the second embodiment can be obtained.

(Modification 6)
The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the sixth modification of the present invention has a brush drive motor that applies torque to the main brush 43 and one side brush 44, and a brush drive motor that applies torque to the other side brush 44.

The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 having such a configuration can also obtain the same effects as those obtained by the above-described embodiments.

(Modification 7)
The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the modification 7 of this invention is attached to each of the main brush 43, the right side brush 44, and the left side brush 44, and three brushes which give a torque individually to a corresponding brush. It has a drive motor.

The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 having such a configuration can also obtain the same effects as those obtained by the above-described embodiments.

(Modification 8)
The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the modified example 8 of the present invention has, as the obstacle detection sensor 71, a sensor of a type different from the ultrasonic sensor. For example, an infrared sensor can be used as the obstacle detection sensor 71.

(Modification 9)
The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the modified example 9 of the present invention has, as the distance measuring sensor 72, a sensor of a type different from the infrared sensor. For example, an ultrasonic sensor can be used as the distance measuring sensor 72.

(Modification 10)
The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the modification 10 of the present invention has, as the collision detection sensor 73, a sensor of a type different from the contact displacement sensor. For example, a shock sensor can be used as the collision detection sensor 73.

(Modification 11)
The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the modification 11 of the present invention has a sensor of a type different from the infrared sensor as the floor surface detection sensor 74. For example, an ultrasonic sensor can be used as the floor surface detection sensor 74.

(Modification 12)
The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of Modification 12 of the present invention has a plurality of casters 90 arranged on the rear side of the body 20 with respect to the drive unit 30.

(Modification 13)
The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of Modification 13 of the present invention has at least one caster 90 on the front side of the body 20 with respect to the pair of drive units 30.

The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 having the configuration according to the modified examples 8 to 13 can also obtain the same effects as those obtained by the above-described respective embodiments.
(Modification 14)
The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the modification 14 of the present invention has the caster 90 having the uneven shape formed on the outer peripheral surface. The friction coefficient of the first portion, which is a convex portion having a large diameter on the outer peripheral surface of the caster 90, is smaller than the friction coefficient of the second portion, which is a concave portion having a smaller diameter than the first portion on the outer peripheral surface of the caster. ..

With such a configuration, when the autonomous traveling cleaner 10 travels, the outer peripheral surface of the first portion of the outer peripheral surface of the caster 90 mainly contacts the cleaning surface. Since the coefficient of friction of the outer peripheral surface of the first portion is smaller than the coefficient of friction of the outer peripheral surface of the second portion, the resistance when the body 20 goes straight is small and the body 20 can move smoothly. Further, since the casters 90 easily slide sideways when the body 20 turns, the turning performance of the body 20 is improved.

(Modification 15)
The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the fifteenth modification of the present invention has a steering type drive system instead of the opposed two-wheel drive system.

Each embodiment and each modification described above are examples of the present invention. For example, the above-described embodiments and one or more modified examples can be combined with each other as necessary. Furthermore, the present invention also includes the following embodiments.

(Embodiment 5)
The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention includes a body 20 having a suction port 101, a drive unit 30, and an electric fan 51. The suction port 101 is provided in the maximum width portion of the body 20. As shown in FIG. 31, the body 20 has two front apices 23.

Further, the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment is a tangent line of the outer periphery of the body 20 in a plan view and is parallel to the maximum width line W of the body 20 which is a line connecting the vertices of the two front apexes 23. Tangent line (first tangent line) L1 and another tangent line of the outer periphery of the body 20 in a plan view, and tangent lines at the two side surfaces 22 or two side surfaces 22A of the body 20 (second tangent line and third tangent line). The angle formed by each of L2 and L3 is an acute angle.

According to such a configuration, the shape of the body 20 approximates a Reuleaux triangle, so that the body 20 can easily turn at the corner R3 of the cleaning target region. Further, the suction port 101 can easily reach the corner of the cleaning target area, and the cleaning efficiency can be improved.

In addition, in the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the suction port 101 preferably has a horizontally long shape, more preferably a rectangular shape or a substantially rectangular shape. The body 20 has a front surface 21 provided with a curved curved surface on the outside.

Further, in the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 31, each of the two front apexes 23 of the body 20 has an R shape (arc R). In the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the curvature of the curved surface of the front surface 21 of the body 20 is smaller than the curvature of the R shape (arc R) of the two front apex portions 23.

According to such a configuration, the shape of the body 20 approximates a Reuleaux triangle, so that the body 20 can easily turn at the corner R3 of the cleaning target region. Further, the suction port 101 can easily reach the corner R3 of the cleaning target region, and the cleaning efficiency can be improved.

Moreover, in the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the suction port 101 is arranged closer to the maximum width portion of the body 20 than the drive unit 30.

According to such a configuration, the shape of the body 20 approximates a Reuleaux triangle, and therefore the body 20 can easily turn at the corner of the cleaning target region. Further, the suction port 101 can easily reach the corner R3 of the cleaning target region, and the cleaning efficiency can be improved.

In addition, the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment may further include casters 90. In this case, the casters 90 are arranged farther from the maximum width portion of the body 20 than the drive unit 30 in the front-back direction of the body 20, and more preferably at a portion farther from the front surface 21 of the body 20.

With such a configuration, the caster 90 is provided at a position distant from the corner R3 of the cleaning target area, so that dust at the corner R3 can be prevented from adhering to the caster 90.

Further, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment may have the side brush 44. In this case, the side brush 44 is closer to the maximum width portion of the body 20 than the drive unit 30, preferably to the front surface 21 of the body 20, and more preferably to the maximum width portion and the front surface 21 of the body 20. It is located in a close area.

According to such a configuration, the dust collected by the side brush 44 can be sucked more reliably directly from the suction port 101.

Moreover, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment may include the floor surface detection sensor 74. In this case, the floor surface detection sensor 74 is provided at a position closer to the maximum width portion of the body 20 than the drive unit 30 in the front-back direction of the body 20.

According to such a configuration, since the floor surface detection sensor 74 is arranged on the front side of the body 20, the presence or absence of the cleaning surface in the forward direction of the body 20 is detected early, and the wheel 33 of the drive unit 30 is removed. Can be prevented.

Moreover, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment may have the charging terminal 103. In this case, the charging terminal 103 is arranged at a position closer to the maximum width portion of the body 20 than the drive unit 30 in the front-back direction of the body 20.

According to such a configuration, since the charging terminal 103 is arranged on the front side of the body 20, the charging terminal 103 can be connected to the charging stand more reliably.

Further, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment may include the power supply unit 80. In this case, the power supply unit 80 is arranged farther from the maximum width portion of the body 20 than the drive unit 30, and preferably at a portion farther from the front surface 21 of the body 20.

According to such a configuration, the front portion of the body 20 is relatively lifted due to the influence of the weight of the power supply unit 80, so that a sensor such as the obstacle detection sensor 71 arranged on the front side of the body 20 is cleaned. Contact with the surface can be reduced.

Further, when the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment has the side brush 44, a part of the rotation trajectory of the side brush 44 is located in the maximum width portion of the body 20. Moreover, in the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the side brush 44 is provided in the body 20 such that a part of the side brush 44 is located in the maximum width portion of the body 20.

With such a configuration, the dust collected by the side brush 44 can be sucked into the suction port 101 more reliably.

(Embodiment 6)
The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention includes a body 20 having a suction port 101, a drive unit 30, and an electric fan 51. The body 20 has a front surface 21 provided with a curved surface curved outward and two side surfaces 22. At least a part of each of the two side surfaces 22 is provided with a curved surface curved outward.

The body 20 also has a right front apex 23 defined by the front surface 21 and the right side surface 22, and a left front apex 23 defined by the front surface 21 and the left side surface 22. As shown in FIG. 31, the angle formed by the tangent line L1 of the front surface 21 and the tangent lines L2, L3 of the two side surfaces 22 is an acute angle.

That is, as shown in FIG. 31, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment is a tangent line of the outer periphery of the body 20 in a plan view, and is a line connecting the vertices of the two front apexes 23. A first tangent line L1 parallel to the maximum width line W and another tangent line to the outer periphery of the body 20 in plan view, and a second tangent line that contacts the outer periphery of the body 20 on the rear side of the maximum width line W of the body 20. An angle formed by L2 and the first tangent line L1, which is another tangent line of the outer circumference of the body 20 in plan view, and which is in contact with the outer circumference on the rear side of the body 20 with respect to the maximum width line W of the body 20 The angle with the tangent line L3 of is an acute angle.

According to such a configuration, the shape of the body 20 approximates a Reuleaux triangle, so that the body 20 can easily turn at the corner R3 of the cleaning target region. Further, the suction port 101 can easily reach the corner R3 of the cleaning target region, and the cleaning efficiency can be improved.

Further, in the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 31, the front apex 23 has an R shape (arc R). In the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the curvature of the curved surface of the front surface 21 of the body 20 is smaller than the curvature of the R shape of the front apex 23.

According to such a configuration, the shape of the body 20 approximates a Reuleaux triangle, so that the body 20 can easily turn at the corner R3 of the cleaning target region. Further, the suction port 101 can easily reach the corner R3 of the cleaning target region, and the cleaning efficiency can be improved.

Moreover, in the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the suction port 101 is arranged closer to the maximum width portion of the body 20 than the drive unit 30.

With such a configuration, the suction port 101 can easily reach the corner R3 of the cleaning target region, and the cleaning efficiency can be improved.

Moreover, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment further includes casters 90. The casters 90 are arranged at a portion farther from the maximum width portion of the body 20 than the drive unit 30, and preferably at a portion farther from the front surface 21 of the body 20.

According to such a configuration, the caster 90 is separated from the corner R3 of the cleaning target area, so that dust of the corner R3 can be prevented from adhering to the caster 90.

Further, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment has the body 20 having the suction port 101, the drive unit 30, the electric fan 51, and the side brush 44. The side brush 44 is arranged closer to the maximum width portion of the body 20 than the drive unit 30.

With such a configuration, the dust collected by the side brush 44 can be more surely sucked from the suction port 101.

Moreover, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment includes the body 20 having the suction port 101, the drive unit 30, the electric fan 51, and the floor surface detection sensor 74. The floor surface detection sensor 74 is arranged in a portion closer to the maximum width portion of the body 20 than the drive unit 30, and is preferably arranged in a portion closer to the maximum width portion of the body 20 than the suction port 101. More preferably, floor surface detection sensor 74 is arranged at a position close to front surface 21 of body 20.

According to such a configuration, since the floor surface detection sensor 74 is arranged on the front side of the body 20, the presence or absence of the cleaning surface in the forward direction of the body 20 is detected early, and the wheel 33 of the drive unit 30 is removed. Can be prevented.

Moreover, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment has a body 20 having a suction port 101, a drive unit 30, a suction port 101, an electric fan 51, and a charging terminal 103. The charging terminal 103 is arranged in a portion closer to the maximum width portion of the body 20 in the direction along the rotation axis of the wheel 33 than in the drive unit 30.

According to such a configuration, since the charging terminal 103 is arranged on the front side of the body 20, the charging terminal 103 can be connected to the charging stand more reliably.

Moreover, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment includes the body 20 having the suction port 101, the drive unit 30, the electric fan 51, and the power supply unit 80. The power supply unit 80 is arranged farther from the maximum width portion of the body 20 than the drive unit 30.

According to such a configuration, the front portion of the body 20 is relatively lifted due to the influence of the weight of the power supply unit 80. Therefore, for example, a sensor such as the obstacle detection sensor 71 arranged on the front side of the body 20 may be used. It is possible to reduce contact with the cleaning surface.

Moreover, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment includes the body 20 having the suction port 101, the drive unit 30, the suction port 101, the electric fan 51, and the side brush 44. The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment is configured such that a part of the side brush 44 is located in the maximum width portion of the body 20. More preferably, self-propelled vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment is configured such that part of side brush 44 and suction port 101 are located in the maximum width portion of body 20.

With such a configuration, the dust collected by the side brush 44 can be more surely sucked from the suction port 101.

(Embodiment 7)
The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention includes a body 20 having a suction port 101, a drive unit 30 for moving the body 20, and an electric fan 51 for sucking dust from the suction port 101. The body 20 has at least two tops (a front top 23). The body 20 has a maximum width ("maximum width of the body 20") defined by the distance between the two top vertices. The suction port 101 preferably has a horizontally long shape, and more preferably has a rectangular shape or a substantially rectangular shape. In autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, suction port 101 is provided on the bottom surface side of body 20, and the longitudinal direction of suction port 101 is substantially parallel to the width direction of body 20 (left-right direction in FIG. 13 ). It is arranged to be.

Moreover, in the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the body 20 has a front surface 21 provided with a curved surface curved outward and two side surfaces 22. At least a part of each of the two side surfaces 22 is provided with a curved surface curved outward.

Further, the body 20 is the above-mentioned two tops, that is, the right front top 23 defined by the front surface 21 and the right side surface 22, and the left front top defined by the front surface 21 and the left side surface 22. Have 23. As shown in FIG. 31, the angle formed by the tangent line L1 of the front surface 21 and the tangent lines L2, L3 of the two side surfaces 22 is an acute angle.

That is, as shown in FIG. 31, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment is a tangent line of the outer periphery of the body 20 in a plan view and is a line W (“body The first tangent line L1 parallel to the maximum width line W" of the body 20 and another tangent line of the outer circumference of the body 20 in a plan view and contact the outer circumference on the rear side of the body 20 with respect to the maximum width line W of the body 20. An angle formed by the second tangent line L2, the first tangent line L1, and another tangent line of the outer circumference of the body 20 in a plan view, and the outer circumference of the body 20 behind the maximum width line W of the body 20. The angle formed by the third tangent line L3 that touches at is an acute angle.

According to such a configuration, since the shape of the body 20 approximates a Reuleaux triangle, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 easily turns at the corner R3 of the cleaning target area. Further, since the suction port 101 easily reaches the corner R3 of the cleaning target area, cleaning efficiency can be improved.

Further, in the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the curvature of the curved surface of the front surface 21 of the body 20 is smaller than the curvature of the R shape (the arc R shown in FIG. 31) of the front apex 23 of the body 20.

According to such a configuration, since the shape of the body 20 approximates a Reuleaux triangle, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 easily turns at the corner R3 of the cleaning target area. Further, since the suction port 101 easily reaches the corner R3 of the cleaning target area, cleaning efficiency can be improved.

Moreover, in the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the suction port 101 is preferably arranged such that the longitudinal direction of the suction port 101 is substantially parallel to the extending direction of the maximum width line W of the body 20. To be done. Further, more preferably, the suction port 101 is arranged closer to the maximum width portion of the body 20 than the drive unit 30.

With such a configuration, the suction port 101 can easily reach the corner R3 of the cleaning target region, so that cleaning efficiency can be improved.

In addition, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present exemplary embodiment is provided with a body 20 having a suction port 101, a drive unit 30 for moving the body 20, and a rear side of the drive unit 30 in the front-rear direction of the body 20, The caster 90 follows the movement of the wheel 33 of the drive unit 30 and the electric fan 51 that sucks dust from the suction port 101. The body 20 has a maximum width portion that is the widest portion, and the suction port 101 preferably has a horizontally long shape, more preferably a rectangular shape or a substantially rectangular shape. In autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present exemplary embodiment, the longitudinal direction of suction port 101 is along the width direction of body 20, and caster 90 is arranged at a portion farther from the maximum width portion than drive unit 30.

According to such a configuration, the caster 90 is separated from the corner R3 of the cleaning target area, so that dust of the corner R3 can be prevented from adhering to the caster 90.

Further, the autonomous cleaner 10 of the present embodiment includes a body 20 having a suction port 101, a drive unit 30 for moving the body 20, an electric fan 51 for sucking dust from the suction port 101, and a body 20. And a side brush 44 disposed on the bottom surface. The body 20 has a maximum width portion that is the widest portion, and the suction port 101 preferably has a horizontally long shape, more preferably a rectangular shape or a substantially rectangular shape. In the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the longitudinal direction of the suction port 101 is along the width direction of the body 20, and the side brush 44 is closer to the maximum width portion of the body 20 than the drive unit 30. Will be placed.

With such a configuration, the dust collected by the side brush 44 can be more surely sucked from the suction port 101. In addition, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 according to the present embodiment includes the body 20 having the suction port 101, the drive unit 30 that moves the body 20, the electric fan 51 that sucks dust from the suction port 101, and the body 20. A floor surface detection sensor 74 for detecting a traveling cleaning surface.

The body 20 has a maximum width portion that is the widest portion, and the suction port 101 preferably has a horizontally long shape, more preferably a rectangular shape or a substantially rectangular shape. In the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the longitudinal direction of the suction port 101 is along the width direction of the body 20, and the floor surface detection sensor 74 is forward of the suction port 101 in the front-back direction of the body 20. The drive unit 30 is disposed closer to the maximum width portion of the body 20 than the drive unit 30.

According to such a configuration, since the floor surface detection sensor 74 is arranged on the front side of the body 20, the presence or absence of the cleaning surface in the forward direction of the body 20 is detected early, and the wheel 33 is prevented from derailing. be able to.

In addition, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment has a body 20 having a suction port 101, a drive unit 30 for moving the body 20, an electric fan 51 for sucking dust from the suction port 101, and an electric fan 51. And a charging terminal 103 used for charging a power source capable of supplying electric power to the electric power source. The body 20 has a maximum width portion that is the widest portion, and the suction port 101 preferably has a horizontally long shape, more preferably a rectangular shape or a substantially rectangular shape. In autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the longitudinal direction of suction port 101 is along the width direction of body 20, and charging terminal 103 is arranged forward of suction port 101 in the front-back direction of body 20. It is arranged in a portion closer to the maximum width portion of the body 20 than the drive unit 30.

According to such a configuration, since the charging terminal 103 is arranged on the front side of the body 20, the charging terminal 103 can be connected to the charging stand more reliably.

In addition, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment has a body 20 having a suction port 101, a drive unit 30 for moving the body 20, an electric fan 51 for sucking dust from the suction port 101, and an electric fan 51. And a power supply unit 80 capable of supplying electric power. The body 20 has a maximum width portion that is the widest portion, and the suction port 101 preferably has a horizontally long shape, more preferably a rectangular shape or a substantially rectangular shape.

In the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the longitudinal direction of the suction port 101 is along the width direction of the body 20, and the drive unit 30 and the power supply unit 80 are rearward of the suction port 101 in the front-back direction of the body 20. The power supply unit 80 is arranged in a portion farther from the maximum width portion of the body 20 than the drive unit 30.

According to such a configuration, the front side portion of the body 20 is relatively lifted due to the influence of the weight of the power supply unit 80. Therefore, for example, a sensor such as the obstacle detection sensor 71 arranged on the front side of the body 20. Is difficult to contact with the cleaning surface.

Further, the autonomous cleaner 10 of the present embodiment includes a body 20 having a suction port 101, a drive unit 30 for moving the body 20, an electric fan 51 for sucking dust from the suction port 101, and a body 20. And a side brush 44 disposed on the bottom surface. The body 20 has a maximum width part that is the widest part, and the suction port 101 preferably has a horizontally long shape, more preferably a rectangular shape or a substantially rectangular shape.

In autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, suction port 101 is arranged on the bottom surface side of body 20 such that the longitudinal direction of suction port 101 is along the width direction of body 20. Moreover, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment is configured such that a part of the side brush 44 is located in the maximum width portion of the body 20 on the bottom surface side of the body 20. More preferably, a part of the side brush 44 and the suction port 101 are arranged in the maximum width portion of the body 20 on the bottom surface side of the body 20.

With such a configuration, the dust collected by the side brush 44 can be more surely sucked from the suction port 101.

(Embodiment 8)
The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 according to the eighth embodiment of the present invention includes a body 20 having a suction port 101, a drive unit 30 having a wheel 33 for moving the body 20, and an electric fan 51 for sucking dust from the suction port 101. Have and. The body 20 has a maximum width portion that is the widest portion.

In the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the wheel 33 of the drive unit 30 is arranged in the body 20 such that the central axis of the wheel 33 extends along the width direction of the body 20.

Moreover, in the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the body 20 has a front surface 21 provided with a curved surface curved outward and two side surfaces 22. At least a part of each of the two side surfaces 22 is provided with a curved surface curved outward.

The body 20 also has a right front apex 23 defined by the front surface 21 and the right side surface 22, and a left front apex 23 defined by the front surface 21 and the left side surface 22.

As shown in FIG. 31, the angle formed by the tangent line L1 of the front surface 21 and the tangent lines L2, L3 of the two side surfaces 22 is an acute angle.

That is, as shown in FIG. 31, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment is a tangent line of the outer periphery of the body 20 in a plan view and is a line W (“body The first tangent line L1 parallel to the maximum width line W" of the body 20 and another tangent line of the outer circumference of the body 20 in a plan view and contact the outer circumference on the rear side of the body 20 with respect to the maximum width line W of the body 20. An angle formed by the second tangent line L2, the first tangent line L1, and another tangent line of the outer circumference of the body 20 in a plan view, and the outer circumference of the body 20 behind the maximum width line W of the body 20. The angle formed by the third tangent line L3 that touches at is an acute angle.

According to such a configuration, the shape of the body 20 approximates a Reuleaux triangle, so that the body 20 can easily turn at the corner R3 of the cleaning target region. Therefore, it is possible to move quickly from the corner R3 or the like. Further, since the suction port 101 easily reaches the corner R3 of the target area, the cleaning efficiency can be improved.

Further, in the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, each front apex 23 of the body 20 has an R shape (arc R) as shown in FIG. The curvature of the curved surface of the front surface 21 of the body 20 is smaller than the curvature of the R shape of each front apex 23.

With such a configuration, since the shape of the body 20 approximates a Reuleaux triangle, the autonomous traveling cleaner 10 easily turns at the corner R3 of the cleaning target region. Further, since the suction port 101 easily reaches the corner R3 of the target area, the cleaning efficiency can be improved.

Further, in the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the suction port 101 is arranged closer to the maximum width portion of the body 20 than the drive unit 30.

With such a configuration, since the shape of the body 20 approximates a Reuleaux triangle, the autonomous traveling cleaner 10 easily turns at the corner R3 of the cleaning target region. Further, since the suction port 101 easily reaches the corner R3 of the cleaning target area, cleaning efficiency can be improved.

The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment further includes casters 90 arranged behind the drive unit 30 and driven by the movement of the wheels 33 of the drive unit 30. In the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the center axis of the wheel 33 of the drive unit 30 extends along the width direction of the body 20, and the caster 90 is farther from the maximum width portion of the body 20 than the drive unit 30. Is located in.

According to such a configuration, the caster 90 is separated from the corner R3 of the cleaning target area, so that the corner R
It is possible to prevent the dust of No. 3 from adhering to the casters 90.

Moreover, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment further includes a side brush 44 arranged on the bottom surface side of the body 20. In the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the center axis of the wheel 33 is along the width direction of the body 20, and the side brush 44 is arranged closer to the maximum width portion of the body 20 than the drive unit 30. It

With such a configuration, the dust collected by the side brush 44 can be more surely sucked from the suction port 101.

Moreover, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment further includes a floor surface detection sensor 74 that detects a cleaning surface on which the body 20 travels. In the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the floor surface detection sensor 74 is arranged on the bottom surface side of the body 20 in front of the suction port 101 in the front-rear direction, and in the body 20 rather than the drive unit 30. Is located near the maximum width of the.

According to such a configuration, since the floor surface detection sensor 74 is arranged on the front side of the body 20, the presence or absence of the cleaning surface in the forward direction of the body 20 is detected early, and the wheel 33 is prevented from derailing. It becomes possible.

Further, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment further includes a charging terminal 103 used for charging a power source capable of supplying electric power to the electric fan 51. In autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present exemplary embodiment, charging terminal 103 is arranged on the bottom surface side of body 20 in front of suction port 101 in the front-rear direction of body 20, and in a maximum width portion than drive unit 30. It is placed in a close area.

According to such a configuration, since the charging terminal 103 is arranged on the front side of the body 20, the charging terminal 103 can be connected to the charging stand more reliably.

Moreover, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment further includes a power supply unit 80 capable of supplying electric power to the electric fan 51. In autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, drive unit 30 and power supply unit 80 are arranged behind suction port 101 in the front-rear direction of body 20. Further, the power supply unit 80 is arranged in a portion farther from the maximum width portion than the drive unit 30.

According to such a configuration, the front side portion of the body 20 is relatively lifted due to the influence of the weight of the power supply unit 80. Therefore, for example, a sensor such as the obstacle detection sensor 71 arranged on the front side of the body 20. Is difficult to contact with the cleaning surface.

Further, in the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, a part of the side brush 44 is located in the maximum width portion on the bottom surface side of the body 20. More preferably, a part of the side brush 44 and the suction port 101 are located in the maximum width portion on the bottom surface side of the body 20.

With such a configuration, the dust collected by the side brush 44 can be more surely sucked from the suction port 101.

(Embodiment 9)
The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 according to the ninth embodiment of the present invention includes a body 20 having a suction port 101, a drive unit 30 having a wheel 33, an electric fan 51, and a communication unit 212. The communication section 212 is arranged in a recess formed in the body 20, and the surface of the recess including the edge of the recess is inclined so that the outer peripheral side portion of the body 20 is lower than the center side portion of the body 20. There is.

With such a configuration, the recess functions like a parabolic antenna, so that the communication property of the communication unit 212 is improved.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, communication unit 212 also receives a signal output from a charging stand that charges autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 or a signal output from a remote controller that operates autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10. be able to.

(Embodiment 10)
The autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 according to the tenth embodiment of the present invention includes a body 20 having a suction port 101, a drive unit 30 having a wheel 33, an electric fan 51, and a dustbin unit 60. The trash can unit 60 includes a trash can 61 having an inlet connected to the suction port 101, and a filter 62 attached to the trash can 61. The filter 62 is provided with a collection unit 340 that is a portion that allows air to pass therethrough and collects dust in the air. The collection unit 340 is arranged in a portion that does not face the inlet 312.

Generally, the size of the trash can that can be mounted is limited in the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner. Therefore, when the collection unit is arranged at a position facing the entrance of the trash can, the trash is concentrated on the part of the collection unit facing the entrance of the trash can, and the trash is accumulated on other parts of the collection unit. Even if there is room for stacking, the entrance may be blocked by dust.

However, in the self-propelled cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, since the collection unit 340 is arranged in a portion that does not face the inlet 312, the collection unit 340 concentrates in the portion of the collection unit 340 that faces the inlet 312 of the trash can 310. It is possible to prevent stacking of litter.

In addition, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment has a body 20 having a suction port 101, a drive unit 30 having a plurality of wheels 33, a plurality of suspension springs 36, an electric fan 51, and a main brush 43. And a brush drive motor 41. The suspension spring 36 applies a reaction force to the wheel 33 so that the wheel 33 projects from the body 20. The elastic coefficient of the suspension spring 36 that gives a reaction force to the first wheel 33, which is one of the plurality of wheels 33, is one of the plurality of wheels 33 and is farther from the brush drive motor 41 than the first wheel 33. It is larger than the elastic coefficient of the suspension spring 36 that applies a reaction force to the second wheel 33, which is the wheel 33 disposed in the portion.

With such a configuration, the weight of the brush drive motor 41 acts more strongly on the first wheel 33 than on the second wheel 33. Therefore, when the suspension springs 36 that apply a reaction force to the wheels 33 have the same elastic coefficient, the positions of the wheels 33 with respect to the body 20 may not be balanced. However, by setting the elastic coefficient of the suspension spring 36 with such a configuration, the balance of the position of the wheel 33 with respect to the body 20 is less likely to be lost.

Moreover, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment includes the body 20 having the suction port 101, the drive unit 30 having the wheel 33, the electric fan 51, the dustbin 61, and the dust detection sensor 76. The dust detection sensor 76 has a flow velocity that is faster than the flow velocity at the center line 175 of the flow passage 174 in the cross section cut along the flow direction of the air in the flow passage 174 in the flow passage 174 that connects the suction port 101 and the dust box 310. Placed in the area.

With such a configuration, even if dust adheres to the surface of the dust detection sensor 76, the dust is easily blown off from the surface of the dust detection sensor 76 by the air flowing through the flow path 174.

Moreover, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment has the body 20 having the suction port 101, the drive unit 30 having the wheel 33, the electric fan 51, the charging terminal 103, and the magnet 77. The charging terminal 103 can be electrically connected to a terminal of a charging stand that charges a power source, and the magnet 77 is arranged at a position near the charging terminal 103.

With such a configuration, when the autonomous traveling cleaner 10 approaches the charging stand, the magnet 77 is easily detected by the charging stand.

Further, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment has a body 20 having a suction port 101, a drive unit 30, an electric fan 51, and casters 90. The rotation axis of the caster 90 is arranged so as to be parallel or substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the suction port 101. Further, in the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the caster 90 has a first portion having a larger diameter and a second portion having a smaller diameter than the first portion, and the first portion The coefficient of friction of the outer peripheral surface of is smaller than the coefficient of friction of the outer peripheral surface of the second portion.

With such a configuration, when the autonomous traveling cleaner 10 travels, the outer peripheral surface of the first portion of the outer peripheral surface of the caster 90 mainly contacts the cleaning surface. Since the coefficient of friction of the outer peripheral surface of the first portion is smaller than the coefficient of friction of the outer peripheral surface of the second portion, the resistance when the body 20 goes straight is small and the body 20 can move smoothly. Further, when the body 20 turns, the casters 90 easily slide sideways, so that the turning performance of the body 20 is enhanced.

(Embodiment 11)
An autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 according to an eleventh embodiment of the present invention includes a body 20 having a suction port 101, a drive unit 30 having a wheel 33 for moving the body 20, and an electric fan for sucking dust from the suction port 101. It has 51 and the trash box unit 60 arrange|positioned at the body 20.

The trash box unit 60 includes a trash box 61 that stores the trash sucked by the electric fan 51, and a filter 62 that is attached to the trash box 61. The filter 62 has a collection unit 340 that is a part that allows air to pass therethrough and collects dust in the air, and a frame 350 that supports the collection unit 340. The frame 350 includes a portion that faces the inlet 312 of the trash 310, and the collection unit 340 is disposed in a portion that does not face the inlet 312 of the trash 310.

Generally, the size of the trash can that can be installed in the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner is limited. Therefore, when the collection unit is arranged at a position facing the entrance of the trash can, the trash is concentrated on the part of the collection unit facing the entrance of the trash can, and the trash is accumulated on other parts of the collection unit. Even if there is room for stacking, the entrance may be blocked by dust.

However, in the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, since the collection unit 340 is arranged in a portion that does not face the inlet 312 of the dustbin 310, a portion of the collection unit 340 that faces the inlet 312 of the dustbin 310. It is possible to reduce the concentration of dust and the accumulation of dust.

Further, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment has a body 20 having a suction port 101, a main brush 43 arranged at the suction port 101, a brush drive motor 41 for rotating the main brush 43, and the body 20. And a pair of wheels 33 (first wheel 33 and second wheel 33) for moving. The autonomous cleaner 10 according to the present embodiment further includes a first spring 36 that applies a reaction force to the first wheel 33 so that the first wheel 33 contacts the cleaning surface, and a second wheel 33. Has a second spring 36 that applies a reaction force to the second wheel 33 so as to contact the cleaning surface, and an electric fan 51 that sucks dust from the suction port 101.

The brush drive motor 41 is arranged at a position closer to the first wheel 33 than the first wheel 33 and the second wheel 33. Moreover, in the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the elastic coefficient of the first spring 36 is larger than the elastic coefficient of the second spring 36.

With such a configuration, the weight of the brush drive motor 41 acts more strongly on the first wheel 33 than on the second wheel 33. Therefore, if the elastic coefficients of the springs 36 that apply a reaction force to the wheels 33 have the same magnitude, the positions of the wheels 33 with respect to the body 20 may not be balanced.

However, since the elastic coefficient of the spring 36 is set based on the above configuration in the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the balance of the position of the wheel 33 with respect to the body 20 is less likely to be lost.

In addition, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment has a body 20 having a suction port 101, a drive unit 30 having a wheel 33 for moving the body 20, and an electric fan 51 for sucking dust from the suction port 101. A trash box 310 for collecting the trash sucked by the electric fan 51, and a dust detection sensor 76 arranged in the flow path 174 connecting the electric fan 51 and the trash box 310 to detect information about the trash moving in the flow path 174; Have. The dust detection sensor 76 is arranged in the flow path 174 at a location where the flow velocity of air is high.

With such a configuration, when dust adheres to the surface of the dust detection sensor 76, the dust is easily blown off from the surface of the dust detection sensor 76 by the air flowing in the flow path 174.

Further, the autonomous cleaner 10 of the present embodiment charges the body 20 having the suction port 101, the drive unit 30, the electric fan 51 that sucks dust from the suction port 101, and the power source of the electric fan 51. It has a charging terminal 103 used for that purpose, and a magnet 77 that can be detected by a charging stand that supplies power to the charging terminal 103. In autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the distance between magnet 77 and charging terminal 103 is shorter than the distance between magnet 77 and suction port 101.

With such a configuration, when the autonomous traveling cleaner 10 approaches the charging stand, the magnet 77 is easily detected by the charging stand.

Further, the autonomous cleaner 10 of the present embodiment includes a body 20 having a suction port 101, a drive unit 30, a caster 90 driven by a wheel 33, and an electric fan 51 sucking dust from the suction port 101. Have. The suction port 101 has a horizontally long shape, preferably a rectangular shape or a substantially rectangular shape. The longitudinal direction of the suction port 101 is along the width direction of the body 20, the central axis of the caster 90 is substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the suction port 101, and the caster 90 includes the first portion having a large diameter, and , And has a second portion having a smaller diameter than the first portion, and the coefficient of friction of the outer peripheral surface of the first portion is smaller than the coefficient of friction of the outer peripheral surface of the second portion.

With such a configuration, when the autonomous traveling cleaner 10 travels, the outer peripheral surface of the first portion of the outer peripheral surface of the caster 90 mainly contacts the cleaning surface. Since the coefficient of friction of the outer peripheral surface of the first portion is smaller than the coefficient of friction of the outer peripheral surface of the second portion, the resistance when the body 20 goes straight is small and the body 20 can move smoothly. Further, when the body 20 turns, the casters 90 easily slide sideways, so that the turning performance of the body 20 is enhanced.

(Embodiment 12)
The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 according to the twelfth embodiment of the present invention includes a body 20 having a suction port 101, a plurality of drive units 30 for causing the body 20 to travel, and a suction unit 50 mounted on the body 20.

The body 20 has a front surface 21 and a plurality of side surfaces 22 each having a curved surface that is curved outward in a plan view, and a plurality of front top portions 23 that are top portions defined by the front surfaces 21 and the side surfaces 22.

The maximum width of the body 20 is defined by at least two apexes (front apex 23) of the plurality of apexes. Further, the suction port 101 is provided in a portion of the body 20 having the maximum width. As described above, the "portion having the maximum width of the body 20" or "the maximum width portion of the body 20" means the line W ("the body" connecting the apex of the right front apex 23 and the apex of the left front apex 23. 20 maximum width line W″) and the vicinity thereof.

As shown in FIG. 31, the angle formed by the tangent line (first tangent line) L1 of the front surface 21 and the tangent lines (second tangent line and third tangent line) L2, L3 of the side surface 22 is an acute angle.

The autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment further includes at least one side brush 44 arranged on the bottom surface side of the body 20. Part of the rotation trajectory of the side brush 44 is located in the maximum width portion of the body 20. More preferably, the side brush 44 is located at the widest portion of the body 20 and the suction port 101.

With such a configuration, the dust existing at the corner R3 of the cleaning target region can be reliably collected by the side brush 44 by the suction port 101 provided on the bottom surface side of the body 20. Therefore, the ability to suck the dust existing at the corner R3 of the cleaning target area is further enhanced. Further, since it is not necessary to increase the length of the bristle bundle 44B that constitutes the side brush 44, it is possible to reduce the risk that the side brush 44 is caught by an obstacle.

In the present embodiment, a plurality of side brushes 44 may be provided. In this case, the plurality of side brushes 44 include a right side brush 44 arranged on the right side portion of the body 20 and a left side brush 44 arranged on the left side portion of the body 20. The trajectory of the right side brush 44 and the trajectory of the left side brush 44 form a trajectory for sending dust to the suction port 101.

According to such a configuration, the dust existing at the corner R3 of the cleaning target region can be efficiently and reliably collected by the suction port 101 of the body 20 by the plurality of side brushes 44. Therefore, it is possible to further enhance the ability to suck the dust existing at the corner R3 of the cleaning target area.

Further, in the present embodiment, when the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 has the plurality of side brushes 44, the plurality of side brushes 44 have a rotation locus of the right side brush 44 and a rotation locus of the left side brush 44, The body 20 is configured so as to be directed from the front side to the rear side of the body 20 on the center side in the width direction. That is, each of the plurality of side brushes 44 rotates in the opposite direction, and in the portion of the rotation loci of the respective side brushes 44 that is close to the rotation locus of the other side brush 44, the front side of the body 20. To rotate backwards.

According to such a configuration, since the dust is collected from the front side of the body 20 to the suction port 101 by the side brush 44, as compared with the case where the dust is collected from the side of the suction port 101 to the suction port 101, for example. By the suction port 101, dust can be surely sucked.

(Embodiment 13)
The autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 according to the thirteenth embodiment of the present invention includes a body 20 having a suction port 101 on the bottom surface, a plurality of drive units 30 for traveling the body 20, and a suction unit 50 mounted on the body 20. Have.

The body 20 is present in front of the center of gravity G of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10, is the widest portion which is the widest portion, and is behind the maximum width portion, and the width becomes smaller toward the rear. A rear portion. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 31, the outer peripheral surface of the maximum width portion of body 20 has an R shape (arc R).

Further, in the present embodiment, front surface 21 of body 20 has a curved surface that is curved outward in plan view of body 20.

Further, in the present embodiment, the curvature of the curved surface of the front surface 21 of the body 20 is smaller than the curvature of the R shape (arc R) of the outer peripheral surface of the maximum width portion of the body 20.

Furthermore, in the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the side surface 22 is provided at the rear portion of the body 20. The side surface 22 has a curved surface that is curved outward in a plan view of the body 20.

In the present embodiment, the curvature of the curved surface of the side surface 22 of the body 20 is smaller than the curvature of the R shape (arc R) of the outer peripheral surface of the maximum width portion of the body 20.

With such a configuration, the shape of the body 20 approximates a Reuleaux triangle, so that the body 20 can easily turn at the corner R3 of the cleaning target region. Therefore, the autonomous traveling cleaner 10 can be quickly moved from the corner R3 or the like of the cleaning target area. Further, since the suction port 101 easily reaches the tip portion R4 of the corner R3 of the cleaning target region, the cleaning efficiency can be improved.

Further, in the present embodiment, suction port 101 is arranged in a portion closer to the maximum width portion of body 20 than center of gravity G of autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10. Further, in the present embodiment, the suction unit 50 is arranged rearward of the suction port 101 in the front-rear direction of the body 20.

With such a configuration, the suction port 101 can be brought close to the apex of the corner R3 of the cleaning target region, so that the dust existing at the tip portion R4 of the corner R3 can be sucked directly from the suction port 101 more reliably. You can

In the present embodiment, drive unit 30 may be arranged outside suction port 101 in the width direction on the bottom surface side of body 20. Even with such a configuration, since the suction port 101 is provided in the maximum width portion of the body 20, the dust existing on the cleaning surface can be efficiently sucked.

(Embodiment 14)
The self-propelled cleaner 10 according to the fourteenth embodiment of the present invention includes a body 20 having a suction port 101 on the bottom surface, a plurality of drive units 30 for causing the body 20 to travel, and a suction unit 50 mounted on the body 20. Have.

The body 20 has a front surface 21 and a plurality of side surfaces 22 each having a curved surface that bulges outward in a plan view. The body 20 further has a plurality of front apices 23 that are apices defined by a front face 21 and a plurality of side faces 22. The maximum width of the body 20 is defined by at least two apexes (front apex 23) of the plurality of apexes. The suction port 101 is provided in a portion of the body 20 having the maximum width. In addition, the "portion having the maximum width of the body 20" or "the maximum width portion of the body 20" means, as described above, a line W (which connects the apex of the right front apex 23 and the apex of the left front apex 23). "Maximum width line W of body 20") and its vicinity.

According to such a configuration, the angle formed by the tangent line L1 of the front surface 21 and the tangent lines L2, L3 of the side surface 22 is set to an acute angle, so that the autonomous traveling cleaner 10 is located at the corner R3 of the cleaning target area. Moreover, it is possible to turn on the spot and take various postures with respect to the angle R3. Such a posture of the body 20 includes, for example, a posture in which the front apex 23 of the body 20 is directed to the apex of the corner R3 of the cleaning target region or the vicinity thereof.

When the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 takes such a posture, compared with the case where the conventional autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 having the circular body 20 approaches the corner R3 of the cleaning target area to the limit. The apex (front apex 23) approaches the apex of the corner R3, and the suction port 101 of the body 20 also approaches the apex of the corner R3. Therefore, the dust existing on the cleaning surface of the corner R3 can be more surely sucked from the suction port 101.

Further, according to the above-mentioned configuration, when the front apex 23 of the body 20 takes a posture approaching toward the apex of the corner R3 or its vicinity, it is possible to turn on the spot. Therefore, the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment is different from the conventional autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner having the D-shaped body 20 when moving from the corner R3 of the cleaning target area to another place. , R3 can be quickly moved to another place.

Further, in the present embodiment, the plurality of side surfaces 22 are formed on the right side with respect to the center of the body 20 in the width direction (in the present embodiment, a direction substantially perpendicular to the forward direction of the body 20). The right side surface 22 and the left side surface 22 formed on the left side with respect to the center of the body 20 in the width direction are included. The body 20 has a right front apex 23 defined by a front surface 21 and a right side surface 22, and a left front apex 23 defined by the front surface 21 and a left side surface 22. The right front peak 23 and the left front peak 23 define the maximum width of the body 20.

Further, in the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment, the width of the rear side (rear part) of the body 20 is narrower than the width of the front side (front part) of the body 20. With such a configuration, when the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 turns in a place where an object is present in the surroundings, the possibility that the rear part of the body 20 contacts the object is reduced. Therefore, the mobility of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 can be enhanced.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the plurality of drive units 30 include the first drive unit 30 and the second drive unit 30. The first drive unit 30 and the second drive unit 30 each have a rotation shaft, and are configured to be independently driveable. Further, in the present embodiment, the drive system of the plurality of drive units 30 is an opposed two-wheel type configured by the first drive unit 30 and the second drive unit 30. With such a configuration, the structure is simplified as compared with the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner having the steering type drive system.

The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment further includes a control unit 70 that controls the plurality of drive units 30. The control unit 70 controls the plurality of drive units 30 so that the body 20 forms at least a part of a locus of a quadrangle drawn by the Reuleaux triangle.

According to such a configuration, the control unit 70 operates each drive unit 30 to bring the front apex 23 of the body 20 toward the apex of the corner R3 of the cleaning target area or the vicinity thereof to clean the suction port 101. It is possible to get closer to the vertex of the corner R3 of the target area. Therefore, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present embodiment can more efficiently suck the dust existing at the corner R3 of the cleaning target area.

Further, in the present embodiment, the rotation axes of first drive unit 30 and second drive unit 30 are located on the rear side of body 20 with respect to center of gravity G of autonomous traveling cleaner 10.

The relationship between the rotation axis of each drive unit 30 and the center of gravity G of the autonomous traveling cleaner 10 corresponds to one of the main factors that determine the trajectory that the body 20 can form. As described above, the autonomous cleaner 10 of the present invention includes the body 20 having the suction port 101, the drive unit 30, the suction port 101, and the electric fan 51. The body 20 has two apexes (front apex 23) that define the maximum width of the body 20, and the suction port 101 is provided in a portion having the maximum width on the bottom surface side of the body 20 and is larger than the drive unit 30. , Is arranged in a portion close to the portion having the maximum width of the body 20.

According to such a configuration, the shape of the body 20 approximates a Reuleaux triangle, so that the body 20 can easily turn at the corner R3 of the cleaning target region. Therefore, it is possible to quickly move from the corner R3 or the like of the cleaning target area. Further, since the suction port 101 easily reaches the tip portion R4 of the corner R3 of the cleaning target region, the cleaning efficiency can be improved.

The autonomous traveling cleaner 10 of the present invention further includes casters 90 provided on the bottom surface side of the body 20. The caster 90 is arranged on the rear side of the body 20 with respect to the drive unit 30 with the maximum width portion of the body 20 as a reference. According to such a configuration, the caster 90 is provided at a position apart from the suction port 101 through which the dust in the corner R3 of the cleaning target area is sucked, and therefore the dust in the corner R3 of the cleaning target area is attached to the caster 90. It is possible to prevent the adhesion.

The autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 10 of the present invention further has a side brush 44 provided on the bottom surface side of the body 20. A part of the locus of rotation of the side brush 44 exists in a portion of the body 20 having the maximum width. More preferably, a part of the rotation locus of the side brush 44 exists in a portion having the maximum width of the suction port 101 and the body 20. With such a configuration, the dust collected by the side brush 44 can be more surely sucked into the suction port 101.

The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present invention is a tangent line on the outer periphery of the body 20 in a plan view, and is parallel to the maximum width line W of the body 20 which is a line connecting the respective vertices of the two front top portions 23 of the body 20. An angle between the first tangent line L1 and a second tangent line L2 that is another tangent line to the outer periphery of the body 20 in plan view and is in contact with the outer periphery on the rear side of the maximum width line W of the body 20, and the first tangent line L1. An angle formed between the tangent line L1 and a third tangent line L3 that is another tangent line of the outer circumference of the body 20 in plan view and is in contact with the outer circumference on the rear side of the maximum width line W of the body 20 is an acute angle.

According to such a configuration, the shape of the body 20 approximates a Reuleaux triangle, so that the body 20 can easily turn at the corner R3 of the cleaning target region. Therefore, it is possible to quickly move from the corner R3 or the like of the cleaning target area. Further, since the suction port 101 easily reaches the tip portion R4 of the corner R3 of the cleaning target region, the cleaning efficiency can be improved.

In the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 10 of the present invention, the body 20 has an outer peripheral surface provided with a curved surface curved outward in a plan view. The body 20 also has two tops (front top 23) that define the maximum width of the body 20. As shown in FIG. 31, the two apexes (front apex 23) have an R shape (arc R), and the curvature of the curved surface of the outer peripheral surface of the body 20 is smaller than the R shape curvature of the two apices.

According to such a configuration, the shape of the body 20 approximates a Reuleaux triangle, so that the body 20 can easily turn at the corner R3 of the cleaning target region. Therefore, it is possible to quickly move from the corner R3 or the like of the cleaning target area. Further, since the suction port 101 easily reaches the tip portion R4 of the corner R3 of the cleaning target region, the cleaning efficiency can be improved.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to more surely suck the dust existing in the corner of the cleaning target area directly from the suction port, and quickly move from the corner of the cleaning target area to another place. (EN) Provided is an autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner capable of high cleaning efficiency. Therefore, it can be used for an autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner used in various environments, such as a household autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner or a commercial autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner.

10 Autonomous Traveling Vacuum Cleaner 20 Body 21 Front 22 Side 22A Side 22B Side 23 Front Top 24 Rear Top 25 Rear 30 Drive Unit 31 Drive Motor 32 Housing 32A Motor Housing 32B Spring Hook 32C Bearing 33 Wheel 34 Tire 35 Support Axis 36 Suspension spring (spring)
40 Cleaning Unit 41 Brush Drive Motor 42 Gear Box 43 Main Brush 44 Side Brush 44A Brush Shaft 44B Bristle Bundle 50 Suction Unit 51 Electric Fan 52 Fan Case 52A Front Side Case 52B Rear Side Case 52C Suction Port 52D Discharge Port 52E Louver 60 Trash Box Unit 61 Trash Can 61A Inlet 61B Outlet 61C Bottom 62 Filter 70 Control Unit 71 Obstacle Detecting Sensor 71A Transmitter 71B Receiver 72 Distance Measuring Sensor 73 Collision Detecting Sensor 74 Floor Detection Sensor 75 Derailing Detection Switch 76 Dust Detection Sensor 77 Magnet 80 Power Supply Unit 81 Power supply case 82 Storage battery 83 Main switch 90 Castor 91 Support shaft 100 Lower unit 101 Suction port 102 Power supply port 103 Charging terminal 110 Base 111 Bottom bearing 112 Sensor window 120 Driving part 121 Wheel house 122 Spring engaging part 130 Cleaning part 131 Shaft insertion part 132 Coupling part 140 Garbage can part 150 Suction part 160 Power supply part 170 Brush housing 171 Duct 172 Inlet 173 Outlet 180 Brush cover 181 Slope 190 Holding frame 200 Upper unit 210 Cover 211 Exhaust port 212 Light receiving part (communication part)
213 lid button 220 lid 221 arm 230 bumper 231 curved convex portion 232 transmission window 233 reception window 234 distance measurement window 240 interface section 241 panel 242 operation button 243 display section 250 trash box receiver 251 bottom opening 252 rear opening 260 arm accommodating section 300 Trash can unit 310 Trash can 311 Space 312 Inlet 313 Outlet 320 Lid 330 Filter 340 Collection part 350 Frame 351 Window 352 Intermediate wall 360 Hinge G Center of gravity H Wheel rotation axis RX room R1 First wall R2 Second wall R3 Angle R4 Tip L1 tangent line (first tangent line)
L2 tangent (second tangent)
L3 tangent (third tangent)

Claims (3)

It has a body with a base on the bottom side,
The base has a right drive wheel and a left drive wheel, a brush housing in which a main brush is arranged, a brush cover attached to the brush housing and having a suction port for exposing the main brush, and at least left front of the base. Or a side brush connected to the right front is arranged,
The side brush rotates toward the suction port,
The brush cover is attached to the base so as to project downward from the bottom surface of the base, and a slope is formed in the front portion of the brush cover,
An autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner having a concave portion formed on a side of a moving direction of the body of the brush cover, the concave portion communicating from a front side to the suction port. The autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the inclined surface is a surface that increases in distance from the bottom surface of the base from the front of the body toward the rear . The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a part of the side brush overlaps the recess when the side brush rotates toward the suction port .

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