JP2019047943A - Autonomously traveling vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an autonomously traveling vacuum cleaner capable of reducing the possibility of detection errors of a floor surface distance measurement sensor.SOLUTION: There is provided an autonomously traveling vacuum cleaner comprising: a side brush; a floor surface distance measurement sensor with a detection range including at least part of an area where the side brush passes; and a control unit. The control unit executes a step for measuring a period t at which the brush part of the side brush passes through the detection range of the floor surface distance measurement sensor. When a shift amount of greater than 0 and smaller than t is K, the floor surface distance measurement sensor performs a distance measurement at a time which is shifted from an integer multiple of the period t by the shift amount K.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner.

  2. Description of the Related Art An autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner that can be driven autonomously so as to avoid obstacles and the like by detecting surrounding obstacles using an optical sensor is known.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration of a plurality of floor proximity sensors 140 that detect cliffs on the floor surface.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-195843

  Patent Document 1 discloses a mechanical structure of a floor proximity sensor, but does not particularly mention control related to detection. However, when a part of an autonomously traveling electric vacuum cleaner, for example, a side brush, crosses between the floor proximity sensor and the floor, there is a risk of erroneous detection that the floor is present due to this part. For example, if the timing at which the side brush crosses the detection range of the sensor coincides with the timing at which the sensor value is acquired, the side brush may be detected by the sensor and misidentified as a floor surface. That is, there is a possibility of erroneously determining that there is a floor surface at a position where no step (floor surface) should be detected. Further, when the number of side brushes increases, the possibility of this erroneous determination also increases.

  Further, when the number of sensor operations per unit time is increased, the current consumption of the circuit increases, so that the cleaning time is shortened.

  The autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner of the present invention made in view of the above circumstances includes a side brush, a floor surface ranging sensor including at least a part of a region through which the side brush passes in a detection range, and a control unit. An autonomously traveling electric vacuum cleaner, wherein the control unit performs a step of measuring a period t in which the brush portion of the side brush passes through a detection range of the floor surface ranging sensor, and is less than 0 t When the shift amount is K, the floor surface distance measurement sensor is controlled to perform distance measurement at the time shifted by the shift amount K from an integral multiple of the period t.

It is a perspective view of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a bottom view of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a block diagram including the control part of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The various components of the present invention do not necessarily need to be composed of one member. For example, one component is composed of a plurality of members, and a plurality of components are composed of one member. , A part of a certain component and a part of another component are allowed to overlap each other.

  Of the directions in which the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 1 (see FIG. 1) travels, the direction in which the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 1 normally travels is forward, the direction opposite to the direction of gravity is upward, and the drive wheels 116 face each other. The direction to do is left and right. That is, as shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, a side brush 15 is attached to the front side of the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 1.

<Embodiment 1>
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 1 according to this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a bottom view.
The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 1 is a vacuum cleaner that cleans the floor surface while autonomously moving in a cleaning area (for example, a room). The autonomously traveling vacuum cleaner 1 includes an upper case 111 that is an upper wall (and some side walls), a lower case 112 that is a bottom wall (and some side walls), and a bumper 18 installed at the front. The main body 11 comprised is provided. The lower case 112 faces the floor when the autonomous mobile vacuum cleaner 1 operates. The lower case 112 is provided with side brushes 15 on the left and right, respectively. The side brush 15 is rotatable about the vertical direction, and each of the brush portions 154 is attached to a side brush holder 151 that is a rotation shaft via a root elastic portion 153. Each side brush 15 has three brush portions 154, but the number of brush portions 154 is not particularly limited as long as it is one or more.

  A floor surface ranging sensor 211 that includes at least a part of a region through which the base elastic portion 153 or the brush portion 154 passes by rotation is provided. In the present embodiment, the floor surface ranging sensor 211 is attached to the lower case 112, and when the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 1 is mounted and driven on the floor surface, the floor surface is measured with the floor surface ranging. Whether it is below the sensor 211 is detected. This detection may detect whether the floor surface is within a threshold distance or may be capable of quantitatively measuring the distance to the floor surface, but the latter is preferable. In this specification, in any case, it is referred to as “ranging”.

  Various known optical sensors can be used as the floor distance measuring sensor 211. For example, a sensor having a light emitting unit that emits infrared rays and a light receiving unit that can detect infrared rays can be used. When the infrared ray hits the floor surface and is reflected, the light receiving unit detects the infrared ray, and with this, it can be determined that the floor surface exists.

  A dust case 4 is provided on the upper rear side of the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 1. The autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 1 of the present embodiment cleans the driving wheels 116 autonomously driven by arithmetic processing of the control device 2.

[Adjustment of Sensing Timing of Floor Ranging Sensor 211]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram including the control unit 300 of the present embodiment. The autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 1 has a control unit 300 that executes various controls including the following adjustment start process, measurement process, and adjustment process. The control unit 300 can control the drive motor 117 that applies a drive force to the drive wheels 116, the floor surface ranging sensor 211, and the side brush motor 117 that applies a rotational force to the side brush 15. Further, it is preferable that the control unit 300 can detect the rotational speed of the drive motor 117 and the rotational speed of the side brush motor 152. Furthermore, the control unit 300 can acquire the distance measurement state of the floor surface distance measurement sensor 211. The control unit 300 controls the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner 1.

(Adjustment start process)
First, the operation of the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 1 is started, and the side brush 15 is rotated in a process that does not affect normal operation. “The process that does not affect the normal operation” may be a process that is performed separately from the cleaning without being separated from the charging stand, for example, or a user command for performing an adjustment start process different from the normal operation is given to the remote controller or the main body. It may be emitted from the button. In the subsequent measurement process, it is preferable that the relationship of the floor surface with respect to the floor surface distance measuring sensor 211 is maintained, so it is desirable to stop the drive wheels 116 (drive motor). It is desirable to stop the driving wheel 116 at least until the measurement process is completed.

(Measurement process)
Next, the output signal from the distance measuring sensor 211 for the floor is measured while rotating the side brush 15. The measurement of the output signal is desirably performed in a cycle that is short enough to be regarded as a continuous signal, and is performed at least earlier than the cycle in which the brush portions 154 adjacent to each other cross the detection range of the floor surface distance measuring sensor 211. In order to achieve this, it is desirable to carry out in a cycle that is short enough to be regarded as a continuous signal. However, for example, information on the number of brush portions 154 of the side brush 15 and speed information on the motor that rotates the side brush 15 are provided. You may provide the acquisition part to acquire. The information on the number of the brush portions 154 may be stored in advance. For example, in the case of a type in which a plurality of types of side brushes 15 exist, the type of the side brush 15 can be configured to be distinguishable, or the number of the brush portions 154 can be distinguished. Can be acquired by configuring so that the user can input.

  Depending on whether or not the brush portion 154 of the side brush 15 passes through the detection range of the floor distance measuring sensor 211, the detection state (output signal) of the floor distance measuring sensor 211 varies. This variation fluctuates to some extent periodically depending on the cycle through which the brush portion 154 passes. In order to acquire such a signal in association with time information, time measurement is started inside the microcomputer.

From the viewpoint of energy saving, it is preferable that the period for acquiring the output signal during normal operation is longer than the period for acquiring the output signal in the measurement process.
In this measuring step, the timing at which the side brush 15 crosses the detection range may coincide with a part of the timing for distance measurement. By measuring the output signal at a short period, the time change of the detection signal value of the floor surface ranging sensor 211 that varies due to the rotation of the side brush 15 can be obtained. When the measurement value is acquired for a certain period of time, the rotation characteristics of the side brush 15 (the cycle through which the brush portion 154 passes, the speed of rotation, etc.) can be known.

(Adjustment process)
From this rotational characteristic, the period t at which the brush portions 154 adjacent in the rotational direction cross the floor surface distance measuring sensor 211 can be known. That is, the time t from the time when a certain brush portion 154 passes to the time when the next brush portion 154 passes is known. The time t is estimated from the waveform of the acquired detection signal value.

The autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 1 adjusts so that the distance measurement by the floor distance measuring sensor 211 is performed at a timing shifted by t / 2 from the time t, for example, at the same period as the time t and the time when the brush portion 154 crosses. Thereby, the influence of the side brush 15 on the distance measurement of the floor surface distance measurement sensor 211 can be reduced.
The measurement period of the floor distance measuring sensor 211 can be a natural number times (M times) t, but is preferably 1 time (M = 1). Further, the timing shift amount K is arbitrary such that 0 <K <t, but t / 4 ≦ K ≦ 3t / 4 is preferable. That is, if the time at which a certain brush portion 154 crosses the detection range of the floor range sensor 211 is set to 0, the measurement timing of the floor range sensor 211 can be set to (Mt + K).
By providing such a series of steps, for example, even when the shape of the brush portion 154 is changed, or when the number of the brush portions 154 is changed from three to six, the brush portion 154 is provided on the floor. The detection interval of the floor distance measuring sensor 211 can be adjusted by acquiring the interval at which the surface distance measuring sensor 211 is cut off.

  These series of steps (steps including the measurement of the period t) are performed once before shipping the product (autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 1), and the detection timing of the floor surface ranging sensor 211 is adjusted. Alternatively, it may be automatically performed when the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 1 is first driven after shipment, or may be measured or remeasured according to a user's command.

[Support for floor types]
The rotational speed of the side brush 15 also depends on the friction caused by the floor material. For example, when driven on a carpet, the load on the side brush 15 becomes relatively large. In this case, there is a concern that a predetermined rotation speed cannot be obtained or constant rotation, etc., but separately, the type of floor surface is estimated by providing a current detection circuit that detects the current of the motor that drives the side brush 15. If this is the case, it can be handled by correcting the timing based on the relationship between the rotational speed and the current. If the value of the current detection circuit is used, the detection timing of the floor distance measuring sensor 211 can be adjusted even when the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner 1 moves on different floor surfaces by driving the driving wheels 116. In addition, when performing said process before shipment, for example, it is preferable when a process is performed about the floor surface of a flooring or a tatami mat.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Autonomous travel type vacuum cleaner 11 Main body 111 Upper case 112 Lower case 1121 Side brush attachment part 113 Suction part 116 Driving wheel 117 Driving motor 13 Scraping brush 14 Rotating brush 15 Side brush 151 Side brush holder 152 Side brush motor 153 Root elasticity Part 154 Brush part 17 Auxiliary wheel 18 Bumper 211 Distance sensor 300 for floor surface Control part 4 Dust case

Claims (7)

An autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner having a side brush, a floor surface ranging sensor including at least a part of a region through which the side brush passes in a detection range, and a control unit,
The controller is
Performing a step of measuring a period t in which the brush portion of the side brush passes through a detection range of the floor surface ranging sensor;
Autonomous traveling characterized in that the floor surface ranging sensor performs distance measurement at a time shifted by the shift amount K from an integral multiple of the period t, where K is a shift amount less than 0 and less than t. Type vacuum cleaner. It has a drive motor that moves the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner,
2. The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the distance measuring timing of the floor surface distance measuring sensor is adjusted while the drive motor is stopped.   The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an instruction for performing a step of measuring or re-measurement of the period t can be received from a user.   The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein information on the type of the side brush or the number of the brush portions can be acquired.   5. The step of measuring or re-measuring the period t measures the output signal of the floor surface ranging sensor at a period shorter than the period during normal operation. The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner described in 1. It has a current detection circuit that detects changes in the floor type,
The autonomous travel type vacuum cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a distance measurement timing of the floor surface distance measurement sensor is changed according to a detection result of the current detection circuit. An adjustment method of an autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner having a side brush, a floor surface ranging sensor including at least a part of a region through which the side brush passes in a detection range, and a control unit,
The control unit is
Performing a step of measuring a period t in which the brush portion of the side brush passes through a detection range of the floor surface ranging sensor;
Autonomous traveling characterized in that when the shift amount less than 0 t is K, the floor surface ranging sensor adjusts the distance from the integral multiple of the period t at the time shifted by the shift amount K. To adjust the vacuum cleaner.

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