Electric vacuum cleaner
An electric vacuum cleaner, including: a dust separating section to separate a dust sucked from a suction opening with air; a dust-collecting chamber to collect the dust separated at the dust separating section; a light emitting diode D1 to emit a light into the dust-collecting chamber; a light receiving diode D2 to receive the light through the dust-collecting chamber; a control device 200 to judge an amount of the dust through the suction opening/or judging whether or not the dust collected in the dust-collecting chamber reached to a predetermined amount based on a light receiving condition of the light receiving device; a display unit 17 to display the amount of the dust judged with the judging device and a alarm device 1000 to alarm in response with the judging amount detected by the control device 200.
Latest Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha Patents:
This application is based on and claims the priority from each of Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-68898, filed on Mar. 14, 2006, and Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-73826, filed on Mar. 17, 2006, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric vacuum cleaner provided with a dust separating section for separating sucked dust from a suction opening to dust and air, and a dust-collecting chamber for accumulating the dust separated at the dust separating section.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, it is known that an electric vacuum cleaner includes a hand operational section on which a dust sensor is provided for detecting dust passing through an air passage (for reference, see JP-A-H7-322989).
The electric vacuum cleaner according to JP-A-H7-322989 is configured to control the electric blower based on an amount of the dust detected by the dust sensor.
In such an electric vacuum cleaner, the dust passing through the air passage is detected by the dust sensor, about whether or not the dust accumulated in the dust-collecting chamber is full, i.e. equal to or more than a predetermined amount is determined based on an input of the electric blower.
However, in a cyclonic (inertia separation) electric vacuum cleaner, there is a problem that a suction power is not reduced even dust is accumulated in a dust-collecting chamber, so that it is impossible to determine whether or not the dust accumulated in the dust-collecting chamber has reached to or more than a predetermined amount by an input of an electric blower.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAn object of the present invention is to provide an electric vacuum cleaner capable of alarming reliably whether or not dust accumulated in a dust-collecting chamber has reached to or more than a predetermined amount and alarming an amount of the dust through an air passage.
To accomplish the above object, an electric vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises: a dust separating section for separating dust sucked from a suction opening to dust and air; a dust-collecting chamber for accumulating the dust separated at the dust separating section; a light emitting device for emitting a light to the dust-collecting chamber; a light receiving device for receiving the light passing through the dust-collecting chamber; a judging device for detecting an amount of the dust passing through the suction opening/or judging whether or not the dust accumulated in the dust-collecting chamber has reached to a predetermined amount based on a light receiving condition of the light receiving device; and a display unit for displaying the amount of the dust detected by the judging device.
To accomplish the above object, an electric vacuum cleaner according to another embodiment of the present invention comprises: a main body; an electric blower for sucking dust from a suction opening; a dust-collecting container detachably provided in the main body, which includes a dust separating section for separating the dust sucked from the suction opening with air, a dust-collecting chamber for accumulating the dust separated at the dust separating section; a light emitting device for emitting a light to the dust-collecting chamber; a light receiving device for receiving the light passing through the dust-collecting chamber; a judging device for judging whether or not the dust accumulated in the dust-collecting chamber has reached to a predetermined amount based on a light receiving condition of the light receiving device; and an alarm device for alarming an alarm in accordance with a detecting value detected by the judging device.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings below.
First EmbodimentAn electric vacuum cleaner 10 as illustrated in
A display unit (display device) 17 is adjacent provided to the operational part 13A and displays an amount of dust passing through an air passage.
The suction body 15 is provided with a suction chamber (not illustrated) having a suction opening (suction inlet) (not illustrated) to introduce dust on a bottom surface. The suction chamber communicates with a suction connecting port 57a of a dust-collecting unit 50 (see
The main body 11 includes a body case 20, the dust-collecting unit 50 (see
A front side of the body case 20 is as illustrated in
The electric blower 24 is provided in a back side of the body case 20. A cylindrical connecting passage 25 having a front opening 25B is provided in a front side (right side in
As illustrated in
The dust-collecting unit 22 is provided with a hop up mechanism (alarm device) 1000 (see
The dust-collecting unit chamber 22 has an upper opening 23 (see
As illustrated in
The dust separating unit 400 includes a dust separating section 52 (inertia separating section), a filter part 80 formed integrally with the dust separating section 52, and the cover case 21A provided on the filter part 80.
The dust-collecting container 410 includes a dust-collecting part 70 formed with transparent resin and a cover case 21B provided on the dust-collecting part 70.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The dust separation device 55 includes a plurality of frames 55a and a net filter NF1 attached to circumferences of the frames 55a. The suction air trunk 56 communicates with the separation chamber portion 54 through the opening 154A of the right side wall 54A and the net filter NF1 (see
The suction passage 56 communicates with a containing case 81 of a filter part 80 mentioned hereinafter, and with a dust-collecting chamber 73 of a dust-collecting case portion 74 as described hereinafter through a connecting port 56A formed on a right side wall portion 156 (see
As illustrated by arrow in
As illustrated in
An opening 72A is provided on a lower surface of a left side of the communication case portion 72 as illustrated in
A cover plate 170 is attached to an outer wall portion of the dust-collecting case portion 74 in an outer side of the net filter NF3 and at a potion remote from the net filter NF3 a predetermined interval. An opening 170A is formed in a lower portion of the cover plate 170 (see
The opening 170A of the cover plate 170 is connected to the connecting opening 56A of the suction air trunk 56, as illustrated in
An opening 76 is provided on a right side surface of the dust-collecting case portion 74, as illustrated in
When the dust-collecting container 410 is mounted in the dust-collecting unit chamber 22 of the main body 11 in which the dust separating unit 400 is mounted, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
Formed in the front wall portion 84 of the containing case 81 is a connecting opening 84A. The connecting opening 84A is connected to the suction air trunk 56 (see
An edge part of the connecting opening 84A of the front wall portion 84 is provided with a projection T (see
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
A back end surface of the frame 101 is provided with a gear 107 which projects outwardly from the containing case 81, and is engaged with a drive gear Ga of the dust-collecting unit chamber 22 of the main body 11. The pleated filter structure 100 is rotated in the containing case 81 by the driving of the motor M1.
When the dust separating unit 400 is mounted in the dust-collecting unit chamber 22 of the main body 11, through the seal member 27, the back end surface of the containing case 81 of the dust separating unit 400 is jointed to the front opening 25B of the connecting passage 25 of the main body 11 to communicate the suction opening 24A of the electric blower 24 and the containing case 81 through the connecting passage 25.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The hop up device 1100 includes a cylindrical guide case 1101 which is provided on an upper wall surface of the air guide tube 57 of the dust separating unit 400 extending upwardly and downwardly and has a square-tube cross section, a moving board 1102 which is provided in the guide case 1101 movably seesaw, a spring 1103 which is disposed in the guide case 1101 and for biases the moving board 1102 upwardly. The hop up device 1100 is configured to hop up the dust-collecting container 410 by moving the moving board 1102 upwardly by a biasing force of the spring 1103.
The guide case 1101 includes an upper end board 1104 which is provided with a notch 1105. A notch 1107 is formed on a side wall 1106 of the guide case 1101 extending upwardly and downwardly and continuing to the notch 1105.
The lock device 1200 includes an arm 1201 which is rotatably provided on an outer surface of the air guide tube 57 and extends upwardly, and a spring (not illustrated) biasing the arm 1201 in a counterclockwise direction. The arm 1201 has an upper part which is provided with an engaging claw 1202. The dust-collecting part 70 has the second rib 72M having an engaging part 72Ma. The engaging claw 1202 is engaged with the engaging part 72Ma to lock the dust-collecting container 410, as illustrated in
When the dust-collecting container 410 is pushed from the opening 23 of the main body 11 into the dust-collecting unit chamber 22, the first rib 72R of the dust-collecting part 70 of the dust-collecting container 410 is entered into the notches 1105, 1107 of the guide case 1101, and the moving board 1102 is pushed downwardly against the biasing force of the spring 1103, as illustrated in
The releasing device 1300 includes a sliding member 1301 which is movably provided on the upper surface of the air guide tube 57 in an anteroposterior direction (horizontal direction in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
When the motor M2T is driven, the arm member 1302 is rotated in a clockwise direction illustrating in
The control device 200 detects the amount of the dust accumulated in the dust-collecting chamber 73 based on a light receiving amount of the light receiving diode D2, when the amount of the dust reaches to the dust disposal line L1, the motor M2 is driven, and then hop ups the dust-collecting part 70.
[Operation]Next, operation of the electric vacuum cleaner structured as mentioned above will be explained.
As illustrated in
The light emitting diode D1 is emitted by the control device 200 when a power plug (not illustrated) is connected to an outlet. The infrared light emitted from the light emitting diode D1 is received by the light receiving diode D2.
The electric blower 24 is driven when the operational switch 13b of the operational part 13A of the operational tube 13 is operated. By the driving of the electric blower 24, air is sucked from the suction opening 24A of the electric blower 24 to generate a negative pressure in the containing case 81 of the dust-collecting unit 50 through the connecting passage 25 and in the dust-collecting case portion 74 and the suction chamber portion 54 of the dust separating section 52 through the suction passage portion 56. The negative pressure acts in the dust-collecting hose 12, the extension tube 14 and the suction body 15 through the air guide tube 57, thereby the dust together with air are sucked into the suction body 15.
The sucked dust and air are sucked into the suction connecting port 57a of the dust-collecting unit 50 through the extension tube 14 and the dust-collecting hose 12. The dust and air sucked into the suction connecting port 57a are guided into the separation chamber portion 54 of the dust separating section 52 through the air guide tube 57 and rotated counterclockwise in the separation chamber portion 54, as illustrated in
This rotation causes the dust and air to be separated by inertia, the separated air passes through the net filter NF1 (see
On the other hand, the separated dust together with a part of air passing through the introduction opening 53A of the separation chamber portion 54 and it is introduced into the communicating case portion 72 of the dust-collecting part 70 by inertia. The introduced dust and air are sucked into the dust-collecting chamber 73 through the communication passage 71 of the communicating case portion 72, and the dust is collected in the dust-collecting chamber 73.
The air sucked into the dust-collecting chamber 73 is sucked into the suction passage portion 56 through the net filter NF3 and the opening 170A of the lower portion of the cover plate 170, and further into the containing case 81 of the filter part 80.
The air sucked into the containing case 81 is sucked into the connecting passage 25 of the main body 11 through the pleated filter 104 of the pleated filter structure 100, further into the suction opening 24A of the electric blower 24.
The air sucked into the suction opening 24A of the electric blower 24 is exhausted from an exhaust port 20H of the main body 11 illustrated in
On the other hand, when the dust is collected into the dust-collecting chamber 73, the dust shields the infrared light which is received by the light receiving diode D2, thereby the infrared light is intermittently received by the light receiving diode D2. When the dust collected in the dust-collecting chamber 73 is accumulated and reaches to the dust disposal line L1, the light receiving diode D2 does not receive the infrared light since the dust shields the infrared light continually.
The control device 200 calculates the amount of the dust passing through the communication passage 71 which is in the communication case portion 72 of the dust-collecting part 70, i.e. the amount of the dust passing through the suction connecting port (dust suction port) 57a based on the light receiving condition of the light receiving diode D2 and displays the amount on the display unit 17 of the operational tube 13. Here, within a predetermined time, the amount of the passed dust is calculated based on a total of shielding time during which the light receiving diode D2 is shielded. That it to say, the control device 200 judges that the amount of the passed dust will be big if a totaled shielding time is long and the amount of the passed dust will be small if a totaled shielding time is short in the predetermined time, and then displays the amount of passed dust on the display unit 17.
Whether or not a subject surface which is being cleaned is still dirty or not, i.e. whether or not the dust is still attached to the subject surface are judged, by displaying the amount of the passed dust on the display unit 17.
When the dust passing through the communication passage 71 of the dust-collecting portion 70 is collected in the dust-collecting chamber 73 and the dust accumulated in the dust-collecting chamber 73 reaches to the dust disposal line L1, the dust shields the infrared light continuously, thereby the light receiving diode D2 does not receive the infrared light.
When the light receiving diode D2 does not receive the infrared light more than the predetermined time continuously, the control device 200 judges that the dust accumulated in the dust-collecting chamber 73 has reached to the predetermined amount, i.e. the dust disposal line L1. That it to say, the control device 200 detects whether or not the amount of the dust accumulated in the dust-collecting chamber 73 has reached to the predetermined amount.
Like this, the control device 200 is configured to detect the amount of the dust passing through the communication passage 71 of the dust-collecting portion 70 and judge whether or not the dust accumulated in the dust-collecting chamber 73 has reached to the predetermined amount, based on the light receiving condition of the one light receiving diode D2. Thereby, it is capable of providing a cheaper electric vacuum cleaner without individual special light receiving diode.
When the operational switch 13a of the operational part 13A is operated, the control device 200 drives the motor M2 of the hop up mechanism 1000 for a predetermined time only, and stops the driving of the electric blower 24. By the driving of the motor M2, the arm member 1302 is rotated in the clockwise direction in the
When the lock is released, the moving board 1102 in the guide case 1101 is moved upwardly by a biasing force of the spring 1103, and as illustrated in
After the amount of the dust accumulated in the dust-collecting chamber 73 has reached to the level of the dust disposal line L1, or the operational switches 13a of the operational part 13A is not operated even a preliminarily set time (a predetermined time) lapsed, the control device 2000 stops the driving of the electric blower 24 forcibly and drives the motor M2 to hop up the dust-collecting container 410.
Consequently, even the operational switches 13a of the operational part 13A is not operated, it is possible to prevent that the dust accumulated in the dust-collecting chamber 73 is filled over.
However, when the driving of the electric blower 24 is stopped, the motor M1 is driven in a specified time. By the driving of the motor M1, the driving gear Ga is rotated, and the pleated filter structure 100 is rotated.
By the rotation of the pleated filter structure 100, the protrusion T (see
In the above-mentioned embodiment, the alarm is carried out by hop upping the dust-collecting container 410, to alarm that the dust accumulated in the dust-collecting chamber 73 has reached to the level of the dust disposal line L1. However, the present invention is not limited to those embodiments. For example, the alarm can be carried out by ringing a buzzer or lighting a lamp.
In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the alarm is carried out when the dust accumulated in the dust-collecting chamber 73 has reached to the level of the dust disposal line L1, however it is possible to arrange a plurality of light receiving diodes upwardly and downwardly to judge an amount of the dust accumulated in the dust-collecting chamber 73, and carry out an alarm corresponding to the amount thereof. Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the electric vacuum cleaner separates the dust by inertia. However, it is not limited to this embodiment, it can be a type of trapping the dust with the filter or a type of sucking the dust into the dust-collecting chamber 73 directly without passing through the separating section.
Second EmbodimentNext, a second embodiment of the electric vacuum cleaner according to the present invention will be described.
A light receiving device 1602 receives the infrared light passed through the communication case portion 72. The light receiving device 1602 includes a light receiving diode (a first light receiving device) D3 and a collecting lens DL3, and so on. A light receiving device 1603 receives the infrared light passed through the communication case portion 73. The light receiving device 1603 includes a light receiving diode (the second light receiving device) D4 and a collecting lens DL4, and so on. The light receiving device 1602 is then disposed on an upstream side than the light receiving device 1603.
According to the second embodiment, even the dust accumulated has reached to the position of the dust disposal line L1 of the dust-collecting chamber 73, it is possible to calculate the amount of the dust passing through the communication case portion 72, and since the light emitting device 1601 is provided only one, the judging device 1600 is made cheaper.
According to the invention, even the electric vacuum cleaner is of the inertia separation type, it is possible to alarm certainly that whether or not the dust accumulated in the dust-collecting chamber 73 is reached to or more than the predetermined amount, and also to inform the amount of the dust passing through the dust suction inlet.
According to the invention, since the alarm device alarms corresponding to the detected amount of the dust accumulated in the dust-collecting chamber 73, it is possible to prevent that the dust accumulated in the dust-collecting chamber 73 is filled over.
Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been mentioned, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, various modifications and changes can be made to the embodiments.
Claims
1. An electric vacuum cleaner, comprising:
- a dust separating section to separate dust sucked from a suction opening with air;
- a dust-collecting chamber to accumulate the dust separated at the dust separating section;
- an light emitting device to emit a light to the dust-collecting chamber;
- a light receiving device to receive the light passing through the dust-collecting chamber;
- a judging device to detect an amount of the dust passing through the suction opening/or judge whether or not the dust accumulated in the dust-collecting chamber has reached to a predetermined amount based on a light receiving condition of the light receiving device; and
- a display unit to display the amount of the dust detected by the judging device.
2. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein
- the light receiving device includes: a first light receiving device to detect the amount of the dust passing through the suction opening; and
- a second light receiving device to judge whether or not the dust accumulated in the dust-collecting chamber has reached to the predetermined amount,
- the first light receiving device being provided at an upstream side than the second light receiving device.
3. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein
- the first light receiving device receives a light reflected by the dust.
4. The electric vacuum cleaner, comprising:
- a main body;
- a dust-collecting container detachably provided on the main body including:
- an electric blower to suck dust from a suction opening;
- a dust separating section to separate dust sucked from the suction opening with air;
- a dust-collecting chamber to accumulate the dust separated at the dust separating section;
- a light emitting device to emit a light to the dust-collecting chamber;
- a light receiving device to receive the light through the dust-collecting chamber;
- a judging device to judge whether or not the dust accumulated in the dust-collecting chamber has reached to a predetermined amount based on a light receiving condition of the light receiving device;
- an alarm device to alarm an alarm in accordance with a detected amount of the dust detected by the judging device.
5. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 4, wherein
- the alarm device hop ups the dust-collecting device to alarm.
6. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 5, wherein
- the alarm device carries out the alarm when the amount of the dust accumulated in the dust-collecting chamber is equal to or more than the predetermined amount, or when the electric blower is switched on.
7. The electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 4, wherein
- the alarm device carries out the alarm when the amount of the dust accumulated in the dust-collecting chamber is equal to or more than the predetermined amount, or when stops an operation of the electric blower after a predetermined time lapsed.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 12, 2007
Publication Date: Sep 20, 2007
Applicant: Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha (Tokyo)
Inventor: Hitoshi Suzuki (Kanagawa)
Application Number: 11/716,862
International Classification: A47L 9/00 (20060101);