阅读说明：本技术 自主行走型吸尘器 (Autonomous walking type dust collector ) 是由 中村浩之 山谷辽 桥本翔太 于 2019-03-04 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明提供在宠物饲养环境等中可提高使用方便性的自主行走型吸尘器。自主行走型吸尘器包括自主行走的吸尘器主体,该吸尘器主体具有刷、集尘壳体、生成向该集尘壳体的空气流的送风机、及充电电池,作为实施自动清洁的模式,能够从普通模式和宠物模式进行选择来实施,上述宠物模式是在判断为所述吸尘器主体存在于宠物饲养环境中的情况下实施的,宠物模式的实施中,在自动清洁的实施时间的一部分时间中,实施一次以上规定控制或间断地实施规定控制。(The invention provides an autonomous walking type dust collector which can improve the use convenience in pet raising environment and the like. The autonomous traveling type cleaner includes an autonomous traveling cleaner main body having a brush, a dust collection housing, a blower generating an air flow to the dust collection housing, and a rechargeable battery, and is selectively implemented in a normal mode and a pet mode as a mode for implementing automatic cleaning, the pet mode being implemented when it is determined that the cleaner main body is present in a pet breeding environment, and the implementation of the pet mode being implemented by implementing predetermined control once or more or intermittently in a part of an implementation time of the automatic cleaning.)

1. An autonomous walking type dust collector is characterized in that:

comprises a cleaner main body capable of self-walking, the cleaner main body is provided with a brush, a dust collecting shell, a blower generating air flow to the dust collecting shell and a rechargeable battery,

the mode for implementing automatic cleaning can be selected from a normal mode and a pet mode, the pet mode is implemented when the cleaner main body is judged to be in the pet raising environment,

in the implementation of the pet mode, the predetermined control is implemented once or more or intermittently during a part of the implementation time of the automatic cleaning.

2. The autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein:

the prescribed control includes maintenance performed autonomously in implementation of the automatic cleaning.

3. The autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 2, wherein:

the predetermined control includes control for removing dust adhering to the brush or control for recovering the amount of dust that can be collected by the dust collection housing, which is performed once or intermittently during a part of the execution time of the automatic cleaning.

4. The autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein:

the prescribed control is performed at a higher frequency than the normal mode.

5. The autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein:

comprises a recognition part for recognizing the dust,

the predetermined control includes performing a calculation process for identifying the type of dust, which is performed at least once or intermittently during a part of the execution time of the automatic cleaning.

6. The autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein:

the cleaner body includes:

a motor driving the brush; and

a scraping brush which can collect dust attached to the brush when the brush is rotated in a direction opposite to a normal operation,

the predetermined control includes performing one or more or intermittently rotating the brush in a reverse direction during a part of the execution time of the automatic cleaning.

7. The autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein:

the predetermined control is performed at least every time interval measured by the timer unit.

8. The autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein:

includes a value recognizing section that recognizes a value regarding dust that can be collected into the dust collection housing,

the brush is rotated in a reverse direction each time the predetermined value of the dust recognized by the value recognition unit increases by a predetermined value or more.

9. The autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner according to any one of claims 2 to 8, wherein:

the maintenance is performed autonomously during pivot steering or after stopping a driving unit that drives the cleaner body.

10. An autonomous walking type dust collector is characterized in that:

comprises a cleaner main body capable of self-walking, the cleaner main body is provided with a brush, a dust collecting shell, a blower generating air flow to the dust collecting shell and a rechargeable battery,

during a portion of the time that the automatic cleaning is performed, more than one autonomous maintenance is performed or the autonomous maintenance is performed intermittently.

Technical Field

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

Background

An autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner is known, which is supposed to clean a "pet raising environment" in which pets are raised in homes, and to perform special control as compared with a "pet non-raising environment" in which pets are not raised. Depending on the type of pet to be kept, one of the two different environments is that dust is likely to rapidly accumulate in the pet keeping environment.

Patent document 1 discloses that a cycle for starting automatic cleaning (time from the end of the last automatic cleaning to the start of the next automatic cleaning) is varied depending on the presence or absence of a small animal such as a pet (first aspect). Further, it is described that when the presence notification of the small animal is obtained, the rotation speed of the suction motor 3 is increased more than normal, and the automatic cleaning in the cleaning area is started (0031).

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

In the implementation of the automatic cleaning, along with the noise accompanying the cleaning and the movement of the autonomous traveling type dust collector, inconvenience to the user is easily increased. Therefore, if the cleaning cycle needs to be changed as in patent document 1, it is easy to compel the user's lifestyle to match the automatic cleaning cycle of the vacuum cleaner. However, when the amount of dust deposited is large, if a large amount of dust is collected by one-time automatic cleaning, for example, the dust may adhere to the brush during the automatic cleaning to deteriorate the cleaning performance, or the dust collection case may become full to make it difficult or impossible to continue the cleaning.

Further, if the rotation speed of the suction motor is always increased as in patent document 1, the power consumption rate of the rechargeable battery may increase, and the cleaning efficiency may be lowered.

Means for solving the problems

In view of the above, a first aspect of the present invention provides an autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner including an autonomously traveling vacuum cleaner main body having a brush, a dust collection housing, a blower generating an air flow into the dust collection housing, and a rechargeable battery, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner being capable of being selectively implemented from a normal mode and a pet mode as a mode for implementing automatic cleaning, the pet mode being implemented when it is determined that the vacuum cleaner main body is present in a pet breeding environment, and the pet mode being implemented such that predetermined control is implemented once or intermittently during a part of the time of implementing the automatic cleaning.

In view of the above, a second aspect of the present invention provides an autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner including an autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner main body having a brush, a dust collection housing, a blower generating an air flow to the dust collection housing, and a rechargeable battery, wherein maintenance is autonomously performed at least once or intermittently and autonomously for a part of the execution time of automatic cleaning.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing an autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner according to a first embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a state where an upper housing of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of the first embodiment is removed.

Fig. 3 is a view of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of the first embodiment viewed from below.

Fig. 4 is a side sectional view taken along line a-a of fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a view of the suction unit of the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner of the first embodiment viewed from below, in a state where the rotary brush and the wiper brush are removed.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the suction unit of the autonomous walking vacuum cleaner according to the first embodiment, viewed from the front left.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a rotary brush of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of the first embodiment.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a scraping brush of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner of the first embodiment.

Fig. 9 is a side sectional view of a suction part of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of the first embodiment.

Fig. 10 is a configuration diagram showing a control device of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to the first embodiment and a device connected to the control device.

Fig. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a cleaning operation of the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner according to the first embodiment.

Fig. 12 is a flowchart of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of the first embodiment.

Fig. 13 is a flowchart of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of the second embodiment.

Fig. 14 is a flowchart of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of the third embodiment.

Fig. 15 is a flowchart of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of the fourth embodiment.

Description of the reference numerals

1 scraping brush

2 planting hair

3a Rib

5 rotating brush (brush)

10 suction part

17 suction opening

19 stop part

21 rotating brush motor (electric motor)

40 side brush

50 main body (vacuum cleaner main body)

51 lower shell

61 drive wheel (drive part)

81 blower

91 upper shell

92 buffer

95 control device (control unit)

96A ranging sensor

96B is range finding sensor for ground

C autonomous walking type dust collector

K dust collecting shell

F dust collecting filter

B, charging the battery.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings as appropriate. The present embodiment is not limited to the following, and can be modified and implemented as appropriate within the scope of the present invention.

In the direction in which the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner C (see fig. 1) travels, the side on which the side brush 40 (see fig. 1) is provided is the front side, the vertically upward direction is the upper side, and the direction in which the drive wheel 61 (see fig. 3) faces is the left and right sides. That is, as shown in fig. 1, etc., front and back, up and down, and left and right are defined.

(first embodiment)

[ autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner C ]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing an autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner according to a first embodiment.

As shown in fig. 1, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner C is an electric device that automatically cleans while autonomously moving in a predetermined cleaning area (for example, indoors). The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner C includes an upper case 91 as an upper wall, a lower case 51 (see fig. 2) as a bottom wall (and a part of a side wall), and a cushion member 92 provided at a front portion, and configures an outline (housing) of the main body 50 (vacuum cleaner main body).

The upper case 91 is provided with a cover 93 for inserting and removing a dust collection case K (see fig. 4) described later.

In addition, an operation button 97 is provided on the upper case 91. The operation button 97 is a button for outputting an operation signal corresponding to an operation by the user to the control device 95 (see fig. 2). For example, the following are provided: a power button, a cleaning start/end button, and a cleaning mode selection button for changing the cleaning mode.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the upper case 91 removed from the left front side.

As shown in fig. 2, the lower case 51 is a housing on which the traveling motor 57, the rotary brush motor 21 (electric motor), the blower 81, the control device (control unit) 95, and the like are mounted, and has a thin disk shape in its outer shape.

The blower 81 is driven to discharge air in the dust collection case K (see fig. 4) to the outside to generate a negative pressure, and sucks dust from the floor surface through a suction port 17 (see fig. 5) described later.

Fig. 3 is a view of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner as viewed from below.

As shown in fig. 3, the lower case 51 is formed with: a drive mechanism housing unit 54 that houses a drive mechanism including a drive wheel 61, a travel motor 57 (see fig. 2), and a speed reduction mechanism; a side brush mounting portion 82; a hole 52 for fixing the suction part 10; an exhaust port 53; a battery housing portion 55 (see fig. 4) that houses a rechargeable battery B (see fig. 4).

The drive mechanism housing portions 54 are formed on both left and right sides of the central portion of the lower case 51 in a disc shape in plan view. The exhaust port 53 is formed in a plurality of positions near the center of the circular lower case 51 in plan view and sandwiched between the drive mechanism housing portions 54.

The battery housing portion 55 is formed on the front side of the center of the lower case 51. Further, side brush attachment portions 82 to which the side brushes 40 are attached are formed on the left and right sides of the battery housing portion 55.

The side brush 40 guides dust in a place where the rotary brush 5 is not easily reached, such as a corner of a room, to the suction unit 10 (suction port 17), and a part thereof is exposed from the main body 50 in a plan view. The side brush 40 has 3 bundles of bristles radially extending at 120 ° intervals in a plan view, and is disposed on the left and right sides forward of the suction portion 10.

The root of the right side brush 40 is fixed to the side brush holder 41. The bristles of the side brush 40 are inclined so as to approach the ground surface as they go toward the front end (see fig. 4), and the vicinity of the front end thereof contacts the ground surface.

A hole 52 for fixing the suction unit 10 is formed on the rear side of the center of the lower case 51, that is, on the rear side of the exhaust port 53 and the drive mechanism housing 54. The suction portion 10 fixed to the hole 52 is formed with a suction port 17 (see fig. 5), and accommodates the scraping brush 1 and the rotary brush 5.

The driving wheel 61 is a wheel for advancing, retreating, and turning the main body 50 by the rotation of the driving wheel 61 itself. The drive wheels 61 are disposed on both left and right sides of the center portion of the lower case 51.

The support mechanism housed in the drive mechanism housing portion 54 is a mechanism that supports the drive mechanism to the main body 50 (see fig. 1). The support mechanism comprises an arm 71 supporting the drive mechanism.

The front cover 56 is a substantially rectangular plate-shaped member that closes an opening of a battery housing portion 55 (see fig. 4) formed in the lower case 51 from the lower surface of the lower case 51. Further, the front cover 56 includes a circular auxiliary wheel mounting portion 84 to which an auxiliary wheel 83 is mounted near the center side of the lower case 51.

The auxiliary wheels 83 are auxiliary wheels for holding the main body 50 (see fig. 1) at a predetermined height and for smoothly moving the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner C. The auxiliary wheel 83 is pivotally supported so as to be rotated by a frictional force generated between the main body 50 and the ground surface. The auxiliary wheel 83 is configured to be rotatable by 360 ° in the horizontal direction. The auxiliary wheel 83 is provided at the center in the left-right direction in front of the main body 50, and is attached to the auxiliary wheel attachment portion 84.

Fig. 4 is a side sectional view taken along line AA of fig. 1.

As shown in fig. 4, the dust collection case K is a container for collecting dust sucked from the floor through the suction port 17 (suction portion 10). The dust collection case K includes a dust collection case body for storing the collected dust, a cover for taking out the collected dust, and a foldable handle. The dust collection housing main body is mainly formed by a cylindrical curved surface corresponding to the shape of the upper portion of the suction unit 10 (see fig. 3), and includes an inlet port K1 having a shape corresponding to the suction port 17 at a position facing the suction port 17, and is substantially rectangular in shape as a whole. The cover is opposed to the suction port of the blower and includes a dust collecting filter F.

The cushion member 92 is provided movably in the front-rear direction in accordance with a pressing force applied from the outside. The cushion member 92 is biased in the outward direction by a pair of left and right cushion springs (not shown). The front end of the damper spring is bent in a J-shape, and the bent portion contacts the inner wall surface of the damper 92.

When resistance from an obstacle acts on the cushion spring via the cushion 92, the cushion spring deforms so as to be tilted inward in a plan view, and urges the cushion 92 outward and allows the cushion 92 to retreat. When the damper 92 is separated from the obstacle and the resistance is eliminated, the damper 92 is restored to the original position by the elastic force of the damper spring. The retreat of the cushion member 92 (i.e., the contact with the obstacle) is detected by distance measuring sensors 96A and 96B (photo couplers) described later (see fig. 2), and the detection result is input to the control device 95 (see fig. 2).

The battery housing portion 55 is configured to house the rechargeable battery B and has a space surrounded by a wall surface and having a downward opening. The battery housing portion 55 is located on the front side of the blower 81.

Fig. 5 is a bottom view of the suction unit 10 of the present embodiment with the rotary brush 5 and the scraping brush 1 removed.

As shown in fig. 5, the suction unit 10 is attached to the hole 52 of the lower case 51 (see fig. 3). The suction unit 10 forms a flow path through which air connected to the dust collection case K (see fig. 4) can flow. The dust collection case K is connected to a dust collection filter F (see fig. 4), a blower 81 (see fig. 4), and an exhaust port 53 (see fig. 3) in this order toward the downstream side.

The suction unit 10 is a member that forms a suction port 17 connected to the dust collection case K (see fig. 4), accommodates the rotary brush 5 (see fig. 4) and the scraping brush 1 (see fig. 4), and is a member that fixes the rotary brush motor 21 (see fig. 6).

A rotary brush housing part 15 for housing the rotary brush 5 (see fig. 4) is formed in the front part of the suction part 10. A wiper housing 11 for housing the wiper 1 (see fig. 4) is formed at the rear of the suction portion 10. The rotary brush 5 can be disposed in the rotary brush housing portion 15 (see fig. 3). The wiper brush 1 can be disposed in the wiper brush housing 11. That is, the rotary brush 5 and the scraping brush 1 are arranged in this order from the front of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner C. The rotary brush 5 and the scraping brush 1 are detachably attached to the suction portion 10.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the suction unit 10 as viewed from the front left.

As shown in fig. 6, the suction unit 10 is provided with a rotary brush motor 21 for rotating the rotary brush 5 (see fig. 4), and a power transmission mechanism 22 for transmitting the power of the rotary brush motor 21 to the rotary brush 5.

The rotary brush motor 21 is attached to one side of the suction portion 10 in the left-right direction, i.e., the side opposite to the suction port 17 in the left-right direction (right end side). The rotation shaft of the rotary brush motor 21 is arranged parallel to the rotation shaft 5b (see fig. 7) of the rotary brush 5. A rotary shaft (not shown) of the rotary brush motor 21 extends to one end side in the left-right direction, and is coupled to the rotary shaft 5b of the rotary brush 5 via a power transmission mechanism 22 at one end of the suction unit 10.

A bearing 18 (see fig. 5) that pivotally supports one of the rotating shafts 5b (see fig. 7) of the rotating brush 5 is provided on the right side of the rotating brush housing portion 15. The bearing 18 includes a fitting recess (not shown) corresponding to the outer shape of the fitting portion 6 (see fig. 7) provided at one end of the rotary brush 5, and into which the fitting portion 6 is fitted.

Further, a locking portion 19 (see fig. 5) for locking the bearing 7 provided on the other rotary shaft 5b (see fig. 7) of the rotary brush 5 and a recess 19a (see fig. 5) for rotatably housing the rotary shaft 5b of the rotary brush 5 in a non-contact manner are formed on the left side of the rotary brush housing portion 15.

As shown in fig. 6, the wiper receiving portion 11 is a concave portion having a curved surface with an arc-shaped cross section extending in the left-right direction. Further, by providing the curved surface of the wiper receiving portion 11 close to the wiper 1 (flocked), the air tightness of the suction portion 10 can be improved, the flow velocity of the air sucked into the rotary brush receiving portion 15 can be kept high, and the dynamic pressure can be secured. Therefore, the performance of the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner C in suctioning dirt can be improved.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the rotary brush 5.

As shown in fig. 7, the rotary brush (brush) 5 is disposed in parallel with an axis (left-right direction) passing through the rotation center of the drive wheel 61 (see fig. 3). The rotary brush 5 is continuously provided from one side in the longitudinal direction (left-right direction) of the rotary brush housing portion 15 (see fig. 5 and 6) to the other end side. The rotating brush 5 has a rotating shaft 5b and is rotatably supported by the suction unit 10.

The rotary brush 5 is rotationally driven in both forward and reverse directions by a rotary brush motor 21 (see fig. 6). Upon advancement of the main body 50, the rotary brush 5 rotates in the same direction as the driving wheel 61 rotates. The brush is rotated in a forward direction during normal operation, and is rotated in a direction opposite to that during normal operation during automatic brush cleaning described later.

The rotating brush 5 includes bristles 5c protruding from the outer peripheral surface of the shaft portion 5a in the normal direction. The rotating brush 5 is formed by extending each of the bristles 5c in a direction substantially perpendicular to a tangent line on the surface of the shaft portion 5 a.

The bristles 5c of the rotating brush 5 include a plurality of types of bristles, such as bristles having different lengths and bristles having different hardness, and the bristles are arranged in a row in a spiral shape with respect to the rotating shaft 5b (see the drawings).

In the present embodiment, the case where 2 kinds of flocked hairs are arranged is exemplified, but the present invention is not limited to this case, and 1 kind of flocked hairs may be arranged, or 3 or more kinds of flocked hairs may be arranged. Further, a structure in which a flat plate member made of an elastic material such as rubber is spirally disposed between the spirally disposed bristles may be added, and may be appropriately modified.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing the wiper. The structure of the wiper 1 is an example, and is not limited to the present embodiment.

As shown in fig. 8, the scraping brush (lint brush) 1 is disposed in parallel with an axis (left-right direction) passing through the rotation center of the driving wheel 61 (see fig. 3). The wiper brush 1 is continuously provided from one end side to the other end side in the longitudinal direction (the left-right direction) of the wiper brush housing portion 11 (see fig. 5 and 6). The scraping brush 1 is cylindrical having a rotation shaft 4, and is rotatably supported by the suction portion 10. The scraping brush 1 is formed to have a length in the axial direction (left-right direction) shorter than that of the rotating brush 5.

The scraping brush 1 has bristles 2 over substantially the entire surface of the shaft portion. Specifically, the scraping brush 1 has a rib 3a radially protruding in the direction of the rotation axis, and has the bristles 2 on the entire surface except for the rib 3 a. The rib 3a is formed linearly from one end to the other end of the wiper 1 in the axial direction. In addition, the scraping brush 1 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft portion such that each of the bristles 2 has a certain range of angle (for example, 0 to 45 °) with respect to a tangent line to the surface of the shaft portion.

The bristles 2 of the scraping brush 1 are preferably as long as possible and as hard as possible to improve the scraping force. The bristles of the scraping brush 1 are preferably softer to reduce power consumption. When the bristles 2 of the scraping brush 1 are long, the bristles can reach the depth of a carpet or the like, and dust can be scraped from the depth. When the bristles 2 of the scraping brush 1 are hard, dust can be scraped from the depth against the resistance of carpet bristles and the like. When the bristles 2 of the scraping brush 1 are soft, the contact resistance of the carpet bristles and the like is reduced, and the scraping brush 1 is easily rotated, so that the power consumption of the traveling motor and the rotating brush motor 21 (see fig. 6) is reduced.

When the bristles 2 of the scraping brush 1 are positioned to clean a floor (between boards), they preferably float up to about 0.5mm from the floor. When the position of the bristles implanted in the scraping brush 1 is used for cleaning a carpet, it is preferably overlapped with the bristles of the carpet.

Fig. 9 is a side sectional view of a suction part of the autonomous traveling type cleaner.

As shown in fig. 9, a locking portion 11a for locking the rib 3a is formed on the inner wall surface of the wiper housing portion 11. The locking portion 11a is formed at the tip of the wiper housing 11.

The scraping brush 1 is configured such that, when the scraping brush 1 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction shown in the figure, the rib 3a abuts against the locking portion 11a to restrict the rotational operation of the scraping brush 1. The scraping brush 1 is configured to restrict the rotation of the scraping brush 1 by an internal mechanism, not shown, of the scraping brush 1 when the scraping brush 1 rotates in the clockwise direction as viewed in the figure. That is, the wiper brush 1 is configured to be reversed in two directions within about 120 degrees in the wiper brush housing 11 without rotating 360 degrees.

The scraping brush 1 is a brush of a type in which, during normal operation, the rotation is restricted by the ribs 3a after the driven rotation is started by friction with the cleaning surface with the movement of the main body 50 (the rotation of the rotary brush 5 in the arrow direction), and therefore, the driven rotation is not continued, and the rotation is stopped. That is, the main body 50 travels while sliding the wiper 1, the rotation of which is stopped.

Fig. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a control device 95 of the autonomous vacuum cleaner and equipment connected to the control device 95.

As shown in fig. 10, the cushion sensor (obstacle detecting unit) is an optical coupler that detects the retreat (i.e., contact with an obstacle) of the cushion 92 (see fig. 1). For example, when an obstacle comes into contact with the buffer member 92, the light receiving time of (reflected light of) the sensor light becomes short. A detection signal corresponding to the change in the light receiving time is output to the control device 95.

The distance measuring sensor (obstacle detecting means) 96A is an infrared sensor that detects the distance to an obstacle. In the present embodiment, a distance measuring sensor is provided at 5 positions in total of 3 positions on the front surface and two positions on the side surface (see fig. 2 and 3).

The distance measuring sensor 96A includes a light emitting portion (not shown) that emits infrared rays and a light receiving portion (not shown) that receives reflected light that is reflected and returned by an obstacle. The distance to the obstacle is calculated based on the intensity of the reflected light detected by the light receiving unit. Further, in the cushion member 92, at least the vicinity of the distance measuring sensor is formed of resin or glass that transmits infrared rays.

As the distance measuring sensor 96A, other types of sensors (e.g., an ultrasonic sensor and a visible light sensor) may be used.

The distance measuring sensors (obstacle detecting means) 96B for the ground are infrared sensors for measuring the distance to the ground, and are provided at 4 positions on the front, rear, left, and right sides of the lower surface of the lower case 51 (see fig. 3). By detecting a large height difference such as a step by the floor distance measuring sensor 96B, the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner C can be prevented from falling (from the step). For example, when the height difference of about 30mm is detected in the front direction by the distance measuring sensor 96B for the ground, the control device 95 controls the travel motor 57 (see fig. 2) to move the main body 50 backward and switch the traveling direction.

The rotational speed and the rotational angle of the travel motor 57 are detected by the pulse output of the travel motor encoder shown in fig. 10. The control device 95 calculates the moving speed and the moving distance of the main body 50 (autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner C) based on the rotation speed and the rotation angle detected by the traveling motor encoder, the gear ratio of the reduction mechanism, and the diameter of the driving wheel 61.

The travel motor current measuring device is a measuring device that measures a current flowing through the armature winding of the travel motor 57. Similarly, the blower current measuring device measures the current value of the blower 81, and the brush motor current measuring device measures the current value of the brush motor 21. The current value of the side brush motor 42 is measured by a current measuring instrument for the two side brush motors. Each current measuring device outputs the measured current value to the control device 95.

The operation button 97 is a button for outputting an operation signal corresponding to an operation by the user to the control device 95 (see fig. 2).

The display panel driving device is a device for applying a voltage to the electrodes of the display panel in accordance with an instruction from the control device 95. The display panel (not shown) includes a plurality of LEDs (not shown) and a 7-segment display screen (not shown), and displays the operation state of the autonomous vacuum cleaner C.

The secondary battery B is a secondary battery that can be reused by charging, for example, and is housed in the battery housing portion 55 (see fig. 4). The electric power from the rechargeable battery B is supplied to the distance measuring sensors 96A and 96B (see fig. 2), the motors, the driving devices, and the control device 95.

The traveling motor driving device (left) and (right) are inverters for driving the left and right traveling motors or pulse waveform generators for PWM control, and operate in accordance with a command from the control device 95. The same applies to the blower driving device, the rotating brush motor driving device, and the side brush motor driving device (left) (right). These drive devices are provided in a control device 95 (see fig. 2) in the main body 50.

The controller 95 is, for example, a Microcomputer (not shown), reads a program stored in a rom (read only memory), expands the program in a ram (random Access memory), and performs various processes by a cpu (central processing unit). The control device 95 performs arithmetic processing based on signals input from the operation buttons 97 and the distance measuring sensors 96A and 96B, and outputs command signals to the driving devices.

Fig. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a cleaning operation of the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner according to the first embodiment.

In the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner C, the blower 81, the rotary brush motor 21, and the side brush 40 are driven during normal operation. In this case, the rotary brush 5 rotates in the direction W1 (counterclockwise direction). That is, the rotating brush 5 rotates from the front to the rear on the side contacting the floor. Dust on the floor surface or the like is scraped by the side brush 40, passes between the left and right drive wheels 61, and is scraped by the rotary brush 5. The dust scraped by the rotary brush 5 is sucked through the suction port 17 (suction portion 10) and collected in the dust collection case K. The air from which the dust is removed by the dust collecting filter F is discharged to the outside of the main body 50 through the exhaust port 53 (see fig. 3).

In this case, since the scraping brush 1 is in contact with the rotating brush 5, the rotating brush 5 is rotated to impart a rotational force in a direction opposite to the rotating brush 5 (direction W10) to the rotation of the rotating brush 5. Here, when the main body 50 advances in a state where the scraping brush 1 is in contact with the cleaning surface (floor surface), a rotational force in the direction of W20 is applied to the scraping brush 1 by friction with the cleaning surface so as to cancel the rotational force applied by the rotating brush 5.

The bristles 2 of the scraping brush 1 are reversely textured with respect to the cleaning surface when the main body 50 advances, and are smoothly textured with respect to the rotation of the rotating brush 5. Therefore, when the main body 50 moves forward, the rotational force from the cleaning surface of the scraping brush 1 exceeds the rotational force from the rotating brush 5, and the scraping brush is driven to rotate in the direction W20. However, since the rotating brush 5 applies a rotational force in the direction W10, the scraping brush 1 generates a resistance force against the floor surface. Therefore, the scraping brush 1 can collect dust so as to scrape the dust from the floor surface.

Further, the rib 3a of the wiper brush 1, which starts rotating in the direction W20 in fig. 11, is returned from the rear end to the front end of the wiper housing 11 and contacts the locking portion 11a, thereby restricting the rotation operation. The scraping brush 1 slides after stopping rotation and cleans a cleaning surface (floor surface, carpet) by scraping.

At this time, each piece of the flocked hair 2 of the wiper brush 1 extends against the grain from the surface of the wiper brush 1 to the front side (traveling direction) of the main body 50. Thus, the bristles 2 of the scraping brush 1 slide while moving forward, and only the portion in contact with the cleaning surface in the width direction of the scraping brush 1 is used to continuously scrape dust from the cleaning surface (for example, carpet).

On the other hand, when the body 50 collides with a wall, the body 50 retreats in a state where the scraping brush 1 is in contact with the cleaning surface when an obstacle is avoided. Then, the wiper brush 1 starts to be driven and returned in the W10 direction from the front of the main body 50 via the wiper brush housing portion 11 by friction with the cleaning surface in accordance with the backward movement of the main body 50.

The scraper brush 1, which is continuously driven and rotated in the direction W10 of fig. 11, stops the driven rotation immediately when the rib 3a is located at the rear end of the scraper brush accommodating portion 11 by the internal restricting unit, not shown. At this time, the portion of the scraping brush 1 that scrapes off the dust when moving forward is in contact with the rotating brush 5, and the dust adhering to the scraping brush 1 can be collected.

The bristles of the wiper brush 1 are smooth with respect to the cleaning surface (e.g., carpet) when they are retracted. Since the scraping brush 1 is rotated in the direction W10 by the rotating brush 5, only the portion in contact with the cleaning surface in the width direction is used to scrape the dust continuously from the cleaning surface. That is, the scraping brush 1 can scrape dust both when the main body 50 moves forward and when it moves backward.

Since the rib 3a is thus reciprocated at a position facing the scraping brush housing 11, the portion of the rib 3a where the bristles 2 of the scraping brush 1 are not scraped does not contact the cleaning surface, and the cleaning surface is not scratched.

When the main body 50 moves forward, the dust scraped by the scraping brush 1 (until the rotation is restricted by the rib 3 a) is sucked into the dust collection housing K from the suction port 17 via the scraping brush housing portion 11 along with the flocked bristles of the scraping brush 1.

When the main body 50 is retracted, the dust scraped by the scraping brush 1 is collected by the rotating brush 5 in contact with the scraping brush 1. Further, since the direction of the bristles of the wiper brush 1 is opposite to the rotation direction of the rotary brush 5, the bristles of the rotary brush 5 can easily and reliably remove (sweep away) dust from the bristles of the wiper brush 1.

[ cleaning Environment of autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner ]

However, in a pet breeding environment such as a dog or cat where a large amount of hair is produced, for example, persistent solids such as long hair and feathers are found in a large amount. For cleaning them, a rotary brush or the like is suitable. However, long solids are liable to be entangled in brushes such as rotary brushes, and the frequency of required maintenance is expected to increase. In addition, since the density of pet hair with respect to the volume is low, it is conceivable that the time until the dust collection case K is filled becomes short, and depending on the case, it is preferable to perform maintenance for increasing the actual empty capacity of the dust collection case K one or more times by some method in one automatic cleaning.

Such pet hair is easily entangled with the rotating brush 5, and in addition, has a low density with respect to volume. Therefore, since the pet's fur is wound around the rotating brush 5 in this way, the number of times the rotating brush 5 should be cleaned (maintenance number) increases. In addition, since the density of the pet's fur with respect to the volume is low, the dust collection housing K is quickly filled with the pet's fur, and the number of times of cleaning the dust collection housing K (maintenance number) increases. Here, the maintenance refers to a process that the user desires to perform in accordance with the use of the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner C, and may refer to, for example, removal of dust adhering to the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner C (e.g., removal of dust wound around a brush), recovery of the amount of recoverable dust (e.g., compression and disposal of dust in the dust collection case K), and the like.

Therefore, in the first embodiment, a method of reducing the number of times of cleaning the rotary brush 5 and the dust collection case K will be described with reference to fig. 12. Fig. 12 is a flowchart of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of the first embodiment.

In the pet mode of the present embodiment, predetermined control (operation or arithmetic processing) is performed in a part of one execution time of the pet mode. If the predetermined control is performed once for a part of the time, the predetermined control may be performed only once or may be performed intermittently a plurality of times. This can suppress power consumption and perform maintenance during automatic cleaning.

As shown in fig. 12, in step S10, the control unit 95 determines whether the autonomous walking vacuum cleaner C is in the pet mode ON (ON). Whether or not the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner C is in the pet mode ON can be determined by whether or not the user operates the operation button 97 and sets the pet mode. If it is determined that the pet mode is ON (yes at S10), the control device 95 proceeds to step S20, and if it is determined that the pet mode is not ON (no at S10), the control device proceeds to step S80.

In the first embodiment, the pet mode and the normal mode are switched to each other, but the pet mode may be always operated. In the pet mode as in the present embodiment, since the control of increasing the input to the blower 81 and the rotary brush 5 is performed for a part of one execution time of the pet mode, the power consumption from the start to the end of cleaning is increased compared to the normal mode. However, since a household is also assumed that does not require the implementation of the pet mode, the implementation and non-implementation can be switched, that is, the pet mode and the normal mode can be switched, whereby the total power consumption of the cleaning operation can be suppressed according to the user's desire. In the present embodiment, the same mode is performed from the start to the end of a certain autonomous driving (automatic cleaning), but the mode may be changed in the middle of the period according to an instruction from the user.

In step S20, the control device 95 measures the elapse of time by the timer unit capable of performing the timer process, and determines whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed after the start of cleaning. If it is determined that the predetermined time has not elapsed (no at S20), the process of step S20 is repeated, and if it is determined that the predetermined time has elapsed (yes at S20), the routine proceeds to step S30. The predetermined time can be set as appropriate, for example, 10 minutes. The predetermined time period may be appropriately changed depending on the accumulation of pet hair (depilation) in the dust collection case K and the entanglement of pet hair in the rotary brush 5. The predetermined time may be switched according to the setting of the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner C. The predetermined time does not always need to be a constant value for one cleaning, and may be performed periodically or aperiodically. In the present embodiment, a trigger for some sensor value or some other operation may be replaced or added, and maintenance control suitable for the pet raising environment may be performed using the time elapsed in the timer section as the trigger.

Further, the above-mentioned patent document 1 focuses on a period from the end of a certain automatic cleaning to the start of the next automatic cleaning, but does not disclose any period of some control in one automatic cleaning.

In step S30, the control device 95 stops the driving wheels 61 and stops the movement of the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner C (control main body 50).

In step S40, the control device 95 performs automatic brush cleaning as an example of autonomous maintenance control. The automatic brush cleaning is a process of removing the pet's fur or the like wound around the rotating brush 5. That is, during cleaning of the rotary brush 5, the controller 95 controls the rotary brush motor 21 to rotate the rotary brush 5 in the reverse direction (rotation in the direction of W2 in fig. 11). In this case, since the scraping brush 1 is in an inverse-textured state with respect to the rotating operation of the rotating brush 5, dust (pet hair) attached to the rotating brush 5 is scraped by the scraping brush 1. Further, by the reverse rotation of the rotary brush 5, even if the scraping brush 1 is driven to rotate in the direction W20, the rib 3a of the scraping brush 1 abuts against the locking portion 11a, and the rotation operation of the scraping brush 1 is restricted. When the rotation of the scraping brush 1 is restricted, the dust attached to the rotating brush 5 can be scraped by the scraping brush 1. At this time, dust accumulates in the region indicated by the region P in fig. 11.

In step S40, the controller 95 increases the rotation speed of the rotary brush motor 21 during the automatic brush cleaning. This increases the efficiency with which the dust adhering to the rotating brush 5 is scraped off by the scraping brush 1, and improves the cleaning performance of the rotating brush 5.

In step S50, the controller 95 performs a garbage squeezing process (garbage volume compression process, dust compression process) as an example of the autonomous maintenance process. That is, in the garbage squeezing process, the rotation speed of the motor of the blower 81 is increased as compared with the normal operation (normal mode). Thereby, the dust scraped by the scraping brush 1 passes through the suction port 17 and the dust collection housing K and is collected by the dust collection filter F. Further, since the dust is more strongly attracted than the dust collected by the normal operation, the amount of compression of the dust is increased (the volume of the dust can be effectively reduced) than that during the normal operation. This can delay the dust-collecting case K from being filled with dust, and can reduce the number of times of cleaning.

In step S60, the control device 95 determines whether or not cleaning is completed. The cleaning end is determined based on whether all the objects have moved on a predetermined cleaning route (a map of a room) or whether the remaining amount of the rechargeable battery is below a threshold. If it is determined that cleaning is not completed (no at S60), the control device 95 proceeds to step S70, and if it is determined that cleaning is completed (yes at S60), returns to the charging stand (or base station), and ends the cleaning mode (automatic cleaning).

In step S70, the control device 95 resets the timer. After the predetermined time has elapsed (yes at S20) by resetting the timer, the processing of steps S30 to S50 is repeated. Steps S30 to S50 may be performed entirely or only partially.

ON the other hand, when the pet mode is not ON in step S10 and the normal operation is started (step S80), the controller 95 collects dust in the dust collection case K while rotating the rotary brush 5.

Then, in step S90, the control device 95 determines whether or not cleaning is finished, and if not finished, returns to step S80, and if determined to be finished, returns to the charging stand and ends the cleaning mode. In the normal operation, the operations in steps S40 and S50 may not be completely performed, or may be performed at a frequency lower than that in the pet mode.

As described above, in the first embodiment, in the pet mode (step S40 in fig. 12) in which the rotating brush 5 is reversely rotated one or more times or intermittently during a part of the pet mode execution time, the number of times of cleaning the rotating brush 5 due to the depilation (dust) of the pet can be reduced in the pet raising environment such as the dog or the cat.

Further, the number of times of cleaning the dust collection case K (the number of times of dust disposal) can be reduced by performing the garbage squeezing process (step S50 in fig. 12) while increasing the rotation speed (motor rotation speed, operating speed) of the blower 81 once or intermittently for a part of the pet mode execution time.

As described above, in the first embodiment, the maintenance control such as the reverse rotation of the rotary brush 5 and the garbage squeezing control is autonomously performed during the cleaning operation, and it is possible to suppress the occurrence of the case where the cleaning has to be interrupted due to the collection of a large amount of dust or the like in the middle of one cleaning. That is, even if maintenance is not performed, the time during which autonomous driving can be continued can be increased, and the number of times of maintenance of the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner C can be reduced (control can be performed in a direction in which a failure of the autonomous traveling vacuum cleaner C is reduced).

In the pet mode of the present embodiment, in order to reduce the frequency of maintenance required by the user and to improve the dust collection rate, the control is performed intermittently at intervals of time such as once, twice or more, or every predetermined time, for a part of the mode execution time. This can reduce power consumption as compared with the case where such control is always performed. Such control may be performed periodically or aperiodically, if not always performed.

The determination as the pet raising environment may be made, for example, based on whether or not the camera (imaging unit) of the autonomous vacuum cleaner C recognizes a pet, or may be made by receiving an input from a user.

In the first embodiment, the rotation speed of the rotary brush 5 is increased in comparison with the normal operation in the operation of the automatic brush cleaning and the garbage squeezing, and thereby the dust collecting performance can be improved in comparison with the normal operation. Further, the rotational speed of the rotary brush 5 is increased to increase the operating sound ratio during normal operation. This makes a noise larger than the operating sound during normal operation, and gives the user a sufficiently clean impression.

Further, a sensor (floor type detecting means) for detecting the type of the floor and dust (dirt) on the floor is provided, and the rotation speed of the rotary brush 5 can be increased as compared with the normal operation when the floor is a carpet or when the dirt is detected. This can improve dust collection performance as compared with normal operation.

Note that the name of the normal operation in the present embodiment is an example, and may refer to a mode other than the pet mode. Further, an autonomous electric vacuum cleaner capable of implementing only the pet mode may be used. In this case, the autonomous maintenance process can be performed once or intermittently at least for a part of the execution time of the cleaning mode.

(second embodiment)

Fig. 13 is a flowchart of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of the second embodiment. The second embodiment is configured such that the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner C of the first embodiment includes an imaging unit (a monocular camera, a stereo camera, or the like) as a recognition unit. An imaging unit (not shown) is attached to the front surface (front surface) of the lower case shown in fig. 2. By mounting such an imaging unit, the type of the floor and the number of dirt (dust) can be detected. Hereinafter, only the processing different from the first embodiment will be described.

As shown in fig. 13, in step S21, the control device 95 determines the dust on the floor (pet hair, obstacle) by the imaging unit after the start of cleaning, and counts the number (number) of the dust (pet hair, etc.). Specifically, the image pattern of dust is stored in the ROM in advance, and compared with the image captured by the imaging unit, it is possible to determine whether or not the object captured is dust.

Then, in step S22, the controller 95 determines whether or not the number of the dust (predetermined value of the obstacle) exceeds a predetermined number (predetermined value). If it is determined that the number of detected garbage does not exceed the predetermined number (no at S22), the control device 95 returns to step S21, and if it is determined that the number of detected garbage exceeds the predetermined number (yes at S22), the control device proceeds to step S30.

In this way, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner according to the second embodiment can obtain the same effects as those of the first embodiment. In addition, by performing the automatic brush cleaning (step S40) and the dust squeezing (step S50) based on the number of the detected dust using a sensor (image pickup unit) that detects the dust (dirt), the automatic brush cleaning or the dust squeezing can be prevented from being performed uselessly, and the cleaning of the rotary brush 5 and the cleaning of the dust collection case K can be performed efficiently.

In the second embodiment, the case where dust is detected by the imaging unit is described as an example, but a sensor for detecting the passage of dust may be provided in the suction port 17. Automatic brush cleaning and garbage squeezing can be performed according to the number of times of passing through the sensor.

Note that, although the case of a camera capable of recognizing the type and the number of pieces of waste is described as an example of the recognition unit, an optical sensor (numerical value recognition unit) or the like capable of recognizing the number of pieces of waste may be used.

(third embodiment)

Fig. 14 is a flowchart of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of the third embodiment. The third embodiment also explains only the processing different from that of the first embodiment.

As shown in fig. 14, if the controller 95 determines that the predetermined time has not elapsed (no at S20), it proceeds to step S25.

In step S25, the control device 95 determines whether corner cleaning is to be started. The corner cleaning is performed in a region (corner of a room) close to both walls having different extending directions, and for example, by controlling the side distance measuring sensor 96A to continuously detect an obstacle, it is possible to find that the front distance measuring sensor 96A detects an obstacle while traveling along one wall. In the case of an imaging unit having a camera or the like, a corner may be recognized from the image. If the autonomous vacuum cleaner C is located at such a corner, the dust at the corner can be effectively collected when the autonomous vacuum cleaner C performs a yaw motion near the corner, such as pivot steering (turning at the current position).

When the corner cleaning is started, the dust is scraped by the side brushes 40 and collected in the dust collection case K by the rotary brush 5 and the scraping brush 1. If it is determined that corner cleaning is to be started (yes at S25), the control device 95 proceeds to step S26, and if it is determined that corner cleaning is not in progress, the control device returns to step S20.

In step S26, the controller 95 rotates the rotary brush 5 in the reverse direction before the main body 50 moves. Further, the controller 95 increases the rotation speed of the rotary brush 5 as compared with the normal operation. In this case, as described with reference to fig. 11, the dust attached to the rotary brush 5 is scraped off by the scraping brush 1 by the rotation operation of the rotary brush 5, and the dust is accumulated in the region indicated by the region P (see fig. 11). When the dust is accumulated in the region P, the dust is collected from the suction port 17 into the dust collection case K by the suction force of the blower 81. In the pivot steering, since the traveling speed of the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner C is reduced or stopped, the rotation brush 5 is less disturbed by the floor surface. Therefore, it is effective to insert and perform the maintenance automatic control as described above, particularly the maintenance automatic control of the rotary brush 5.

Further, the cleaning of the rotating brush 5 in step S26 is performed by a process separate from the above-described automatic brush cleaning and garbage squeezing. That is, even if the process of step S26 is performed before the predetermined time elapses (no at S20), the timer is not reset, and a series of processes are performed (steps S30 to S50) when the predetermined time elapses (every predetermined time). Accordingly, the automatic brush cleaning in step S40 and the garbage squeezing process in step S50 are performed periodically (at a constant frequency), and the number of times of cleaning the dust collection case K can be prevented from being insufficient.

ON the other hand, when the pet mode is not ON (no at step S10) but the operation is switched to the normal operation, the cleaning of the rotary brush 5 is also performed during the corner cleaning (yes at step S81) (see step S82). That is, the control device 95 determines whether or not the corner cleaning is in progress in step S81. If it is determined that the corner cleaning is in progress (yes at S81), the controller 95 proceeds to step S82 to rotate the rotary brush 5 in the reverse direction. If the control device 95 determines that corner cleaning is not being performed (no at S81), the process proceeds to step S90. The drive wheels may also be stopped before the reverse rotation in the corner cleaning.

(fourth embodiment)

In a pet breeding environment, various objects related to pets, such as solid or liquid substances such as excrement and pet food, may fall on the ground. In addition, it is conceivable that the amount of garbage is larger than that in the non-pet raising environment.

When cleaning a liquid or very soft object such as excrement, it is not appropriate to use the rotary brush 5 (other brushes including a side brush or the like), and when cleaning such an object, the cleaning area is contaminated, and a failure of the vacuum cleaner or an increase in maintenance frequency can be expected. In the present embodiment, it is considered that the identification of the type of dust is always performed in japanese patent application laid-open No. 2018-515191, and the power consumption amount required for the arithmetic processing is large.

Fig. 15 is a flowchart of the autonomous walking type vacuum cleaner of the fourth embodiment.

As shown in fig. 15, in step S101, the control device 95 determines whether an obstacle is detected. The obstacle is constituted by an imaging unit (monocular camera, stereo camera, etc.) as a detection unit. The camera has a wide viewing angle, and thus, it is easy to detect an article falling on the ground. When an obstacle is detected (yes at S101), the control device 95 proceeds to the process of step S102, and when an obstacle is not detected (no at S101), the process of step S101 is repeated.

In step S102, which is control implemented at least in the pet mode, the control device 95 determines whether the detected and identified obstacle is an obstacle that would have failed if the obstacle were cleaned. For example, when the obstacle is excrement of a pet or urine, excretion of a pet, liquid or viscous feed, etc., when cleaning these items, it becomes a cause of malfunction of the cleaner body or contamination of the rotating brush 5 and the floor. In addition, in the case where the obstacle is dust, dry pet food, or the like, the possibility of malfunction of the cleaner body is low even if they are cleaned.

If it is determined that the article is a faulty article (yes in S102), the control device 95 proceeds to the process of step S103 and performs control to avoid the obstacle. If it is determined that the article is not a defective article (no at S102), the controller 95 proceeds to the process at step S104 and continues the cleaning.

When avoiding an obstacle, the driving wheel 61 is controlled to rotate the main body 50 so as to go around without contacting the obstacle. Further, when an obstacle such as excrement is detected, the user may be notified by a notification member such as a lamp provided in the cleaner body. In addition, when an obstacle such as excrement is detected, the obstacle may be notified to a terminal (smartphone) of the user.

In this way, in the fourth embodiment, the operation of the main body 50 (cleaner body) is switched based on the type of obstacle detected by the imaging unit. This can suppress or prevent the occurrence of an obstacle such as a failure of the main body 50 when cleaning is continued.

The arithmetic processing for recognizing the type of dust by the imaging unit in the pet mode implementation (that is, changing the route or the like according to the type of dust) is performed at a higher frequency than in the normal operation. In particular, the amount of calculation required for identifying the type is large, and therefore, when the type is not identified in normal operation, the amount of power consumption can be reduced, which is preferable. In addition, in view of the fact that the image pickup unit can pick up an image to a distant side, the image pickup unit may be intermittently performed for a part of the time of one automatic cleaning.

Although not shown, the autonomous vacuum cleaner C according to each of the above embodiments returns to the charging stand and charges the battery in response to a command from the control device 95 when cleaning is completed and the electric capacity of the rechargeable battery B is reduced. The autonomous vacuum cleaner C returned to the charging stand rotates the rotary brush 5 in the direction W2 (see fig. 11) while stopping the rotation of the drive wheels 61, whereby the dust on the rotary brush 5 is scraped off by the scraping brush 1. Further, by driving the blower 81 at a normal rotation speed, the dust scraped by the scraping brush 1 is collected in the dust collection case K.

The one-time automatic cleaning in the normal mode, the pet mode, and the like is performed after the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner C starts autonomous cleaning in accordance with a timer function or a command from a user, and then stops the autonomous cleaning. In the present embodiment, the autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner C autonomously returns to the charging stand without stopping abnormally and completing cleaning.

The autonomous traveling type vacuum cleaner of the present invention has been described in detail while showing the embodiments. The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and it is needless to say that the present invention can be appropriately modified and changed without departing from the scope of the present invention. The above-described embodiment is not limited to the case where only the direction control body 50 (cleaner body) capable of reducing the occurrence of troubles in the pet raising environment is used. For example, in the case where the pet itself exists in the cleaning route, the main body 50 (cleaner main body) may be controlled to make the pet leave the cleaning route by sound or light.

In addition, although the description has been given of the automatic brush cleaning and the garbage squeezing in step S30 of the first to third embodiments in a state where the driving wheel 61 is stopped, the automatic brush cleaning and the garbage squeezing may be performed without stopping the driving wheel 61. This can shorten the cleaning time.