Vacuum cleaner

• US 10,357,135 B2
• Filed: 02/28/2017
• Issued: 07/23/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/29/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Son, Jungkyu, Nam, Bohyun, Park, Jaeyong, Bae, Sehwan, Seo, Jonghyun, Lee, Jinwoo
• Primary Examiner(s): Carlson, Marc
• Application Number:
  US15/445,325
• Publication Number:
  US 20170245713A1
• Time in Patent Office: 875 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2201/04 Automatic control of the travelling movement; Automatic obstacle detection
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 5/362 of the horizontal type, e.g. canister or sledge type
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/009 Carrying-vehicles; Arrangements of trollies or wheels; Means for avoiding mechanical obstacles
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/102 Dust separators cyclones A47L9/16
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/122 flat
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/1641 for parallel flow
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/242 Hose or pipe couplings
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/248 Parts, details or accessories of hoses or pipes nozzles A47L9/02
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2805 Parameters or conditions being sensed
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2852 Elements for displacement of the vacuum cleaner or the accessories therefor, e.g. wheels, casters or nozzles
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2857 User input or output elements for control, e.g. buttons, switches or displays
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2884 Details of arrangements of batteries or their installation

Abstract

Provided is a vacuum cleaner including a cleaner body; a cover member provided at an upper portion of the cleaner body to be opened and closed; a suction hose installed at a front surface of the cover member and configured to suction dust; moving wheels provided on both side surfaces of the cleaner body; a wheel motor assembly connected to the moving wheels and configured to rotate the moving wheels for travel; a plurality of obstacle detecting members disposed at one side of a front of the cover member and configured to detect an obstacle located at a front and/or a side of the cleaner body; and a PCB configured to control an operation of the wheel motor assembly according to a detected signal of the obstacle detecting member.

Claims

1. A vacuum cleaner comprising:

a cleaner body;

a cover member that is located at an upper portion of the cleaner body, that is configured to open and close the cleaner body, and that includes a connector at a center of a frontal end of the cover member;

a suction hose that is connected to the connector and that is configured to suck dust into the cleaner body;

wheels that are located on both side surfaces of the cleaner body;

a wheel motor assembly that is connected to the wheels and that is configured to, based on force applied to the suction hose, rotate the moving wheels to move the cleaner body in a direction of the suction hose;

a plurality of obstacle detecting members that are located along an edge of the cover member, that are configured to detect an obstacle located near the cleaner body in a moving direction of the suction hose, that are located on a left side of the connector and a right side of the connector, and that include;

front sensors that are located at the left side of the connector and the right side of the connector, that are configured to face a frontal area between a front side of the cleaner body and a lateral side of the cleaner body, and that are configured to detect an obstacle located in the frontal area; and

side sensors that are spaced apart from the front sensors laterally and towards a rear of the vacuum cleaner, that are configured to face the lateral side of the cleaner body, and that are configured to detect an obstacle located at the lateral side of the cleaner body; and

a printed circuit board (PCB) that is configured to control an operation of the wheel motor assembly according to a signal from the obstacle detecting member,

wherein each of the front and side sensors have a detecting range of a preset angle, and

wherein a detecting distance of each side sensor is shorter than a detecting distance of each front sensor.

2. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of detecting holes are defined by the cover member at positions corresponding to locations of the plurality of obstacle detecting members, such that light emitted from the plurality of obstacle detecting members is transmitted through the plurality of detecting holes.

3. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 2, wherein a portion of the front surface of the cover member that defines the plurality of detecting holes is curved.

4. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of detecting holes has internal side surfaces that are respectively inclined to transmit light within the preset angle.

5. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of detecting holes are symmetric with respect to a vertical plane that passes through a center of the connector and a center of the cleaner body.

6. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 2, wherein:

the cover member comprises;

a cover base that defines a lower surface of the cover member; and

an outer cover that defines an upper surface of the cover member,

wherein the obstacle detecting members are fixed to the cover base, and

wherein the outer cover defines the detecting holes.

7. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the front sensor and the side sensor each comprise:

a sensor substrate that is located in the cover member; and

a laser sensor that is configured to detect an obstacle by emitting light and that is located on the sensor substrate.

8. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the obstacle detecting members include a laser sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a proximity sensor or a vision camera.

9. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the detecting ranges of the first sensors are spaced apart from the connector in a circumferential direction of the cover member and define a non-detecting area that includes a movement area of the suction hose.

10. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, an angle of the detecting range of each of the obstacle detecting members is 25°

degrees.

11. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the PCB is configured to increase a driving speed of one of the moving wheels based on the plurality of obstacle detecting members detecting an object.

12. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the PCB is configured to reduce or temporarily stop a driving speed of one of the moving wheels based on the plurality of obstacle detecting members detecting an object.

13. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the PCB is configured to switch a driving direction of the wheel motor assembly based on the plurality of obstacle detecting members detecting an object.

14. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein:

the cleaner body comprises a detecting part that is configured to detect a slope of the cleaner body and determine whether the vacuum cleaner is moving or stopped, and

the plurality of obstacle detecting members are active based on the detecting part determining that the vacuum cleaner is moving and are inactive based on the detecting part determining that the vacuum cleaner is stopped.

15. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 14, wherein each of the plurality of obstacle detecting members has the detecting range and the detecting distance to avoid detecting a surface on which the cleaner body is located.