Control arrangement for a propulsion unit for a self-propelled floor care appliance
First Claim
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1. A self-propelled floor care appliance comprising:
- a drive motor to propel the floor care appliance over a surface to be cleaned;
a Hall effect sensor positioned in an operative relationship with a handgrip maintained by the floor care appliance, said Hall effect sensor configured to provide a Hall voltage based upon the movement of the handgrip; and
a microprocessor configured to receive said Hall voltage, and to store a response characteristic;
wherein said microprocessor supplies a pulse width modulation (PWM) control signal to said drive motor based upon said Hall voltage and said response characteristic, so as to propel the floor care appliance over the surface to be cleaned.
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Abstract
A self propelled upright vacuum cleaner is provided with a Hall effect sensor to provide a Hall voltage that varies according to the position of a handgrip maintained by the vacuum cleaner. A microprocessor generates a PWM control signal to control the movement of the vacuum based on the magnitude of the Hall voltage with respect to various response characteristics, including a non-linear logistic function. As such, the vacuum cleaner imparts a user-friendly responsiveness to the user during the operation of the vacuum cleaner.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A self-propelled floor care appliance comprising:
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a drive motor to propel the floor care appliance over a surface to be cleaned;
a Hall effect sensor positioned in an operative relationship with a handgrip maintained by the floor care appliance, said Hall effect sensor configured to provide a Hall voltage based upon the movement of the handgrip; and
a microprocessor configured to receive said Hall voltage, and to store a response characteristic;
wherein said microprocessor supplies a pulse width modulation (PWM) control signal to said drive motor based upon said Hall voltage and said response characteristic, so as to propel the floor care appliance over the surface to be cleaned. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for controlling the movement of a microprocessor controlled, motor driven vacuum cleaner in accordance with a movable handgrip, comprising:
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generating a digitized Hall voltage based upon the position of the handgrip;
providing the microprocessor with a response characteristic;
generating a pulse width modulation (PWM) control signal containing a pulse width modulation output level based on the position of the handgrip and said response characteristic;
controlling the motor in accordance with said PWM control signal, so as to propel the floor care appliance in accordance with the movement of the handgrip. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A self-propelled floor care appliance controlled by a moveable handgrip comprising:
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a drive motor to control the movement of the floor care appliance;
a Hall effect sensor in operative communication with the handgrip, said Hall effect sensor configured to generate a Hall voltage based on the movement of the handgrip;
a microprocessor coupled to said Hall effect sensor;
a lookup table maintained by said microprocessor, said lookup table associating a plurality of predetermined digital Hall voltage levels with predetermined pulse width modulation (PWM) output levels in accordance with a logistic response characteristic;
wherein said microprocessor outputs a pulse width modulation (PWM) control signal to said drive motor, such that said PWM control signal includes one of said PWM output levels associated with said Hall voltage output by said Hall effect sensor in accordance with said lookup table. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification