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CN-121987090-A - Vacuum cleaner comprising a soft floor detection device

CN121987090ACN 121987090 ACN121987090 ACN 121987090ACN-121987090-A

Abstract

A vacuum cleaner includes a suction head (5), the suction head (5) including a rotating brush (18), a brush drive motor (21) configured to drive the rotating brush (18) to rotate, a suction motor configured to generate an air flow through the suction head (5), and an electronic control unit configured to calculate an intensity variation parameter based on an intensity value measured by an intensity measuring device, and to detect displacement of the suction head (5) on a soft floor based on a comparison result of the calculated intensity variation parameter with a soft floor detection threshold and a comparison result of an intensity of a current applied to the brush drive motor (21) with an intensity threshold.

Inventors

  • LAURENT OLIVER
  • Benoit Trush
  • Anais Muliki

Assignees

  • SEB公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260508
Application Date
20251105
Priority Date
20241106

Claims (10)

  1. 1. A vacuum cleaner (2) comprising: -a suction head (5), the suction head (5) comprising a soleplate (14), the soleplate (14) being provided with a lower surface (15) and a suction opening (16), the lower surface (15) being configured to be oriented towards a surface to be cleaned, the suction opening (16) opening into the lower surface (15) of the soleplate (14), and external air being sucked by the cleaner (2) through the suction opening (16), the suction head (5) further comprising a rotatable brush (18) rotatable about a rotational axis (a); -a rotational drive mechanism (19), the rotational drive mechanism (19) being configured to drive the rotational brush (18) in rotation about the rotational axis (a), the rotational drive mechanism (19) comprising a brush drive motor (21) rotationally coupled to the rotational brush (18); -a suction motor (12), the suction motor (12) being configured to generate an air flow through the suction opening (16) and into the suction head (5); -an intensity measuring device (22), the intensity measuring device (22) being configured to measure an intensity (I) of a current applied to the brush drive motor (21), and -An electronic control unit (25), the electronic control unit (25) being configured to control the operation of the vacuum cleaner (2), the electronic control unit (25) being further configured to: o calculating an intensity variation parameter from the intensity values measured by the intensity measuring device (22); o comparing the calculated intensity variation parameter with a soft ground detection threshold (Vsm), and O comparing the intensity (I) of the current applied to the brush drive motor (21) with an intensity threshold (Vsi); Characterized in that the electronic control unit (25) is configured to detect displacement of the suction head (5) on soft ground based on a comparison of the calculated intensity variation parameter with the soft ground detection threshold (Vsm) and a comparison of the intensity (I) of the current applied to the brush drive motor (21) with the intensity threshold (Vsi), and to adjust the suction power of the vacuum cleaner (2) to a predetermined soft ground suction power having a non-zero value when the electronic control unit (25) detects displacement of the suction head (5) on soft ground.
  2. 2. The vacuum cleaner (2) according to claim 1, wherein the electronic control unit (25) is configured to detect a displacement of the suction head (5) on a soft floor when it is determined that the calculated intensity variation parameter is greater than or equal to the soft floor detection threshold (Vsm) and then that the intensity (I) of the current applied to the brush drive motor (21) is greater than or equal to the intensity threshold (Vsi).
  3. 3. A vacuum cleaner (2) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the electronic control unit (25) is configured to detect a displacement of the suction head (5) on the soft floor surface when the calculated intensity variation parameter remains greater than or equal to the soft floor detection threshold (Vsm) during a predetermined period of time (T1) and at least one measured intensity value is greater than or equal to the intensity threshold (Vsi) after the predetermined period of time (T1).
  4. 4. A vacuum cleaner (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the electronic control unit (25) is configured to adjust the rotational speed of the suction motor (12) to a predetermined soft floor suction speed when the electronic control unit (25) detects displacement of the suction head (5) on a soft floor.
  5. 5. A vacuum cleaner (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the calculated intensity variation parameter is a dispersion Indicator (ID) of the intensity value measured by the intensity measuring device (22) or a magnitude of variation of the intensity value measured by the intensity measuring device (22).
  6. 6. A vacuum cleaner (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein each value of the intensity variation parameter is calculated based on a finite series of consecutive intensity values measured by the intensity measuring device (22).
  7. 7. The vacuum cleaner (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the electronic control unit (25) is configured to detect a displacement of the suction head (5) on a hard floor when it is determined that the calculated intensity variation parameter is smaller than a hard floor detection threshold and then that the intensity (I) of the current applied to the brush drive motor (21) is smaller than the intensity threshold (Vsi).
  8. 8. The vacuum cleaner (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the electronic control unit (25) is configured to detect a displacement of the suction head (5) on a hard floor when the calculated intensity variation parameter remains smaller than the hard floor detection threshold during a predetermined detection duration (T2) and at least one of the intensity values measured after the predetermined detection duration (T2) is smaller than the intensity threshold (Vsi).
  9. 9. A vacuum cleaner (2) according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the electronic control unit (25) is configured to adjust the suction power of the vacuum cleaner (2) to a predetermined hard floor suction power having a non-zero value when the electronic control unit (25) detects displacement of the suction head (5) over a hard floor surface.
  10. 10. The vacuum cleaner (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the electronic control unit (25) is configured to: -detecting that the suction head (5) is immobilized on a soft ground when the intensity variation parameter is smaller than the soft ground detection threshold (Vsm) and the intensity (I) of the current applied to the brush driving motor (21) is greater than the intensity threshold (Vsi), and -Modifying at least one cleaning parameter of the vacuum cleaner (2) when the electronic control unit (25) detects that the suction head (5) is stationary on soft floors.

Description

Vacuum cleaner comprising a soft floor detection device Technical Field The present invention relates to the field of cleaners equipped with suction heads, also known as vacuum cleaner nozzles, which allow to suck dust and waste present on the surface to be cleaned. Background Suction heads are well known in the market place and allow cleaning of surfaces by suction to remove dust and waste that has fallen onto the surfaces. The surface to be sucked may for example be a hard floor, such as a tile floor, floor or laminate, or a soft floor, such as a mat or carpet. A suction head comprises in a known manner: -a head body comprising a sole plate provided with a lower surface for positioning adjacent a surface to be sucked during use of the cleaner, and a suction opening leading to the lower surface of the sole plate; A rotary brush which is accommodated in a receiving receptacle defined by the head body and which is rotationally movable about a rotational axis, and -A rotational drive mechanism configured to drive the rotational brush in rotation about a rotational axis, the rotational drive mechanism comprising a brush drive motor rotationally coupled to the rotational brush. In order to improve the cleaning performance of the above-mentioned type of vacuum cleaners, it is known to equip the above-mentioned type of vacuum cleaner with a measuring device configured to measure the intensity of the current applied to the brush drive motor, to detect the type of floor encountered by the suction head from the intensity value measured by the measuring device, and to adapt the suction power generated by the suction motor of the vacuum cleaner in accordance with the detected type of floor. In particular, document FR3137557 discloses a vacuum cleaner comprising an electronic control unit configured to: Calculating a dispersion index, such as a variance or standard deviation, of the intensity values measured by the measuring means, each dispersion index value being calculated based on a finite series of consecutive intensity values measured by the measuring means, and When the dispersion indicator exceeds a detection threshold, a displacement of the suction head on the soft ground, for example from hard ground to soft ground, is detected. This configuration of the cleaner allows the displacement of the suction head on soft floors to be detected without the need for the presence of specific floor detection means, which reduces the manufacturing costs of the cleaner according to the invention. However, in order to reliably and repeatedly detect the fact that the suction head is displaced on the soft ground, the electronic control unit is more specifically configured to detect the displacement of the suction head on the soft ground only when the plurality of consecutive dispersion index values are greater than the detection threshold value. While this configuration of the cleaner ensures reliable and efficient detection of displacement of the suction head over the soft floor surface and thus allows for automatic adjustment of at least one operating parameter of the cleaner as the cleaner is displaced over the soft floor surface, this can result in excessive response times to detecting a change in the type of floor surface being cleaned by the cleaner (in particular, requiring the suction head to be moved back and forth over the soft floor surface multiple times to ensure detection of the soft floor surface), which can compromise the ergonomics of the cleaner. Disclosure of Invention The present invention aims to overcome all or part of these disadvantages. The technical problem underlying the present invention is in particular to provide a vacuum cleaner that is structurally simple and ergonomic, while guaranteeing a reliable detection of the type of floor encountered by the vacuum cleaner, so as to confer to the vacuum cleaner an increased cleaning performance and/or an increased autonomy. To this end, the invention relates to a vacuum cleaner comprising: -a suction head comprising a soleplate, the soleplate being provided with a lower surface configured to be oriented towards a surface to be cleaned and a suction opening which opens onto the lower surface of the soleplate and through which external air can be sucked by the cleaner, the suction head further comprising a rotating brush which is rotationally movable about a rotational axis; -a rotational drive mechanism configured to drive the rotational brush in rotation about the rotational axis, the rotational drive mechanism comprising a brush drive motor rotationally coupled to the rotational brush; -a suction motor configured to generate an air flow through the suction opening and into the suction head; an intensity measuring device configured to measure an intensity of a current applied to the brush drive motor, and -An electronic control unit configured to control the operation of the vacuum cleaner, the electronic control unit further configured to: o calculating