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EP-4740811-A1 - VACUUM CLEANER COMPRISING SOFT SOIL DETECTION MEANS

EP4740811A1EP 4740811 A1EP4740811 A1EP 4740811A1EP-4740811-A1

Abstract

The vacuum cleaner includes a suction head (5) comprising a rotating brush (18); a brush drive motor (21) configured to rotate the rotating brush (18); a suction motor configured to generate an airflow through the suction head (5); and an electronic control unit configured to calculate an intensity variation parameter from intensity values measured by an intensity measuring device and to detect that the suction head (5) is being moved on a soft floor based on a comparison of the calculated intensity variation parameter with a soft floor detection threshold value and a comparison of the intensity of the electric current applied to the brush drive motor (21) with an intensity threshold value.

Inventors

  • OLIVE, LAURENT
  • TROUCHE, Benoit
  • MLIKI, Anaïs

Assignees

  • SEB S.A.

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20251106

Claims (11)

  1. Vacuum cleaner (2) comprising: - a suction head (5) comprising a sole (14) having an underside (15) configured to be oriented towards a surface to be cleaned and a suction inlet (16) opening into the underside (15) of the sole (14) and through which outside air can be drawn in by the vacuum cleaner (2), the suction head (5) further comprising a rotating brush (18) movable in rotation around an axis of rotation (A), - a rotary drive mechanism (19) configured to drive the rotary brush (18) in rotation around the axis of rotation (A), the rotary drive mechanism (19) comprising a brush drive motor (21) rotationally coupled to the rotary brush (18), - a suction motor (12) configured to generate an airflow through the suction mouth (16) and into the suction head (5), - a current measurement device (22) configured to measure the current intensity (I) applied to the brush drive motor (21), and - an electronic control unit (25) configured to control the operation of the vacuum cleaner (2), the electronic control unit (25) being further configured to: • Calculate a parameter for intensity variation from intensity values measured by the intensity measuring device (22), • compare the calculated intensity variation parameter with a soft ground detection threshold value (Vsm), and ∘ compare the intensity (I) of the electric current applied to the brush drive motor (21) with a threshold intensity value (Vsi), characterized in that the electronic control unit (25) is configured to detect that the suction head (5) is moved on soft ground based on the result of comparing the calculated intensity variation parameter with the soft ground detection threshold value (Vsm) and the result of comparing the intensity (I) of the electric current applied to the brush drive motor (21) with the intensity threshold value (Vsi), and to adjust the suction power of the vacuum cleaner (2) to a predetermined soft floor suction power, which has a non-zero value, when the electronic control unit (25) detects that the suction head (5) is moved on a soft floor.
  2. Vacuum cleaner (2) according to claim 1, wherein the electronic control unit (25) is configured to detect that the suction head (5) is moved 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 value (Vsm) and it is subsequently determined that the intensity (I) of the electric current applied to the brush drive motor (21) is greater than or equal to the intensity threshold value (Vsi).
  3. Vacuum cleaner (2) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the electronic control unit (25) is configured to detect that the suction head (5) is moved on soft ground when the calculated intensity variation parameter remains greater than or equal to the soft ground detection threshold value (Vsm) for a predetermined time period (T1) and that, after said predetermined time period (T1), at least one measured intensity value is greater than or equal to the intensity threshold value (Vsi).
  4. 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 that the suction head (5) is being moved on a soft floor.
  5. Vacuum cleaner (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the calculated intensity variation parameter is a dispersion indicator (DI) of the intensity values measured by the intensity measuring device (22), or the amplitude of variation of the intensity values measured by the intensity measuring device (22).
  6. Vacuum cleaner (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein each value of the intensity variation parameter is calculated from a limited series of successive intensity values measured by the intensity measuring device (22).
  7. Vacuum cleaner (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the electronic control unit (25) is configured to detect that the suction head (5) is moved on a hard floor when it is determined that the calculated intensity variation parameter is less than a hard floor detection threshold value and it is further determined that the intensity (I) of the electric current applied to the brush drive motor (21) is less than the intensity threshold value (Vsi).
  8. Vacuum cleaner (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the electronic control unit (25) is configured to detect that the suction head (5) is moved on a hard floor when the calculated intensity variation parameter remains below the hard floor detection threshold value for a predetermined detection time (T2) and that, after said predetermined detection time (T2), at least one of the measured intensity values is below the intensity threshold value (Vsi).
  9. 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, which has a non-zero value, when the electronic control unit (25) detects that the suction head (5) is moved on a hard floor.
  10. Vacuum cleaner (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the electronic control unit (25) is configured to: - detect that the suction head (5) is stationary on a soft floor when the intensity variation parameter is less than the soft floor detection threshold value (Vsm) and the intensity (I) of the electric current applied to the brush drive motor (21) is greater than the intensity threshold value (Vsi), and - modify at least one vacuum cleaner cleaning parameter (2) when the electronic control unit (25) detects that the suction head (5) is stationary on a soft floor.
  11. Method for controlling a vacuum cleaner (2), comprising the following steps: - provide a vacuum cleaner (2) including: ∘ a suction head (5) comprising a rotating brush (18) movable in rotation around an axis of rotation (A) and a sole (14) having an underside (15) configured to be oriented towards a surface to be cleaned and a suction inlet (16) opening into the underside (15) of the sole (14) and through which outside air can be drawn in by the vacuum cleaner (2), ∘ a rotary drive mechanism (19) configured to drive the rotary brush (18) in rotation around the axis of rotation (A), the rotary drive mechanism (19) comprising a brush drive motor (21) rotationally coupled to the rotary brush (18), ∘ a suction motor (12) configured to generate an airflow through the suction mouth (16) and into the suction head (5), • a current measurement device (22) configured to measure the current intensity (I) applied to the brush drive motor (21), and ∘ an electronic control unit (25) configured to control the operation of the vacuum cleaner (2), - measure the intensity (I) of the electric current applied to the brush drive motor (21), - calculate an intensity variation parameter from measured intensity values, - compare the calculated intensity variation parameter with a soft ground detection threshold value (Vsm), and - compare the intensity (I) of the electric current applied to the brush drive motor (21) with a threshold intensity value (Vsi), characterized in that the process further comprises: - detect that the suction head (5) is moving on a soft floor based on the result of comparing the calculated intensity variation parameter with the soft floor detection threshold value (Vsm) and the result of comparing the intensity (I) of the electric current applied to the brush drive motor (21) with the intensity threshold value (Vsi), and - adjust the suction power of the vacuum cleaner (2) to a predetermined soft floor suction power, which has a non-zero value, when it is detected that the suction head (5) is moved on a soft floor.

Description

technical field The present invention relates to the field of vacuum cleaners equipped with a suction head, also called a vacuum cleaner nozzle, allowing the suction of dust and waste present on a surface to be cleaned. State of the art Vacuum cleaners equipped with a suction head are well-known on the market; they allow for the cleaning of surfaces by suction, removing dust and debris. The surface to be vacuumed can be, for example, a hard floor, such as tile, parquet, or laminate flooring, or a soft floor, such as carpet or rugs. A suction head includes, as is known: a head body comprising a sole equipped with a lower face and a suction opening into the lower face of the sole, the lower face of the sole being intended to be positioned adjacent to the surface to be vacuumed during the use of the vacuum cleaner, a rotating brush housed in a receiving compartment defined by the head body and which rotates freely around an axis of rotation, and a rotary drive mechanism configured to drive the rotary brush in rotation around the axis of rotation, the rotary drive mechanism comprising a brush drive motor coupled in rotation to the rotary brush. In order to improve the cleaning performance of a vacuum cleaner of the aforementioned type, it is known to equip it with a measuring device configured to measure the intensity of the electrical current applied to the brush drive motor, to detect the type of floor encountered by the suction head according to the intensity values measured by the measuring device, and to adapt the suction power generated by the vacuum cleaner's suction motor according to the type of floor detected. In particular, the document FR3137557 discloses a vacuum cleaner comprising an electronic control unit configured to: calculate a dispersion indicator, such as the variance or standard deviation, of the intensity values measured by the measuring device, each dispersion indicator value being calculated from a limited series of successive intensity values measured by the measuring device, and detect that the suction head is moved on a soft floor, and for example from a hard floor to a soft floor, when the dispersion indicator exceeds the detection threshold value. Such a configuration of the vacuum cleaner makes it possible to detect a movement of the suction head on a soft floor without requiring the presence of a specific floor detection device, which reduces the manufacturing costs of the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention. However, in order to reliably and repeatedly detect that the suction head is being moved on a soft floor, the electronic control unit is specifically configured to detect that the suction head is being moved on a soft floor only when several successive dispersion indicator values are greater than the detection threshold value. Although such a vacuum cleaner configuration ensures reliable and efficient detection of movement of the suction head on a soft floor and therefore allows automatic adjustment of at least one operating parameter of the vacuum cleaner when it is moved on a soft floor, it induces a response time that is too long to detect a change in the type of floor cleaned by the vacuum cleaner (in particular several back-and-forth movements of the suction head on the soft floor are required to ensure detection of the soft floor), which impairs the ergonomics of the latter. Summary of the invention The present invention aims to remedy all or part of these drawbacks. The technical problem underlying the invention consists, in particular, of providing a vacuum cleaner with a simple and ergonomic structure, while ensuring reliable detection of the types of floors encountered by the vacuum cleaner in order to give the vacuum cleaner increased cleaning performance and/or increased autonomy performance. To this end, the present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner comprising: a suction head comprising a soleplate having an underside configured to be oriented towards a surface to be cleaned and a suction inlet opening into the underside of the soleplate through which outside air can be drawn in by the vacuum cleaner, the suction head further comprising a rotating brush that is movable and rotates around an axis of rotation, a rotary drive mechanism configured to drive the rotating brush in rotation around the axis of rotation, the rotary drive mechanism comprising a brush drive motor rotationally coupled to the rotating brush, a suction motor configured to generate an airflow through the suction inlet and into the suction head, a current measurement device configured to measure the intensity of the electric 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 being further configured to: • Calculate a parameter for intensity variation from intensity values measured by the intensity measuring device. • compare the calculated intensity variation parameter