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EP-4742535-A2 - VACUUM CLEANER CAPABLE OF POWER LINE COMMUNICATION

EP4742535A2EP 4742535 A2EP4742535 A2EP 4742535A2EP-4742535-A2

Abstract

Provided is a vacuum cleaner, including a main body including a power supply part configured to supply power, a first motor configured to generate suction force, and a first printed circuit board (PCB) on which the first controller is mounted, and a nozzle including a cleaning part, a second motor configured to drive the cleaning part and a second PCB equipped with a second controller, the nozzle configured to suck air containing foreign substances by the suction force, wherein a first power line communication from the first controller to the second controller is voltage pulse width modulation (PWM), and a second power line communication from the second controller to the first controller is a current shaping method.

Inventors

  • KWON, SUN KU
  • JUN, CHA SEUNG
  • SHIN, SUNG YONG
  • CHOE, Se Hwa
  • LIM, DONG HYUN

Assignees

  • LG Electronics Inc.

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20201111

Claims (15)

  1. A vacuum cleaner (10), comprising: a main body (100) comprising a power supply part (130) configured to supply power, a first motor (120) configured to generate suction force, and a first printed circuit board, PCB (110), on which a first controller (112) is mounted; and a nozzle (150) comprising a cleaning part (180), a second motor (170) configured to drive the cleaning part (180) and a second PCB (160) equipped with a second controller (162), the nozzle (150) configured to suck air containing foreign substances by the suction force, wherein the first controller (112) is configured to perform a first power line communication to transmit information to the second controller (162) included in the nozzle (150), wherein the second controller (162) is configured to perform a second power line communication in order to transmit information indicating a performance state of an operation corresponding to information received through the first power line communication, and wherein the first power line communication and the second power line communication are different communication methods.
  2. The vacuum cleaner (10) of claim 1, wherein the first power line communication is a method of modulating a frequency of a voltage transmitted from the first controller (112) to the second controller (162).
  3. The vacuum cleaner (10) of claim 1, wherein the second power line communication is a method of modulating at least one of a magnitude and a frequency of a current transmitted from the second controller (162) to the first controller (112).
  4. The vacuum cleaner (10) of claim 1, wherein the first controller (112) is configured to control at least one of an operation of the second motor (170) and an operation of the cleaning part (180) through the first power line communication.
  5. The vacuum cleaner (10) of claim 1, wherein the second controller (162) is configured to transmit at least one among operation state information of the second motor (170), operation state information of the cleaning part (180) and information indicating that control operation received from the first controller (112) is completed, to the first controller (112) through the second power line communication.
  6. The vacuum cleaner (10) of claim 1, wherein the first controller (112) is configured to adjust a duty rate of a voltage PWM signal input to the nozzle (150) to compensate for decrease in a magnitude of a voltage of the power supply part (130).
  7. The vacuum cleaner (10) of claim 6, wherein the first controller (112) is configured to adjust the duty rate of the voltage PWM signal in inverse proportion to the magnitude of the voltage of the power supply part (130).
  8. The vacuum cleaner (10) of claim 1, wherein the second controller (162) is configured to determine a duty rate of a received voltage based on a number of clock signals counted between times of a change of an input voltage.
  9. The vacuum cleaner (10) of claim 1, wherein the first PCB (110) further comprises a filter (1100) for filtering a signal received through the second power line communication, and wherein the filter (1100) is a low pass filter for passing a frequency band used in the second power line communication.
  10. The vacuum cleaner (10) of claim 1, wherein the second motor (170) is a DC motor, and wherein the second controller (162) is configured to perform the second power line communication based on an instantaneous value of a voltage input to the second motor (170).
  11. The vacuum cleaner (10) of claim 10, wherein the second controller (162) is configured to drive the second motor (170) based on an average value of voltages input to the second motor (170).
  12. The vacuum cleaner (10) of claim 1, wherein the second motor (170) is an AC motor, and wherein the second controller (162) is configured to perform the second power line communication by adding a current ripple to a current input to the second motor (170) to change a magnitude and a frequency of a driving current of the AC motor from a DC component signal to an AC component signal.
  13. The vacuum cleaner (10) of claim 1, wherein the first controller (112) is configured to perform the first power line communication based on a trigger signal, and wherein the trigger signal includes at least one of a signal input by a user and a recognition signal generated by a state change of the vacuum cleaner (10).
  14. The vacuum cleaner (10) of claim 13, wherein the second controller (162) is configured to perform the second power line communication in order to transmit information indicating a performance state of an operation corresponding to information received through the first power line communication.
  15. The vacuum cleaner (10) of claim 1, wherein the first controller (112) is configured to perform the first power line communication at a predetermined time interval, and wherein the second controller (162) is configured to perform the second power line communication in order to transmit information indicating a performance state of an operation corresponding to information received through the first power line communication.

Description

Technical Field This disclosure relates a vacuum cleaner in which power line communication is performed between a main body and a nozzle. Background Art A vacuum cleaner is a device that performs cleaning by sucking or wiping dust or foreign substances in an area to be cleaned. Such a vacuum cleaner may be divided into a manual cleaner that a user directly moves to perform cleaning, and an automatic cleaner that the user performs cleaning while the automatic cleaner driving by itself. Further, manual vacuum cleaners may be classified into canister-type cleaners, upright-type cleaners, handy-type cleaners and stick-type cleaners, depending on the shape of the cleaner. Such a manual vacuum cleaner may include a stick that sucks in foreign substances through a nozzle, communicates with the nozzle, adjusts the length and provides a passage for foreign substances, a motor that provides power to suck foreign substances, a state determining part that determines states of the moving speed and the direction of the head, and a controller that controls the output of the motor. A user may attach and detach a main body including a motor that provides suction force and a nozzle. The type of the detachable cleaner head may be varied according to the use. In the case of using a vacuum cleaner, the power to suck foreign substances may be adjusted by changing an operation state of the nozzle according to a user's motion, and in order to achieve the target suction amount, the suction power of the motor may be adjusted according to the state of the nozzle. For example, when the vacuum cleaner is quickly moved in a state in which the motor output is constant, the amount of sucked foreign substances may be reduced compared to a case of moving the cleaner slowly, and if foreign substances adhere to the nozzle and interfere with the operation of the cleaning part, the amount of sucked foreign substances may be decreased. Therefore, it may be required to allow the nozzle to be driven in an operating state desired by the user through information exchange between the main body and the nozzle of the cleaner or to control the motor included in the main body adaptively to the cleaning environment. However, in order to perform a separate wired/wireless communication protocol (for example, wired communication, radio frequency (RF), ZigBee, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi) between various components included in a cleaner, additional writing is required in an conventional cleaner constitution, and thus structural limitations and cost constrains exist. Disclosure of Invention Technical Goals An aspect provides a vacuum cleaner capable of transmitting and receiving a predetermined signal between a body and a head through a power line communication method rather than a wired/wireless communication method that requires additional wiring. Technical solutions According to an aspect, there is provided a vacuum cleaner, including a main body including a power supply part configured to supply power, a first motor configured to generate suction force, and a first printed circuit board (PCB) on which the first controller is mounted, and a nozzle including a cleaning part, a second motor configured to drive the cleaning part and a second PCB equipped with a second controller, the nozzle configured to suck air containing foreign substances by the suction force, wherein a first power line communication from the first controller to the second controller is voltage pulse width modulation (PWM), and a second power line communication from the second controller to the first controller is a current shaping method. Effects According to example embodiments, provided is a vacuum cleaner that allows communication between a main body and a head without using a wired/wireless communication method that requires additional wiring in a situation where it is difficult to add additional hardware and has structural limitations. According to example embodiments, provided is a vacuum cleaner capable of transmitting and receiving signals between a main body and a head even when a low-specification controller is used. Brief Description of Drawings FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a vacuum cleaner in which a main body and a head communicate through a power line communication method according to an example embodiment.FIG. 2 illustrates a process of transmitting a signal from a nozzle to the main body through a second power line communication when a signal is transmitted from the main body to the nozzle through a first power line communication according to an example embodiment.FIG. 3 illustrates a process of transmitting a signal from the main body to the nozzle through the first power line communication when a signal is transmitted from the nozzle to the main body through the second power line communication according to an example embodiment.FIG. 4 illustrates a process in which the main body and the nozzle continuously communicate through the first power line communication and the second pow