Vacuum cleaner

Abstract

A vacuum cleaner includes an electric motor for driving a rotational brush for brushing dust particles from a surface to be cleaned, an electric blower for generating a suction air stream for sucking in the dust particles, a dust chamber for collecting the dust particles therein, a motor controller for controlling the electric motor, an input controller for controlling the electric blower, a current detector for detecting a current flowing through the motor controller, and a temperature detector for detecting a temperature of the electric motor. If the temperature of the electric motor increases over a predetermined temperature value, the electric motor is stopped and the stoppage of the electric motor is detected by the current detector.

1 . A vacuum cleaner comprising: 
 an electric motor for driving a rotational brush for brushing dust particles from a surface to be cleaned;    an electric blower for generating a suction air stream for sucking in the dust particles;    a dust chamber for collecting the dust particles therein;    a motor controller for controlling the electric motor;    an input controller for controlling the electric blower;    a current detector for detecting a current flowing through the motor controller; and    a temperature detector for detecting a temperature of the electric motor,    wherein if the temperature of the electric motor increases over a predetermined temperature value, the electric motor is stopped and the stoppage of the electric motor is detected by the current detector.    
     
     
         2 . The cleaner of  claim 1 , further comprising a switch for turning on and off an operation of the vacuum cleaner, wherein once the stoppage of the electric motor is detected by the current detector, the stoppage of the electric motor is maintained until the operation of the vacuum cleaner is turned off by the switch or a power supply to the vacuum cleaner is cut off.  
     
     
         3 . A vacuum cleaner comprising: 
 an electric motor for driving a rotational brush for brushing dust particles from a surface to be cleaned;    an electric blower for generating a suction air stream for sucking in the dust particles;    a dust chamber for storing the dust particles therein;    a motor controller for controlling the electric motor;    an input controller for controlling the electric blower;    a motor detector for detecting whether the electric motor is being driven or not; and    a temperature detector for detecting a temperature of the electric motor,    wherein the electric motor is stopped unless outputs from the motor detector and the temperature detector are in predetermined ranges.    
     
     
         4 . The cleaner of  claim 3 , wherein the motor detector and the temperature detector are connected in series.  
     
     
         5 . The cleaner of  claim 4 , further comprising a switch for turning on and off an operation of the vacuum cleaner, wherein once the electric motor is stopped because the outputs from the motor detector and the temperature detector are not in the predetermined ranges, the stoppage of the electric motor is maintained until the operation of the vacuum cleaner is turned off by using the switch or a power supply to the vacuum cleaner is cut off.  
     
     
         6 . The cleaner of  claim 2 , further comprising a driving switch for use in driving the electric motor manually, wherein if the temperature of the electric motor is reduced to or below a preset temperature value after the electric motor is stopped, the electric motor can be reset to be controllable by the motor controller by manipulating the driving switch.  
     
     
         7 . The cleaner of  claim 5 , further comprising a driving switch for use in driving the electric motor manually, wherein if the temperature of the electric motor is reduced to or below a preset temperature value after the electric motor is stopped, the electric motor can be reset to be controllable by the motor controller by manipulating the driving switch.  
     
     
         8 . The cleaner of  claim 6 , wherein, as for a determination value for use in stopping a driving signal from the motor controller in case the temperature of the electric motor increases and a determination value for use in allowing an output of the driving signal from the motor controller in case the temperature of the electric motor decreases, the two determination values are set to be differently changeable.  
     
     
         9 . The cleaner of  claim 7 , wherein, as for a determination value for use in stopping a driving signal from the motor controller in case the temperature of the electric motor increases and a determination value for use in allowing an output of the driving signal from the motor controller in case the temperature of the electric motor decreases, the two determination values are set to be differently changeable.