JP2018029054A - Cleaner charging station - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a charging station 1 for a cleaner 2.SOLUTION: A cleaner charging station comprises a station housing 3, a power supply connection unit 4 that is a power supply plug for connecting a charging station 2 to a voltage supply unit 5, and at least one charging unit 7 for transferring energy to a charging device 6 and a battery. In order to connect a cleaner 2 to a charging station 1 in a comfortable way, the station housing 3 has at least two housing components 8, 9 being mutually relatively displaceable, especially mutually rotatable, revolvable and/or linear displaceable, and among these, a first housing component 8 comprises the power supply connection unit 4, and a second housing component 9 comprises the charging unit 7, and the charging unit 7 is displaceable to the power supply connection unit 4 based on displacement of one housing component of the housing component 8, 9.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The invention comprises a station housing, a power connection, in particular a power plug for connecting the charging station to a voltage supply, a charger, and at least one charging unit for transferring energy to the battery. In particular, it relates to a charging station for a vacuum cleaner.

  The present invention further relates to a system comprising a charging station and a vacuum cleaner connectable to the charging station, the charging station comprising a station housing, a power connection for connecting the charging station to a voltage supply, and a charger. And at least one electrical charger for transferring energy to the vacuum cleaner battery.

  The invention further relates to a method for charging a vacuum cleaner battery using a charging station, wherein the charging station power connection is connected to a voltage supply and charging to transfer energy to the vacuum cleaner battery. The electrical charging part of the station is connected to the corresponding charging part of the vacuum cleaner.

  Charging stations for vacuum cleaners of the type described above are known techniques.

  The charging station is configured, for example, as a base station, to which a vacuum cleaner can be at least partially inserted, or a vacuum cleaner can be docked thereon for charging the battery. Furthermore, the charging station can also perform other service tasks at the same time, for example, to clean at least a part of the vacuum cleaner, in particular to empty the aspirant container.

  Known patent document 1 discloses, for example, a base station for a self-propelled device, which can be used to recharge the battery of the device and / or empty the dust chamber of the device. Is configured to do.

  Furthermore, charging stations are known in the prior art that only perform the task of recharging the vacuum cleaner battery. Such a charging station is shown in Patent Document 2, for example. This charging station has a connection part for connecting with a connection part of the vacuum cleaner. Each connecting part has a coil for energy transfer using inductive coupling. The connecting part of the charging station or the connecting part of the cleaner can also have a docking part that can be displaced relative to the charging station or the cleaner. A vacuum cleaner can be docked on this docking part, with the swivel area of the docking part causing an acceptable deviation from the optimal orientation of the charging station and vacuum cleaner, in which the battery is still charged. can do.

  Each known charging station has a certain distance between a power supply connection, i.e. a power plug for connection to an outlet, for example, and a charging part, e.g. an electrical contact or an electric coil generating a magnetic field. In that case, the position and / or orientation of the cleaner is pre-set by the outlet used for connecting the charging station or the location of the charging station, which is placed adjacent to each other for energy transfer. This is necessary for each charging part of the charging station and the vacuum cleaner that can be in contact with each other.

German Patent Application Publication No. 10 2010 017 258 US Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0201361

  Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a charging station in which the determination of the optimal orientation and / or position of each charging part is simplified.

  In order to achieve the above object, a charging station, particularly for a vacuum cleaner, is first presented. The station housing has at least two housing parts that are displaceable relative to one another, in particular rotatable, pivotable and / or linearly shiftable relative to one another, of which the first housing part is By providing the power supply connecting portion and the second housing part of them includes the charging part, the charging part can be displaced by the displacement of one of the housing parts relative to the power supply connecting part.

  In the present invention, a charging station is presented, according to which the distance between a power connection for connecting to a voltage supply, for example a household outlet, and a charging that can be connected to a vacuum cleaner can be changed. . Whether the housing shape of the charging station can be changed by the mutual displacement of different housing parts of the station housing, so that at the same time the charging part or the power supply connection arranged on those housing parts is also displaced Or spaced apart from each other. Thereby, for example, it is possible to overcome the distance between the charging station and the vacuum cleaner or its charging part. The distance cannot be overcome by the movement of the cleaner itself for various reasons. For example, the height difference between the charging station and the vacuum cleaner is a problem, because without the housing parts that can be displaced relative to each other according to the present invention, the vacuum cleaner can be docked in the charging section of the charging station. It cannot be overcome. This may be the case, for example, when the charging station is located at a high level, especially on the stage, or when the charging station is plugged directly into a household outlet in the form of a plug-in charger and the charging part of the charging station is vacuumed. This may occur when it is located above the corresponding charging part.

  Basically, the power supply connection part and the charging part can be connected to a plurality of housing parts of the station housing in various ways. In particular, the invention is such that both the power connection and the charging part are immovably arranged on each housing part so that each power connection or charging part can only be displaced by the displacement of the corresponding housing part. Related to various variations. However, alternatively, a power connection or charging part can also be connected to each housing part via a connection cable, which allows a given movement of the power connection or charging part relative to the housing part It is. In the latter case, both sides of the charging station so that the distance between the power connection and the charging part can be optimally adapted to the position and / or orientation of the cleaner and to transfer energy to the battery of the cleaner. The movement of the cable part is compensated for on the one hand and the displacement of the housing parts on the other hand so that the charging parts can be connected.

The displacement of the housing components of the charging station can be obtained in various ways. For example, the housing parts are rotatable relative to one another, pivotable relative to one another, or linearly displaceable or shiftable relative to one another. In order to make the housing parts rotatable relative to one another, they can be connected to one another via, for example, a rotating shaft, a screw or the like. Thus, the second housing part can be displaced, for example at an angle of 90 degrees, 180 degrees, 270 degrees, 360 degrees, or another angle range between them, so that the vacuum cleaner is relative to the charging station. It is also possible to connect the charging part of the vacuum cleaner to the charging part of the charging station, for example, when it is not facing the front, for example at an angle of 90 degrees to it.
Furthermore, the housing parts can also be pivoted together, for example by connecting the housing parts via a pivot axis, so that, for example, the second housing part can be pivoted away from the first housing part, i.e. for example folded. it can. This swivel function can be applied both in the horizontal direction, in the vertical direction, or in a direction away from them.
Furthermore, the housing parts can also enlarge or reduce at least one dimension of the station housing, for example by being able to shift relative to one another in the horizontal or vertical direction.
For example, the height of the station housing is increased by the vertical displacement of the housing components, so that the distance between the power supply connection portion and the charging portion in the vertical direction becomes larger, and the household outlet connecting the power supply connection portion From the living room to the floor area of the living room, which makes it possible to adapt to the respective height and geometry of the vacuum cleaner.

  In addition to the two housing parts, further displaceable housing parts can be provided, for example in the displaceable function of one or two housing parts, bridging the distance between the charging station and the vacuum cleaner. This is because it is insufficient. In this case, a plurality of housing parts are provided that are arranged forward and backward in the displacement direction. Furthermore, if necessary, it is also possible to place a housing part between two housing parts, for example charging it so that the charging part of the charging station is always too far from the charging part of the corresponding vacuum cleaner. This is the case where the connection position of the power connection section of the station exists. In particular, this may be the case when the charging station is formed as a plug-in charger and the intended household outlet is located above the general installation height.

  In the meaning of the invention, the charging part of the charging station or the vacuum cleaner can be an electrical charging contact or, for example, an inductively-coupled charging part with corresponding coils. In the latter case, there is no physical contact between the charging parts for energy transfer. However, the two coils are arranged relative to each other so that a voltage can be induced in the second coil by positioning the second coil in the magnetic field of the first coil.

  Although the present invention is described herein by way of example with reference to a charging station for a vacuum cleaner, the charging station can also be configured to charge the batteries of other devices. These devices are, for example, cameras, mobile phones, tools, and the like. However, in particular, it is recommended that the charging station according to the invention is for an automatic mobile device. These automatic mobile devices typically automatically determine their position and orientation relative to the charging station and are not moved there by the user. The meaning of the vacuum cleaner described here includes both a general-purpose dry cleaner such as a vacuum cleaner and a wet cleaner, or a combination thereof. These vacuum cleaners are used for cleaning the floor surface, for example, or for cleaning the upper part of the floor surface such as shelves, windows, skirting boards, for example. Particularly preferably, the cleaner can be driven automatically and can be moved towards the charging station using a navigation device.

  Furthermore, it is preferable that the distance between the power supply connection part and the charging part can be changed by arranging the housing parts in a nested manner. In this embodiment, two or more housing parts are inserted into one another so that the housing parts form a telescopic station housing and the extension of the station housing in the telescopic insertion direction can be changed. Or can be a small and compact charging station when multiple housing parts are pushed in to the maximum while extending the charging station several times by stretching the housing parts to the maximum possible Is possible. In particular, the telescoping configuration of the charging station is appropriate for the charging station when the end of the lower housing part in the vertical direction is to be pulled out towards the floor. If the charging station is formed, for example, in the form of a plug-in charger, the dimensions of the charging station in the vertical direction can be extended, for example, from a power connection located at a household outlet to a charging part of the second housing part So that the charging part can be lowered to a cleaner located below the charging station, where it can be connected to the corresponding charging part of the cleaner. It is preferable that the charging part of the charging station is arranged on the second housing part such that the second housing part protrudes away from the wall surface having the household outlet.

Furthermore, the power connection of the charging station is displaceable relative to the first housing part, in particular rotatable, pivotable and / or shiftable relative to the first housing part. Similarly, the charging part of the charging station can also be displaced relative to the second housing part, in particular rotatable, pivotable and / or shiftable relative to the second housing part. In this embodiment, not only the housing parts of the station housing can be displaced from each other, but also the power connection can be displaced relative to the first housing part and / or relative to the second housing part. The charging part can be displaced.
The power connection is rotatable with respect to the first housing part, so that the charging station can be connected to each household outlet, for example, and the household outlet can be either horizontally or vertically depending on the installation conditions. Regardless of having a counter contact arranged, it can face the vacuum cleaner located on the floor. For this purpose, for example, a rotatable range of 90 degrees plus or minus 10 degrees is sufficient. However, in principle, the rotation range may be 360 degrees.
Furthermore, the power supply connection portion can be turned with respect to the first housing component such that the power supply connection portion moves away from the wall surface or approaches the wall surface, for example. This embodiment is particularly suitable when the household outlet is for example arranged on the slope of the roof or the vacuum cleaner is located on an inclined surface.
Alternatively or simultaneously, the power connection can be arranged such that it can be shifted with respect to the first housing part, so that the power connection is located, for example, in the center of the housing surface. To the end region and at the same time the distance between the charging station power connection and the charging part can be extended or shrunk.
In a similar manner, the charging part can also be displaced with respect to the second housing part, for example to correct a positional deviation or a deviation from the optimum position or direction for connecting the vacuum cleaner to the charging station. can do. In particular, the displaceable functions of the plurality of housing parts are provided in different directions, such as the displaceable function of the power supply connection part with respect to the first housing part and / or the displaceable function of the charging part with respect to the second housing part. Is also preferred, whereby multiple degrees of freedom are available to adapt the charging station to the position and orientation of the cleaner.

Preferably, the charging station is formed as a plug-in charger. In this embodiment, the charging station can be connected directly to a household outlet. In that case, the charging station is not placed on the floor and is separated from the floor. Therefore, the charging station is incorporated in the home environment inconspicuously. Because this charging station is not a separate device placed on the floor of the room, it contributes to not hindering the operation of the cleaner.
The charging station is preferably substantially as large as a general purpose plug-in charger, preferably not more than 15 cm in terms of height and width parallel to the wall, more than 10 cm Is not particularly large. With respect to the thickness extending perpendicular to the wall surface, the charging station is preferably not larger than 10 cm, particularly preferably not larger than about 7 cm, so that the charging station protrudes too far into the space from the wall surface. There is nothing.

Furthermore, the charging station can be configured to have a determination / control device and a drive that is actuated using the determination / control device for automatic displacement of the housing parts. In this embodiment, the housing parts of the station housing can be automatically displaced. However, alternatively or simultaneously, a manually displaceable function by the user of the charging station can also be provided. The drive unit has, for example, an electric motor, which allows the housing parts to be displaced stepwise or steplessly. In particular, the determination / control device senses or determines the amount and direction of the most recently performed displacement and, after the battery has been charged, operates the drive in the reverse direction to cause the station housing to Return to the initial position of displacement.
Alternatively, a return member, in particular a spring member, can be provided for the reverse movement, which displaces the displaced housing part back to the initial position without intervention of the drive. Alternatively, this reverse movement can also occur when the charging station detects that the cleaner is no longer in a predetermined surrounding area of the charging station. In order to detect the presence of a vacuum cleaner in the surrounding area of the charging station, the charging station can have an optical sensor, an ultrasonic sensor or the like.

It is further presented that the charging station has a distance measuring device. This distance measuring device can be configured to detect the presence of the cleaner in the predetermined surrounding area of the charging station described above. The distance measuring device can comprise an optical sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a capacitive sensor or the like. The distance measuring device, for example, between the charging part of the charging station and the corresponding charging part or floor of the vacuum cleaner, depending on the current charging station position, in particular the position of the charging station plugged into a household outlet. The distance is estimated in advance, and it is configured to measure whether or not the distance can be bridged by using the displaceable function of the housing part and / or the power supply connection part or the charging part.
Using the distance measuring device and the determination / control device and the drive unit, an automatic displacement of the housing parts can occur so that the position and direction of the charging part of the charging station can be adapted to the current position and direction of the cleaner, Thereby, those charging parts can be aligned with each other, and energy can be transmitted from the charging station to the battery of the vacuum cleaner.
In particular, the charging station and the vacuum cleaner have corresponding communication parts, for example based on optical signals or high-frequency signals. As soon as the vacuum cleaner reaches the surrounding area of the charging station, its presence can be detected by a signal. In particular, the vacuum cleaner can also send a signal or command including a request to charge the battery to the charging station. Alternatively, however, a required contact can be provided on the charging station that can be activated by a vacuum cleaner. When the vacuum cleaner activates this contact, a displacement of the charging station housing part, power connection or charging part can be triggered. The required contact can be, for example, a probe disposed on a housing part of the station housing.

  In addition to the charging station described above, the present invention further provides a system comprising a charging station and a vacuum cleaner connected to the charging station. In that case, the charging station has a station housing, a power connection for connecting the charging station to the voltage supply, a charger, and at least one charging unit for transferring energy to the battery of the vacuum cleaner. . In that case, the station housing has at least two housing parts that are displaceable relative to each other, of which the first housing part comprises a power connection and the second housing part of which is charged. By providing the part, the charging part can be displaced with respect to the charging connection part and / or the charging part can be displaced with respect to the corresponding charging part of the vacuum cleaner by the displacement of the housing parts. . The system thus includes a charging station and a vacuum cleaner and / or a vacuum cleaner, for example a vacuum cleaner, and / or a suction wiping device, which are charged by a displacement of one of the housing parts of the station housing. Are configured to correspond to each other so that they can be docked to the charging part of the vacuum cleaner. In particular, the features described above with respect to the charging station apply correspondingly.

In particular, it is suggested that the vacuum cleaner and / or the charging station have a distance measuring device. The distance measuring device is configured to measure the distance between the charging station and the cleaner, in particular, the distance between the charging unit of the charging station and the charging unit of the cleaner. Accordingly, the distance measuring device determines the distance between the charging units that must be bridged so that the corresponding charging units can be connected to each other prior to the displacement of the housing part. Based on the measurement result by the distance measuring device, the displacement of the housing parts of the charging station and / or the displacement of the charging connection part and / or the displacement of the charging part on each housing part is then performed. For example, the charging units are suitable for connecting to each other through the shortest path. The charging station power connection and / or the displaceable function of the charging section is as described above with respect to the charging station features. The distance measuring device has elements of an optical sensor and / or an ultrasonic sensor. Furthermore, another sensor element is possible.
In particular, it is recommended that the distance measuring device is a distance measuring device of a vacuum cleaner, for example a triangulation device, which is used for mapping and navigation of the vacuum cleaner in the surrounding area. Therefore, it is not necessary to introduce an extra distance measuring device to the vacuum cleaner and / or the charging station. In that case, the vacuum cleaner can be configured to automatically find the charging station, that is, to use a measurement result of the distance measuring device, for example, using an optical signal, a high-frequency signal, or the like. In that case, the request for starting the charging station can be automatically transmitted, for example, by high-frequency communication between the charging station and the cleaner, in particular according to the state of charge of the battery of the cleaner. In this regard, user intervention in the form of instructions is also possible.

  Furthermore, it is presented that the charging station has a determination / control device and a drive that is actuated using the determination / control device for automatic displacement of the housing parts. In this case, the determination / control device is configured to operate the drive unit according to the measurement result of the distance measurement device. The features and operating modes of the determination / control device here are configured as described above for the charging station.

  Finally, according to the present invention, a method for charging a vacuum cleaner battery using a charging station is also presented. The charging station's power connection is connected to the voltage supply and the charging station's electrical charging is connected to the corresponding charging section of the cleaner to transfer energy to the cleaner's battery. In the present invention, a first housing part of at least two housing parts of a station housing of a charging station comprises a power connection and a second housing part of them comprises a charging part, and at least two of them. By displacing at least one of the housing parts, the charging part of the charging station is displaced with respect to the power connection and / or the charging part of the cleaner. In that case, further features of the method are as described above for the charging station according to the invention or for the system comprising the charging station and the vacuum cleaner. Due to the displacement of the housing part of the station housing of the charging station according to the present invention, the distance between the power connection of the charging station and the charging part can be changed, so that the charging part of the charging station is compatible with the vacuum cleaner. It is realized that it can be displaced towards or away from the live part.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a system including a charging station and a vacuum cleaner. FIG. 2 is a perspective view from the front of the charging station. FIG. 3 is a side view of the charging station. FIG. 4 is a perspective view from the back of the charging station. FIG. 5 is a diagram in which the power supply connection unit is rotated 90 degrees in the charging station of FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a side view of the system of FIG. 1 with the charging station and the vacuum cleaner connected. FIG. 7 shows a charging station according to the second embodiment. FIG. 8 is the charging station of FIG. 7 with the housing parts rotated.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to exemplary embodiments.
FIG. 1 shows a charging station, here formed as a plug-in charger and connected to a voltage supply 5 or wall outlet. The charging station 1 is connected with its weight on a wall outlet. The charging station 1 has a station housing 3 comprising a first housing part 8 and a second housing part 9. By inserting the second housing 9 into the first housing 8, the second housing 9 protrudes from the first housing 8 substantially only in the region of the two charging portions 7. The charging unit 7 is for connecting to a corresponding charging unit 11 of the cleaner 2 in order to charge a battery (not shown) of the cleaner 2.
The illustrated cleaner 2 includes at least wheels 15 (see FIG. 6) for automatic traveling, a brush 13 and a cleaning roller 14 (see FIG. 6) for floor cleaning. Furthermore, the vacuum cleaner 2 has a distance measuring device 12, here for example an optical triangulation system, with which the vacuum cleaner 2 measures the distance to obstacles in its surroundings and thereby the charging station. Distances up to 1 can also be measured. Although the vacuum cleaner 2 is configured here as a general-purpose cleaning robot, the vacuum cleaner 2 may be replaced with a wet wiping device or a suction wiping device. In particular, when the above-described configuration of the charging station 1 is not affected, another type of cleaner 2 can be assumed.

  FIG. 2 shows the charging station 1 separately, and a second housing 9 nested in the first housing 8 is indicated by a chain line. A charger 6 is provided inside the station housing 3. The charger 6 here is essentially a charging circuit that controls the charging process. The charger 6 is connected on the one hand to the charging part 7 of the second housing part 9 and on the other hand to be arranged in the first housing part 8 on the back of the illustrated charging station and to connect to the voltage supply 5. It connects with the power supply connection part 4 which functions. Here, the power connection 4 is a general-purpose power plug.

  FIG. 3 is a side view of the charging station 1. The back side of the first housing part 8 of the station housing 3 with the power connection 4 or power plug can be seen from this figure. Furthermore, a second housing part 9 having a charging part 7 and inserted into the first housing part 8 can also be seen. Inside the station housing 3, a charger 6 is further arranged, and a drive unit 10 for displacing the second housing part 9 relative to the first housing part 8 is arranged. The drive part 10 is an electric motor here. Although not shown, the charging station 1 has a determination / control device, which can be used to control the drive unit 10 for the displacement of the second housing component 9. The charger 6, the determination / control device, and the drive unit 10 are substantially disposed inside the second housing part 9, and the second housing part 9 is substantially a rectangular parallelepiped having an open end surface. The relative displacement of the housing parts 8, 9 does not cause a collision between the drive unit 10, the charger 6 and / or the determination / control device and the second housing 9.

  4 and 5 are rear views of the charging station 1 including the power connection 4 disposed in the first housing 8 in relation to FIG. The power supply connection portion 4 is disposed on the housing component 8 so as to be rotatable around the rotation shaft 17. In that case, FIG. 4 shows a vertically oriented state of the power supply connecting portion 4, while FIG. 5 shows a horizontally oriented state of the charging connecting portion 4. Since the charging connection portion 4 is rotatable, the charging station 1 can correspond to an outlet having an opposing contact point in either the horizontal direction or the vertical direction.

FIG. 6 shows a system comprising the charging station 1 and the vacuum cleaner in a state where the vacuum cleaner 2 is connected to the charging station 1. In that case, the charging units 7 and 11 corresponding to the charging station 1 and the vacuum cleaner 2 are connected to each other. The corresponding charging parts 7, 11 are electrical contacts here. However, the charging units 7 and 11 can also be formed as coils that inductively couple the charging station 1 and the cleaner 2. In order to connect the charging units 7 and 11 to each other, first, the cleaner 2 moves to the vicinity of the charging station 1, and the distance measuring device 12 is used to determine the distance to the surrounding object, that is, the distance to the charging station 1. measure. Further, the charging station 1 and the vacuum cleaner 2 also have corresponding communication parts (not shown), for example, a high frequency transmitter and a high frequency receiver, and using these signals, the vacuum cleaner 2 is similar to the charging station 1. The charging station 1 can recognize the vacuum cleaner 2.
When the vacuum cleaner 2 detects the presence of the charging station 1 and / or the distance measuring device 12 detects the distance and direction of the charging station 1 relative to the vacuum cleaner 2, the vacuum cleaner 2 immediately begins with the wheel 15 and the corresponding drive or Move to the charging station 1 using the corresponding control. Here, the charging station 1 obtains information on the position and direction of the charging unit 11 of the cleaner 2 through, for example, a corresponding communication unit, and the information is processed by the determination / control device of the charging station 1. In that case, the determination / control device calculates the distance between the current position and direction of the charging unit 7 of the charging station 1 and the current position and direction of the cleaner 2. On the basis of this calculated distance, the determination / control device subsequently controls the drive 10 to displace the second housing part 9 relative to the first housing part 8. In order to displace, the drive unit 10 pushes the second housing part 9 out of the first housing part 8, that is, pushes it downward in the vertical direction. As a result, the extension of the station housing 3 in the vertical direction is performed in a nested manner. Simultaneously with the displacement, the charging part 7 arranged in the second housing part 9 of the charging station 1 is also displaced downward until they are located in the horizontal plane where the charging part 11 of the cleaner 2 is located. If necessary, fine adjustment by the vacuum cleaner 2, for example, movement of the vacuum cleaner 2 of several millimeters, is performed, so that the charging units 7 and 11 can come into contact with each other. Furthermore, in order to correct the angular difference between the charging parts 7, 11 as required, the housing parts 8, 9 can be swiveled slightly around the horizontal axis and / or the vertical axis.

  As soon as the charging parts 7, 11 are connected to each other, the charger 6 controls the charging process until the battery of the cleaner 2 is fully charged.

  After the charging process, the vacuum cleaner 2 is removed from the charging station 1 again, and the second housing part 9 returns to the initial state shown in FIGS. For this purpose, the determination / control device of the charging station 1 controls the drive unit 10 so that the displacement previously performed for the extension of the station housing 3 is reversed. Therefore, it is preferable that the magnitude and direction of the displacement performed before that are stored in the storage unit of the determination / control apparatus.

  Finally, FIGS. 7 and 8 show a second embodiment of the charging station 1, which likewise has a first housing part 8 and a second housing part 9. The first housing part 8 has a power connection 4, ie here a power plug, while the second housing part 9 carries an electrical charging part 7. The second housing part 9 is rotatable about a rotation axis 18 with respect to the first housing part 8. For this purpose, a sliding contact 16 is arranged between the two housing parts 8 and 9, which allows the current flow of the housing parts 8 and 9 that can be displaced relatively to each other by means of a slide coupling method. . Since the second housing component 9 has an asymmetric shape with respect to the rotating shaft 18 here, the charging unit 7 faces the upper right in the state shown in FIG. 7, and faces the lower right in the state shown in FIG. In order to displace from the state shown in FIG. 7 to the state shown in FIG. 8, the second housing part 9 is rotated 180 degrees around the rotation axis 18. According to this embodiment, the vacuum cleaner 2 can be connected to the charging station 1 at different positions or directions. This relates in particular to the position of the vacuum cleaner 2 with respect to the charging station 1 inclined relative to the horizontal or vertical.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Charging station 2 Vacuum cleaner 3 Station housing 4 Power supply connection part 5 Voltage supply device 6 Charging apparatus 7 Charging part 8 1st housing part 9 2nd housing part 10 Drive part 11 Charging part 12 Distance measuring device 13 Brush 14 Cleaning roller 15 Wheel 16 Slide contact 17 Rotating shaft 18 Rotating shaft

Claims (10)

In particular, a charging station (1) for the vacuum cleaner (2) comprising a station housing (3) and a power connection (which is a power plug for connecting the charging station (1) to the voltage supply (5) ( In said charging station (1), comprising 4), a charger (6) and at least one charging part (7) for transferring energy to the battery,
The station housing (3) has at least two housing parts (8, 9) that are displaceable relative to each other, rotatable relative to each other, pivotable and / or linearly shiftable, Of these, the first housing part (8) comprises a power connection (4) and of these the second housing part (9) comprises a charging part (7), whereby the charging part ( 7) can be displaced with respect to the power supply connection (4) by displacement of one of the first and second housing parts (8, 9). Charging station (1 ).   The first and second housing parts (8, 9) are arranged in a nested manner so that the distance between the power supply connection part (4) and the charging part (7) can be changed. Charging station (1) according to claim 1.   The power connection (4) is displaceable such that it can rotate, pivot and / or linearly shift relative to the first housing part (8) and / or the charging part (7) Charging station (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it is displaceable so as to be rotatable, pivotable and / or linearly shiftable with respect to the second housing part (9). .   Charging station (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the charging station (1) is formed as a plug-in charger.   5. A determination / control device for automatic displacement of a housing part (8, 9) and a drive (10) operable with the determination / control device. Charging station (1) according to crab.   The charging station (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a distance measuring device. A system comprising a charging station (1) and a vacuum cleaner (2) connectable to the charging station (1), wherein the charging station (1) applies voltage to the station housing (3) and the charging station (1). Having a power connection (4) for connection to the supply (5), a charger (6), and at least one charging part (7) for transferring energy to the battery of the cleaner (2); In the system,
The station housing (3) has at least two housing parts (8, 9) that are displaceable relative to each other, of which the first housing part (8) comprises a power connection (4). And the second housing part (9) of them comprises a charging part (7), whereby the charging part (7) is one of the first and second housing parts (8, 9). System characterized in that it can be displaced with respect to the power supply connection (4) and / or with respect to the corresponding charging part (11) of the cleaner (2) by displacement of one housing part.   The vacuum cleaner (2) and / or the charging station (1) is connected to the distance between the charging station (1) and the vacuum cleaner (2), in particular the charging part (7) of the charging station (1) and the vacuum cleaner (2). The system according to claim 7, comprising a distance measuring device (12) configured to measure a distance between the charging parts (11).   The charging station (1) has a determination / control device and a drive unit (10) operable with the determination control device for automatic displacement of the housing parts (8, 9). The system according to claim 8, wherein the system is configured to operate the drive unit (10) based on a measurement result of the distance measuring device (12). A method for charging a battery of a vacuum cleaner (2) using a charging station (1), wherein a charging connection (4) of the charging station (1) is connected to a voltage supply (5), In said method, the electrical charging part (7) of the charging station (1) is connected to the corresponding charging part (11) of the vacuum cleaner (2) for transferring energy to the battery of the vacuum cleaner (2) ,
Of the at least two housing parts (8, 9) of the station housing (3) of the charging station (1), the first housing part (8) comprises a power connection (4) and the second housing part (9 ) Comprises a charging part (7), the charging part (7) of the charging station (1) to the power supply connection part (4) and / or to the charging part (11) of the vacuum cleaner (2) A method, characterized in that at least one of the at least two housing parts (8, 9) is displaced so that it can be displaced.

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