6021results about "Floor sweeping machines" patented technology

A robot cleaner system having an improved docking structure to allow a dust discharge port of a robot cleaner to come into close contact with a dust suction port of a docking station without an additional drive device. The robot cleaner system includes a robot cleaner having a dust discharge port, a docking station having a dust suction port to suction dust collected in the robot cleaner, and a docking device to perform a seesaw movement as it comes into contact with the robot cleaner when the robot cleaner docks with the docking station, so as to allow the dust suction port to come into close contact with the dust discharge port. The docking device further includes a link member installed in the docking station in a pivotally rotatable manner. The link member has one end provided with a contact portion to come into contact with the robot cleaner, and the other end provided with a docking portion defining the dust suction port therein.

An autonomous floor-cleaning robot comprising a housing infrastructure including a chassis, a power subsystem; for providing the energy to power the autonomous floor-cleaning robot, a motive subsystem operative to propel the autonomous floor-cleaning robot for cleaning operations, a command and control subsystem operative to control the autonomous floor-cleaning robot to effect cleaning operations, and a self-adjusting cleaning head subsystem that includes a deck mounted in pivotal combination with the chassis, a brush assembly mounted in combination with the deck and powered by the motive subsystem to sweep up particulates during cleaning operations, a vacuum assembly disposed in combination with the deck and powered by the motive subsystem to ingest particulates during cleaning operations, and a deck adjusting subassembly mounted in combination with the motive subsystem for the brush assembly, the deck, and the chassis that is automatically operative in response to an increase in brush torque in said brush assembly to pivot the deck with respect to said chassis. The autonomous floor-cleaning robot also includes a side brush assembly mounted in combination with the chassis and powered by the motive subsystem to entrain particulates outside the periphery of the housing infrastructure and to direct such particulates towards the self-adjusting cleaning head subsystem.

An vacuum cleaning robot has a drive system adapted to autonomously move a base housing along a horizontal surface and is controlled by a computer processing unit. A dusting assembly is mounted to the base housing and is adapted to selectively rest on a surface to be cleaned. A suction source draws dirt and debris through a suction nozzle and deposits the same in the recovery tank. A power source is connected to the drive system and to the computer processing unit. The computer processing unit is adapted to direct horizontal movement of the base housing within boundaries of the surface to be cleaned based upon input data defining said boundaries.

An autonomous mobile robot cleaner that can thoroughly clean an area of high dust concentration. The robot cleaner includes a dust sensor to detect collected dust and a dust concentration decision means to decide degree of dust concentration in the area in which the main body of the robot cleaner moves based on an output of the dust sensor. The robot cleaner performs a basic cleaning operation while moving according to a predetermined movement procedure. When it finds an area in which the degree of dust concentration is above a given value using the dust concentration decision means during the basic cleaning operation, it additionally performs a local cleaning operation to move locally in such area after its movement in accordance with the basic cleaning operation.

The invention provides a cleaning robot and a cleaning method thereby. On the basis of acquired detection data and the current position and gesture data, the method comprises the following steps of: determining a preset point as the original point of a map; acquiring boundary data of a wall or an obstacle near the wall to generate the boundary of the map; performing first ergodic operation in the boundary of the map in a preset ergodic mode; if encountering an isolated obstacle, acquiring position and outline data by surrounding the isolated obstacle; identifying regions which can be cleaned in the map boundary according to the position and outline data and the boundary data; at the same time of or after the first ergodic operation, cleaning according to the preset cleaning mode; identifying the non-cleaning regions in the cleaning regions according to the cleaning route; and then cleaning the non-cleaning regions. Compared with the conventional blind cleaning methods, the cleaning method has the advantage of greatly improving cleaning efficiency.

A cartridge is disclosed comprising a reel-to-reel roll of cleaning material, for use in a hand-held or robotic cleaning device. The cartridge provides either an electrostatic dust cloth or wet mop, and includes a fluid reservoir for maintaining the wet mop cloth during use. A dust bin is also provided on the cartridge, and includes a hinged lid for providing selective access to the dust inside of the bin. A motor, optical sensor, and fluid pump inside of a cleaning apparatus control the operation of the reel-to-reel cloth, and control fluid delivery to the wet cloth.

A robot cleaner system for detecting an external recharging apparatus which is positioned in a non-detectable area by an upper camera thereof, and a docking method for docking the robot cleaner system with the external recharging apparatus. The robot cleaner system includes an external recharging apparatus with a power terminal connected to a utility power supply, a recharging apparatus recognition mark formed on the external recharging apparatus, and a robot cleaner, having a recognition mark sensor that detects the recharging apparatus recognition mark, and a rechargeable battery. The robot cleaner automatically docks to the power terminal to recharge the rechargeable battery. The recharging apparatus recognition mark is made of retroreflective material or a metal tape, and the recognition mark sensor may be a photosensor or a proximity sensor.

In a brush assembly of a cleaner including plural brushes arranged at the bottom surface of a cleaner body radially at regular intervals; plural supporting shafts for rotatively supporting the brushes; and a driving unit connected to the brushes in order to rotate the brushes, by arranging the plural brushes radially, dust and filth can be collected in a wider region, and accordingly a cleaning performance can be improved. In addition, by forming the brushes as a curved shape, it is possible to compact a size of the cleaner.

In a self-traveling cleaner of the present invention, a cleaning mechanism includes a brush mechanism rotatable along a floor surface and a driving mechanism for rotatingly driving the brush mechanism. The brush mechanism includes a rotation axis extending perpendicular to the floor surface, one arm projecting laterally from a lower end of the rotation axis, and a brush planted on the arm. The rotation axis is provided within a reverse side of the main body, and the arm has a rotation angle range in which the arm projects outwardly from an outer periphery of the main body and a rotation angle range in which the arm is contained within the outer periphery of the main body.

A remote control sweeper includes a wireless remote control receiver installed at the sweeper; a remote control for transmitting a direction control signal to the remote control receiver via a wireless transmission to control the moving direction of the sweeper, such that the sweeper can be moved to automatically clean up the dirt and collect the dust on a floor.

A brush roll is rotatably supported by bearings in a housing of a cleaning brush tool. One of the bearings is incorporated in a removable bearing arrangement that can be rotationally fastened and removed as needed on a cylindrical end of the housing. Preferably collar elements protruding cylindrically from the removable bearing arrangement form bayonet-type catch hooks that selectively engage with bayonet-type catch elements protruding radially outwardly from the cylindrical end sleeve of the housing. A detent on the housing engages a securing element on the removable bearing arrangement to secure the engaged bayonet-type fastening arrangement against rotational release thereof.

A floor cleaner is provided for cleaning a floor, where the floor cleaner has a front and a rear and includes: a sweeper for sweeping the floor; a scrubber, connected to the sweeper and located in the rear of the sweeper, for wetting and cleaning the floor; and a burnisher, connected to the scrubber and located in the rear of the scrubber, for burnishing the floor.

The present invention is a system for and method of providing an autonomously mobile air purifier and surface cleaner in combination with a source of air fragrance in a single device for home or office use. The autonomously mobile air and surface cleaner and fragrancing system includes an air purifier, a fragrancer, a floor cleaner, an input means, a power system, operational and auxiliary sensors, robotics that drive and steer the device, and a central controller operatively connected to each of the aforementioned items to control the operation of the device. The present invention also provides a method for the operation of the device using the air purifier, fragrancer, floor cleaner and robotics to clean a room, and for modifying the operation of the device in response to signals sent from the sensors or from the input means.

A cleaning apparatus and a dust collecting method using the same are provided. The cleaning apparatus includes a body, a brush unit rotatably provided at the body, a dust collecting unit to store contaminants, such as dust, swept by the brush unit, and a blowing unit to suction contaminants, such as dust, scattered by the brush unit and to move the suctioned contaminants to the dust collecting unit.

The robot cleaner includes a main body configured to remove dust from a floor while traveling on the floor, the main body having a lateral rim defining the external appearance of a lateral surface of the robot cleaner, and at least one side brush assembly mounted to the main body to clean the corner of the floor. The side brush assembly includes a side arm pivotably coupled to the main body, the side arm moving between a first position where the side arm is inserted into the main body and a second position where the side arm protrudes outward from the lateral rim of the main body, a brush unit provided at the side arm to sweep the floor, and a rim cover coupled to the side arm to form a part of the lateral rim of the main body when the side arm is inserted into the main body.

A vacuum cleaner with a rotatable wet cloth cleaning unit. The vacuum cleaner is capable of not only cleaning dust, but also removing stubborn dirt such as a foreign substance stuck in a floor surface to be cleaned. The robot cleaner has a robot cleaner body which as a control unit programmed to cause the robot cleaner to automatically run along a floor surface to be cleaned and perform a cleaning operation in accordance with preset values. The robot cleaner further includes a driving portion driven in accordance with a control signal from the control unit and a dust suction portion for capturing and collecting dust by a suction motor. The robot cleaner has a rotatable wet cloth cleaning unit detachably secured to a lower surface of the robot cleaner body.

A floor scrubber includes a forward cylindrical brush with adjustable down pressure. The cylindrical brush is sprayed uniformly with a controlled amount of water or solution and moves debris forward with a direct propelling action into a collection hopper. A set of three disc brushes is located behind the cylindrical brush, followed by a suction liquid recovery device for suctioning spent solution. A control system allows independent use of the forward cylindrical brush, or the rear disc brush set, or all brushes. A floor-engaging flap having a central opening extends transverse of the machine behind the cylindrical brush to channel water from the cylindrical brush to the disc brush set and then to the suction recovery device.

A robot cleaner that is capable of preventing dust collected in a dust tank from flowing backward outside when a situation in which the dust may be discharged outside occurs includes a cleaner body, a dust tank mounted in the cleaner body to collect dust, and a backward-flow preventing device to prevent dust from flowing backward outside through a suction port of the dust tank. The backward-flow preventing device includes a shutter unit to open and close the suction port and a stopper unit to drive the shutter unit.

A cleaning implement for cleaning a soft or a hard surface comprises a handle, a sweeper head, rotating blades and a collection bin. The bottom wall of the collection bin includes an opening that is covered by a cleaning sheet during the cleaning operation. The height of this bottom wall relative to the surface being cleaned is adjustable by a user. The cleaning implement can be used with a disposable cleaning sheet, which includes protrusions that are capable of removing entangled hair from a carpet surface.

The invention discloses a control method and system for a sweeping robot, a cloud server and the sweeping robot. The control method comprises the following steps that the sweeping robot takes a ground image of the ground inside a room, and uploads the ground image to the cloud server; the cloud server analyzes the ground image to obtain a to-be-cleaned area and the ground dirtying degree of the ground inside the room; the cloud server judges whether the ground dirtying degree is greater than a first preset threshold value or not; when the ground dirtying degree is greater than the first preset threshold value, the cloud server sends the to-be-cleaned area to the sweeping robot; and the sweeping robot cleans the to-be-cleaned area. According to the method provided by the invention, the current environmental condition can be judged automatically, and cleaning is carried out according to the current environmental condition, so that the cleaning for the ground is realized in the real sense, and the practicability is strong.

The invention relates to the technical field of cleaning robots, and particularly relates to a base station and a cleaning robot system. The base station provided by the invention is arranged independent of a cleaning robot of the cleaning robot system, and further, the base station comprises a base station body and a mopping-wiping member cleaning device, wherein the mopping-wiping member cleaning device is arranged on the base station body; the mopping-wiping member cleaning device is used for cleaning a mopping-wiping member, which is used for mopping and wiping a ground surface, of the cleaning robot. Based on the base station provided by the invention, the cleaning robot system can realize the automatic cleaning on the mopping-wiping member; a user does not need to frequently replace and wash the mopping-wiping member any more; thus, the further extrication of the user from the cleaning process of the ground surface is facilitated; the cleaning load of the user is lightened; the realization of the more timely cleaning on the mopping-wiping member is also facilitated; the influence on a mopping-wiping effect as the mopping-wiping member is not replaced and washed in time is prevented.

The invention relates to a ground cleaning robot. The ground cleaning robot comprises a charging seat and a robot main body, wherein a transmission unit is arranged on the charging seat and comprises a pair of lateral transmitting elements which are arranged on the left side and the right side of the charging seat; each lateral transmitting element can alternatively transmit far signals and near signals with the same transmission angle and different transmission radiuses; the far signals and the near signals respectively form a far signal coverage area and a near signal coverage area; the right side part of the far signal coverage area on the left side and the left side part of the far signal coverage area on the right side are overlapped to form a butt joint area; the robot main body comprises rechargeable batteries and a receiving unit; the receiving unit at least comprises three receiving elements; the three receiving elements are respectively arranged at the front end, the front end left side and the front end right side of the robot main body. With arrangement of the three receiving elements and the two lateral transmitting elements on the charging seat, the robot can utilize a simple method to realize charging butt joint between the robot main body and the charging seat.

A robot cleaner and controlling method thereof are disclosed. Accordingly, a cleaning area is partitioned with reference to a door by recognizing the door and the partitioned cleaning areas can be cleaned in consecutive order. The present invention includes the steps of deriving a door location in a cleaning area through an image information, composing a cleaning map by detecting an obstacle in the cleaning area, creating a room information for distinguishing a plurality of rooms partitioned with reference to the door from each other by having the derived door location reflected in the cleaning map, and performing a cleaning by room units distinguished from each other through the room information.

The present invention is a system for and method of providing an autonomously mobile air purifier and surface cleaner in combination with a source of air fragrance in a single device for home or office use. The autonomously mobile air and surface cleaner and fragrancing system includes an air purifier, a fragrancer, a floor cleaner, an input means, a power system, operational and auxiliary sensors, robotics that drive and steer the device, and a central controller operatively connected to each of the aforementioned items to control the operation of the device. The present invention also provides a method for the operation of the device using the air purifier, fragrancer, floor cleaner and robotics to clean a room, and for modifying the operation of the device in response to signals sent from the sensors or from the input means.

The invention provides a planning method of a cleaning robot cleaning route and a cleaning robot. The planning method comprises the steps as follows: S100, a first detection result of a current location is acquired; S200, a first environment map is generated according to the first detection result, and a first cleaning route is generated according to the first environment map; S300, the cleaning robot performs cleaning according to the first cleaning route; S400, a second detection result of a next current position is acquired in a cleaning process; S500, a second environment map is generated according to the second detection result, and a second cleaning route is generated according to the first environment map and the second environment map; S600, cleaning is performed according to the second cleaning route, and the steps S400-S600 are executed repeatedly until cleaning of a to-be-cleaned area is completed. According to the planning method and the cleaning robot, cleaning and detecting are executed simultaneously by the cleaning robot, the cleaning route is updated in real time, cleaning efficiency is improved, and resources are saved.

A self-propelled vacuum cleaner having right and left side brushes for directing dust on a floor surface toward the inside of the bottom of the cleaner body. The right side brush rotates in a counterclockwise direction as viewed from top on a rotary shaft, which is tilted so that the lower end is located toward the right of and the rear of the cleaner body as compared with the upper end. The left side brush rotates in a clockwise direction as viewed from top on a rotary shaft, which is tilted so that the lower end is located toward the left of and the rear of the cleaner body as compared with the upper end. The tilted rotary shafts can prevent the outer portions of the side brushes at their rear portions from contacting a floor surface, thereby preventing dust collected by the front portions of the side brushes from being scattered to the outside of the cleaner body by the rear portions of the brushes.

A method for docking an autonomous mobile floor cleaning robot with a charging dock, the robot including a receiver coil and a structured light sensor, the charging dock including a docking bay and a transmitter coil, includes: positioning the robot in a prescribed docked position in the docking bay using the structured light sensor and by sensing a magnetic field emanating from the transmitter coil; and thereafter induction charging the robot using the receiver coil and the transmitter coil with the robot in the docked position.

A cleaning apparatus includes a housing to be moved along a surface to be cleaned. Within the housing, a cleaning ribbon is disposed between a supply reel and a take-up reel. A portion of the cleaning ribbon is held parallel to, and in substantial contact with, the surface to be cleaned, for attracting and retaining smaller debris. Another portion of the cleaning ribbon is configured to create a particle trap. A rotatable brush, also disposed within the housing, sweeps larger debris into the particle trap. The supply reel, the take-up reel, the cleaning ribbon, and / or the rotatable brush are alternatively included in a cartridge which is detachably secured within the housing.