4621results about "Suction nozzles" patented technology

A vacuum cleaner having a handle with a handle air passage, a base attached to a first end of the handle by an articulating joint and having a base inlet positioned to face a surface to be cleaned, a base air passage extending from the base inlet and past the articulated joint by a flexible hose and to the handle air passage, a dirt collection assembly associated with the handle and in fluid communication with the handle air passage, a fan associated with the handle and in fluid communication with the handle air passage, and a motor associated with the handle and adapted to drive the fan to thereby generate an airflow through the base inlet, flexible hose, handle air passage, and dirt collection assembly. The flexible hose has a generally rectangular cross-section along a substantial portion thereof.

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.

A robotic vacuum cleaner (10) with a self-propelled controller (12) with a vacuum source (36, 38) and a dirt receptacle (32), a self-propelled cleaning head (14) with a suction inlet (24), and an interconnecting hose (16) is provided. The controller and cleaning head cooperatively traverse a surface area in tandem when the interconnecting hose is connected between the cleaning head and the controller. In one embodiment, the controller includes a power source (56) making the robotic vacuum autonomous. In another embodiment, the controller includes a power cord dispense / retract assembly (168) to provide access to utility power. In another aspect, the controller includes a portable vacuum (20) that is removed for manual operations. In still another aspect, a method of semi-automated environment mapping for a self-propelled robotic vacuum is provided. With respect to the method, the robotic vacuum also includes a remote control (18).

A vacuum cleaner has a suction nozzle, a housing connected to the suction nozzle and a suction fan and motor assembly mounted to the housing. A dirt collecting receptacle is mounted to the housing and is in communication with the suction nozzle and suction fan and motor assembly. A support plate is pivotally mounted to the housing and selectively holds a cleaning sheet for collecting dust and debris from a surface to be cleaned.

A battery-powered, upright vacuum sweeper comprises a base assembly and a handle pivotably attached thereto. The base assembly comprises a vacuum fan assembly fluidly communicating with an inlet for vacuuming dust and the debris particles from a surface into a removable reservoir. A rotating roller brush attached to the base assembly sweeps the particles into the inlet. A dust pad assembly comprises a disposable dust cloth extending over a portion of the base assembly in contact with the surface to be cleaned for removing dust particles which are not removed by vacuuming.

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.

A self-propelling cleaner 1 performs dust removal processing in which a comb is brought close to a rotary brush with prescribed timing and dust is removed from the rotary brush. In the dust removal processing, the comb is slid in such a direction as to come closer to the brush, even dust that is stuck to the base portions of bristles of the rotary brush can be removed. A self-propelling cleaner is provided that is free of an event that it performs cleaning in a state that a large amount of dust is stuck to the rotary brush.

A substrate cleaning apparatus includes a supporting unit, provided in a processing chamber having a gas exhaust port, for supporting a substrate; one or more nozzle units, each for ejecting gas clusters to a peripheral portion of the substrate supported by the supporting unit to remove unnecessary substances from the peripheral portion; and a moving mechanism for changing relative positions of the supporting unit and the nozzle unit during ejecting the gas clusters. Each nozzle unit discharges a cleaning gas having a pressure higher than that in the processing chamber so that the cleaning gas is adiabatically expanded to form aggregates of atoms and / or molecules.

An autonomous vacuum cleaner comprising a main body comprising a dirty air inlet, a clean air outlet, an airflow path extending between the dirty air inlet and the clean air outlet, a separating apparatus arranged in the airflow path between the dirty air inlet and the clean air outlet, and an airflow generator for generating an airflow along the airflow path from the dirty air inlet to the clean air outlet. The airflow generator has a discharge portion which discharges airflow into a chamber formed in the main body, the chamber including an opening that is closable by a removable panel, wherein a power source is receivable within the chamber formed in the main body and is removable from the chamber through the opening.

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.

Only when a wall side and the vicinity of an obstacle are cleaned, a side brush is operated and the cleaning is carried out, and when any other place than the wall side and the vicinity of the obstacle is cleaned, the side brush is maintained in a stoppage state. When a place such as the wall side or the vicinity of the obstacle in which dust is easy to accumulate is cleaned, the side brush is operated to enhance the dust collecting property. When any other place than the wall side or the vicinity of the obstacle is cleaned, the side brush is stopped to suppress power consumption and generation of a noise. A judgment processing portion detects based on a detection signal from an obstacle detecting portion that a cleaner is approaching a wall or an obstacle. In response to such detection, the judgment processing portion instructs a travel steering portion to carry out immediate rotation and change of a travel direction, or travel along a wall side. Also, the judgment processing portion instructs a side brush driving portion to drive a side brush only in the rotation and in the wall side travel, and to stop the side brush in straight advance travel.

A carrier, such as an autonomous cleaning apparatus, has a self-adjusting wheel assembly that can move vertically, thereby enabling the carrier to readily pass over a surface. The wheel assembly may include microswitch, which activates a control mechanism for the carrier when a wheel assembly is in a predetermined position along its path of vertical movement. Rollers can be located at the bottom of the carrier to function in cooperation with the wheel assemblies so as to facilitate the ability of the carrier to pass over obstacles. This ability may be enhanced by constructing the bottom of the front portion of the carrier so that it is slanted or inclined upwardly in a direction outward from the bottom of the carrier. A driving wheel may be rotatably attached to a wheel support, and which may also support a power source and a transmission.

A dust-collectable mobile robotic vacuum cleaner includes a base frame, a driving device mounted to the base frame, a control device mounted to the base frame and electrically connected with the driving device, a collision-detectable unit mounted to the base frame electrically connected with the control device, and a dust-collecting device mounted to the base frame. The dust-collecting device has dust-collecting box, a dust guider, a round brush, and a dust entrance formed at one side of the dust-collecting box. The dust guider is located at a lower edge of the dust entrance, having two opposite sides pivotably mounted to the dust-collecting box and lying against the ground at a predetermined angle respectively, for upward and downward pivoting movement. The round brush is rotatably located at a front end of the dust guider for sweeping dust particles.

Cleaning apparatus includes a cleaning head, a light source and a light guide. The cleaning head has a flexible contact member including photo-activating catalyst (photocatalyst). The light source emits short wave light rays to activate the photocatalyst. The light guide transmits the light rays from the light source to the contact member(brushes). The cleaning head may have a transparent brush supporter to support a group of brushes with many photocatalyst particles. The light guide may preferably include a transparent rod and / or an optical fiber. The cleaning apparatus may be applied for a vacuum cleaner. Therefore, such dirty component can be cleaned as bacteria, molds etc. by use of the cleaning apparatus of the invention.

A motor, fan and cyclonic separation apparatus arrangement for a vacuum cleaner, the arrangement comprising: a motor coupled to a fan for generating air flow; and a cyclonic separation apparatus located in a path of the air flow generated by the fan, wherein the cyclonic separation apparatus comprises: a plurality of cyclones each with an air inlet port and an air outlet port wherein the cyclones are arranged in a generally circular array about a central axis of the cyclonic separation apparatus; and a cooling air flow path, wherein the motor is nested within the generally circular array of cyclones and wherein the motor is located in the cooling air flow path. A vacuum cleaner comprising the motor, fan and cyclonic separation apparatus arrangement.

A cleaning appliance includes a housing with a brushroll and a wheel mounted thereto. A floor-type sensor is disposed within a mounting tube secured to the housing. The floor-type sensor emits sonic energy toward a surface being traversed by the cleaning appliance and receives corresponding sonic energy reflected by the surface. A comparator, electrically coupled to the floor-type sensor, compares the received reflected sonic energy to one or more associated predetermined values to determine the type of surface being traversed. A processor analyzes the results of the comparison and controls at least one of a suction fan, said wheel and said brushroll, based at least in part on the analysis.

An apparatus is provided, which includes a mobile body configured to travel over a surface, a source of a liquid, a liquid dispenser and a flow path from the liquid source to the liquid dispenser. A functional generator is coupled in the flow path, which comprises an anode chamber and a cathode chamber separated by an ion exchange membrane and which electrochemically activates the liquid from the liquid source which is passed through the functional generator.

Several methods of controlling a vacuum cleaner (10) using various types of sensors (94, 96, 97, 98) are provided. One method is based on a differential pressure between a suction airflow path and ambient air and includes: detecting the differential pressure, comparing the detected differential pressure to a predetermined threshold, and, when the detected differential pressure is less than the predetermined threshold, initiating a predetermined control procedure. A status indicator (164) is updated based on the detected differential pressure. Another method is based on a level of electrical current flowing through a brush motor (100). Still another method is based on a type or condition of the floor being traversed. Yet another method is based on a distance to a surface of a floor over which the vacuum cleaner is advancing. In another aspect of the invention, a vacuum cleaner is provided. In various combinations, the vacuum cleaner includes a vacuum source (36, 38), a brush motor (100), a drive motor (104), a controller processor (74), a sensor processor (90), an overcurrent sensor (98), a suction airflow sensor (94), a floor type sensor (97), and a floor distance sensor (96).

An autonomous surface treating appliance comprising a main body defining an outer plan profile, and having a drive arrangement mounted inboard of the outer plan profile of the main body and configured to propel the appliance in a direction of movement across a surface to be cleaned, a surface treating assembly associated with the main body and carried transversely to the direction of movement, the surface treating assembly being generally elongate in form and having side edges extending substantially at a tangent to respective circular portions of the outer plan profile of the main body.