Surface cleaning device

Abstract

A surface cleaning apparatus for cleaning a surface of a solar panel, where the surface cleaning apparatus may include a main body, at least one extension portion extending to at least one side of the main body and including at least one extension wheel for interfacing with the solar panel, a first dust carrying member, a second dust carrying member, and a motor; and one or more motion delay components; wherein the first dust carrying member and the second dust carrying member are coupled to the motor; wherein the motor is configured to periodically move the first dust carrying member and the second dust carrying member along a path; wherein the one or more motion delay assemblies are configured to periodically introduce an instantaneous delay during travel of the first dust carrying member along the path.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 262,618, filed on October 15, 2022, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Background Art

[0003] Photovoltaic (PV) panels are mounted on racks / tables, where each table carries 10-60 panels in a large rectangular shape. Robotic cleaning solutions require a clear path to operate, as steps or gaps beyond a certain limit will prevent the robot from operating smoothly.

[0004] The new generation of robotic solutions rides on the frames of the panels and does not require special tracks running along the rack / table, as the gaps between panels are limited to 10-30mm, which can be easily crossed by the wheels of a normal robot.

[0005] The challenge is to allow the robot to run between two adjacent workstations located next to each other on the same path. In this case, a bridge is required between the two adjacent workstations to allow one robot to continue running on the next workstation and clean multiple workstations. Save capital expenditure.

[0006] On top of that, due to the nature of the market seeking to cut costs, the frames of the workstations as well as the panels themselves are planned for the lowest cost. This results in thinner and lighter profile racks and thinner PV module frames. Robotic loads on such frames can cause cracks in the panels’ silicon layer due to the loads on the edges of the frame.

[0007] Besides that, the workbenches are usually aligned, but in many cases there are misalignments between workbenches due to lack of QC during the construction phase or due to complex terrain.

[0008] In a 500-meter row, 75-100 bridges are usually installed, each costing $4-10, which requires a significant investment to enable the robot to run smoothly along the row. Some rows in large PV fields can reach 1,000-1,500 meters, which puts a greater burden on the bridges. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] The subject matter of the present invention is particularly pointed out and clearly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. However, the organization and method of operation of the present invention, as well as its objects, features, and advantages, may best be understood by reference to the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0010] Figure 1 is an example of a surface cleaning device;

[0011] Figure 2 is an example of a surface cleaning device;

[0012] Figure 3 is an example of a surface cleaning device;

[0013] Figure 4 is an example of a surface cleaning device;

[0014] Figure 5 is an example of a surface cleaning device;

[0015] Figure 6 is an example of a surface cleaning device;

[0016] Figure 7 is an example of a surface cleaning device;

[0017] Figure 8 is an example of a surface cleaning device;

[0018] Fig. 9 is an example of a surface cleaning device;

[0019] Fig.10 is an example of a surface cleaning device; and

[0020] Fig.11 is an example of a cleaning process. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] In the following detailed description, many specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention can be practiced without these specific details. In other examples, known methods, steps and components are not described in detail to avoid obscuring the present invention.

[0022] The subject matter of the present invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. However, the organization and method of operation of the present invention, together with objects, features, and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0023] It should be understood that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, the elements shown in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, for clarity, the size of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements. Further, reference numerals may be repeated between the figures to indicate corresponding or similar elements where deemed appropriate.

[0024] Since the illustrated embodiments of the present invention can be implemented to a large extent using electronic components and circuits known to those skilled in the art, in order to understand and appreciate the basic concepts of the present invention and in order not to confuse or distract from the teachings of the present invention, no details will be explained beyond the degree deemed necessary as described above.

[0025] Any reference to a method in the specification should be applied mutatis mutandis to a system capable of performing the method.

[0026] Any reference in the specification to a system shall apply mutatis mutandis to a method that may be performed by the system.

[0027] A surface cleaning device for cleaning a surface of a solar panel is provided, wherein the surface cleaning device may include (i) a main body, (ii) at least one extension portion extending to at least one side of the main body and including at least one extension wheel for interfacing with the solar panel; (iii) a first dust carrying member; (iv) a second dust carrying member; (v) a motor; and (vi) one or more motion delay assemblies. The first dust carrying member and the second dust carrying member are coupled to the motor.

[0028] The motor is configured to periodically move the first dust carrying member and the second dust carrying member along the path.

[0029] One or more motion delay assemblies are configured to periodically introduce a momentary delay during the travel of the first dust carrying member along the path while causing the second dust carrying member to contact the surface, thereby reducing the gap between the first dust carrying member and the second dust carrying member, and inducing air to leave the gap and travel along the surface and remove dust ahead of the second dust carrying member.

[0030] Fig.11 Scenes 191 , 192 , 193 , 193 and 194 of the first dust carrying member 41 and the second dust carrying member 42 are shown, and these different scenes occur at different consecutive time points.

[0031] In the scene 191 , the first dust carrying member 41 and the second dust carrying member 42 do not contact the surface 151 of the solar panel, and do not contact the motion delay assembly 700 .

[0032] In scene 192, the first dust carrying member 41 contacts the motion delay assembly 700, while the second dust carrying member 42 first contacts the surface 151. There is a gap 181 between the first dust carrying member 41 and the second dust carrying member 42. The gap is also defined by the surface 151.

[0033] In scene 193, the first dust carrying member 41 is still delayed by the motion delay assembly 700, while the second dust carrying member 42 travels along the surface 151 - at a faster rate than the first dust carrying member 41 - while reducing the gap 181 and forcing air and dust to leave the gap through the opening 777 formed between the surface 151 and the lower portion of the motion delay assembly 700 (see dashed arrow 778).

[0034] The at least one extension may be a plurality of extensions extending to both sides of the main body and include extension wheels for interfacing with the solar panel.

[0035] The extension wheel may include a surface wheel and a side wheel, the surface wheel being configured to interface with a surface of the solar panel and the side wheel being configured to interface with a side wall of the solar panel.

[0036] The wheels associated with the body may include surface wheels and side wheels.

[0037] The width of the surface cleaning device may exceed the width of a single solar panel.

[0038] The plurality of extensions may be arranged in a symmetrical manner with respect to the main body.

[0039] The center of gravity of the surface cleaning device may be located at the main body - thereby improving the stability of the surface cleaning device, especially when passing through gaps between adjacent solar panels.

[0040] The surface cleaning apparatus may comprise one or more rotating elements for rotating the at least one extension wheel and / or the at least one main body wheel.

[0041] The rotating element may comprise at least one rotating motor and one or more mechanical transmission elements for transmitting the rotating motion from the one or more rotating motors to at least some of the wheels.

[0042] The one or more mechanical transmission elements may include a chain and a sprocket.

[0043] The one or more mechanical transmission elements may include a chain, a sprocket, and a shaft coupling the extension wheels relative to each other.

[0044] An increase in the number of wheels to be rotated may increase the number of rotation motors and / or the number of mechanical transmission elements.

[0045] The distance between a pair of adjacent surface wheels, wherein at least one of the surface wheels of the pair is an extension wheel, may exceed a first predetermined distance. The first predetermined distance may exceed 20 centimeters.

[0046] The distance between a pair of adjacent side wheels may exceed a second predetermined distance, wherein at least one of the side wheels of the pair of side wheels is an extension wheel. The second predetermined distance may exceed 20 centimeters.

[0047] Any of the first predetermined distance and the second predetermined distance can be set according to the gap between adjacent solar panels that the surface cleaning device should pass through without a dedicated bridge. The example of 20 cm is only a non-limiting example, and the distance can be at least 25, 30, 35, 40 cm, etc.

[0048] The surface cleaning device may include a movement mechanism configured to move the surface cleaning device relative to the solar panel. The movement mechanism may include one or more rotating elements for rotating at least some of a set of wheels of the surface cleaning device. The at least some of the wheels may include extension wheels and / or non-extension wheels.

[0049] A method for cleaning a surface by means of a surface cleaning device may be provided, the method comprising: (i) periodically moving a first dust-carrying member and a second dust-carrying member along a path by means of a motor of the surface cleaning device; (ii) periodically introducing a momentary delay during the movement of the first dust-carrying member along the path by means of one or more motion delay components of the surface cleaning device, while causing the second dust-carrying member to contact the surface, thereby reducing a gap between the first dust-carrying member and the second dust-carrying member, and inducing air to leave the gap and move along the surface and remove dust that is in front of the second dust-carrying member; and (iii) moving the surface cleaning device relative to a solar panel by means of a moving mechanism, wherein the movement comprises moving at least one extension wheel of at least one extension portion of the surface cleaning device, wherein the at least one extension portion extends to at least one side of a main body of the surface cleaning device.

[0050] The movement may include moving the surface cleaning device along a cleaning path for cleaning one solar panel and moving across a gap between one solar panel and another solar panel without using a bridge. The gap may be an x-axis gap and / or a y-axis gap and / or a z-axis (height) gap. The cleaning path may span the longitudinal axis of the solar panel array.

[0051] During movement of the surface cleaning device, one wheel of the surface cleaning device may contact one solar panel while another wheel of the surface cleaning device may contact another solar panel.

[0052] Figures 1 to 10 The figures show different examples of surface cleaning apparatus, some of which differ from one another by the number and / or nature of rotatable wheels and / or by mechanical transmission elements.

[0053] Multiple graphs (e.g. Figure 5 , Figure 8 and Fig. 9 ) shows the surface cleaning device when contacting the first solar panel 151 and the second solar panel 152. Fig.10 1 is a side view showing the surface cleaning device when connected to the first solar cell panel 151 .

[0054] In all examples, there are four extensions, which are arranged in a symmetrical manner with respect to the main body.

[0055] The extension parts include a first left extension part 14-1, a second left extension part 14-2, a first right extension part 24-1, and a second right extension part 24-2. These extension parts include frames, such as a first left frame 16-1, a second left frame 16-2, a first right frame 26-1, and a second right frame 26-2.

[0056] The wheels of the surface cleaning device include eight surface wheels 31-1, 31-2, 31-3, 31-4, 41-1, 41-2, 41-3, 41-4 and eight side wheels 10-1, 10-2, 10-3, 10-4, 11-1, 11-2, 11-3 and 11-4. Other numbers of surface wheels and / or any other number of side wheels may be provided.

[0057] Any number of the wheels may be actively rotating, while zero, one, or other wheels may be freely rotating due to the travel of the surface cleaning apparatus.

[0058] The drawing illustrates the chain rotating motor 81 - 1 , however a plurality of chain rotating motors may be provided.

[0059] The drawings illustrate one or more mechanical transmission elements such as chains 17-1, 17-2, and 27-1, sprockets such as sprockets 28-1, 18-1, and 18-3, and a rotating shaft 85 coupling the wheels relative to one another.

[0060] By using more mechanical transmission elements, fewer chains are needed to rotate the motor.

[0061] By rotating one or more wheels as extension wheels, the surface cleaning device can easily overcome gaps (especially vertical gaps) between solar panels and / or elevated portions (hills) of solar panels that are not easily overcome by using only the wheels of the main body.

[0062] The overall width of the surface cleaning device (including the extension) may exceed the width of a single solar panel (e.g., the overall width may be at least 1.1 meters). This may result in the weight of the surface cleaning device being distributed across two solar panels rather than on a single solar panel. This significantly reduces the load on each solar panel and extends the life of the solar panel. This may be achieved with a relatively small extension of the surface cleaning device, e.g., adding 20% ​​to 30% of the original weight.

[0063] Figure 2 and Figure 3 The surface cleaning device includes a chain rotary motor 81-1, which can rotate the surface wheels 31-2, 41-2, 31-4 and 41-4. The corresponding side wheels 10-2, 11-2, 10-4 and 11-4 can also rotate - assuming that there is a mechanical transmission element (not shown) that transmits the rotation to these side wheels. The rotation of the extension wheels 10-4, 11-4, 31-4 and 41-4 greatly improves the mobility of the surface cleaning device.

[0064] Figure 1 The surface cleaning device includes a chain rotary motor 81-1, which can rotate the surface wheels 31-2, 41-2, 31-3, 41-3, 31-4 and 41-4. The corresponding side wheels 10-2, 11-2, 10-3, 11-3, 10-4 and 11-4 can also rotate-assuming that there is a mechanical transmission element (not shown) that transmits the rotation to these side wheels. The rotation of more wheels further improves the mobility of the surface cleaning device.

[0065] It should be noted that all surface wheels and / or all side wheels may rotate.

[0066] In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific examples of embodiments of the invention. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

[0067] Furthermore, if any, the terms "front", "rear", "top", "bottom", "above", "below", etc. in the specification and claims are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing permanent relative positions. It is understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in other orientations than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.

[0068] Any arrangement of components that perform the same function is effectively "associated" so that the desired function is performed. Thus, any two components combined herein to perform a particular function may be considered "associated" with each other so that the desired function is performed, regardless of architecture or intermediate components. Likewise, any two components so associated may also be considered "operably connected" or "operably coupled" to each other so as to perform the desired function.

[0069] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will recognize that the boundaries between the above operations are merely illustrative. Multiple operations may be combined into a single operation, a single operation may be distributed among additional multiple operations, and multiple operations may be performed at least partially overlapping in time. Moreover, alternative embodiments may include multiple instances of a particular operation, and the order of the operations may be changed in various other embodiments.

[0070] However, other modifications, variations and alternatives are possible. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive.

[0071] Any reference to the terms "comprising," or "having" shall apply mutatis mutandis to "consisting of" and / or shall apply mutatis mutandis to "consisting essentially of." For example, a method comprising the specified steps may include additional steps. A method comprising the specified steps may be limited to the specified steps. A method consisting essentially of the specified steps may include the specified steps as well as additional steps that do not materially affect the basic and novel characteristics of the method.

[0072] In the claims, any reference numerals placed in brackets shall not be interpreted as limiting the claims. The word "comprising" does not exclude the presence of other elements or steps other than those listed in the claims. In addition, the terms "a" or "an" as used herein are defined as one or more than one. Moreover, the use of introductory phrases such as "at least one" and "one or more" in the claims should not be interpreted as implying that any particular claim containing the guided claim element is limited to a utility model containing only one such element by the indefinite article "a" or "an" to guide another claim element, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrase "one or more" or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an". The same applies to the use of definite articles. Unless otherwise specified, terms such as "first" and "second" are used for any distinction between the elements described by these terms. Therefore, these terms are not necessarily intended to indicate the time or other priorities of these elements. The fact that specific measures are recorded in mutually different claims does not indicate that the combination of these measures cannot be used advantageously.

[0073] Although the specific features of the utility model have been illustrated and described herein, those skilled in the art will now recognize many modifications, substitutions, changes and equivalents. Therefore, it should be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes that fall within the true spirit of the utility model.

Claims

1. A surface cleaning device for cleaning the surface of a solar panel, characterized in that: The surface cleaning device comprises: main body; at least one extension portion extending to at least one side of the body and comprising at least one extension wheel for interfacing with the solar panel; a first dust carrying component; a second dust carrying member; Motor; and One or more motion delay components; wherein the first dust-carrying member and the second dust-carrying member are connected to the motor; wherein the motor is configured to cause the first dust-carrying member and the second dust-carrying member to move periodically along a path; wherein the one or more motion delay components are configured to periodically introduce a momentary delay during the movement of the first dust-carrying member along the path, while causing the second dust-carrying member to contact the surface, thereby reducing a gap between the first dust-carrying member and the second dust-carrying member, and inducing air to leave the gap and move along the surface and remove dust ahead of the two dust-carrying members.

2. The surface cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that The at least one extension portion is a plurality of extension portions extending to both sides of the main body, and includes one or more extension wheels for connecting with the solar panel.

3. The surface cleaning device according to claim 2, characterized in that The extension wheels include a surface wheel configured to interface with a surface of the solar panel and a side wheel configured to interface with a side wall of the solar panel.

4. The surface cleaning device according to claim 2, characterized in that The width of the surface cleaning device exceeds the width of a single solar panel.

5. The surface cleaning device according to claim 2, characterized in that The plurality of extensions are arranged in a symmetrical manner with respect to the main body.

6. The surface cleaning device according to claim 2, characterized in that The center of gravity of the surface cleaning apparatus is located at the body.

7. The surface cleaning device according to claim 2, characterized in that Also included is one or more rotating elements for rotating at least some of the extension wheels.

8. The surface cleaning device according to claim 7, characterized in that The rotating element comprises at least one rotating motor and one or more mechanical transmission elements for transmitting the rotating motion from the one or more rotating motors to at least some of the extension wheels.

9. The surface cleaning device according to claim 8, characterized in that The one or more mechanical transmission elements include a chain and a sprocket.

10. The surface cleaning device according to claim 8, characterized in that The one or more mechanical transmission elements include a chain, a sprocket, and a shaft coupling the extension wheels relative to each other.

11. The surface cleaning device according to claim 2, characterized in that A distance between a pair of adjacent surface wheels exceeds a first predetermined distance, wherein at least one surface wheel of the pair of surface wheels is an extension wheel.

12. The surface cleaning device according to claim 11, characterized in that The first predetermined distance exceeds 20 centimeters.

13. The surface cleaning device according to claim 2, characterized in that A distance between a pair of adjacent side wheels exceeds a second predetermined distance, wherein at least one side wheel of the pair of side wheels is an extension wheel.

14. The surface cleaning device of claim 11, wherein: The second predetermined distance exceeds 20 centimeters.

15. The surface cleaning device of claim 1, wherein: Also included is a movement mechanism configured to move the surface cleaning device relative to the solar panel.

16. The surface cleaning device of claim 15, wherein: The movement mechanism includes one or more rotating elements for rotating at least some of a set of wheels of the surface cleaning apparatus.

17. The surface cleaning device of claim 16, wherein: At least some of the wheels include extension wheels.

18. The surface cleaning device of claim 16, wherein: At least some of the wheels include non-extension wheels.

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