Liquid containers and surface cleaning equipment

Abstract

A liquid container and a surface cleaning device, the liquid container configured to be assembled to the surface cleaning device, comprises a container body configured to contain a liquid, a lid assembled to the container body and having a mounting groove, and a filtration assembly configured to be detachably attached to the mounting groove, wherein the lid includes an anti-misassembly member configured to switch between a first working position and a second working position, wherein the liquid container can be assembled to the surface cleaning device when the anti-misassembly member is in the first working position, and the liquid container cannot be assembled to the surface cleaning device when the anti-misassembly member is in the second working position. The liquid container provided in this disclosure can prevent malfunctions of the surface cleaning device caused by the user forgetting to assemble the filtration assembly.

Description

Cross-reference to related applications

[0001] The present invention claims the priority of the specification of Chinese Patent Application Publication No. 202321072852.2, filed in China on May 6, 2023, and all of its contents are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

[0002] The present invention relates to the technical field of cleaning, and specifically, to liquid containers and surface cleaning devices.

Background Art

[0003] With the continuous progress of technology, surface cleaning devices such as floor washing machines and sweeping and mopping cleaning robots have been widely popularized in ordinary households. Compared with conventional manual cleaning, surface cleaning devices can greatly save time and labor. Surface cleaning devices usually include a liquid container such as a sewage tank for containing sewage and dirt generated during the cleaning process. The sewage in the liquid container contains a considerable amount of dirt. If this dirt enters the surface cleaning device body, it may cause mechanical operation failures. Therefore, how to effectively prevent the dirt from entering the surface cleaning device body has become a problem strongly demanded to be solved in the technical field.

Summary of the Invention

Means for Solving the Problems

[0004] Some embodiments of the present invention provide a liquid container and a surface cleaning device. The liquid container is a liquid container configured to be assembled to a surface cleaning device, a container body configured to contain liquid, a lid body assembled to the container body and having a mounting groove, and a filter assembly configured to be detachably mounted in the mounting groove. Here, the lid is equipped with an anti-misassembly member configured to switch between a first working position and a second working position, wherein when the anti-misassembly member is in the first working position, the liquid container can be assembled to the surface cleaning device, and when the anti-misassembly member is in the second working position, the liquid container cannot be assembled to the surface cleaning device.

[0005] In some embodiments, the lid is provided with an elastic member configured such that the misassembly prevention member tends to be positioned in the second working position.

[0006] In some embodiments, when the filtration assembly is mounted in the mounting groove, the misassembly prevention member is switched from the second working position to the first working position.

[0007] In some embodiments, when the filtration assembly is removed from the mounting groove, the misassembly prevention member is switched from the first working position to the second working position.

[0008] In some embodiments, the liquid container includes a wastewater tank.

[0009] In some embodiments, the misassembly prevention member has an elongated structure, the elongated structure having a pivot end and a free end provided opposite each other, the pivot end being pivotally attached to the cover, and the free end being in a free state.

[0010] In some embodiments, the free end of the misassembly prevention member located at the first working position is closer to the bottom surface of the mounting groove than the free end located at the second working position.

[0011] In some embodiments, the filtration assembly includes a pressing member, which presses the mis-assembly prevention member to switch it from the second working position to the first working position when the filtration assembly is mounted in the mounting groove. Some embodiments of this invention are The main body of the surface cleaning equipment, The above liquid container is provided, The liquid container is configured to be detachably assembled to the main body of the surface cleaning device, thereby providing a surface cleaning device.

[0012] In some embodiments, the surface cleaning device is The device further includes a limiting member configured to contact the misassembly prevention member located at the second working position, so as to prevent the liquid container from being assembled to the surface cleaning device. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0013] The accompanying drawings are incorporated into this specification and constitute part of this specification, illustrating embodiments applicable to the present invention and are used together with the specification to interpret the principles of the present invention. Clearly, the accompanying drawings described below represent only a few embodiments of the present invention, and those skilled in the art can obtain other drawings based on these accompanying drawings without any creative work. The accompanying drawings are, [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a liquid container and a surface cleaning device body provided by several embodiments of the present invention when they are in an assembled state. [Figure 2] This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a liquid container and a surface cleaning device body provided by some embodiments of the present invention when they are in an unassembled state. [Figure 3] This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a liquid container provided by several embodiments of the present invention. [Figure 4] This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the main body of a surface cleaning device provided by several embodiments of the present invention. [Figure 5] This is a schematic diagram of a partial cross-sectional structure of a liquid container and a surface cleaning device body in an assembled state, as in some embodiments of the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0014] To further clarify the purpose, technical solutions, and advantages of this invention, the invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, it is clear that the embodiments described are only some, and not all, embodiments of the invention. Any other embodiments that can be obtained by those skilled in the art without any creative work based on the embodiments of this invention are all covered by the invention.

[0015] Furthermore, the terms “equipped with,” “including,” or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, and a product or apparatus comprising a set of elements may also include, in addition to those elements, other elements not explicitly listed, or elements specific to such product or apparatus. Unless further restrictions are placed on it, an element limited by the expression “equipped with one…” is not excluded from including other similar elements in the product or apparatus of the said element.

[0016] In this field, surface cleaning equipment, such as floor cleaning machines and sweeping / mopping robots, typically comprises a surface cleaning equipment body and a cleaning sheet. Here, the surface cleaning equipment typically includes a liquid container such as a wastewater tank or a clean water tank, and a fan for suction. The cleaning sheet is equipped with cleaning members for mopping or scrubbing, such as cleaning rollers, and the number of cleaning rollers may be one, two, or more. The cleaning liquid in the clean water tank is, for example, clean water, which is sprayed through a built-in water pipe onto the cleaning roller with a blanket and / or onto the surface to be cleaned. The cleaning roller rotates at high speed to scrub and clean the ground, and at the same time, the fan creates negative pressure in the equipment's air duct, drawing in wastewater (which may contain solid debris) from the surface to be cleaned through the dirt suction port of the cleaning equipment and sucking it into the wastewater tank.

[0017] In some related technologies, the sewage tank can be easily removed from the surface cleaning device or attached to the surface cleaning device so that the operator can clean the sewage tank. The sewage tank usually has a filtration assembly. When the sewage tank is attached to the surface cleaning device, the filtration assembly prevents the sewage sucked into the sewage tank from entering the fan of the surface cleaning device, which may cause malfunction or damage of the fan. To clean the sewage tank, it is usually necessary to remove the filtration assembly. If the operator forgets to put the filtration assembly back into the sewage tank after the cleaning of the sewage tank is completed, the sewage tank can still be attached to the surface cleaning device, but the sewage sucked into the sewage tank may enter the surface cleaning device, which may cause a malfunction of the device operation.

[0018] The present invention provides a liquid container configured to be assembled to a surface cleaning device. The liquid container includes a container body configured to contain liquid, a lid body assembled to the container body and having a mounting groove, and a filtration assembly configured to be detachably attached to the mounting groove. Here, the lid body includes an anti-misassembly member configured to be switched between a first working position and a second working position. When the anti-misassembly member is in the first working position, the liquid container can be assembled to the surface cleaning device. When the anti-misassembly member is in the second working position, the liquid container cannot be assembled to the surface cleaning device.

[0019] By providing a filtration assembly and an anti-misassembly member that are compatible with each other in the liquid container provided by the present invention, the liquid container can be assembled to the surface cleaning device only when the filtration assembly is accurately attached to the mounting groove of the liquid container. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the dirt in the liquid container from entering the surface cleaning device main body due to the user forgetting to attach the filtration assembly, and avoid the resulting abnormal operation of the surface cleaning device. In the present invention, by providing a mechanical anti-misassembly member on the lid body of the liquid container, a control circuit is not required, and the cost can be reduced while the reliability is improved.

[0020] Hereinafter, selectable embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0021] FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of a liquid container and a surface cleaning device main body provided by some embodiments of the present invention when they are in an assembled state. Only some structures of the surface cleaning device main body are shown. FIG. 2 is a schematic structural view of a liquid container and a surface cleaning device main body provided by some embodiments of the present invention when they are in a non-assembled state. Only some structures of the surface cleaning device main body are shown. FIG. 3 is a schematic structural view of a liquid container provided by some embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic structural view of a surface cleaning device main body provided by some embodiments of the present invention. Only some structures of the surface cleaning device main body are shown. FIG. 5 is a schematic partial cross-sectional structure view of a liquid container and a surface cleaning device main body provided by some embodiments of the present invention when they are in an assembled state.

[0022] Some embodiments of the present invention provide a liquid container 100. The liquid container 100 is assembled to the surface cleaning device 10. After the liquid container 100 is assembled to the surface cleaning device 10, during the cleaning process, the surface cleaning device 10 can accommodate the liquid (such as sewage) recovered by the surface cleaning device 10.

[0023] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the surface cleaning device 10 includes a liquid container 100 and a surface cleaning device main body 200. Here, the liquid container 100 is detachably assembled to the surface cleaning device main body 200. FIG. 1 shows the state where the liquid container 100 is normally assembled to the surface cleaning device main body 200, and FIG. 2 shows the state after the liquid container 100 is removed from the surface cleaning device main body 200.

[0024] Referring to FIGS. 3 to 5, the liquid container 100 includes a container body 110, a lid body 130, and a filtration assembly 150.

[0025] The container body 110 is used to contain a liquid. In some embodiments, the liquid container 100 is a wastewater tank, in which case the container body 110 is used to contain wastewater from a surface to be cleaned, sucked in by a surface cleaning device through the dirt suction port of the cleaning device, and the wastewater contains dirt.

[0026] The lid 130 is assembled onto the container body 110.

[0027] The lid 130 has a mounting groove 131. The mounting groove 131 is used to accommodate the filtration assembly 150. Specifically, a housing space for accommodating the filtration assembly 150 is formed in the mounting groove 131, and the filtration assembly 150 is embedded in the housing space of the mounting groove 131.

[0028] The lid 130 further comprises an assembly prevention member 133. The assembly prevention member 133 is used to prevent incorrect assembly by ensuring the assembly of the liquid container 100 and the surface cleaning device body 200. Specifically, the assembly prevention member 133 is configured to switch between a first working position A and a second working position B. When the assembly prevention member 133 is in the first working position A, the liquid container 100 can be assembled to the surface cleaning device 10, and when the assembly prevention member 133 is in the second working position B, the liquid container 100 cannot be assembled to the surface cleaning device 10.

[0029] In this invention, by providing a filtration assembly and an anti-misassembly member that are compatible with each other on the liquid container, the liquid container is assembled to the surface cleaning machine only when the filtration assembly is correctly installed in the mounting groove of the liquid container. Therefore, it prevents the user from forgetting to install the filtration assembly, which could allow dirt from the liquid container to enter the body of the surface cleaning machine and cause malfunctions in the machine. For example, it prevents dirt from entering the fan of the surface cleaning machine, preventing the fan from operating normally and causing damage. In this invention, by providing a mechanical anti-misassembly member on the lid of the liquid container, a simple structure is possible, no control circuit is required, and reliability can be improved while reducing costs.

[0030] In some embodiments, the misassembly prevention member 133 is used in cooperation with the filtration assembly 150 so that when the filtration assembly 150 is attached to the mounting groove 131, the misassembly prevention member 133 is switched from the second working position B to the first working position A, at which point the liquid container 100 can be assembled to the surface cleaning device 10. When the filtration assembly 150 is removed from the mounting groove 131, the misassembly prevention member 133 is switched from the first working position A to the second working position B, at which point the liquid container 100 cannot be assembled to the surface cleaning device 10.

[0031] Through the cooperation of the misassembly prevention member 133 and the filtration assembly 150, the liquid container 100 can only be assembled to the surface cleaning device 10 if the filtration assembly 150 is accurately installed in the mounting groove 131. This prevents the user from forgetting to install the filtration assembly 150, which could lead to dirt from the liquid container 100 entering the surface cleaning device body 200, thus preventing malfunctions of the surface cleaning device 10.

[0032] As an example, the cooperation between the misassembly prevention member 133 and the filtration assembly 150 can be achieved by spring compression. Specifically, an elastic member 135 is provided on the lid 130, and a pressing member 151 is provided on the filtration assembly 150.

[0033] The elastic member 135 causes the misassembly prevention member 133 to tend to be in the second working position B; that is, under the action of the elastic force of the elastic member 135, the misassembly prevention member 133 tends to move toward the second working position B, and when the misassembly prevention member 133 is subjected only to the elastic force of the elastic member 135 without any other external forces, the misassembly prevention member 133 is in the second working position B. In some embodiments, the elastic member 135 is a torsion spring.

[0034] The pressing member 151 is used in cooperation with the misassembly prevention member 133 to ensure the assembly of the liquid container 100. When the filtration assembly 150 is mounted in the mounting groove 131, the pressing member 151 presses the misassembly prevention member 133, switching the misassembly prevention member 133 from the second working position B to the first working position A. After the filtration assembly 150 is mounted in the mounting groove 131, the pressing member 151 generates a first pressing force against the misassembly prevention member 133, which at least partially counteracts the elastic force generated by the elastic member 135 in the misassembly prevention member 133, preventing the misassembly prevention member 133 from moving to the second working position B.

[0035] Referring to Figure 4, in some embodiments, a limiting member 210 is provided on the surface cleaning device body 200. Through the cooperation of the misassembly prevention member 133 and the limiting member 210, when the filtration assembly 150 is removed from the mounting groove 131, the misassembly prevention member 133 is switched from the first working position A to the second working position B, and the limiting member 210 is configured to contact the misassembly prevention member 133 located in the second working position B so that the liquid container 100 is not assembled to the surface cleaning device 10.

[0036] Through the cooperation of the misassembly prevention member 133 and the limiting member 210, if the filtration assembly 150 is correctly installed in the mounting groove 131, the liquid container 100 cannot be assembled to the surface cleaning device 10, thereby preventing the user from forgetting to install the filtration assembly 150 and causing malfunctions in the product's operation.

[0037] As an example, the cooperation between the misassembly prevention member 133 and the limiting member 210 can be achieved by spring compression. Specifically, an elastic member 135 is provided on the lid 130, and a limiting member 210 is provided on the surface cleaning device body 200.

[0038] The elastic member 135 causes the misassembly prevention member 133 to tend to be positioned at the second working position B. That is, under the drive of the elastic force of the elastic member 135, the misassembly prevention member 133 tends to move toward the second working position B. When the misassembly prevention member 133 is subjected only to the elastic force of the elastic member 135 without any other external forces, the misassembly prevention member 133 is positioned at the second working position B.

[0039] The restricting member 210 is used in cooperation with the misassembly prevention member 133 to ensure the assembly of the liquid container 100. When the filtration assembly 150 is attached to the mounting groove 131, the misassembly prevention member 133 is switched from a first working position A to a second working position B under the action of the elastic force of the elastic member 135. During the process of assembling the liquid container 100 to the surface cleaning equipment body 200, the restricting member 210 of the surface cleaning equipment body 200 comes into contact with the misassembly prevention member 133 on the liquid container 100, causing the restricting member 210 to generate a second pressing force on the misassembly prevention member 133. Because the second pressing force exerted by the restricting member 210 on the misassembly prevention member 133 cannot counteract the elastic force generated by the elastic member 135 on the misassembly prevention member 133, the misassembly prevention member 133 is held in the second working position B and cannot move from the second working position B to the first working position A.

[0040] The misassembly prevention member 133 is provided on the lid 130 and close to the surface cleaning device body 200. For example, the misassembly prevention member 133 is provided near the limiting member 210 to enable collaborative work between the misassembly prevention member 133 and the limiting member 210.

[0041] In some embodiments, there are two or more of the misassembly prevention members 133, and the misassembly prevention members 133 are provided on at least two opposing surfaces of the lid 130. Specifically, in some embodiments, the lid 130 has a front wall, a rear wall, a left wall, and a right wall, and the misassembly prevention members 133 are provided on at least the left wall and the right wall of the lid 130, so that the misassembly prevention members 133 simultaneously secure the assembly of the liquid container 100 from the left and right sides of the lid 130, respectively, preventing the liquid container 100 from being incorrectly assembled due to a failure of securing on only one side.

[0042] In some embodiments, the misassembly prevention member 133 has a strip-like structure, for example, an elongated structure, the elongated structure having a pivot end 1331 and a free end 1333 provided opposite each other, the pivot end 1331 being pivotally attached to the cover 130, the free end 1333 being in a free state, and the free end 1333 being rotatable within a certain angle with the pivot end 1331 as the axis of rotation. The free end 1333 of the misassembly prevention member 133 located at the first working position A is closer to the bottom surface of the mounting groove 131 than the free end 1333 located at the second working position B.

[0043] In some embodiments, the elastic member 135 is a torsion spring provided at the pivot end 1331 of the misassembly prevention member 133, and under the action of the torsion spring force, the free end 1333 of the misassembly prevention member 133 tends to move away from the bottom surface of the mounting groove 131, that is, tends to be located in the second working position B.

[0044] An embodiment of the present invention further provides a surface cleaning device 10 comprising a surface cleaning device body 200 and a liquid container 100, wherein the liquid container 100 is configured to be detachably assembled to the surface cleaning device body 200.

[0045] In this embodiment of the present invention, by providing a liquid container with a filtration assembly and an anti-misassembly member that are compatible with each other, the liquid container will only be assembled to the surface cleaning equipment when the filtration assembly is accurately installed in the mounting groove of the liquid container. This prevents the user from forgetting to install the filtration assembly and allowing dirt from the liquid container to enter the main body of the surface cleaning equipment, thereby preventing malfunctions of the surface cleaning equipment.

[0046] Finally, note that each embodiment in this specification is described incrementally, each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments, and identical or similar parts between embodiments may be referenced to one another. Systems or apparatus disclosed in the embodiments will be briefly described as they correspond to the methods disclosed in the embodiments, but relevant parts should be referred to in the description of the methods section.

[0047] The above embodiments are used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention and are not limiting. While the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the above embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that the technical solutions described in each embodiment can still be modified or some of their technical features can be replaced with equivalent substitutions, and that these modifications or substitutions will not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solution to deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of each embodiment of the present invention.

Claims

1. A liquid container configured to be assembled into a surface cleaning device, A container body configured to hold liquid, The container body is assembled to a lid having a mounting groove, The system comprises a filtration assembly configured to be detachably attached to the aforementioned mounting groove, A liquid container comprising a lid equipped with an anti-misassembly member configured to switch between a first working position and a second working position, wherein when the anti-misassembly member is in the first working position, the liquid container can be assembled to the surface cleaning device, and when the anti-misassembly member is in the second working position, the liquid container cannot be assembled to the surface cleaning device.

2. The liquid container according to claim 1, wherein the lid is provided with an elastic member configured such that the misassembly prevention member tends to be positioned in the second working position.

3. The liquid container according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein when the filtration assembly is attached to the mounting groove, the misassembly prevention member is switched from the second working position to the first working position.

4. The liquid container according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the filtration assembly is removed from the mounting groove, the misassembly prevention member is switched from the first working position to the second working position.

5. The liquid container according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the liquid container is equipped with a wastewater tank.

6. The surface cleaning device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the misassembly prevention member has an elongated structure, the elongated structure has a pivot end and a free end provided opposite each other, the pivot end is pivotally attached to the cover, and the free end is in a free state.

7. The surface cleaning device according to claim 6, wherein the free end of the misassembly prevention member located at the first working position is closer to the bottom surface of the mounting groove than the free end located at the second working position.

8. The surface cleaning device according to claim 6, wherein the filtration assembly comprises a pressing member, and when the filtration assembly is attached to the mounting groove, the pressing member presses the mis-assembly prevention member to switch the mis-assembly prevention member from the second working position to the first working position.

9. Surface cleaning equipment, The main body of the surface cleaning equipment, A liquid container according to any one of claims 1 to 8, comprising The surface cleaning device is characterized in that the liquid container is configured to be detachably assembled to the main body of the surface cleaning device.

10. The aforementioned surface cleaning equipment is The surface cleaning device according to claim 9, further comprising a limiting member configured to contact the misassembly prevention member located at the second working position, so as to prevent the liquid container from being assembled to the surface cleaning device.

Images