Angled Side Brush Bristles to Prevent Robotic Cleaner Entanglement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Robotic vacuum cleaners often experience entanglement issues with side brushes when encountering obstacles like carpet edges or cables, leading to poor cleaning performance and potential furniture damage, as existing solutions with fewer or bundled bristles either fail to prevent entanglement or compromise cleaning effectiveness.
Innovation Solution
A side brush design featuring linear bristles that extend freely from the brush body at specific angles, allowing them to bias upward when encountering obstacles, preventing entanglement while maintaining a dense arrangement for effective cleaning, and a recessed base for the bristles to prevent obstacles from reaching the brush base.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the side brush is provided with few bristles and/or long bristles to reduce entanglement, then entanglement with obstacles is reduced, but cleaning result becomes poor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the bristles by specifying precise angular orientations (first angle α between 0-90 degrees relative to radial direction, second angle β between 0-90 degrees relative to tangent direction) to achieve optimal balance between entanglement prevention and cleaning effectiveness without reducing bristle count or length
2Reliability
If bristles are provided in bunches connected to central portion by tubular portions, then entanglement is reduced, but cleaning result becomes poor due to bundled distribution
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the bristle arrangement by dividing them into multiple groups (first plurality and second plurality) with different angular orientations, allowing each segment to function independently in preventing entanglement while collectively providing thorough cleaning coverage
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the brush body have bristles with different angular orientations - some bristles extend more radially while others extend more tangentially, creating local variations in bristle behavior that optimize both entanglement prevention and cleaning in different areas
3Productivity
If the side brush has bristles extending freely from brush body, then cleaning result is improved, but entanglement with obstacles increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces asymmetry in the bristle orientation by specifying different angular ranges for different bristle groups relative to the rotation axis and direction of travel, creating an asymmetric pattern that prevents uniform entanglement while maintaining cleaning effectiveness
Data Source
Figure 1a~1c
Figure 2a~2c
Figure 3a~3c
AI summary
Herein a side brush (2) for a robotic cleaner is disclosed. The side brush (2) is rotatable about a rotation axis (4) in a rotational direction (6) and comprises a brush body (8) and numerous linear bristles (10) including a first bristle having a base end at the brush body (8) and an opposite distal end. An imaginary line extends perpendicularly to the rotation axis (4). The first bristle (12) extends in a bristle direction outwardly from the brush body (8). Seen in a top view the bristle direction extends at a first angle to the imaginary line with the distal end pointing rearwardly in relation to the rotational direction (6). Seen in a side view the bristle direction extends at a second acute angle to the rotation axis (4) pointing away from the brush body (8). Further a robotic cleaner is disclosed herein.