Autonomous moving soil preparation device

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Solution Overview

Problem

Soil cultivation devices face difficulties in overcoming obstacles such as door sills and carpet edges due to the spatial orientation of their drive and contact elements, which can lead to inefficient navigation and increased cycle time.

Innovation Solution

The soil cultivation device is designed with contact elements that are inclined relative to the drive axis, allowing only one end of the drive element to initially contact obstacles, enabling optimal force transmission and preventing deflection, with the contact surface or connecting line positioned closer to the drive element than its diameter, facilitating smoother passage over obstacles.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the contact surface of the contact element is oriented parallel to the drive axis, then the device maintains stable movement, but it cannot effectively overcome obstacles

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvestable movementVSAvoidobstacle overcoming capability
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The contact surface of the contact element is intentionally oriented at an angle to the drive axis rather than parallel to it. This asymmetric orientation causes the device to tilt when encountering an obstacle, enabling the drive element to engage the obstacle at an optimal angle for overcoming it, while maintaining stable movement during normal operation

Inventive Principle:
Principle #4Asymmetry

2Stability of the object's composition

If the contact element is positioned far from the drive element, then the device has stable operation, but it cannot effectively tilt onto obstacles

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvestable operationVSAvoidobstacle tilting capability
Core Design Contradiction:
Stability of the object's compositionVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The contact element is positioned at a specific distance from the drive element such that it encounters obstacles first and initiates the tilting action before the drive element reaches the obstacle. This preliminary action by the contact element prepares the device for effective obstacle overcoming by establishing the necessary tilt angle in advance

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Stability of the object's composition

If both drive elements contact the obstacle simultaneously, then the device maintains balance, but it cannot effectively overcome the obstacle

Engineering Contradiction:
ImprovebalanceVSAvoidobstacle overcoming efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
Stability of the object's compositionVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The obstacle overcoming process is segmented into sequential phases: first one drive element contacts and overcomes the obstacle, then the other drive element contacts and follows. This segmentation allows each drive element to contribute optimally to overcoming the obstacle without the balance issues that would arise from simultaneous contact

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP3440913B1Autonomous moving soil preparation device
Publication Date: 2020.12.30 VORWERK & CO INTERHOLDING GMBH
  • EP3440913B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3440913B1 patent drawingFigure 2~3
  • EP3440913B1 patent drawingFigure 4~5

AI summary

The invention relates to a self-propelled soil cultivation device (1) with a housing (8), at least one drive element (3) which is electrically driven for locomotion and rotatable about a drive axis (2) and at least one support element (5, 11, 12) which precedes the drive element (3) in a direction of locomotion and extends from a housing underside of the housing (8) in the direction of an area to be cultivated.To facilitate overcoming obstacles (10), it is proposed that a contact surface (13) of the system element (5, 11, 12) pointing in the direction of movement and/or a connecting straight line (7) connecting the contact surfaces (13) of two system elements (5, 11, 12) is not oriented parallel to the drive axis (2) of the drive element (3) and has a distance from a contact surface of the drive element (3) in relation to the direction of movement that is less than a diameter of the drive element (3).