Cleaning device for an autonomous floor treatment appliance
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous floor treatment appliances, such as vacuum cleaning and mopping robots, are unable to effectively clean wall portions close to the floor, like wall bases or baseboards, as their side brushes are oriented towards the floor and cannot reach these areas, leading to the need for manual secondary cleaning.
Innovation Solution
A cleaning device is attached to the autonomous floor treatment appliance, featuring a fixing element for connection, a pivoting element, and a cleaning element carrier with textile or brush elements that can be tilted to reach and clean wall portions, preventing the appliance from getting stuck on obstacles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If side brushes are oriented toward the floor surface to be cleaned, then the autonomous floor treatment appliance can remove dust and dirt particles from edge regions of the floor surface, but the wall portions close to the floor cannot be reached or cleaned
Solution Approach 1:
The cleaning element carrier is designed to be pivotable relative to the housing, allowing the cleaning elements to dynamically adjust their orientation. The pivoting mechanism enables the cleaning elements to adapt between cleaning the floor surface and cleaning wall portions close to the floor, resolving the contradiction between fixed orientation and multi-surface cleaning capability
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extends the cleaning capability from the horizontal floor plane to the vertical wall plane by introducing a pivoting dimension. The cleaning element carrier can rotate to access wall portions that are close to the floor, adding a vertical cleaning dimension to the originally horizontal cleaning operation
2Productivity
If a cleaning device with extended cleaning elements is added to clean wall portions, then the cleaning range is extended, but the appliance may get stuck on obstacles
Solution Approach 1:
The pivoting element allows the cleaning element carrier to dynamically respond to obstacles. When the appliance encounters an obstacle, the cleaning element carrier can pivot away to avoid getting stuck, maintaining operational reliability while preserving extended cleaning capability during normal operation
Solution Approach 2:
The cleaning element carrier acts as a flexible component that can deflect and pivot when encountering resistance from obstacles. This flexibility allows the extended cleaning elements to maintain their extended position for cleaning while having the capability to retract or pivot away when necessary to avoid jamming
Data Source
AI summary
A cleaning device for an autonomous floor treatment appliance, the cleaning device being suitable for cleaning wall portions that are close to a floor and border a floor surface to be cleaned, includes a fixing element to connect the cleaning device to a housing portion of the autonomous floor treatment appliance and a cleaning element carrier having a cleaning element, the cleaning element carrier being connected to the fixing element.