Cleaning roller for cleaning robots
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cleaning rollers for autonomous cleaning robots face challenges in efficiently picking up debris, particularly hair and filaments, which can wrap around the rollers and impede their functionality, and in maintaining effective airflow for debris ingestion.
Innovation Solution
A cleaning roller design featuring a tapered core and sheath with collection wells, improved torque transfer through a specific shaft and support structure configuration, and a unique vane arrangement that guides debris towards the center for efficient pickup and airflow concentration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the cleaning roller engages with hair and filament debris during rotation, then debris pickup capability is improved, but the filaments wrap around the rollers and impede functionality
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the harmful wrapped filaments from the roller surface by providing collection wells that capture and contain the filaments as they wrap around the roller. This prevents the filaments from continuing to wrap and impede roller rotation, while still allowing the roller to effectively pick up debris.
Solution Approach 2:
The collection wells act as an intermediary structure between the roller surface and the wrapped filaments. The wells provide a designated space for filaments to collect, preventing them from directly interfering with roller operation while maintaining the roller's debris pickup function.
2Productivity
If the roller length is increased to improve debris pickup coverage, then cleaning effectiveness is improved, but torque transfer from shaft to roller surface becomes less effective
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing affixing structures at specific locations along the shaft (particularly at the ends and at intervals along the length). This localized reinforcement of the connection between shaft and roller ensures effective torque transfer throughout the entire roller length without requiring the entire shaft surface to be optimally connected.
Solution Approach 2:
The affixing structures segment the connection between shaft and roller into multiple discrete attachment points. This segmentation allows the roller to be effectively driven along its entire length by distributing the torque transfer through multiple localized connection points rather than relying on a continuous connection.
3Productivity
If filaments wrap around the roller, then debris pickup is enhanced, but maintenance difficulty increases due to inaccessible filament collection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the wrapped filaments from the roller surface and places them into collection wells. These wells are positioned and designed to be accessible from the exterior of the roller, allowing users to easily reach in and remove accumulated filaments without disassembling the roller or other components.
Solution Approach 2:
The collection wells are designed to be user-accessible, enabling easy maintenance by the end user without requiring specialized tools or disassembly procedures. The wells open to the exterior, allowing users to simply reach in and remove accumulated filaments during routine maintenance.
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 2A
AI summary
A cleaning roller 104 a/b mountable to a cleaning robot 102 includes an elongate shaft 228 a/b extending from a first end portion 110a to a second end portion 112a along an axis of rotation 126 a/b . The first and second end portions are mountable to the cleaning robot for rotating about the axis of rotation. The cleaning roller further includes a core 304 affixed around the shaft and having outer end portions 314, 316 positioned along the elongate shaft and proximate the first and second end portions. The core tapers from proximate the first end portion of the shaft toward a center 326 of the shaft. The cleaning roller further includes a sheath 220 a/b affixed to the core and extending beyond the outer end portions of the core. The sheath includes a first half 322 and a second half 324 each tapering toward the center of the shaft.