Cleaning unit having agitator
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cleaning units with agitators struggle to effectively clean carpet surfaces due to the limited reach of their brushes, requiring manual adjustment and posing hygiene and convenience issues, especially when used in automatic cleaning devices.
Innovation Solution
A cleaning unit with a rotating brush mechanism that adjusts its rotation radius automatically based on the floor environment, using a cam structure to convert longitudinal shaft movement into rotational brush movement, allowing the brush to extend its reach without manual contact with dust.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the brush length is extended to reach carpet surfaces, then cleaning performance on carpets is improved, but device complexity increases due to multiple grooves and manual adjustment mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The brush length is made dynamically adjustable through a shaft that can move between multiple grooves at different heights. The shaft position can be changed to extend or retract the brush, allowing adaptation to different floor surfaces (hard floor vs. carpet) while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure without complex mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The agitator body is segmented into multiple grooves at different heights, each capable of holding the brush at a specific length. This segmentation allows the brush to be positioned at different extensions without requiring a completely different agitator structure, resolving the contradiction between extended reach and structural simplicity
2Adaptability or versatility
If manual adjustment of brush length is implemented, then adaptability to different floor environments is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to user contact with dust and time loss
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables automatic adaptation to different floor environments through sensors that detect the floor type (hard floor or carpet) and automatically adjust the shaft position to extend or retract the brush. This eliminates manual intervention, preventing user contact with dust and removing time loss associated with manual adjustment, while maintaining high adaptability to different floor conditions
3Ease of operation
If automatic brush length adjustment is implemented, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases requiring sensors and control systems
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex mechanical automatic adjustment mechanisms with a simpler control system that uses sensors to detect floor type and controls the shaft position. This substitution reduces mechanical complexity while maintaining automatic operation capability, achieving ease of operation without excessive device complexity
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution maintains cleaning performance across various floor environments, including carpets, by automatically adjusting the brush's rotation radius, ensuring effective dust and foreign substance collection while maintaining user hygiene and convenience.
Implementation Method 1
a rotation guide groove disposed in the driving portion, and as the shaft reciprocates, the driven portion is guided to rotate by the rotation guide groove
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a cleaning unit, comprising: a columnar body part having a rotation guide opening formed on the outer circumferential surface thereof; a shaft installed to reciprocate a predetermined distance in the longitudinal direction thereof in a hollow formed in the body part; a drive part that protrudes from the shaft in the radial direction thereof; a brush part that has one side installed on the outer circumferential surface of the body part along the longitudinal direction thereof and rotates on the basis of the one side as a rotation axis; and a driven part that extends from the brush part toward the drive part, passes through the rotation guide opening, and is inserted into a rotation guide groove formed in the drive part. The rotation guide groove extends at a predetermined angle with respect to the longitudinal direction of the shaft, and as the shaft reciprocates, the driven part is guided to rotate by means of the rotation guide groove, and the brush is rotated by means of the rotation of the driven part. The cleaning unit may include a robot cleaner or a cleaner operated by means of a user's operation.