Cordless Robotic Pool Cleaner with Segmented Tracks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing robotic pool cleaners are limited by their need for external power sources, tend to get tangled or stuck due to tethering cables, and struggle with navigating irregular pool shapes and obstacles, particularly when attempting to clean pool walls or stairs.
Innovation Solution
A cordless, autonomous robotic pool cleaner with multiple road and pulley wheels, driven outside wheels, and acutely angled one-way valves, equipped with brush assemblies and a dual pump system for self-correction and debris removal, utilizing rechargeable batteries and a computer processor for programmed cleaning paths.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If tethering cables are used to supply power to the pool cleaner, then the cleaner can be powered continuously, but the cables become tangled and knotted, limit the range of the device, and create tripping hazards
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the power supply from the external tethered system and places it inside the pool cleaner itself through onboard rechargeable batteries. This eliminates the tethering cable entirely, allowing the cleaner to move freely without cables becoming tangled or limiting its range, while still providing continuous power for operation
Solution Approach 2:
The pool cleaner is equipped with onboard rechargeable batteries that can be recharged from the pool's circulation system. The cleaner services its own power needs autonomously without requiring external power sources or tethering cables, enabling it to operate cordlessly and freely throughout the pool
2Area of stationary object
If the pool cleaner is designed to clean large and irregularly shaped pools, then the cleaning coverage is improved, but the device becomes more likely to get tangled or stuck due to cables and hoses
Solution Approach 1:
By removing the tethering cable and external hose connections, the patent eliminates the primary source of tangling and getting stuck. The cableless design allows the cleaner to navigate large and irregularly shaped pools freely without the reliability issues that plague tethered systems
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operational parameters by eliminating physical constraints (cables and hoses) that limit movement. This allows the cleaner to access all areas of large and irregularly shaped pools reliably, maintaining continuous operation without getting tangled or stuck
3Adaptability or versatility
If the pool cleaner attempts to clean pool walls and stairs, then the cleaning versatility is improved, but the device becomes more likely to flip over or get stuck
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the propulsion system into multiple independent tracked drive systems that can operate autonomously on different surfaces. This segmentation allows the cleaner to navigate walls and stairs without the instability and getting-stuck problems associated with traditional wheeled designs
Solution Approach 2:
The tracked drive system provides dynamic adaptation to different surfaces through independent track control and compliant track design. This allows the cleaner to maintain stability and propulsion effectiveness whether on flat pool floors, vertical walls, or inclined stairs, preventing flipping and getting stuck
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
Enables efficient, untethered, and self-sufficient pool cleaning, including walls and stairs, with reduced risk of tangling or getting stuck, and improved debris removal through neutral buoyancy and self-correction mechanisms.
Implementation Method 1
The batteries may be NiMH, lead acid, NiCad, lithium ion or any other known or yet to be discovered rechargeable source of electrical power
Implementation Method 2
a pump assembly, including a motor-driven impeller, for moving water into and through the apparatus
Implementation Method 3
improved debris removal through neutral buoyancy and self-correction mechanisms
Data Source
AI summary
Robotic apparatus cleans swimming pools and has road and pulley wheels with belts thereon, on opposite sides and drive motors that rotate a wheel on each side to move the frame along a pool surface. Pairs of outside wheels have friction surfaces to engage pool surfaces to also moving the frame. Forward and rearward brush assemblies are driven to brush the pool surface. Oppositely facing and angled duck bill valves allow water into free volumes in the frame and are covered by a filter bag for filtering out debris under the action of a dual pump assembly that pumps water out through a pair of outlet opening in a top of the frame. A computer processor controls the drive motors and pump assembly to move the frame along programmed paths and rechargeable batteries power the drive motors, pump assembly and computer processor.