Floor cleaning device, in particular self-propelled and self-steering floor cleaning appliance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing self-propelled and self-steering floor cleaning devices with flexible sweeping thresholds face issues with reliable bending when encountering obstacles, leading to potential damage and incomplete obstacle navigation, which can result in device entanglement and reduced cleaning efficiency.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a reversing threshold with a base element and a stiffening element on the free edge, where the stiffening section is more rigid than the bending sections, allowing the threshold to reliably bend over obstacles while minimizing damage risk, and includes a U-shaped cross-section stiffening element that encompasses the base element for enhanced protection and flexibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the sweeping threshold is made flexible to enable bending over obstacles, then the device can navigate obstacles more easily, but the threshold becomes prone to damage and may not bend reliably
Solution Approach 1:
The threshold is designed with non-uniform structural properties: bending sections with lower rigidity for flexible deformation, and stiffening sections with higher rigidity for damage resistance. This local differentiation allows the threshold to bend reliably at specific locations while maintaining overall structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The threshold is divided into distinct functional segments: bending sections for flexible deformation and stiffening sections for structural support. This segmentation allows each part to perform its specific function optimally without compromising the other.
2Strength
If the sweeping threshold is made rigid to prevent damage, then the threshold is more durable, but it cannot bend over obstacles effectively
Solution Approach 1:
The threshold structure incorporates localized stiffening elements at specific positions (free edge and intermediate sections) while maintaining flexibility at bending sections. This creates a non-uniform rigidity distribution that simultaneously achieves durability and bendability.
Solution Approach 2:
The threshold combines materials or structural configurations with different rigidity characteristics - stiffer materials or thicker sections for durability, and more flexible materials or thinner sections for bending capability - to create a composite structure that exhibits both properties.
3Ease of operation
If the bending section is made softer to enable bending, then the threshold can deform more easily, but it becomes more susceptible to damage at the bending location
Solution Approach 1:
The stiffening sections are pre-positioned at strategic locations (free edge and intermediate sections) to provide structural support before the bending sections encounter obstacles. This preliminary reinforcement prevents damage from occurring at the vulnerable bending locations.
Solution Approach 2:
The stiffening sections act as intermediary structural elements that mediate between the flexible bending sections and the external obstacles. They absorb and distribute mechanical stresses, protecting the bending sections from direct damage while allowing necessary deformation.
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
This configuration ensures reliable bending over obstacles, reduces the risk of device entanglement and damage, improves cleaning efficiency, and enhances handling by minimizing the likelihood of getting stuck, while also reducing energy consumption and extending operation time on various floor surfaces.
Implementation Method 1
a stiffening element connected to the basic element, which forms a stiffening section arranged on the free edge, on which stiffening section the reversing threshold is more rigid than at least one bending section
Implementation Method 2
the reversing threshold can be bent counter to a direction of movement of the floor cleaning device
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
The invention relates to a floor cleaning device, comprising a housing (16), a dirt collecting container (36), which has a dirt intake opening (38), a brush roller (30) which can be driven in rotation and a sweeping sill (40) which is associated with the brush roller (30) and is disposed on the dirt intake opening (38) and by means of which dirt can be conveyed into the dirt collecting container (36), wherein the sweeping sill (40) is secured by means of a fixed edge (48) on the housing (16) and has a free edge (50) and at least one bending portion (74, 76) disposed between the fixed edge (48) and the free edge (50) and on which the sweeping sill (40) can bent against a direction of movement (42) of the floor cleaning device (16). In order to provide such a floor cleaning device by means of which bending of the sweeping sill upon contact with an obstruction can be achieved more reliably, the sweeping sill (40) according to the invention comprises a base element (58) which is secured on the housing and has the at least one bent portion (74, 76), and a stiffening element (60) which is connected to the base element (58) and forms a stiffening portion (80) which is disposed on the free edge (50), the sweeping sill (40) being more rigid on said stiffening portion (80) than on the at least one bending portion (74, 76).