Mobile Cleaner Wheel Assembly with Cliff Sensor for Obstacle Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional robot cleaners face difficulties in effectively mopping floors due to insufficient driving power, random cleaning patterns, and challenges in navigating corners and walls, primarily due to reliance on friction force and variable water levels, which limits their ability to perform meticulous cleaning.
Innovation Solution
A cleaner design that incorporates a wheel assembly with a cliff sensor, allowing for physical vertical movement detection to recognize obstacles and adjust its path, while also optimizing the shape and placement of spin mops to reduce friction and increase the cleaning area by integrating a dust housing and agitator with eccentrical rotation axes, enabling patterned cleaning and improved navigation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a switch-type sensor is used to detect the floor by physical contact, then the floor detection function is achieved, but noise and friction are generated during operation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical switch-type sensor with an optical sensor that detects the floor using light reflection principles. The optical sensor emits light and detects the reflected light from the floor surface, eliminating physical contact between the sensor and floor, thereby reducing noise and friction while maintaining detection accuracy.
2Device complexity
If the cleaner uses only friction force from spin mops for driving, then the structure is simple, but driving power is insufficient and pattern driving is impossible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges two driving mechanisms: the traditional friction-based spin mop driving and a new wheel-based driving system. The wheel assembly, positioned at the front of the cleaner, provides additional propulsion force through rolling contact with the floor, combining with the spin mop friction force to achieve sufficient total driving power and enable pattern driving capabilities.
3Ease of operation
If the cleaner body is made circular for easy rotation, then rotation in place is easy, but the width of the agitator is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves the spatial conflict by changing the dimensional arrangement: the agitator is positioned along the longitudinal axis of the circular body rather than extending radially outward. This allows the agitator to achieve greater effective width along the length of the body without increasing the radial footprint, maintaining the circular body's rotation capability while maximizing the agitator's cleaning width.
4Device complexity
If the cleaner uses random driving for cleaning, then the system is simple, but meticulous cleaning at corners and walls is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback-based driving control system where sensors detect the cleaner's position, orientation, and environmental features, and the controller processes this information to generate appropriate driving commands. This closed-loop control enables the cleaner to execute precise pattern driving trajectories, automatically adjusting its path to meticulously clean corners and wall areas while maintaining overall system simplicity.
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 cleaner effectively reduces friction, enhances navigation around obstacles, and allows for more thorough cleaning by recognizing cliffs and adjusting its path, thereby improving cleaning efficiency and coverage.
Implementation Method 1
a cliff sensor recognizes a cliff by detecting a physical vertical movement of a wheel supporting a main body
Implementation Method 2
the wheel is moved downward at a space without the floor by elastic force of a wheel elastic member
Implementation Method 3
the cleaner can reduce friction between an obstacle and spin mops, make rotation of the body easy
Data Source
AI summary
A mobile cleaner includes a body, a mop module, and a sweep module. The mop module includes a pair of spin mops configured to rotate and mop a surface. The sweep module is configured to sweep up foreign material on the surface using a rotating agitator. The sweep module includes a dust housing, the agitator, and a wheel assembly. The wheel assembly is configured to support the dust housing on the surface and includes a wheel body that is movable in a vertical direction. A cliff sensor is configured to detect movement of the wheel body.