User-guided self-propelled cleaning device
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cleaning devices lack the ability to variably control speed and cleaning intensity, making them inefficient for surfaces with varying dirtiness and difficult to maneuver in hard-to-reach areas, and often require manual operation or dead-man-switches for safety.
Innovation Solution
A user-guided self-propelled cleaning device with rotatable tools that can be inclined at variable angles and rotated at different speeds, allowing for adjustable propulsion force and direction, enabling precise control over cleaning intensity and speed without the need for external drives or manual pushing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the cleaning device moves with permanent linear propulsion force, then the device can maintain constant speed and clean continuously, but the device cannot adapt to varying dirtiness levels and cleaning intensity requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the inclination angle of the tools variable rather than fixed. The tools can be adjusted to different inclination angles during operation, allowing the propulsion force to be dynamically modified. This enables the cleaning device to adapt its speed and cleaning intensity to match varying dirtiness levels on the surface, resolving the contradiction between continuous cleaning capability and adaptability.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the cleaning device has fixed tool inclination angles, then the device structure is simple and stable, but the device cannot vary propulsion force to optimize cleaning for different surface conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The invention introduces a variable inclination angle mechanism that allows the tools to be adjusted during operation. This dynamic adjustment capability enables the device to vary its propulsion force according to different surface conditions while maintaining overall structural stability through a controlled adjustment mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of tool inclination angle from a fixed value to a variable parameter that can be adjusted during operation. By modifying this geometric parameter, the propulsion force generated by the rotating tools can be varied to optimize cleaning performance for different surface dirtiness levels without compromising the basic structural stability of the device.
3Productivity
If the cleaning device operates at high speed, then productivity increases, but cleaning quality decreases on heavily soiled areas
Solution Approach 1:
The variable inclination angle mechanism allows the operator to dynamically adjust the propulsion force based on the dirtiness level. On heavily soiled areas, the tools can be inclined at smaller angles to reduce speed and increase cleaning intensity, ensuring high cleaning quality. On lightly soiled areas, larger inclination angles enable higher speeds for maintained productivity, thus resolving the contradiction between cleaning speed and cleaning quality.
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 solution allows for optimized cleaning by varying speed and intensity based on surface dirtiness, improving cleaning efficiency and convenience, especially in hard-to-reach areas, and ensures safe operation without the need for dead-man-switches.
Implementation Method 1
enhancing cleaning efficiency by increasing frictional force between a pad and a floor
Data Source
AI summary
A user-guided self-propelled cleaning device for cleaning a surface, having a frame which includes at least two tools and at least one drive, the at least two tools being rotatable on the surface by said at least one drive,wherein, when the self-propelled cleaning device is placed on the surface, each of the tools is inclined over at least one respective angle Γ1, Γ2, α1, α2 with respect to the surface, andwherein the two tools are configured to rotate in mutually different directions in an operative state of the self-propelled cleaning device, thereby exerting a propulsive force on the frame,wherein said inclination angle Γ1, Γ2, α1, α2 is variable by manipulation, by a user, of a control element, to vary the propulsive force exerted on the frame.