Steerable Axle Mechanism for Automated Pool Cleaner Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing robotic pool cleaners face challenges with random movement patterns, inefficient navigation around obstacles, and entanglement of power cables, leading to immobilization and increased maintenance costs due to complex and expensive designs with numerous small parts.
Innovation Solution
A steering assembly with independently movable axle ends and a controller that adjusts wheel positions to steer the cleaner, preventing power cable coiling and allowing for customizable scanning patterns, enabling efficient navigation around obstacles and reduced maintenance costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If elaborate electronic circuitry with stepper and D.C. brushless motors is used to control longitudinal directional movement, then control precision is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex electronic control systems (stepper motors, D.C. brushless motors, elaborate electronic circuitry) with a purely mechanical steering assembly. The mechanical system uses a steerable wheel configuration where the wheel can be rotated about a vertical axis and tilted relative to the longitudinal axis, controlled by mechanical linkages and springs instead of electronic actuators. This substitution maintains control functionality while dramatically reducing device complexity and manufacturing cost.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the cleaner climbs the vertical sidewall to change direction, then directional change capability is improved, but energy consumption and wear increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamic steering capability that allows the cleaner to change direction continuously during bottom cleaning operations. The steerable wheel assembly can be mechanically tilted and rotated to adjust the cleaning path without requiring the cleaner to climb sidewalls. This dynamic mechanical adjustment enables directional changes while maintaining contact with the pool bottom, significantly reducing energy consumption and mechanical wear compared to the alternative of climbing and descending sidewalls.
3Ease of operation
If a three-wheeled array with a centrally mounted rotatable wheel is used for mechanical steering, then directional control is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the steering function into the existing drive wheel assembly rather than adding a separate central steerable wheel. The drive wheel is made steerable through mechanical linkages that connect to the cleaner's body, allowing the same wheel to perform both propulsion and steering functions. This multi-functional approach achieves effective directional control while avoiding the additional complexity of a three-wheeled configuration with a centrally mounted rotatable wheel.
4Extent of automation
If pre-programmed integrated circuit devices are used to control cleaning patterns, then automation is improved, but adaptability to irregular pool configurations decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces static pre-programmed control with a dynamic mechanical steering system that can be manually or automatically adjusted in real-time. The steerable wheel assembly with mechanical linkages and springs allows the cleaner to adapt its cleaning path to irregular pool configurations, obstacles, and varying depths. This dynamic mechanical adaptability supplements or replaces electronic pre-programming, enabling the cleaner to handle diverse pool geometries effectively.
Data Source
AI summary
A pool cleaner includes a housing having a front, rear and adjoining side portions and a base plate having a water inlet. A pump is configured to draw water and debris from the pool through the inlet for filtering and discharge filtered water through an outlet. A pair of wheels are coupled proximate the front and rear of the housing, each of which is coupled to an opposing end of an axle, each opposing end of the axle being slidably moveable along the housing in a forward and rearward directional path of the cleaner in response to a steering assembly. An on-board controller includes memory for storing a cleaning program, and a processor electrically coupled to the memory to execute the cleaning program to automatically control the steering assembly to position each end of the axles to steer the cleaner while it is moving in a forward or reverse direction.