The present invention relates to an autonomous lawn mower.
With the continuous progress of computer technologies and artificial intelligence technologies, autonomous lawn mowers similar to intelligent robots have slowly begun to enter people's lives. An autonomous lawn mower can automatically mow and charge on a user's lawn without intervention of the user. Such an automatic working system requires no more effort in management after a single setup, freeing users from tedious and time-consuming chores such as cleaning and lawn maintenance.
An autonomous lawn mower automatically moves and cuts grass on a lawn, and includes a cutting element for cutting. A protecting member needs to be mounted outside the cutting element to block a person's finger, arm or the like to prevent the cutting element of the autonomous lawn mower from accidentally injuring the person's finger or arm. However, to meet of the autonomous lawn mower, the protecting member of the autonomous lawn mower cannot be disposed excessively low. When the protecting member is disposed excessively close to the ground, the ability to pass over the grass of the autonomous lawn mower is very poor. To meet the ability to pass over the grass, the protecting member may fail to prevent a child's finger or arm from reaching into the autonomous lawn mower, and as a result children are very likely to be accidentally injured by the autonomous lawn mower.
Therefore, it is necessary to design an autonomous lawn mower with a new protecting assembly, to solve the foregoing problems.
To overcome the above disadvantages, the present invention adopts the technical scheme as follows: An autonomous lawn mower includes:
a housing, provided with a bottom shell;
a movement module, disposed below the housing, and configured to drive the autonomous lawn mower to move;
a cutting mechanism, disposed at the housing to perform a cutting task at a predetermined cutting height, and including a cutting element configured to perform cutting; and
a control module, configured to: autonomously control the movement module to drive the autonomous lawn mower to move, and autonomously control the cutting mechanism to perform a cutting task, where the autonomous lawn mower further includes a protecting assembly provided with a protecting wall, in a horizontal direction, the protecting wall is disposed on an outer side of the cutting mechanism, the protecting assembly at least includes a movable protecting member, the protecting wall at least includes a movable protecting wall that is disposed at the movable protecting member and is located on the outer side of the cutting mechanism in the horizontal direction, when the cutting mechanism is at any cutting height and the movable protecting member is in a free state under no external force, a ground clearance of a lower end of the movable protecting wall is an initial distance, the initial distance remains less than M, and the movable protecting member is movable in a height direction relative to the bottom shell under the action of an external force, to change the ground clearance of the lower end of the movable protecting wall.
Optionally, M satisfies 38 mm≤M≤40 mm, and when the cutting mechanism is at any cutting height, a range of the initial distance is 15 mm to 35 mm.
Optionally, when the cutting mechanism is at any cutting height and the movable protecting member is subjected to the action of an external force, the movable protecting member is movable upward relative to the bottom shell, to increase a ground clearance of the movable protecting wall, and when the external force is removed, the movable protecting member is movable downward relative to the bottom shell, to make the ground clearance of the lower end of the movable protecting wall return to the initial distance.
Optionally, during adjustment of a height of the cutting mechanism from the lowest level to the highest level, the cutting mechanism is movable in the height direction relative to the movable protecting member.
Optionally, during adjustment of the height of the cutting mechanism, a distance between the lower end of the movable protecting wall and the ground remains unchanged.
Optionally, during upward movement of the movable protecting wall under the action of a force, a resistance for the movable protecting wall to move upward when the distance between the lower end of the movable protecting wall and the ground is greater than a preset grass safe lift height is greater than a resistance for the movable protecting wall to move upward when the distance between the lower end of the movable protecting wall and the ground is less than the preset grass safe lift height.
Optionally, the movable protecting wall includes at least one of a front movable protecting wall disposed in front of the cutting mechanism, a rear movable protecting wall disposed behind the cutting mechanism or lateral movable protecting walls disposed on two sides of the cutting mechanism.
Optionally, in the horizontal direction, a range of a minimum distance X between an outermost edge of the movable protecting wall and the cutting element is X≥58 mm.
Optionally, the movable protecting wall includes a main movable portion, the main movable portion includes an obstacle passage region located at an outermost edge of the main movable portion, and the obstacle passage region includes an inclined surface inclining from outside to inside and extending downward.
Optionally, the movable protecting wall further includes a locking portion formed by the main movable portion extending downward, the locking portion includes a safe locking region located at an outermost edge of the locking portion, a ground clearance of a lower end of the safe locking region is less than M, and the safe locking region is located on an outer side of an extension line of the obstacle passage region in the same radial direction as the safe locking region.
Optionally, the movable protecting wall includes a plurality of blocking protrusions that are disposed at the bottom of the movable protecting wall and are disposed at intervals in a circumferential direction, and when the movable protecting member is in a free state under no external force, a ground clearance of a lower end of each blocking protrusion is greater than or equal to M/2.
Optionally, the movable protecting wall further includes an upper blocking portion connected above the blocking protrusion, an outermost edge of the blocking protrusion and an outer edge of the upper blocking portion do not completely overlap, and a part of the blocking protrusion that does not overlap the outermost edge of the upper blocking portion is located on an inner side of a corresponding part of the outermost edge of the upper blocking portion.
Optionally, the blocking protrusion includes a safe locking region located at an outermost edge of the blocking protrusion, the safe locking region includes an inclined surface and/or a vertical surface, and when the safe locking region is an inclined surface inclining from outside to inside and extending downward, an angle by which the safe locking region inclines inward from a vertical plane in which an outermost end of the safe locking region is located is less than 15 degrees.
Optionally, a range of a height h of the blocking protrusion is 0 mm<h≤80 mm or 3 mm≤h≤20 mm; a range of a width m of the blocking protrusion is 0 mm<m≤40 mm or 0 mm<m≤20 mm; and a range of a distance S between two adjacent blocking protrusions is 0 mm<S≤40 mm or 3 mm≤S≤25 mm.
Optionally, the movable protecting wall further includes a connecting protrusion that extends in the height direction and connects two adjacent blocking protrusions, the connecting protrusion partially concaves inward to make the connecting protrusion and the two adjacent blocking protrusions connected by the connecting protrusion together define a structure that has an interval on an outer side and is closed on an inner side.
Optionally, when the cutting mechanism is at any cutting height, a range of the initial distance remains less than or equal to M/2.
Optionally, the protecting wall includes a blocking wall, during upward movement of the movable protecting wall under an external force to the highest point of a movable range of the movable protecting wall, a lower end of the blocking wall remains lower than the lowest point of the cutting element.
Optionally, the protecting assembly further includes a mechanism protecting member fixed relative to the cutting mechanism in the height direction, the mechanism protecting member includes a mechanism protecting wall located between the movable protecting wall and the cutting mechanism in the horizontal direction, the blocking wall further includes the mechanism protecting wall, and a lower end of the mechanism protecting wall remains lower than the lowest point of the cutting element.
Optionally, the housing includes a high position housing located outside the cutting mechanism in the horizontal direction, in a direction from outside to inside and within a range of M extending in a direction perpendicular to the direction from outside to inside, a distance between the high position housing and the ground remains greater than M, and in the horizontal direction, at least a part of the mechanism protecting wall is located between the high position housing and the cutting mechanism.
Optionally, the mechanism protecting wall includes a front mechanism protecting wall located in front of the cutting mechanism, lateral mechanism protecting walls located on two sides of the cutting mechanism, and a rear mechanism protecting wall located behind the cutting mechanism, and the front mechanism protecting wall, the rear mechanism protecting wall, and the lateral mechanism protecting walls together define the mechanism protecting wall that is circumferentially closed.
Optionally, bottommost portions in the 360-degree circumferential direction of the mechanism protecting wall are all lower than the lowest point of the cutting element.
Optionally, a range of a minimum distance between the movable protecting wall and the mechanism protecting wall in the horizontal direction is 2 mm to 30 mm or 2 mm to 8 mm.
Optionally, when the cutting mechanism is at any cutting height and the movable protecting wall moves upward under an external force to the highest point of the movable range of the movable protecting wall, the lower end of the movable protecting wall is lower than the lowest point of the cutting element.
Optionally, on at least one level of cutting height, during movement of the movable protecting member in the height direction under an external force, the lower end of the movable protecting wall is movable relative to the cutting mechanism in the height direction.
Optionally, the autonomous lawn mower further includes a limiting mechanism configured to limit a degree to which the movable protecting member and the cutting mechanism move relatively in the height direction.
Optionally, the limiting mechanism includes a cutting limiting portion and a protecting member limiting portion capable of abutting against and limiting each other, the cutting limiting portion and the cutting mechanism are relatively fixed in the height direction, the protecting member limiting portion and the movable protecting member are relatively fixed in the height direction, and when the cutting limiting portion and the protecting member abut against and limit each other, the cutting limiting portion is located above the protecting member limiting portion.
Optionally, in a non-height adjustment state, when the cutting mechanism is subjected to the action of an external force, the cutting mechanism is movable relative to the ground in the height direction, and on at least one level of cutting height, during upward movement of the movable protecting member under the external force, the movable protecting member first moves upward separately until the movable protecting member and the cutting mechanism limit each other, and then moves upward together with the cutting mechanism.
Optionally, the protecting assembly further includes a cutting protecting member fixed relative to the cutting mechanism in the height direction, in the horizontal direction, the cutting protecting member is disposed in the movable protecting member, a lower end of the cutting protecting member is lower than the lowest point of the cutting element, and in a non-height adjustment state, the cutting protecting member is movable relative to the bottom shell in the height direction together with the cutting mechanism under the action of an external force.
Optionally, the cutting mechanism includes a cutting deck configured to fix the cutting element, the cutting protecting member includes a cutting deck protecting member that is disposed below the cutting deck and is disposed around a central cavity, and a lower end of the cutting deck protecting member is lower than the lowest point of the cutting element.
Optionally, the autonomous lawn mower further includes a flexible blocking member disposed at a bottom side of the housing, where in an advancing direction of the autonomous lawn mower, the blocking member is located on a front side and/or a rear side of the movement module, the blocking member includes a housing end fixed on the bottom side of the housing and a free end movable relative to the housing end under the action of an external force, the housing end and the movement module are disposed at intervals, and the free end is capable of abutting against and contacting the movement module under the action of an external force.
Optionally, the autonomous lawn mower further includes a cutting deck configured to mount the cutting element, and the cutting element is disposed above the cutting deck.
Optionally, during move of the autonomous lawn mower, when the movable protecting wall is subjected to the action of a force from outside to inside, a distance between the lower end of the movable protecting wall and the ground may be greater than or equal to M, where 38 mm≤M≤40 mm.
Optionally, a distance range of movement of the lower end of the movable protecting wall in the height direction is 15 mm to 80 mm or 20 mm to 40 mm.
Optionally, the movable protecting wall includes a grass grinding end surface that is located at the lower end of the movable protecting wall and continuously extends in a circumferential direction.
Optionally, the movable protecting wall includes a vertical protecting wall extending in the height direction and a horizontal protecting wall that is located below the vertical protecting wall and extends in the horizontal direction, and at least one side of the horizontal protecting wall in a horizontal inside-outside direction protrudes from a corresponding side of the vertical protecting wall.
Optionally, the autonomous lawn mower further includes a protecting member upward guide mechanism configured to connect the movable protecting member and the housing, and when the movable protecting member is subjected to the action of a force from outside to inside, the protecting member upward guide mechanism allows the movable protecting wall to move upward.
Optionally, the upward guide mechanism includes at least one of a four-bar linkage, a two-bar linkage, a single-bar linkage or a chute.
Optionally, the autonomous lawn mower further includes a cutting upward guide mechanism configured to connect the cutting mechanism and the housing.
Optionally, the movable protecting member includes an upper protecting member and a lower protecting member, and when the lower protecting member is subjected to the action of an external force, the lower protecting member is movable relative to the upper protecting member in the height direction.
Optionally, the movable protecting member is disposed on an outer side of the housing and/or disposed between the cutting mechanism and the housing and/or is connected to a local portion of the housing.
Optionally, the movable protecting wall includes a front movable protecting wall disposed in front of the cutting mechanism, the protecting assembly further includes a rear movable protecting member provided with a rear movable protecting wall, the rear movable protecting wall is disposed behind the cutting mechanism, and when the rear movable protecting member is subjected to the action of an external force, a lower end of the rear movable protecting wall is relatively displaceable relative to the ground in the height direction.
Optionally, under the action of an external force, the movable protecting member and the rear movable protecting member are relatively independently movable.
Optionally, the rear movable protecting member includes a baffle with an end fixed to the housing, the baffle includes a fixed end fixed to the housing and a movable end rotatable around the fixed end under an external force.
Optionally, when the front movable protecting member is subjected to a vertically upward force, the front movable protecting member is movable in the height direction; and when the rear movable protecting member is subjected to a vertically upward force, the rear movable protecting member is not movable in the height direction.
Optionally, the movable protecting wall further includes lateral movable protecting walls disposed on two sides of the autonomous lawn mower, and the front movable protecting wall and the lateral movable protecting walls are connected to each other, so that the lateral movable protecting walls and the front movable protecting wall are synchronously movable in the height direction under the action of an external force.
Beneficial effects of the solutions are as follows: The protecting assembly provided with the protecting wall is disposed, so that while a child's finger, arm or the like is prevented from being accidentally injured, the ability to pass over the grass of the autonomous lawn mower is ensured.
To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the present invention clearer and more comprehensible, the following further describes the present invention in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely used to explain the present invention but are not intended to limit the present invention.
As shown in
The cutting mechanism 3 is rotatably fixed below the housing 10. The cutting mechanism 3 includes a cutting deck 31 rotatably fixed below the housing 10, a plurality of cutting elements 32 fixed on the cutting deck 31, and a fastening member 33 configured to fix the cutting elements 32 on the cutting deck 31. In this embodiment, the cutting mechanism 3 further includes a rotating portion 36 rotatably fixed below the housing 10. The cutting deck 31 is fixed on the rotating portion 36, and is rotatable along with the rotating portion 36. The cutting elements 32 are cutting blades. The cutting blades are uniformly fixed at a circumference of the cutting deck 31 to rotate along with the cutting deck 31. In an example embodiment, the cutting mechanism 3 includes three cutting blades. In another embodiment, a quantity of the cutting blades may be determined according to an actual case. For example, there are two or more than three cutting elements.
A height of the cutting mechanism 3 relative to the ground is adjustable, so that the autonomous lawn mower 1 can complete cutting at different heights during mowing. Specifically, there are a plurality of manners of adjusting the height of the cutting mechanism 3. In an example embodiment, the autonomous lawn mower 1 further includes a height adjustment structure 6 configured to adjust the height of the cutting mechanism (height adjustment). When the autonomous lawn mower 1 needs to adjust a cutting height, the height adjustment structure 6 is operated. Driven by the height adjustment structure 6, the cutting mechanism 3 is vertically movable to implement adjustment of the height of the cutting mechanism 3, thereby implementing the adjustment of a grass cutting height. During adjustment of the cutting height from the lowest level to the highest level, the cutting mechanism 3 may be relatively movable in the height direction relative to a movable protecting member 41. For example, the cutting mechanism 3 is movable in the height direction relative to the housing 10. The cutting mechanism 3 moves relative to the ground in the height direction. The movable protecting member 41 does not move relative to the ground in the height direction. That is, an initial distance between a lower end of a movable protecting wall and the ground remains unchanged. A lowest state 411 of the movable protecting member 41 remains unchanged, to prevent the height adjustment from affecting the safety protection effect of the autonomous lawn mower 1. In this embodiment, during adjustment of the cutting height from the lowest level to the highest level, the initial distance between the lower end of the movable protecting wall and the ground remains unchanged. In another embodiment, during adjustment between some levels, the initial distance between the lower end of the movable protecting wall and the ground may remain unchanged. During adjustment between some levels, the initial distance between the lower end of the movable protecting wall and the ground changes. In another embodiment, the autonomous lawn mower 1 may adjust a distance between each cutting element 32 and the ground by vertically inverting the cutting deck 31 or replacing the cutting deck 31 with a new one to adjust the cutting height. In this embodiment, during adjustment of the cutting height, the movable protecting member 41 is not changed. That is, a position relationship between the movable protecting member 41 and the housing 10 is not changed. Instead, the cutting deck 31 is directly replaced. Certainly, in some embodiments, a height of the cutting mechanism 3 relative to the ground may remain fixed, and is unadjustable.
In a non-height adjustment state, the cutting mechanism 3 may be fixedly disposed relative to the housing or may be movably disposed relative to the housing. For example, the cutting mechanism 3 is movable relative to the housing in the height direction. When an external force is applied below the cutting mechanism 3, for example, when the cutting mechanism 3 encounters an upward external force applied to the cutting mechanism by an obstacle below, the cutting mechanism 3 is movable upward relative to the housing, to avoid the obstacle, thereby preventing the obstacle from hitting the blades and improving the ability to pass over the grass.
As shown in
A maximum value M of the diameter of a child's arm is set. Regardless of a cutting height of the cutting mechanism 3, in other words, when the cutting mechanism 3 is at any cutting height and the protecting assembly 4 is in a free state under no external force, a distance between a lower end of the protecting assembly 4 and the ground is an initial distance, and the initial distance remains less than M, to prevent a child's arm from passing through the bottom of the movable protecting member 41 to enter near the cutting mechanism 3 of the autonomous lawn mower 1, thereby eliminating the risk of accidental injury by the cutting mechanism 3. Generally, a range of the maximum value M of a child's arm is 38 mm to 40 mm (including 38 mm and 40 mm). That is, 38 mm≤M≤40 mm A distance between the lower end of the protecting assembly 4 and the ground may be correspondingly set to 15 mm, 19 mm, 25 mm, 35 mm, 37 mm, 39 mm or the like. Certainly, in another embodiment, the range of M may be adjusted according to an actual case. For example, to protect a thinner arm, M is set smaller. Alternatively, to protect a thicker arm, M is set larger. For example, M=38 mm That is, a distance between the lower end of the protecting assembly 4 and the ground remains less than 38 mm. The foregoing free state of the protecting assembly 4 refers to the state of the protecting assembly 4 when the autonomous lawn mower 1 is subjected to the action of no external force regardless of the cutting height of the cutting mechanism 3. When the protecting assembly 4 is in a free state, in a case that an arm with a diameter greater than M attempts to enter the autonomous lawn mower 1 from below the movable protecting member 41, the arm is blocked by the lower end of the protecting assembly 4, so that the arm is prevented from entering the movable protecting member 41. In an example embodiment, a distance between the lower end of the protecting assembly 4 and the ground is within a range of 15 mm to 35 mm, so that the distance between the lower end of the protecting assembly 4 and the ground can prevent the entry of a child's arm, and the normal moving of the autonomous lawn mower on a lawn is not affected because the protecting assembly 4 is excessively close to the ground.
A distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 of the movable protecting member 41 and the ground may change in various manners. For example, the movable protecting member 41 is movable relative to the bottom shell in the height direction, to change a ground clearance of a lower end of the movable protecting wall. For example, the movable protecting member 41 is generally movable relative to the bottom shell in the height direction, to make the movable protecting wall generally movable relative to the ground in the height direction. Alternatively, the movable protecting member 41 is only partially movable relative to the bottom shell in the height direction, to make the distance between a part of the movable protecting wall and the ground changeable. Further alternatively, a distance between an upper end of the movable protecting member 41 and the ground is unchangeable, and the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground is changeable. For example, the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground may be generated in a manner such as rotation or deformation.
In an example embodiment, as shown in
In another embodiment, the movable protecting member 41 may be fixed relative to the housing. The housing 10 is relatively changeable relative to the ground. For example, a connection form between the movement module and the housing 10 changes, to make the housing 10 change relative to the ground. In another embodiment, as shown in
The cutting element 32 includes a cutting element lowest point 30 located at a lower position of the cutting element in the height direction. Regardless of a cutting height of the cutting mechanism 3, during movement, when the autonomous lawn mower 1 encounters a child's arm, for example, a test arm 61 with a diameter of M in
The lower end of the blocking wall 40 of the protecting assembly 4 remains lower than the cutting element lowest point 30. Therefore, the test arm 61 can only be located below the cutting element 32.
In an example embodiment, as shown in
In another embodiment, a cutting protecting member 305 may be added. In an inside-outside direction of the horizontal direction of the autonomous lawn mower, the cutting protecting member 305 is disposed in the movable protecting member. A lower end of the cutting protecting member is lower than the lowest point of the cutting element. As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The cutting deck 31 has a lower surface facing downward. The cutting element 32 is rotatably mounted on the lower surface, and can extend from an outer edge of the cutting deck 31. The cutting deck protecting member 35 is disposed on a lower surface of the cutting deck 31 or protrudes downward from the lower surface of the cutting deck 31. The largest outer diameter of the cutting deck protecting member 35 is less than the largest outer diameter of the cutting element 32. The cutting deck protecting member 35 is disposed around a central cavity 350. The central cavity 350 forms an opening facing downward at the lower end of the cutting deck protecting member 35. As shown in
For ease of description, the cutting deck protecting member 35 in the foregoing embodiments may also be directly referred to as the cutting protecting member 305.
In the foregoing embodiment, to further avoid that a child's arm may enter the cutting mechanism 3 when the autonomous lawn mower 1 tilts, the cutting protecting member 305 and the cutting mechanism are fixed to each other in the height direction, and in a non-height adjustment state, the cutting protecting member is movable relative to the bottom shell in the height direction together with the cutting mechanism 3 under the action of an external force, so that as shown in
In the foregoing embodiment, to further ensure safety, when the cutting protecting member 305 is subjected to a force and drives the cutting mechanism 3 to move upward, the cutting protecting member 305 and the cutting mechanism 3 may drop after a delay, for example, pause at the peak for a particular time before dropping to return to the original position, to avoid that due to excessively fast drop, the cutting mechanism drops before the autonomous lawn mower has moved past the child's arm and accidentally injures the child's arm. Specifically, a delay mechanism configured to control a reset speed of the cutting mechanism 3 may be disposed in the autonomous lawn mower to implement the delay. The delay mechanism may be a damping apparatus, an electromagnet or the like.
Specifically, a plurality of manners may be used to implement that the lower end of the blocking wall 40 of the protecting assembly 4 remains lower than the cutting element lowest point 30. For example, in an example embodiment, during upward movement of the movable protecting member 41 under a force, the upward movement of the movable protecting member 41 is limited, so that the movable protecting wall lower end 417 remains located at the cutting element lowest point 30. In another embodiment, the movable protecting member 41 and the cutting mechanism 3 may be synchronously movable, so that the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the cutting element lowest point 30 is unchangeable, to implement that the movable protecting wall lower end 417 remains located at the cutting element lowest point 30. In another embodiment, the mechanism protecting member 42 with a lower end that remains lower than the cutting element lowest point 30 may be added to implement that the lower end of the blocking wall 40 of the protecting assembly 4 remains lower than the cutting element lowest point 30.
An example in which the mechanism protecting member 42 with a lower end that remains lower than the cutting element lowest point 30 is added is used below for detailed description. In this embodiment, the protecting assembly 4 further includes the mechanism protecting member 42 provided with a mechanism protecting wall 424. In the horizontal direction, the mechanism protecting wall 424 of the autonomous lawn mower is disposed between the cutting mechanism 3 and the movable protecting wall. The protecting wall 40 includes the movable protecting wall and the mechanism protecting wall 424. The mechanism protecting member 42 is fixed relative to the cutting mechanism 3. The cutting mechanism 3 may move or not move relative to the housing according to a case. When the cutting mechanism 3 moves relative to the housing, the mechanism protecting member 42 moves accordingly. When the cutting mechanism 3 does not move relative to the housing, the mechanism protecting member 42 also does not move accordingly. In this embodiment, the mechanism protecting member 42 is completely fixed relative to the cutting mechanism 3 and cannot move in any direction. Certainly, in another embodiment, the mechanism protecting member 42 may be only fixed relative to the cutting mechanism 3 in the height direction, and the mechanism protecting member and the cutting mechanism are movable in directions other than the height direction. The mechanism protecting member 42 includes the mechanism protecting wall 424 for protection. The cutting mechanism 3 includes the cutting element lowest point 30 located at the lower position of the cutting mechanism in the height direction. In the height direction, the mechanism protecting member 42 is fixed relative to the cutting mechanism 3. That is, in the height direction, relative positions of the mechanism protecting member 42 and the cutting mechanism 3 are unchangeable. The lower end of the mechanism protecting wall 424 of the mechanism protecting member 42, that is, the mechanism protecting wall lower end 427, remains lower than the cutting element lowest point 30, to ensure that the lower end of the protecting wall 40 remains lower than the cutting element lowest point 30, to prevent a child's arm from being run over by the autonomous lawn mower 1.
As shown in
The mechanism protecting member 42 includes the mechanism protecting wall 424 and a fixed connection wall 425 configured to connect the mechanism protecting wall 424 and the housing 10. In the height direction, the mechanism protecting wall 424 is fixed relative to the cutting deck 31. That is, relative positions of the mechanism protecting wall 424 and the cutting deck 31 in the height direction are unchangeable. The mechanism protecting wall 424 includes: a plurality of fixed protecting teeth 4246, a plurality of fixed grass inlets 4247 located between two adjacent fixed protecting teeth 4246, and a connecting portion 4248 configured to connect adjacent fixed protecting teeth 4246. A width of each fixed grass inlet 4247 is 1 to M, and a width of each fixed protecting tooth 4246 is 1 mm to 20 mm, so that while grass can enter, it is avoided that a child's arm passes through the mechanism protecting member 42 through the fixed grass inlet 4247 to touch the cutting mechanism 3. Because the fixed grass inlet 4247 is excessively wide, an effective length of the fixed protecting teeth 4246 is reduced. In an example embodiment, a width of each fixed grass inlet 4247 is 10 mm to 25 mm, so that while the effective length of the fixed protecting teeth 4246 is ensured to avoid that a child's arm enters the mechanism protecting member 42 through the fixed grass inlet 4247. During movement of the autonomous lawn mower 1, an appropriate amount of grass enters the cutting mechanism 3 through the fixed grass inlet 4247, to avoid that an excessively small amount of grass enters to cause a phenomenon such as low working efficiency or grass clogging. A width of each fixed protecting tooth 4146 is 4 mm to 10 mm. While the rigidity of the fixed protecting teeth 4246 is improved, it is avoided that the width of the fixed protecting tooth 4246 is excessively large to cause grass clogging. In an example embodiment, the movable protecting member 41 also includes a plurality of movable protecting teeth 4146, a plurality of movable grass inlets 4147 located between two adjacent movable protecting teeth 4146, and a connecting portion 4148 configured to connect adjacent movable protecting teeth 4146. In an advancing direction of the autonomous lawn mower 1, the fixed grass inlets 4247 and the movable grass inlets 4147 are correspondingly disposed longitudinally, so that grass may linearly pass through the movable grass inlets 4147 and the fixed grass inlets 4247 in sequence, to avoid jamming of grass. The fixed protecting teeth 4246 and the movable protecting teeth 4146 are separately distributed on the outer side of the cutting mechanism 3 along a circumference, to form safety protection on the outer side of the cutting mechanism 3.
As shown in
In this embodiment, to ensure that a child's arm cannot touch the cutting element 32 when entering in any direction, the mechanism protecting wall may be disposed all around the mechanism protecting member 42. That is, as shown in
In an example embodiment, as shown in
As shown in
In another embodiment, different implementations may be selected according to movement manners of the movable protecting member 41 to implement that the lower end of the protecting assembly 4 remains lower than the cutting element lowest point 30.
An example in which the movable protecting member 41 is movable in the height direction relative to the bottom shell of the housing 10 under the action of an external force to change the ground clearance of the movable protecting wall lower end is used below for detailed description.
As shown in
In the height direction, the movable protecting member 41 is movable relative to the bottom shell 101 of the housing 10, and the movable protecting wall 414 is also movable relative to the bottom shell of the housing 10, so that when the autonomous lawn mower 1 encounters an obstacle 62 within a particular range, the movable protecting wall 414 of the movable protecting member 41 can move upward to avoid the obstacle 62, thereby ensuring adequate ability to pass over the grass of the autonomous lawn mower. In this embodiment, the movable protecting member 41 may generally move upward relative to the bottom shell 101 under the action of an external force applied by an obstacle, so that ground clearances of all points on the lower surface of the movable protecting wall are all increased, and the autonomous lawn mower can generally pass the obstacle quickly, thereby greatly improving the overall ability to pass over the grass of the autonomous lawn mower. The movable protecting member 41 has a lowest state 411 and a highest state 412 within a movable range. The lowest state 411 means that during move of the autonomous lawn mower. The movable protecting member 41 is located at the lowest position of a space in which the movable protecting member is movable in the height direction. The highest state 412 means that during move of the autonomous lawn mower, the movable protecting member is at the highest position of a movable space in in the height direction. It should be noted that the lowest position and the highest position both define a range in which the movable protecting member 41 is movable under a naturally encountered external force or an external force in the same direction as a naturally applied external force during movement of the autonomous lawn mower. For example, the movable protecting member 41 is subjected to an external force applied by the obstacle or the buoyancy applied to the movable protecting member by grass. A case in which a downward external force is manually and forcefully applied to the movable protecting member 41 to make the movable protecting wall move downward is not included.
In this embodiment, the movable protecting member 41 includes a free state. The free state refers to a state that the movable protecting member 41 is in when the autonomous lawn mower 1 is subjected to the action of no external force at a cutting height corresponding to the movable protecting member. At different cutting heights, free states of the movable protecting member 41 may be the same. That is, the adjustment of the height of the cutting mechanism 3 does not affect the free state of the movable protecting member 41. Certainly, in another embodiment, the free state of the movable protecting member 41 is susceptible to height adjustment. However, to avoid that a child's arm enters from below the movable protecting member 41 when the autonomous lawn mower 1 is in a still state, it needs to be ensured that at any cutting height, when the movable protecting member 41 is in the free state, an initial distance H0 between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground remains less than M. In the foregoing embodiment, it is set that M is 38 mm That is, the initial distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground remains less than 38 mm Certainly, the initial distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground preferably remains less than 38 mm. In another embodiment, M may be between 38 mm and 40 mm (including 38 mm and 40 mm). Correspondingly, the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground only needs to remain less than M. For example, when M is 40 mm, the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground remains less than 40 mm. For example, in all the following embodiments, the initial distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground remains less than 38 mm.
In an example embodiment, the initial distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground is within a range of 15 mm to 35 mm, so that a distance between the protecting member 41 and the ground can prevent the entry of a child's arm, and it is avoided that the normal moving of the autonomous lawn mower on a lawn is affected because the movable protecting wall 414 is excessively close to the ground. The ground clearance of the movable protecting wall lower end 417 may be further limited within a range of 19 mm to 30 mm. In one aspect, it is limited that the ground clearance is greater than 19 mm, and the ground clearance of the movable protecting wall lower end 417 is increased, to improve the ability to pass over the grass. In another aspect, it is limited that the ground clearance is less than 30 mm to make a difference between the ground clearance and the diameter of a child's arm greater than a particular value, to keep a particular safety allowance, thereby ensuring that when the autonomous lawn mower tilts or is in another special working condition, a child's finger is prevented from entry. Certainly, the ground clearance of the movable protecting wall lower end 417 may be set to another range, for example, a range of 15 mm to 25 mm.
In another embodiment, the initial distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground remains less than 19 mm, that is, remains less than the radius of a child's arm, so that it is not easy for a child's finger to enter the cutting mechanism 3 from below the movable protecting wall lower end 417.
Specifically, a safe distance value may be preset. The safe distance value is less than or equal to M. For example, the safe distance value is 40 mm, 38 mm, 19 mm, 15 mm to 35 mm, 19 mm to 30 mm or 15 mm to 25 mm Regardless of a cutting height of the cutting mechanism 3, in other words, when the cutting mechanism 3 is at any cutting height and the movable protecting member 41 is in the free state, the initial distance H0 between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground remains less than the safe distance value. In this embodiment, the cutting mechanism 3 may be movable relative to the movable protecting member 41 during adjustment of the cutting height of the cutting mechanism 3, to implement that when the movable protecting member 41 is in the free state, the initial distance H0 between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground remains less than the safe distance value.
As shown in
A movable distance by which the movable protecting member 41 moves upward in the height direction under an external force is not less than 15 mm, and a specific range of the distance by which the movable protecting member can move upward may be 15 mm to 80 mm, so that the movable protecting member 41 can avoid most obstacles 62. After the lower end of the movable protecting wall moves upward, the distance between the lower end of the movable protecting wall and the ground may be greater than M, to avoid that the ability to pass over the grass of the autonomous lawn mower is limited because a child's arm needs to be blocked. In an example embodiment, as shown in
In an example embodiment, a grass safe lift height is preset. During upward movement of the movable protecting wall 414 under an external force, a resistance for the movable protecting wall 414 to move upward when the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground is greater than the preset grass safe lift height is greater than a resistance for the movable protecting wall 414 to move upward when the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground is not greater than the preset grass safe lift height. A grass lift force applied to the autonomous lawn mower 1 by grass when the autonomous lawn mower 1 is placed still on a lawn is greater than the resistance for the movable protecting wall 414 to move upward when the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground is not greater than the preset grass safe lift height, and is less than the resistance for the movable protecting wall 414 to move upward when the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground is greater than the preset grass safe lift height. Therefore, when the autonomous lawn mower 1 is placed still on a lawn, the grass lift force can only lift the movable protecting wall lower end 417 to a height from the ground being not greater than the preset grass safe lift height, but cannot lift the movable protecting wall lower end to a distance from the ground being greater than the grass safe lift height, to avoid that when the autonomous lawn mower 1 is placed still on a lawn, the movable protecting wall 414 is lifted by grass to the grass safe lift height and a child's arm enters the cutting mechanism 3 from below the movable protecting wall 414. In this embodiment, the preset grass lift height is less than 38 mm, to avoid entry of a child's arm. In an example embodiment, the preset grass lift height is within a range of 15 mm to 25 mm, so that the distance between the protecting member 41 and the ground can prevent the entry of a child's arm, and it is avoided that the normal moving of the autonomous lawn mower on a lawn is affected because the movable protecting wall 414 is excessively close to the ground. Certainly, the preset grass lift height may be alternatively set to be less than 19 mm, to avoid the entry of a child's finger.
In another embodiment, a grass lift force applied to the autonomous lawn mower 1 by grass when the autonomous lawn mower 1 moves is greater than an upward grass lift force on the movable protecting wall 414 by grass when the autonomous lawn mower 1 is in a still state. The resistance for the movable protecting wall 414 to move upward when the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground is greater than the preset grass safe lift height is greater than an upward grass lift force applied to the movable protecting wall 414 by grass when the autonomous lawn mower 1 is in a still state, and is greater than a grass lift force applied to the autonomous lawn mower 1 by grass when the autonomous lawn mower 1 moves. That is, a grass lift force applied to the autonomous lawn mower 1 by grass when the autonomous lawn mower 1 moves is greater than the resistance for the movable protecting wall 414 to move upward when the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground is not greater than the preset grass safe lift height is less than the resistance for the movable protecting wall 414 to move upward when the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground is greater than the preset grass safe lift height. Therefore, in a movement process of the autonomous lawn mower 1 on a lawn, the grass lift force can only lift the movable protecting wall lower end 417 to a height from the ground being not greater than the preset grass safe lift height, but cannot lift the movable protecting wall lower end to a distance from the ground being greater than the grass safe lift height, to avoid that when the autonomous lawn mower 1 moves on a lawn, the movable protecting wall 414 is lifted by grass to the grass safe lift height and a child's arm enters the cutting mechanism 3 from below the movable protecting wall 414. In this embodiment, the preset grass lift height is less than M, to avoid entry of a child's arm with a diameter of M. In an example embodiment, the preset grass lift height is within a range of 15 mm to 25 mm, so that the distance between the protecting member 41 and the ground can prevent the entry of a child's arm, and the normal moving of the autonomous lawn mower on a lawn is not affected because the movable protecting wall 414 is excessively close to the ground. Certainly, the preset grass lift height may be alternatively set to be less than 19 mm, to avoid the entry of a child's finger.
In the horizontal direction, a minimum distance X between an outermost edge of the movable protecting wall 414 and a part of the cutting mechanism 3 closest to the movable protecting wall is greater than 58 mm Generally, the minimum distance X between the outermost edge of the movable protecting wall 414 and a part of the cutting mechanism 3 closest to the movable protecting wall is a minimum distance between the outermost edge of the movable protecting wall 414 and the cutting element 32 in a process that the cutting deck drives the cutting element 32 to rotate. In this embodiment, the minimum distance X is 58 mm to 200 mm Because the diameter of a finger is relatively small, the finger may still enter from the bottom of the movable protecting member 41 in parallel to touch the cutting mechanism 3. In this embodiment, the minimum distance X between the outermost edge of the movable protecting wall 414 and a part of the cutting mechanism 3 closest to the movable protecting wall is 58 mm to 200 mm Because lengths of fingers of most children are less than 58 mm, in this embodiment, fingers of most children can be effectively prevented from entering the cutting mechanism 3 from the bottom of the movable protecting member 41 and being accidentally injured by the cutting mechanism 3. In an example embodiment, the minimum distance X between the outermost edge of the movable protecting wall 414 and a part of the cutting mechanism 3 closest to the movable protecting wall is 63 mm to 75 mm, so that while it is ensured that a child's finger cannot touch the cutting mechanism 3, a horizontal distance between the movable protecting member 41 and the cutting mechanism 3 is limited, to improve the compactness of the overall structure of the autonomous lawn mower 1, making the autonomous lawn mower 1 small and lightweight. A movable protecting wall outermost edge 413 is an outermost part of the movable protecting wall 414 that a user's arm or finger can reach. As shown in
As shown in
The front-end outermost edge 4131 of the movable protecting wall 414 includes the foregoing obstacle passage region 4135. The obstacle passage region 4135 includes an inclined surface inclining from outside to inside (from front to rear) and extending downward. In the advancing direction of the autonomous lawn mower, the inclined front-end outermost edge 4131 is high in the front and low in the rear. When the autonomous lawn mower 1 automatically moves and encounters an obstacle 62, the movable protecting member 41 collides with the obstacle 62. The obstacle 62 generates a force perpendicular to the front-end outermost edge 4131 of the movable protecting member 41, that is, generates an upward inclining force. The upward inclining force generates an upward force component, to make the movable protecting member 41 move upward as shown in
As shown in
As shown in
F*L1*sin(a+b)=G*L1*cos(a).
It is obtained that: F=G*cos(a)/sin(a+b)
F is a horizontal pushing force of a child's arm, L1 is the length of the link, L2 is a distance by which the protecting member is allowed to rise, G is the gravity of the protecting member, and b an angle by which the link inclines inward from a vertical plane in which an outermost end of the link is located. In an example embodiment, the distance between the movable protecting member 41 and the ground is 30 mm. The movable protecting member is allowed to move upward by 20 mm That is, the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground is between 30 mm and 50 mm. In an example, the length of the four-bar linkage is selected to be 110 mm. When the movable protecting member 41 is in the highest state 412, the movement of the four-bar linkage is kept in a horizontal state. In an example embodiment, F is a test force of a child's arm and is 5 N, and G=0.93 N. That is, the weight of the movable protecting member is greater than 93 g, and the test force of the child's arm cannot lift the protecting member.
It may be found through the foregoing calculation that when b is smaller, that is, an area where the movable protecting member outermost edge 413 contacts the test arm 61 is closer to the vertical, the four-bar linkage is longer, the movable protecting member 41 is heavier, the distance by which the movable protecting wall lower end 417 moves upward is smaller, and it is more difficult to lift the movable protecting member 41.
In this embodiment, as shown in
As shown in
To avoid the risk caused when the test arm 61 hits the movable protecting wall 414 in a non-normal direction, in an example embodiment, as shown in
As shown in
To keep the bearing surface as the front-end surface of the test arm 61 when the test arm 61 hits the lower end of the movable protecting wall 414 in any normal direction to further avoid generating an upward force component, a distance S between any two adjacent blocking protrusions 4021 and a height h of the blocking protrusion 4021 must be greater than zero. However, to prevent the test arm 61 from entering through a gap between two adjacent blocking protrusions 4021 in a normal direction, the distance S≤the diameter of the test arm. Because the diameter of the test arm is less than or equal to 40 mm, in this embodiment, a range of S is defined as: 0 mm<S≤40 mm Preferably, the range of S is: 3≤S≤25 mm, to avoid that the gap between two adjacent blocking protrusions 4021 is excessively small and as a result the test arm enters in a non-normal direction to generate an upward force, or the gap is excessively large and as a result the test arm 61 can enter the gap. In addition, if the blocking protrusions 4021 are excessively large and as a result the ability to pass over the grass is inadequate, the height h of each blocking protrusion 4021 is defined as: 0 mm<h≤80 mm, preferably, 3 mm<h≤20 mm.
In addition, to avoid that when the test arm 61 hits in a non-normal direction, the transitional surface of the test arm 61 abuts against an outermost edge of the blocking protrusion 4021, a width m of the blocking protrusion 4021 is defined as 0 mm<m≤40 mm, preferably, 0 mm<m≤20 mm. The outermost edge of the blocking protrusion 4021 and an outermost edge of the upper blocking portion do not overlap. That is, the outermost edge of the blocking protrusion 4021 and the outermost edge of the transitional portion 4022 do not overlap. A part of the blocking protrusion 4021 that does not overlap the outermost edge of the upper blocking portion is located on an inner side of a corresponding part of the outermost edge of the upper blocking portion. That is, as shown in
In this embodiment, when the ground clearance of the lower end of the locking portion 402, that is, the lower end of the blocking protrusion 4021 is set within the range of M/2 to M, for example, the ground clearance of the lower end of the locking portion 402 is 19 mm to 40 mm, the ability to pass over the grass of the autonomous lawn mower is improved, and at the same time the blocking protrusions 4021 are set to prevent a child's arm from entering the movable protecting wall in a non-normal direction, so that while the ability to pass over the grass is improved, the safety of children is ensured.
In another embodiment, the ground clearance of the lower end of the locking portion 402 may be limited within a range of a radius of a child's arm, to avoid generating an upward force when a child's arm hits the locking portion 402 in a non-normal direction. Specifically, when the cutting mechanism is at any cutting height, the initial distance between the movable protecting wall 414 and the ground remains less than or equal to M/2. That is, an initial ground clearance of the lower end of the locking portion 402 may be limited to be less than or equal to M/2, for example, a ground clearance of the lower end of the locking portion 402 is less than or equal to 19 mm. In this case, as shown in
When the autonomous lawn mower with the locking portion 402 shown in
To further improve the ability to pass over the grass in dense grass, in an example embodiment, as shown in
As shown in
As shown in
Certainly, in another embodiment, according to a case, the connecting protrusion 4023 may be an arc-shaped structure resembling a V shape. The connecting protrusion 4023 and the blocking protrusions 4021 are connected to form a wavy form. Alternatively, as shown in
For example, while the movable protecting member 41 exists, the foregoing mechanism protecting member 42 may be added to implement that the lower end of the protecting assembly 4 remains lower than the cutting element lowest point 30. The protecting assembly 4 includes the movable protecting member 41 and the mechanism protecting member 42. The mechanism protecting member 42 is fixed relative to the cutting mechanism 3. For example, when the cutting mechanism 3 moves relative to the housing, the mechanism protecting member 42 moves accordingly. When the cutting mechanism 3 is unmovable relative to the housing, the mechanism protecting member 42 is also unmovable accordingly. In a non-height adjustment state, the cutting mechanism 3 may be set to be movable relative to the housing, or may be set to be unmovable relative to the housing. Regardless how the cutting mechanism 3 and the movable protecting member 41 move, or how they move relatively, because the mechanism protecting member 42 remains relatively fixed to the cutting mechanism 3 and the lower end of the mechanism protecting member 42 remains lower than the cutting element lowest point 30, even if the test arm 61 moves across the movable protecting member 41, the test arm is blocked by the mechanism protecting member 42. Even if the lower end of the mechanism protecting member 42 is higher than the test arm 61, the test arm 61 can only be located below cutting element 32, and is prevented from touching the cutting element 32. Therefore, the safety of a child's arm can be ensured. In this embodiment, reference may be directly made to any other foregoing or following embodiment with the mechanism protecting member 42. In an example embodiment, the structure is no longer described in detail. Below, while the movable protecting member 41 exists, for example, the relative position relationship between the movable protecting member 41 and the cutting mechanism 3 during the movement of the movable protecting member 41 is limited to implement that the lower end of the protecting assembly 4 remains lower than the cutting element 32.
For example, it may be limited that the movable protecting member 41 is in two extreme states, namely, the lowest state 411 and the highest state 412. The movable protecting member lower end remains lower than the cutting element lowest point 30, to implement that during the entire movement, the lower end of the movable protecting member 41 remains lower than the cutting element lowest point 30.
When a cutting height of the autonomous lawn mower 1 is adjusted to the lowest position, and the movable protecting member 41 is in the lowest state 411, in the height direction, the movable protecting wall lower end 417 of the movable protecting member 41 is lower than the cutting element lowest point 30, so that no matter how the cutting height of the autonomous lawn mower 1 is adjusted, when the movable protecting member 41 is in the lowest state, the movable protecting wall lower end 417 of the movable protecting member 41 remains lower than the cutting element lowest point 30, to prevent a child's arm from being run over by the autonomous lawn mower 1. Specifically, the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the cutting element lowest point 30 is 2 mm to 30 mm, to ensure that a child's finger or arm is prevented from touching the cutting mechanism 3 from the entire circumference of the protecting member.
When the cutting mechanism is at any cutting height, during movement of the autonomous lawn mower 1 moves, when the movable protecting member 41 is in the highest state 412, that is, during upward movement of the movable protecting wall under an external force to the highest point of a movable range of the movable protecting wall, the movable protecting wall lower end 417 is lower than the cutting element lowest point 30, to implement that when the movable protecting member 41 is subjected to a force from outside to inside, the movable protecting wall lower end 417 of the movable protecting member 41 remains lower than the cutting element lowest point 30. To achieve the foregoing objective, the following technical solutions may be adopted.
In an example embodiment, on at least one level of cutting height, during movement of the autonomous lawn mower 1, when the movable protecting member 41 moves in the height direction under an external force, the cutting mechanism 3 follows the movable protecting member 41 to move synchronously in the height direction, to ensure that the movable protecting wall lower end 417 remains lower than the lowest point of the cutting element 32. The movable protecting member 41 and the cutting mechanism 3 are connected to each other. During movement of the autonomous lawn mower 1, during upward movement of the movable protecting member 41 under a force, the cutting mechanism 3 follows to move upward together. When the movable protecting member 41 moves downward, the cutting mechanism 3 also follows to move downward together. In this embodiment, the cutting mechanism 3 and the movable protecting member 41 are connected to each other, to implement that when moving vertically, the movable protecting member 41 may drive the cutting mechanism 3 to move vertically synchronously. In a process that the cutting mechanism 3 follows the movable protecting member 41 to move vertically, in the height direction, the cutting mechanism 3 may be fixed relative to the movable protecting member 41, or a particular relative movement may be generated. For example, in an example embodiment, during the movement of the autonomous lawn mower 1, the cutting mechanism 3 is relatively fixed to the movable protecting member 41 in the height direction. That is, in the height direction, the relative positions of the two are kept unchanged. Because the cutting mechanism 3 follows the movable protecting member 41 to move together, the relative positions of the two are kept unchanged in the height direction, as long as the movable protecting member 41 is in the lowest state. The movable protecting wall lower end 417 is lower than the cutting element lowest point 30, so that during entire movement of the movable protecting member 41, the movable protecting wall lower end 417 is lower than the cutting element lowest point 30. In another embodiment, in the height direction, while the cutting mechanism 3 follows the movable protecting member 41 to move together, the cutting mechanism 3 may further move relative to the movable protecting member 41. The autonomous lawn mower 1 further includes a movable adjustment mechanism (not shown) configured to adjust the movement of the cutting mechanism 3 relative to the movable protecting member 41. For example, the movable adjustment mechanism is an adjustment mechanism for automatically adjusting the cutting mechanism 3 to be movable upward. For example, when the movable protecting member 41 moves upward by 20 mm under an external force, and the movable adjustment mechanism controls the cutting mechanism 3 to be movable upward by 10 mm relative to the movable protecting member 41, in the entire process, the movable protecting member 41 moves upward by 20 mm relative to the housing 10, and the cutting mechanism 3 moves upward by 30 mm relative to the housing 10.
In a process of adjusting the height of the cutting mechanism 3, the cutting mechanism 3 and the movable protecting member 41 are relatively movable in the height direction, so that the height of the movable protecting wall lower end 417 does not increase without limit along with the height adjustment of the cutting mechanism 3, to ensure that the distance H0 between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground remains less than a preset safe distance value, for example, remains less than 38 mm. In this embodiment, a manner in which the cutting mechanism 3 and the movable protecting member 41 are relatively movable in the height direction is that during adjustment of the height of the cutting mechanism 3, the cutting mechanism 3 moves relative to the ground in the height direction, and the movable protecting member 41 does not move relative to the ground in the height direction. Certainly, in another embodiment, the cutting mechanism 3 and the movable protecting member 41 may both move in the height direction but do not move synchronously during height adjustment. For example, the distance by which the movable protecting member 41 moves is less than the distance by which the cutting mechanism 3 moves. In this embodiment, the foregoing implementation of a preset grass safe lift height may be adopted. A grass safe lift height is preset. During upward movement of the movable protecting wall 414 under an external force, a resistance for the movable protecting wall 414 to move upward when the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground is greater than the preset grass safe lift height is greater than a resistance for the movable protecting wall 414 to move upward when the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground is not greater than the preset grass safe lift height. To implement that when the autonomous lawn mower 1 is placed still on a lawn, the grass lift force can only lift the movable protecting wall lower end 417 to a height from the ground being not greater than the preset grass safe lift height but cannot lift the movable protecting wall lower end to a distance from the ground being greater than the grass safe lift height, to avoid that when the autonomous lawn mower 1 is placed still on a lawn, the movable protecting wall 414 is lifted by grass to the grass safe lift height and a child's arm enters the cutting mechanism 3 from below the movable protecting wall 414. Details of this embodiment are no longer described one by one.
In another embodiment, on at least one level of cutting height, during movement of the movable protecting wall 414 in the height direction under an external force, the lower end of the movable protecting wall 414 is movable relative to the cutting mechanism 3 in the height direction. As shown in
In an implementation of this embodiment, the cutting mechanism 3 does not move relative to the ground in the height direction. When the upward movement of the movable protecting member 41 is limited by the cutting mechanism 3, because the cutting mechanism 3 cannot move upward, the movable protecting member 41 also can no longer move upward.
In another implementation of this embodiment, as shown in
As shown in
As shown in
In the foregoing embodiment, when the movable protecting wall 414 is subjected to an external force from bottom to top, the lower end of the movable protecting wall 414 moves upward relative to the bottom shell. When the autonomous lawn mower moves on a lawn, the movable protecting wall 414 is subjected to the buoyancy applied by grass to the movable protecting wall from bottom to top. The movable protecting wall 414 may move upward. The lower end of the movable protecting wall 414 generates an upward displacement, to reduce a movement resistance applied by dense grass to the movable protecting wall, thereby improving the ability to pass over the grass in dense grass. In the foregoing embodiment, the movable protecting wall 414 is in the form of generally movable relative to the bottom shell in the height direction. In another embodiment, as shown in
In this embodiment, the foregoing implementation of a preset grass safe lift height may be combined. A grass safe lift height is preset. During upward movement of the movable protecting wall 414 under an external force, a resistance for the movable protecting wall 414 to move upward when the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground is greater than the preset grass safe lift height is greater than a resistance for the movable protecting wall 414 to move upward when the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground is not greater than the preset grass safe lift height. In addition, a resistance for the movable protecting wall 414 to move upward when the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground is greater than the preset grass safe lift height and the movable protecting wall 414 and the cutting mechanism 3 are not yet limiting each other is greater than a resistance for the movable protecting wall 414 to move upward when the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground is not greater than the preset grass safe lift height and the movable protecting wall 414 and the cutting mechanism 3 are not yet limiting each other, and is less than a resistance when the movable protecting wall 414 and the cutting mechanism 3 limit each other and move upward together.
During movement of the autonomous lawn mower 1, a lift force applied by grass to the movable protecting wall 414 is greater than a resistance for the movable protecting wall 414 to move upward when the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground is greater than the preset grass safe lift height and the movable protecting wall 414 and the cutting mechanism 3 are not yet limiting each other, and is less than resistance when the movable protecting wall 414 and the cutting mechanism 3 limit each other and move upward together. Therefore, during movement, the autonomous lawn mower 1 grass may lift the movable protecting wall 414 upward until the movable protecting wall and the cutting mechanism 3 limit each other, to ensure the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the cutting element lowest point 30 is ensured, thereby improving cutting quality.
When the autonomous lawn mower 1 is placed still on a lawn, the grass lift force applied to the autonomous lawn mower 1 by grass is greater than the resistance for the movable protecting wall 414 to move upward when the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground is not greater than the preset grass safe lift height, and is less than the resistance for the movable protecting wall 414 to move upward when the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground is greater than the preset grass safe lift height. Therefore, when the autonomous lawn mower 1 is placed still on a lawn, the grass lift force can only lift the movable protecting wall lower end 417 to a height from the ground being not greater than the preset grass safe lift height, but cannot lift the movable protecting wall lower end to a distance from the ground being greater than the grass safe lift height, to avoid that when the autonomous lawn mower 1 is placed still on a lawn, the movable protecting wall 414 is lifted by grass to the grass safe lift height and a child's arm enters the cutting mechanism 3 from below the movable protecting wall 414. In this embodiment, the preset grass lift height is less than M, to avoid entry of a child's arm, in an example embodiment, the preset grass lift height is within a range of 15 mm to 25 mm, so that a distance between the movable protecting member 41 and the ground can prevent the entry of a child's arm, and it is avoided that the normal moving of the autonomous lawn mower on a lawn is affected because the movable protecting wall 414 is excessively close to the ground. Certainly, the preset grass lift height may be alternatively set to be less than 19 mm, to avoid the entry of a child's finger.
In another implementation of this embodiment, as shown in
During the adjustment of the cutting height of the cutting mechanism 3, the lower protecting wall 444 and the cutting mechanism 3 are relatively movable in the height direction, to implement that the lower end of the lower protecting wall 444. That is, the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground remains less than M. For example, the upper protecting wall 434 and the cutting mechanism 3 may be relatively movable in the height direction. The lower protecting wall 444 and the upper protecting wall 434 do not move relatively in the height direction, to implement that the lower protecting wall 444 and the cutting mechanism 3 are relatively movable in the height direction. During upward movement of the movable protecting member 41 under the external force, when the lower protecting wall 444 moves upward relative to the ground, the lower protecting wall also moves upward relative to the upper protecting wall 434. First, the lower protecting wall moves until the lower protecting wall and the cutting mechanism 3 limit each other, and then the lower protecting wall move upward together with the upper protecting wall 434 and the cutting mechanism 3.
A resistance when the lower protecting wall 444 separately moves upward is less than a resistance when the lower protecting member 44 and the cutting mechanism 3 limit each other and the lower protecting wall 444, the upper protecting wall 434, and the cutting mechanism 3 move upward together. As shown in
As shown in
In this embodiment, the implementation of the preset grass safe lift height in the foregoing embodiment in which the cutting mechanism 3 and the movable protecting member 41 may move in the height direction in a relatively independent manner and the cutting mechanism 3 and the movable protecting member 41 are separately provided with limiting mechanisms 9 that limit each other may be combined. The grass safe lift height is preset. During upward movement of the lower protecting wall 444 under an external force, a resistance for the lower protecting wall 444 to move upward when the distance between the lower end of the lower protecting wall 444 and the ground is greater than the preset grass safe lift height is greater than a resistance for the lower protecting wall 444 to move upward when the distance between the lower protecting wall 444 and the ground is not greater than the preset grass safe lift height. In addition, a resistance for the lower protecting wall 444 to move upward when the distance between the lower end of the lower protecting wall 444 and the ground is greater than the preset grass safe lift height and the lower protecting wall 444 and the cutting mechanism 3 are not yet limiting each other, is greater than a resistance for the lower protecting wall 444 to move upward when the distance between the lower protecting wall 444 and the ground is not greater than the preset grass safe lift height and the lower protecting wall 444 and the cutting mechanism 3 are not yet limiting each other, and is less than a resistance when the lower protecting wall 444, the upper protecting wall 434, and the cutting mechanism 3 limit each other and move upward together.
During movement of the autonomous lawn mower 1, a lift force applied by grass to the lower protecting wall 444 is greater than a resistance for the lower protecting wall 444 to move upward when the distance between the lower protecting wall 444 and the ground is greater than the preset grass safe lift height and the lower protecting wall 444 and the cutting mechanism 3 are not yet limiting each other, and is less than resistance when the lower protecting wall 444 and the cutting mechanism 3 limit each other and move upward together. Therefore, during movement of the autonomous lawn mower 1, grass may lift the lower protecting wall 444 upward to enter a state in which the lower protecting wall and the cutting mechanism 3 limit each other as shown in
When the autonomous lawn mower 1 is placed still on a lawn, the grass lift force applied to the autonomous lawn mower 1 by grass is greater than a resistance for the lower protecting wall 444 to move upward when the distance between the lower end of the lower protecting wall 444 and the ground is not greater than the preset grass safe lift height is less than a resistance for the lower protecting wall 444 to move upward when the distance between the lower end of the lower protecting wall 444 and the ground is greater than the preset grass safe lift height. Therefore, when the autonomous lawn mower 1 is placed still on a lawn, the grass lift force can only lift the lower end of the lower protecting wall 444 to a height from the ground being not greater than the preset grass safe lift height, but cannot lift the movable protecting wall lower end to a distance from the ground being greater than the grass safe lift height, to avoid that when the autonomous lawn mower 1 is placed still on a lawn, the lower end of the lower protecting wall 444 is lifted by grass to the grass safe lift height and a child's arm enters the cutting mechanism 3 from below the lower protecting wall 444. In this embodiment, the preset grass lift height is less than M, to avoid entry of a child's arm. In an example embodiment, the preset grass lift height is within a range of 15 mm to 25 mm, so that a distance between the movable protecting member 41 and the ground can prevent the entry of a child's arm, and the normal moving of the autonomous lawn mower on a lawn is not affected because the movable protecting wall 414 is excessively close to the ground. Certainly, the preset grass lift height may be alternatively set to be less than 19 mm, to avoid the entry of a child's finger.
In another embodiment, the movable protecting member 41 and the cutting mechanism 3 may be automatically movable. The autonomous lawn mower 1 further includes a detection module configured to detect whether the movable protecting member 41 and the cutting mechanism 3 need to be movable and a movability control module configured to control the autonomous lawn mower 1 according to a detection result of the detection module to automatically control the movability of the movable protecting member 41 and the cutting mechanism 3. The detection module may be a vision sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, an infrared sensors or the like, and uses a visual manner, an ultrasonic manner, an infrared manner or the like to detect whether there is an obstacle in front and a size of the obstacle. When there is a passable obstacle in front, the movability control module controls the movable protecting member 41 and the cutting mechanism 3 to automatically move to avoid the obstacle, and adjusts a movement distance between the movable protecting member 41 and the cutting mechanism 3 according to the size of the obstacle. When adjusting the movement distance between the movable protecting member 41 and the cutting mechanism 3, the movable protecting member 41 may be controlled to be synchronous with the cutting mechanism 3 to move by a same distance, or the movable protecting member 41 may be controlled to be asynchronous with the cutting mechanism 3 to move by different distances. When there is no obstacle in front, the movability control module controls the movable protecting member 41 and the cutting mechanism 3 to restore an original state. When there is an obstacle in front but the obstacle is excessively large, the movability control module controls the movable protecting member 41 and the cutting mechanism 3 not to move, and controls the autonomous lawn mower 1 according to an actual case to stop or steer to avoid colliding with the obstacle. As shown in
In an example embodiment, as shown in
In another embodiment, another manner may be used to stop the drive wheels 201 from climbing a child's arm. For example, two driven wheels are disposed in the front of the autonomous lawn mower 1, and the diameter of each driven wheel is less than or equal to twice the diameter of a child's arm. The diameter of the driven wheel may be set to be less than or equal to 2 M. For example, the diameter of the driven wheel may be set to be 80 mm, to make a child's arm not less than a central line of the driven wheels, to prevent the driven wheels from moving over the arm. Because the driven wheels are located in the front of the autonomous lawn mower, the driven wheels cannot move over the arm, and it is more unlikely for the drive wheels to touch the arm.
In another embodiment, the cutting deck protecting member shown in
In the foregoing embodiment, to prevent rainwater from accumulating on the protecting assembly 4, a plurality of vertically penetrating water leakage holes 403 may be separately provided in the movable protecting member 41 and the mechanism protecting member 42, to discharge water to the ground in time, thereby avoiding the accumulation of water and preventing water from flowing into electronic elements when a user inverts the machine.
In the foregoing embodiment, the cutting mechanism 3 may be disposed near a central axis in the advancing direction of the autonomous lawn mower 1, or may be disposed on a side of the central axis, to implement cutting to edge. The movable protecting member 41 and/or the mechanism protecting member 42 in corresponding embodiments may also be disposed on a side of the central axis in the advancing direction of the autonomous lawn mower 1, so that while cutting to edge is implemented, a child's finger or arm is prevented from entering the cutting mechanism 3 to avoid accidental injury. As shown in
Because the movable protecting wall 414 is disposed between the outer side protecting wall 14 and the cutting mechanism 3, the outer side protecting wall 14 is farther than the movable protecting wall 414 from the cutting element 32. When a finger of the user enters the cutting mechanism 3 from the outer side protecting wall 14, a distance by which the finger can reach below the movable protecting member 41 is less than the length of the finger. Therefore, a width of the lower movable protecting wall 4149 in a direction in which the finger enters is less than the length of the finger. In addition, as the spacing between the outer side protecting wall 14 and the movable protecting wall 414 increases, the width of the lower movable protecting wall 4149 in a direction in which the finger enters, that is, in the horizontal direction of the autonomous lawn mower 1 perpendicular to the advancing direction of the autonomous lawn mower, may be set shorter, or even the lower movable protecting wall 4149 does not need to be disposed, so that while the safety of lifting the autonomous lawn mower 1 by the user is ensured, the ability to pass over the grass of the autonomous lawn mower 1 is greatly improved.
As shown in
In an example embodiment of the present invention, the distance between the upper portion of the movable protecting wall 414 of the movable protecting member 41 and the ground remains unchanged, and a fixed end 4111 of the movable protecting wall is fixed relative to the housing 10, so that the distance between the lower portion of the movable protecting wall 414 and the ground changes, and it is implemented that the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground is changeable, thereby improving the ability to pass over the grass of the autonomous lawn mower 1. In addition, when the movable protecting member 41 is in the free state and is subjected to an external force from outside to inside (from front to rear), the distance between the movable protecting wall lower end 417 and the ground remains less than M, so that a child's arm is blocked by the movable protecting wall 414 from entering the housing 10 to touch the cutting mechanism 3.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
A rotation limit position C for the rotation of the baffle 46 from outside to inside is preset. At the rotation limit position, the distance between the movable end 4112 and the ground is less than M. A safe external force value is preset. For example, an external force of 5 N. When an applied force from outside to inside is applied to the movable protecting wall 414 of the baffle 46 and the applied force from outside to inside does not exceed the preset safe external force value, the movable end 4112 cannot rotate inward or rotates inward within the rotation limit position C, to prevent a child's finger from entering the baffle 46 from outside to inside. As shown in
The autonomous lawn mower 1 further includes a rotation limiting structure 4113 configured to limit the baffle from exceeding a rotation limit position when moving from outside to inside. A position of the baffle in a free state is different from the rotation limit position. A resistance for the baffle to rotate from outside to inside at the rotation limit position is greater than a resistance for the baffle to rotate from outside to inside in a free state. When the baffle is at the rotation limit position, a distance between the lower end of the baffle and the ground is less than M.
A safe external force value and an external force threshold are preset. The resistance for the baffle to rotate from outside to inside at the rotation limit position is greater than the preset safe external force value and is less than the external force threshold, so that when a force greater than the external force threshold is applied to the baffle, the baffle may cross the rotation limit position.
When an applied force from outside to inside is greater than the external force threshold, the baffle may cross the rotation limit position when rotating from outside to inside, but does not exceed the protecting limit position. When the baffle is located at the protecting limit position, the lower end of the baffle remains lower than the cutting element lowest point or a distance between the lower end of the front baffle and the ground is less than M, where 38 mm≤M≤40 mm.
The autonomous lawn mower further includes a mechanism protecting member disposed between the cutting mechanism and the baffle. The mechanism protecting member includes a mechanism protecting wall disposed between the baffle and the cutting mechanism in the horizontal direction. In the height direction, the lower end of the mechanism protecting wall remains lower than the cutting element lowest point.
As shown in
When the rear baffle is in a free state, a distance between the lower end of the rear baffle and the ground is less than M, where 38 mm≤M≤40 mm. When the rear baffle is subjected to an external force in the free state, a resistance for the rear baffle to rotate from front to rear is less than a resistance for the rear baffle to rotate from rear to front. The resistance for the rear baffle to rotate from rear to front at the rotation limit position is greater than or equal to that a resistance for the rear baffle to rotate from rear to front in a free state. A position of the rear baffle in a free state is the same as the rotation limit position. When the rear baffle is subjected to an external force in the free state, the rear baffle can only rotate from front to rear, but cannot rotate from rear to front. A position of the rear baffle in a free state is different from the rotation limit position. The resistance for the rear baffle to rotate from rear to front at the rotation limit position when the rear baffle is at the rotation limit position is greater than the resistance for the rear baffle to rotate from rear to front in a free state. When the rear baffle is at the rotation limit position, a distance between the lower end of the rear baffle and the ground is less than M, where 38 mm≤M≤40 mm A safe external force value and an external force threshold are preset. The resistance for the rear baffle to rotate from rear to front at the rotation limit position is greater than a safe external force value is preset and is less than the external force threshold. When an applied force from rear to front is greater than the external force threshold, the rear baffle may cross the rotation limit position when rotating from rear to front, but does not exceed the protecting limit position. When the rear baffle is located at the protecting limit position, the lower end of the rear baffle remains lower than the cutting element lowest point or a distance between the lower end of the rear baffle and the ground is less than M, where 38 mm≤M≤40 mm.
The autonomous lawn mower 1 further includes a mechanism protecting member 42 disposed between the cutting mechanism 3 and the rear baffle. The mechanism protecting member includes a mechanism protecting wall disposed between the rear baffle and the cutting mechanism in the horizontal direction. In the height direction, the lower end of the mechanism protecting wall remains lower than the cutting element lowest point.
In an example embodiment, the rotation limiting structure 4113 is at least partially disposed on the housing and/or the rear baffle. For example, the rotation limiting structure 4113 is at least partially disposed on one of the housing and the rear baffle. When the rear baffle is at the rotation limit position, the rotation limiting structure 4113 at least partially abuts against the other of the housing and the rear baffle. When the two abut against each other, a distance between the lower end of the rear baffle and the ground is less than M, where 38 mm≤M≤40 mm.
The autonomous lawn mower 1 further includes a lateral baffle disposed on a side of the cutting mechanism 3. The lateral baffle includes a lateral fixed end connected to the housing and a lateral movable end rotatable around the lateral fixed end. The autonomous lawn mower further includes a lateral rotation limiting structure configured to limit a rotational degree of rotation of the lateral movable end of the lateral baffle from outside to inside.
The autonomous lawn mower 1 further includes a front baffle disposed in front of the cutting mechanism 3. The front baffle includes a front fixed end connected to the housing and a front movable end rotatable around the front fixed end. The autonomous lawn mower further includes a front rotation limiting structure configured to limit a rotational degree of rotation of the front movable end of the lateral baffle from outside to inside. In the horizontal direction, when the rear baffle is in the free state, a range of a distance between an outermost edge of the movable end of the rear baffle and the cutting element is greater than 58 mm or is 63 mm to 75 mm.
As shown in
In this embodiment, when the baffle 46 is in the free state, the movable protecting wall 414 is in a vertical state or an approximately vertical state, so that the movable protecting wall lower end 417 (the movable end 4112) is at the lowest point in a rotation process of the movable protecting wall 414, to ensure that when the movable protecting wall 414 is subjected to an applied force from an obstacle in front, a distance between a position of the movable protecting wall after rotation and the ground remains greater than the distance between the initial position A and the ground, to ensure quick passage after encountering the obstacle.
In the foregoing embodiment, when the baffle 46 is subjected to an applied force from rear in the movement direction of the autonomous lawn mower 1, a rotation limit position C and a protecting limit position K to which the baffle rotates under the action of an external force from outside to inside are the same as the initial position A in the free state. In another embodiment, when the movable protecting member 41 is subjected to an applied force (a force from outside to inside) from rear in the movement direction of the autonomous lawn mower 1, the rotation limit position C and the protecting limit position K of the movable protecting member may be different from the initial position A, as long as when the baffle is at the rotation limit position C, a distance between the lower end of the baffle and the ground is less than M, and when the baffle is at the protecting limit position K, a distance between the lower end of the baffle and the ground is less than M, or the protecting limit position K remains lower than the cutting element lowest point 30.
In this embodiment, during rotation of the baffle 46 of the movable protecting member 41 under an external force, the movable protecting wall lower end 417 may be switched among the initial position A, the obstacle surmounting limit position B, and the protecting limit position K. In the foregoing embodiment, in the movement direction of the autonomous lawn mower 1, the rotatable movable protecting member 41 is disposed behind the cutting mechanism 3, so that a direction (from front to rear) in which the obstacle moves relative to the autonomous lawn mower 1 is opposite to a direction (from rear to front) of an external force applied to the movable protecting member from outside to inside, and the movable protecting member 41 is controlled to be rotatable in the direction in which the obstacle moves relative to the autonomous lawn mower 1 to pass the obstacle, and limit the rotation of the baffle 46 in the direction from outside to inside (from rear to front), to avoid that a child's arm passes through the baffle 46 to touch the cutting mechanism 3. In addition, the movement module 20 of the autonomous lawn mower 1 includes drive wheels disposed in the rear of the autonomous lawn mower 1 and driven wheels disposed in front of the drive wheels. In this embodiment, the baffle 46 of the movable protecting member 41 is disposed in the rear of the autonomous lawn mower 1. That is, the baffle 46 is disposed behind the cutting mechanism 3 and is located near the drive wheels in the rear, to effectively avoid that the drive wheels are lifted by an obstacle and as a result the drive wheels are suspended in air, fail to touch the ground, and cannot provide a driving force, thereby greatly improving the ability to pass over the grass of the autonomous lawn mower 1.
In another embodiment, as shown in
As shown in
The autonomous lawn mower 1 further includes a limit module (not shown) configured to limit a movement range of the baffle 46 when the baffle is subjected to an external force from outside to inside in a free state. The limit module limits that the movement range of the movable protecting member 41 does not exceed a preset movement range, so that a distance between the protecting limit position K and the ground remains less than M, and a child's arm is blocked by the movable protecting wall 414 from entering the housing 10, and/or, in the height direction, the protecting limit position K remains lower than the cutting element lowest point 30, making it impossible for the child's arm to touch the cutting mechanism 3. The foregoing limit module may be a mechanical structure, and directly limits a rotational angle of the movable protecting member 41, to limit a movement range of the movable protecting member. Alternatively, the rotational angle of the movable protecting member 41 may be electronically detected. When the movable protecting member 41 is subjected to an external force from outside to inside in a free state and the movement range of the movable protecting member exceeds a preset movement range, a control module 50 controls the autonomous lawn mower 1 to execute a corresponding predetermined protecting instruction. Specifically, a protecting instruction may be preset. The protecting instruction includes making the cutting mechanism 3 stop working, making the autonomous lawn mower 1 reverse, stop moving or shut down or the like.
In an example embodiment, as shown in
In another example embodiment, as shown in
When the autonomous lawn mower automatically moves, the movable protecting member 41 is closer than the cutting mechanism 3 to the outer wall of the housing 10. In this embodiment, for example, the movable protecting member 41 is the baffle 46. Certainly, in another embodiment, the movable protecting member 41 may have another type. In this embodiment, the movable protecting member 41, that is, the baffle 46, first touches grass to be cut, a plant or an obstacle, and then the movable protecting member 41 moves in a direction away from a lawn relative to the housing 10 under the action of a contact force, making a ground clearance of the bottom of the movable protecting member 41 gradually increase. Therefore, the movable protecting member 41 can protect the cutting element 32 of the cutting mechanism 3.
The movable protecting member 41 and the housing 10 may be connected in a relatively movable manner, which may be implemented in different manners. For example, as shown in
In this embodiment, the detection switch 60 detects position information of the movable protecting member 41, and sends detection information to the control module 50. The control module is electrically connected to the detection switch to receive detection information, and controls the movement module and/or the cutting mechanism according to the detection information sent by the detection switch to work.
When the detection switch 60 does not detect that the movable protecting member 41 reaches a predetermined limit position, the control module 50 controls the movement module 20 to move normally and the cutting mechanism 3 to rotate. When the detection switch 60 detects that the movable protecting member 41 reaches the predetermined limit position, the detection switch 60 is triggered, the control module 50 controls the autonomous lawn mower 1 to execute a corresponding predetermined protecting instruction. For example, the protecting instruction is making the movement module 20 and/or the cutting mechanism 3 stop working, or reducing a running speed of the movement module 20 and/or the cutting mechanism 3, thereby implementing cutting protection for the autonomous lawn mower 1.
Specifically, the inventor of the present invention finds through research that grass or plants are cleaning objects of the autonomous lawn mower 1 and the movable protecting member 41 need to pass grass or plants. Grass or plants tend to lean, and therefore a rotational angle or an upward movement distance of the movable protecting member 41 needs to be limited. Therefore, when the movable protecting member 41 reaches a predetermined limit position (defined as a limit position for grass or a plant to pass), an object that can pass the movable protecting member 41 may be considered as grass or a plant. If the rotational angle or the movement distance of the movable protecting member 41 is excessively large, it indicates that the movable protecting member 41 may touch an obstacle, and the cutting blade may be damaged. Therefore, a touched object of the movable protecting member 41 may be learned by detecting the position of the movable protecting member 41.
In some embodiments, there may be one predetermined limit position, and the detection switch 60 performs detection once before the autonomous lawn mower 1 is controlled to perform the predetermined protecting instruction. There may be at least two predetermined limit positions. The detection switch 60 controls the autonomous lawn mower 1 according to different degrees of the predetermined limit positions to execute protecting instructions of different degrees. The predetermined limit positions include a first predetermined position D and a second predetermined position E.
As shown in
For the autonomous lawn mower in this embodiment, during cutting work, the movable protecting member 41 first touches an object. When the movable protecting member 41 touches grass or a plant, the movable protecting member 41 does not move to the first predetermined position D. Therefore, the detection switch 60 is not triggered. When the movable protecting member 41 reaches the first predetermined position D under the action of a contact force, it indicates that it is highly probably that the movable protecting member 41 touches an obstacle. However, in this case, the detection switch 60 has been triggered. The control module 50 reduces the running speed of the movement module 20 and/or the cutting mechanism 3. In this case, even if the obstacle touches the cutting element 32, there is slight or even no damage to the cutting element 32, thereby implementing cutting protection. In addition, because the position of the movable protecting member 41 relative to the housing 10 is changeable, while cutting protection is implemented, a ground clearance of the housing 10 does not need to be reduced, thereby ensuring that the autonomous lawn mower has adequate ability to pass over the grass.
For example, in
In this embodiment, the cutting protection includes reducing the running speeds of the movement module 20 and/or the cutting mechanism 3, which may be alternatively or simultaneously implemented. For example, when the movable protecting member 41 moves to the first predetermined position D, the detection switch 60 is triggered, and the control module 50 may reduce a moving speed of the movement module 20 and at the same time reduce the rotational speed of the cutting mechanism 3.
The detection switch 60 may be a contact switch such as a pressure sensor or a Hall switch, and may adapt to severe working environments below the housing 10. Specifically, the detection switch 60 may be disposed below the housing 10. The movable protecting member 41 touches the detection switch 60 when rotating to the first predetermined position D, to trigger the detection switch 60, the detection switch 60 generates a trigger signal. The detection switch 60 may be a non-contact sensor such as an ultrasonic sensor.
In this embodiment, the detection switch 60 is added to detect the position change of the movable protecting member 41. After receiving the detection data from the detection switch 60, the control module 50 may control a circuit to change the magnitude of input currents of the movement module 20 and the cutting mechanism 3 to implement speed reduction and change the direction of a current to implement reverse moving of the movement module 20.
In some embodiments, the movable protecting member 41 is at the first predetermined position D. When the detection switch 60 is triggered, the control module 50 controls the movement module 20 to reduce the speed to a predetermined speed and reduce the speed to zero and move reversely or reduce to zero; and/or controls the cutting mechanism 3 to reduce the speed to a predetermined speed greater than zero, or reduce the speed to zero. Specifically, the movement module 20 may reduce the speed and continue moving forward, may reduce the speed to zero and move reversely, that is, reverse, or may reduce the speed to zero, that is, brake. The cutting mechanism 3 may reduce the speed and continue rotating or simply brake and stop rotating. That is, the movement module 20 and the cutting mechanism 3 both reduce the speed first. However, the degree of speed reduction may be flexibly set. Reversing may be considered as special speed reduction.
In some embodiments, as shown in
During actual working, if the movable protecting member 41 reaches the first predetermined position D, it may be warned that the movable protecting member 41 may touch an obstacle or relatively hard grass or plants. In this case, the movable protecting member 41 passes the first predetermined position D, and then, in this case, it is at least not expected to shut down the autonomous lawn mower 1.
For this, in this embodiment, the second predetermined position E is further set. When the movable protecting member 41 is at the first predetermined position D, the detection switch 60 is triggered and generates a first trigger signal. The control module 50 controls the movement module to reduce the speed to a predetermined speed greater than zero and continue moving forward. When the movable protecting member 41 is at the second predetermined position E, the detection switch 60 is triggered and generates a second trigger signal. The control module 50 controls the movement module 20 to reduce the speed to zero and move reversely or brake the movement module 20. That is, when the detection switch 60 is triggered for the first time, the movement module reduces the speed and moves forward. When the movable protecting member 41 reaches the second predetermined position E, because the detection switch 60 is triggered for the second time, it is determined that the movable protecting member 41 touches an obstacle, and stricter cutting protection needs to be implemented, and therefore the movement module 20 directly stops still or simply reverse.
In a feasible implementation, the detection switch 60 is a contact switch disposed on the housing 10. The detection switch can be triggered when the movable protecting member 41 reaches the first predetermined position D. The detection switch 60 can be triggered again when the movable protecting member 41 reaches the second predetermined position E. That is, the detection switch 60 is triggered only when the movable protecting member 41 reaches the first predetermined position D or the second predetermined position E.
In another feasible implementation, the detection switch 60 is a sliding rheostat switch disposed on the housing 10. The movable protecting member 41 is connected to a movable part of the sliding rheostat switch. In this manner, the detection switch 60 remains triggered. However, trigger signals are different when the movable protecting member 41 reaches the first predetermined position D and the second predetermined position E. For example, feedback current signals given to the control module 50 have different values, so that the control module 50 may generate different control instructions.
In some embodiments, as shown in
In the arrangement manner of the movable protecting member 41 shown in
In another arrangement manner of the movable protecting member 41, the movable protecting member 41 is located on a left side or a right side of the cutting mechanism 3, or the movable protecting member 41 is provided on each of the left side and right side of the cutting mechanism 3. The movable protecting member 41 at least partially extends between the front end 110 and the cutting mechanism 3, or at least partially extends between the rear end 120 and the cutting mechanism 3.
In a specific implementation structure, as shown in
Further, the movable protecting member 41 is provided all around the cutting mechanism 3. Specifically, as shown in
In some embodiments, as shown in
In some embodiments, as shown in
The cutting protection has a plurality of implementation manners. For example, the cutting protection is braking the cutting mechanism 3, and/or making the movement module 20 drive the housing 10 to reversely move; and/or making the movement module 20 drive the housing 10 to turn. After detecting a living body, the infrared sensor 70 may adopt one or more of braking the cutting mechanism 3, making the autonomous lawn mower 1 reverse or turn, and the like to implement cutting protection.
In some embodiments, the foregoing embodiment in which only one end of the movable protecting member 41 is movable may be combined with the embodiment with the mechanism protecting member 42. The autonomous lawn mower 1 further includes a mechanism protecting member 42 disposed between the baffle 46 and the cutting mechanism 3 in the horizontal direction. The mechanism protecting member 42 includes a mechanism protecting wall 424 disposed between the baffle 46 and the cutting mechanism 3 in the horizontal direction. In the height direction, the mechanism protecting wall lower end 427 remains lower than the cutting element lowest point. For a specific structure of the mechanism protecting member 42, reference may be made to the foregoing embodiment with the mechanism protecting member 42. Details are not described herein again.
In some embodiments, as shown in
In this embodiment, when the front movable protecting member 47 is subjected to a vertically upward force, the front movable protecting member 47 is movable in the height direction. When the rear movable protecting member 48 is subjected to a vertically upward force, the rear movable protecting member 48 is not movable in the height direction. The front movable protecting member 47 may be the foregoing movable protecting member that generally moves upward under the action of an external force, or may be a movable protecting member that uses retraction or the like to implement movement of the movable end of the movable protecting member from bottom to top. The front movable protecting member 47 further includes lateral movable protecting walls 475 disposed on two sides of the autonomous lawn mower 1. The lateral movable protecting walls 475 and the front movable protecting wall 474 are connected to each other, so that when the front movable protecting member 47 is subjected to the action of an external force, the lateral movable protecting walls 475 and the front movable protecting wall 474 are synchronously movable in the height direction. The autonomous lawn mower 1 further includes a protecting member upward guide mechanism 45 configured to guide the front movable protecting member 47 to move relative to the housing in the height direction. During upward movement of the front movable protecting member 47 under an external force, the front movable protecting wall 474 and the lateral movable protecting walls 475 generally move upward. The rear movable protecting member 48 includes a baffle 46 with an end fixed to the housing. The baffle 46 includes a fixed end 4111 fixed to the housing and a movable end 4112 rotatable around the fixed end 4111 under an external force.
When the autonomous lawn mower 1 moves on a lawn, under the action of a lift force from bottom top by grass, the front movable protecting member 47 of the movable protecting member moves from bottom to top under a force, to avoid grass grinding or reduce a grass grinding height, so that a distance between the cutting element and the lower end of the front movable protecting wall 474 is reduced, thereby improving cutting quality. Because the cutting mechanism 3 of the autonomous lawn mower 1 is in front of the rear movable protecting member 48 behind the cutting mechanism, when the rear movable protecting member 48 moves above a lawn, grass has been cut, and grass grinding is not caused.
The housing 10 further includes an outer side protecting wall 14 located on an outer side of the movable protecting member 41. A distance between the lower end of the outer side protecting wall 14 and the ground is less than 75 mm, to avoid that an adult's arm enters the cutting mechanism 3. In an example embodiment, the distance between the lower end of the outer side protecting wall 14 and the ground is 35 mm to 55 mm, so that while it is avoided that an adult's arm enters the cutting mechanism 3, a tilt angle when a child's arm enters the housing 10 in an inclined manner from below the outer side protecting wall 14 is further limited, thereby reducing a risk that a child's arm touches the cutting mechanism 3 from below in an inclined manner.
In an example embodiment, as shown in
The inner protecting member 91 and the outer protecting wall 92 may be separately movable protecting members or unmovable fixed members.
In an example embodiment, as shown in
The inner protecting member 91 is a mechanism protecting member fixed relative to the cutting mechanism in the height direction. As shown in
The inner protecting wall 911 includes a front inner protecting wall 912 located in front of the cutting mechanism, two lateral inner protecting walls 913 located on two sides of the cutting mechanism, and a rear inner protecting wall 914 located behind the cutting mechanism 3. The front inner protecting wall, the rear inner protecting wall, and the lateral inner protecting walls together define the inner protecting wall 911 that is circumferentially closed. Bottommost portions in the 360-degree circumferential direction of the inner protecting wall 913 are all lower than the cutting element lowest point. The lower end of the inner protecting wall 911 has a continuously extending smooth surface.
Certainly, in another embodiment, the bottommost portions in the 360-degree circumferential direction of the inner protecting wall may be at least partially higher than the cutting element lowest point, and partially lower than the cutting element lowest point. Lengths by which portions higher than the cutting element lowest point continuously extend toward in the circumferential direction are all less than M, so that even if a child's arm enters the cutting mechanism, the arm cannot touch the cutting element.
The cutting mechanism 3 may be fixed relative to the bottom shell 101 in the height direction or is relatively movable. For example, the cutting mechanism 3 and the bottom shell 101 are relatively fixed in the height direction. The cutting mechanism 3 and the bottom shell 101 are relatively fixed in the height direction. The autonomous lawn mower 1 further includes a cutting deck 31 configured to mount the cutting element 32. The cutting element 32 is disposed above the cutting deck 31. The autonomous lawn mower 1 further includes a bottom protecting member 95 disposed below the cutting mechanism 3. The bottom of the bottom protecting member 95 has a smooth surface. A cavity 951 for accommodating the cutting element 32 and the fastening member 33 is provided between the bottom protecting member 95 and the cutting mechanism 3. The cutting element 32 is partially accommodated in the cavity 951. In the foregoing embodiment, for example, the bottom protecting member 95 is assembled below the cutting mechanism 3. In another embodiment, the bottom protecting member 95 and the cutting mechanism 3 may be partially integrally formed, for example, is directly formed by partially extending from the cutting mechanism 3. Specifically, the bottom protecting member 95 in this embodiment may be the structure of the cutting deck protecting member 35 shown in
As shown in
Specifically, the inner protecting member 91 may be a mechanism protecting member 42 fixed relative to the cutting mechanism 3 in the height direction in the embodiments shown in
In another embodiment, the inner protecting member 91 may be the movable protecting member 41 provided with the movable protecting wall 414 in the embodiments shown in
On at least one level of cutting height, during movement of the inner movable protecting member in the height direction under an external force, the inner movable protecting wall lower end is movable relative to the cutting mechanism in the height direction. The autonomous lawn mower 1 further includes a limiting mechanism configured to limit relative positions of the cutting mechanism and the inner movable protecting member. When the inner movable protecting member is limited by the limiting mechanism, the inner movable protecting wall lower end remains lower than the cutting element lowest point. For a specific structure of the movable protecting member 41, reference may be made to other embodiments above. Details are not described again.
Certainly, the outer protecting member 92 may be the movable protecting member 41 in the embodiments shown in
As shown in
The fixed protecting member 923 includes an outer side protecting wall 14 disposed on the housing. The outer side protecting wall 14 is at least disposed in front of the cutting mechanism. The outer movable protecting member 924 includes a rear baffle at least disposed behind the cutting mechanism. In the free state, the ground clearance of the outer protecting member may be 19 mm to 38 mm A range of a minimum distance between the inner protecting member and the outer protecting member in the horizontal direction may be 2 mm to 30 mm or 2 mm to 8 mm, to avoid mutual interference between the inner protecting member and the outer protecting member during movement. The automatic working system further includes a guide wire. The autonomous lawn mower 1 further includes a guide wire detection module (not shown). The guide wire detection module includes at least one guide wire detection sensor, configured to detect a position relationship between the autonomous lawn mower and the guide wire. The position relationship between the autonomous lawn mower and the guide wire includes: the autonomous lawn mower is located on one of two sides of the guide wire, a distance between the autonomous lawn mower and the guide wire, and the like. In this embodiment, the guide wire includes a boundary wire, defining a working area of the autonomous lawn mower. In another embodiment, the guide wire may be a lead wire arranged in the working area, is lead out from a position of a docking station, and is configured to guide the autonomous lawn mower to move toward the docking station. Certainly, the guide wire may be a physical boundary formed by a fence or the like, or a physical boundary formed between a lawn and a non-lawn. Correspondingly, the guide wire detection sensor may be a camera, a capacitive sensor or the like. In another embodiment, there may be no guide wire. Correspondingly, the working area of the autonomous lawn mower is directly controlled in a manner such as a capacitive sensor or GPS positioning.
A threshold is preset. When power in the energy module is less than the threshold, the control module 50 controls the autonomous lawn mower 1 to move toward the docking station along the boundary wire, to implement that the autonomous lawn mower 1 returns to a charging station to recharge the energy module. In a process of controlling the autonomous lawn mower 1 to move toward the docking station along the boundary wire, the control module 50 controls the autonomous lawn mower 1 to change a distance between the autonomous lawn mower and the boundary wire, and controls the autonomous lawn mower 1 to move by at least a first preset distance in a movement direction parallel to the boundary wire. The foregoing steps are repeated, to implement that the control module 50 controls the autonomous lawn mower 1 to return to the charging station. In another embodiment, the autonomous lawn mower 1 may return to the charging station in another manner. In another embodiment, the autonomous lawn mower 1 may use a preset time or another parameter. When a specified time or another parameter is reached, the control module 50 controls the autonomous lawn mower 1 to return to the charging station for recharging.
The technical features in the foregoing embodiments may be randomly combined. For concise description, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the embodiments are described. However, provided that combinations of the technical features do not conflict with each other, the combinations of the technical features are considered as falling within the scope described in this specification.
The above embodiments only express several implementations of the present invention, which are described specifically and in detail, and therefore cannot be construed as a limitation to the patent scope of the present invention. It should be noted that a person of ordinary skill in the art may further make several variations and improvements without departing from the concept of the present invention, and these variations and improvements all fall within the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the patent of the present invention shall be topic to the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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201910523837.7 | Jun 2019 | CN | national |
201921884636.1 | Nov 2019 | CN | national |
202010307394.0 | Apr 2020 | CN | national |
This application is a National Stage Application of International Application No. PCT/CN2020/096882, filed Jun. 18, 2020, which claims benefit and priority to Chinese Patent Application Nos. 201910523837.7, filed Jun. 18, 2019; 201921884636.1, filed Nov. 4, 2019, and 202010307394.0, filed Apr. 17, 2020, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/CN2020/096882 | 6/18/2020 | WO |