Patent Application
20230210332
This application is based upon and claims priority to Chinese Patent Application CN202111658398.4, filed Dec. 30, 2021, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present disclosure relates to the technical field of robots, in particular to a cleaning robot and a cleaning machine system.
A series of cleaning robots, such as mopping robots and mopping and sweeping integrated robots, are devices that are constructed to execute cleaning tasks while traveling in any area without user control, and are usually used to clean stains on the ground.
The maintenance base station combined with the cleaning robot has gradually emerged, which can collect the garbage in the debris collection box of the cleaning robot for many times, so that the user does not have to deal with the garbage in the cleaning robot frequently. However, cleaning robots of various shapes or layouts are emerging, for example, with debris collection box located in the middle part, front part or rear part of the robot. In the prior art, the maintenance base station with debris collecting function can be equipped only when the debris collecting box is placed in the rear of the cleaning robot, so it needs to be improved.
There are provided a cleaning robot and a cleaning machine system according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The technical solution is as below:
According to a first aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a cleaning robot including:
a housing with a mounting chamber in a bottom, and a debris collecting chamber communicated with the mounting chamber;
a brush roller pivotally mounted in the mounting chamber and at least a part of the brush roller protruding from the mounting chamber; and
a suction device mounted in the housing and communicated with the debris collecting chamber;
wherein the housing is further provided with a debris collecting channel, one end of the debris collecting channel is connected to the debris collecting chamber, the other end of the debris collecting channel penetrates through the rear end of the housing, and the housing is further provided with a first door for opening or closing the debris collecting channel.
According to a second aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a cleaning machine system including a cleaning base station for performing a maintenance process on the cleaning robot and a cleaning robot. The cleaning robot includes:
a housing with a mounting chamber in a bottom, and a debris collecting chamber connected to the mounting chamber being formed on the housing;
a brush roller pivotally mounted in the mounting chamber and at least a part of the brush roller protruding from the mounting chamber; and
a suction device mounted in the housing and connected to the debris collecting chamber;
wherein the housing is further provided with a debris collecting channel, one end of the debris collecting channel is connected to the debris collecting chamber, the other end of the debris collecting channel penetrates through the rear end of the housing, and the housing is further provided with a first door for opening or closing the debris collecting channel.
According to a third aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a cleaning robot including:
a housing disposed in a D-shape and provided with a front end being in a plane shape and a rear end being in a convex arc shape, a bottom of the housing being recessed with a mounting chamber, and a debris collecting chamber communicated with the mounting chamber being formed on the housing;
a brush roller pivotally mounted in the mounting chamber and at least a part of the brush roller protruding from the mounting chamber;
a suction device mounted in the housing and communicated with the debris collecting chamber; and
a filter device disposed at an air intake side of the suction device;
wherein the housing is further provided with a debris collecting channel, one end of the debris collecting channel is communicated with the debris collecting chamber, the other end of the debris collecting channel penetrates through the rear end of the housing, and the housing is further provided with a first door for opening or closing the debris collecting channel.
In order to more clearly illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure or technical solutions in the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings that are desired to be used in the description of the embodiments or prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are merely some embodiments of the present disclosure, and other drawings may also be obtained according to structures shown in these drawings without exerting inventive effort by those ordinarily skilled in the art.
The implementation of the object, functional features and advantages of the present disclosure will be further explained with reference to the accompanying drawings in connection with the embodiment.
A clear and complete description of the technical solution in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be made below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, but not all of them. Based on the embodiments of the present disclosure, all the other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without inventive effort are within the scope of the present disclosure.
It should be noted that all directional indications (such as up, down, left, right, front, rear . . . ) in the embodiments of the present disclosure are only used to explain the relative positional relationships, motion situations etc. between respective components under a specific posture (as shown in the drawings), and if the specific posture changes, the directional indications also change accordingly.
In addition, descriptions of “first”, “second” and the like in the present disclosure are for descriptive purposes only and cannot be construed indicating or implying their relative importance or implying the number of the indicated technical features. Thus, features defined with “first” and “second” may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In addition, the technical solutions between various embodiments can be combined with each other, but must be based on the realization of those ordinarily skilled in the art. When the combination of technical solutions is inconsistent or cannot be realized, it should be considered that the combination of such technical solutions does not exist and is not within the scope of protection claimed by the present disclosure.
The present disclosure provides a cleaning robot, which can be a device capable of independently traveling on the ground to perform cleaning processes such as vacuuming, mopping and flushing on the ground, such as a sweeper, a mopping machine, a mopping and sweeping integrated machine, etc. The cleaning robot can also be a device that performs cleaning processes such as vacuuming, mopping and flushing on the ground under the grip or control of a user, such as a hand-held vacuum cleaner and a hand-held floor mop.
Referring to
The housing 10 not only serves as a load-bearing structure of other parts of the cleaning robot 100, but also serves as an external structural member of the cleaning robot 100. The housing 10 has a plurality of shapes, and may be arranged in a cylindrical shape, and may also be arranged in a square columnar shape, which is not specifically limited herein.
Considering that the housing 10 is arranged in a cylindrical shape, a length of the brush roller 15 is limited, and the housing 10 is arranged in a square shape, so that the cleaning robot 100 cannot be used in conjunction with the cleaning base station 200 in tradition. In view of this, the housing 10 is arranged in a D shape, and the housing 10 has a front end arranged in a flat plate shape and a rear end arranged in a convex arc shape.
The bottom of the housing 10 is provided with a mounting chamber 11 for mounting the brush roller 15. The mounting chamber 11 may be provided at the bottom of the front end of the housing 10. As the front end of the housing 10 is arranged in a flat plate shape, the mounting chamber 11 is able to extend along the front end edge of the housing 10, so that the length of the brush roller 15 can be set sufficiently long.
When the brush roller 15 is fitted into the mounting chamber 11, the brush roller 15 is provided partially protruding from the mounting chamber 11, a volume of the brush roller 15 projecting from the opening of the mounting chamber 11 may be fixed or adjustable. In some embodiments, the volume of the brush roller 15 projecting from the opening of the mounting chamber 11 is adjustable. Specifically, two ends of the brush roller 15 are pivotally connected with the machine body through bearings, and two bearings can be respectively mounted on the machine body in an isomorphic telescopic structure, so that the volume of the brush roller 15 extending from the mounting chamber 11 can be changed by adjusting the positions of the two bearings.
The driver 20 is configured to drive the brush roller 15 to rotate relative to the housing 10. There are many kinds of the driver 20. The driver 20 may be composed of a motor and a coupling. One end of the coupling is connected to an output shaft of the motor, and the other end of the coupling is connected to the brush roller 15. The driver 20 can also be composed of a reduction gearbox and a motor. An input end of the reduction gearbox is connected to the output shaft of the motor, and the output end of the reduction gearbox is connected to the brush roller 15. Other kinds of the drivers 20 are not listed herein.
The housing 10 is also provided with a debris collecting chamber 12 for temporarily storing garbage such as debris and paper scraps. The size and shape of the debris collecting chamber 12 can be set according to the volume of the housing 10 and are not specifically limited here. The debris collecting chamber 12 may be formed in a plurality of ways. For example, the debris collecting chamber 12 may be formed in a chamber structure inside the housing 10, or may be formed in a box structure mounted to the housing 10. The form of the debris collecting chamber 12 on the housing 10 is not specifically limited herein.
The suction device 25 is mounted on the housing 10 and is connected to the debris collecting chamber 12. The suction device 25 may be a centrifugal fan, a cross-flow fan, an axial flow fan, etc. The suction device 25 is connected to the debris collecting chamber 12 and provides suction for the debris collecting chamber 12 to collect garbage such as debris and debris, so that garbage such as debris and debris brushed by the brush roller 15 can be sucked into the debris collecting chamber 12.
The filter device 30 is mainly mounted at the air inlet end of the suction device 25. The filter device 30 can be mounted in the debris collecting chamber 12, and the filter device 30 can also be mounted in a separate filter chamber. The filter device 30 can also be mounted in the debris collecting chamber 12 and the filter chamber, separately, which is not specifically limited here. The filter device 30 can filter large particles such as debris and paper scraps mixed in the air, and the filter device 30 can be a filter screen, filter cotton, non-woven fabric, etc., which will not be listed here.
The walking module 35 is mounted on the housing 10. The walking module 35 is configured to drive the housing 10 to travel on the ground. There are many kinds of walking modules 35. The walking module 35 can also be composed of a motor and a track structure, the walking module 35 can also be composed of a motor and walking wheels, and the walking module 35 can also be composed of other structural members, which will not be listed here.
The two walking modules 35 are mounted at the bottom of the housing 10 and located at the rear end of the housing 10. The two walking modules 35 are spaced from the brush roller 15 in the front-to-back direction of the housing 10, and the spacing between the two walking modules 35 and the brush roller 15 can be set according to the actual situation. In some embodiments, the spacing between the two walking modules 35 and the brush roller 15 can be set according to the center of gravity of the cleaning robot 100, so that the cleaning robot 100 can walk smoothly on the ground.
The main control module 40 includes a single chip microcomputer, a PWM controller, a microcontroller, and other structural components having a receiving signal and a transmitting signal. The main control module 40 is electrically connected to the driver 20, the suction device 25, and the two walking modules 35. The main control module 40 is used for controlling the driver 20, the suction device 25, and the two walking modules 35 to work, so that the cleaning robot 100 can execute cleaning process on the ground.
Considering that after the existing cleaning robot 100 finishes cleaning the ground, since the cleaning base station 200 executes debris collection operations to achieve centralized treatment of garbage such as debris and paper scraps, the housing 10 is further provided with a debris collecting channel 13. The debris collecting channel 13 includes a first debris collecting channel 131 and a second debris collecting channel 132. The first debris collecting channel 131 is connected with the debris collecting chamber 12, and the second debris collecting channel 132 penetrates through the rear end of the housing 10. A seal ring may be placed between the first debris collecting channel 131 and the second debris collecting channel 132.
In some embodiments, the cross section area of at least one end of the debris collecting channel 13 is larger than that of the middle part of the debris collecting channel 13.
In some embodiments, the cleaning robot 100 further includes a liquid holding device 80, and at least part of the debris collecting channel 13 is arranged at or through the liquid holding device 80.1n some embodiments, the liquid holding device 80 is replaced by another component of the same shape, for example, a component of the same shape only for decoration or support.
The debris collecting channel 13 has a plurality of shapes. The debris collecting channel 13 may be a linear duct, an arc-shaped duct, or a curved duct. The shape of the debris collecting channel 13 is not specifically limited herein. In some embodiments, the debris collecting channel 13 is a linear duct, and a wind resistance of the linear duct is minimal, so that on the one hand, it is convenient for air circulation, and on the other hand, it is convenient for garbage such as debris and paper scraps in the debris collecting chamber 12 to pass through.
In some embodiments, the length of the debris collecting channel 13 may be within the range of 3 cm-22 cm.
In some embodiments, the length of the debris collecting channel may be within the range of 7 cm-18 cm.
In some embodiments, the main control module 40 of the cleaning robot 100 comprises a circuit board, or the main control module 40 of the cleaning robot 100 is a circuit board. The debris collecting chamber 13 is located in the front or middle part of the housing 10, and the suction device 25 is located at the rear of the debris collecting chamber 12, and the dust collecting channel 13 is at least partially side by side with the suction device 25 or the circuit board.
The housing 10 is further provided with a first door 45 which can be opened or closed. There are many kinds of the first door 45, and the first door 45 can be a telescopic structure, for example, the first door 45 can be a rolling shutter door structure. The first door 45 may also be a rotatable plate structure, for example, the first door 45 may be a plate structure. The first door 45 may be of another type and not specifically limited herein so long as the debris collecting channel 13 can be opened or closed.
The housing 10 of the cleaning robot 100 is arranged in a D-shape, the debris collecting channel 13 is arranged inside the housing 10, one end of the debris collecting channel 13 is connected to the debris collecting chamber 12, the other end of the debris collecting channel 13 penetrates through the rear end of the housing 10, and the first door 45 capable of opening or closing the debris collecting channel 13 is also arranged on the housing 10. With this arrangement, when the cleaning robot 100 executes the cleaning work and is docked in the supporting cleaning base station 200, garbage such as debris, paper scraps and the like in the debris collecting chamber 12 can be sucked out by opening the first door 45 on the housing 10 so that the cleaning robot 100 with the D-shaped housing can be paired with the cleaning base station 200 in tradition, which improves the adaptability of the cleaning robot 100.
It is worth noting that the first door 45 may be opened in various ways. For example, when the first door 45 is a rolling shutter structure, the first door 45 can rotate under the effect of a motor to complete rolling up or down. When the first door 45 is of a plate structure, the first door 45 can be rotated under the effect of the motor to complete the opening and closing of the first door 45. Since there are many kinds of the first door 45, there are many ways to open and close the first door, which are not listed here.
In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first door 45 is opened or closed by the force generated by the flow of air, and more specifically, referring to
Specifically, when the cleaning robot 100 performs a cleaning operation on the ground, the suction device 25 of the cleaning robot 100 works, at which time air is discharged into the environment through the mounting chamber 11, the debris collecting chamber 12 and the suction device 25, and the air is discharged into the environment through the debris collecting channel 13, the debris collecting chamber 12 and the suction device 25. At this time, the air in the debris collecting channel 13 flows from the debris collecting channel 13 to the debris collecting chamber 12, which causes the door body 451 located in the debris collecting channel 13 to close the debris collecting channel 13 under the effect of flowing air.
When the cleaning robot 100 is docked with the cleaning base station 200 and executes a debris removal operation, the air in the debris collecting channel is extracted by a fan on the cleaning base station 200, and negative pressure is generated after the air in the debris collecting channel is sucked away, so that the air pressure in the debris collecting chamber 12 is greater than the air pressure at a position where the debris collecting channel is connected with the cleaning base station 200, and the first door 45 can be opened under the effect of air due to the pressure difference formed on both sides of the first door 45.
It should be noted that the door body 451 in the above solution needs to depend on the suction device 25 while closing. If the suction device 25 is not operated, the door body 451 is always in an open state, so that small animals such as cockroaches and mice in the external environment can enter the inside of the housing 10 through the debris collecting channel 13, thereby increasing the risk of damage to the cleaning robot 100. In view of this, the door body 451 is pivotally connected to the inner wall at the top of the debris collecting channel 13.
When the door body 451 is in an open state due to an effect of an external force, the door body 451 is pivotally connected to the inner wall of the debris collecting channel 13 at a position above a free side of the door body 451, so that the door body 451 can rotate downward by its own gravity after the external force is withdrawn, thereby completing the closing of the debris collecting channel 13, thus preventing the closing of the door body 451 from being affected by the suction device 25.
Further, the first door 45 also includes a resilient member 452. The resilient member 452 is mounted in the debris collecting channel 13 and acts on the door body 451. The resilient member 452 may apply an elastic pulling force to the door body 451 when the door body 451 is in the open state, and may also apply an elastic pressing force to the door body 451 when the door body 451 is in the closed state, which is not specifically limited herein, so that the door body 451 has a tendency to switch from the open state to the closed state at all times.
When the door body 451 is switched from the open state to the closed state, the door body 451 not only swings downward under the effect of its own gravity, but also swings downward under the effect of the resilient member 452, thus ensuring that the door body 451 can be quickly closed after the external force is withdrawn, and also ensuring that the door body 451 can remain closed even when the cleaning robot 100 is turned over.
It should be noted that the resilient member 452 may be a structural member capable of elastic deformation, such as a tension spring, a compression spring, a torsion spring, a strip spring, or the like. In some embodiments, the resilient member 452 is a torsion spring, which is sleeved on a shaft where the door body 451 is pivotally connected to the inner wall of the debris collecting channel 13. One end of the torsion spring is in contact with a plate surface of the door body 451 facing away from the debris collecting chamber 12, and the other end of the torsion spring is in contact with the inner wall of the debris collecting channel 13.
It is worth noting that when the door body 451 is rotated to close the debris collecting channel 13, if the free end of the door body 451 is in direct contact with the bottom inner wall of the debris collecting channel 13, it is easy to get stuck. In view of this, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, referring to
Further, the limiting bulge is provided with a triangular cross-section in the front-to-back direction of the housing 10, and a top surface of the limiting bulge facing the debris collecting channel 13 has a convex arc surface, and a surface of the limiting bulge is positioned away from the surface of the debris collecting chamber 12 for butting with the free end of the door body 451. With this arrangement, the influence of the limiting bulge on the air flow can be reduced, thereby ensuring that the debris, paper scraps and other garbage in the debris collecting chamber 12 are not disturbed when discharged.
It should be noted that garbage such as debris and paper scraps in the debris collecting chamber 12 of the cleaning robot 100 can be collected directly through the cleaning base station 200 and then processed centrally, garbage such as debris and paper scraps in the debris collecting chamber 12 of the cleaning robot 100 also needs to be able to be treated separately. In view of this, referring to
Specifically, the housing 10 is provided with an assembly chamber 15 with an open end, and the assembly chamber 15 is communicated with the mounting chamber 11, the debris collecting channel 13 and the suction device 25. The debris collecting box 50 is mounted in the assembly chamber 15. The debris collecting box 50 is provided with the debris collecting chamber 12 and a debris inlet 51, an air outlet 52 and a debris outlet 53 which are all communicated with the debris collecting chamber 12. The debris inlet 51 is communicated with the mounting chamber 11, the air outlet 52 is communicated with the suction device 25, and the debris outlet 53 is communicated with the debris inlet end of the debris collecting channel 13.
Considering that the debris collecting box 50 can be removed from the housing 10, this causes garbage such as debris and paper scraps collected inside the debris collecting box 50 to easily leak out from the debris outlet 53. For this reason, refer to
It is worth noting that the configuration of the second door 54 may be the same as that of the first door 45 described above, and the structure of the second door 54 may be different from that of the first door 45, which are not specifically defined herein. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the second door 54 includes a portable plate 541 pivotally mounted on the side wall of the debris collecting box 50. The portable plate 541 extends into the debris collecting channel 13 and opens the debris outlet 53 when air in the debris collecting channel flows from its end adjacent to the debris collecting chamber 12 to its end away from the debris collecting chamber 12. The portable plate 541 closes the debris outlet 53 when the air in the debris collecting channel flows from its end away from the debris collecting chamber 12 to its end adjacent to the debris collecting chamber 12. This arrangement facilitates the opening and closing of the debris outlet 53, and at the same time makes full use of the acting force generated on the portable plate 541 when air flows, thereby eliminating the need for a separate driving mechanism to drive the portable plate 541 to rotate, thereby optimizing the overall structure of the cleaning robot 100.
Further, the portable plate 541 is pivotally connected to the debris collecting box 50 at a position above the debris outlet 53, so that when the portable plate 541 is switched from the open state to the closed state, the portable plate 541 can rotate downward by its own gravity, thereby completing the closure of the debris outlet 53, so that the closure of the portable plate 541 is unaffected by the suction device 25.
Further, the second door 54 also includes a return spring 542. The return spring 542 is mounted on the debris collecting box 50 and acts on the portable plate 541, such that the portable plate 541 always has a movement tendency to switch from an open state to a closed state. Thus, when the portable plate 541 is closed, the return spring 542 also acts on the portable plate 541, so that the portable plate 541 can quickly close the debris outlet 53 when other external forces are withdrawn, and the problem that the debris outlet 53 is opened due to the shaking of the debris collecting box 50 when the portable plate 541 is removed from the housing 10 can be avoided.
It should be noted that the return spring 542 may be a structural member capable of elastic deformation, such as a tension spring, a compression spring, a torsion spring, a strip spring, or the like. In some embodiments, the return spring 542 is a torsion spring, which is sleeved on a shaft where the portable plate 541 is pivotally connected to the debris collecting box 50. One end of the torsion spring is in contact with the plate surface of the portable plate 514 facing away from the debris outlet 53, and the other end of the torsion spring is in contact with the outer surface of the debris collecting box 50.
Considering that the portable plate 541 is in contact with the side wall of the debris collecting box 50 when covering the debris outlet 53. Even if the surfaces of the portable plate 541 in contact with the side wall of the debris collecting box are smooth, however, as long as debris is stained on the portable plate 541, the sealing of the portable plate 541 to the debris outlet 53 is affected. In view of this, the surface of the portable plate 541 in contact with the debris collecting box 50 is also provided with a gasket 543 made of a flexible material, such as silica gel, rubber, etc. The gasket 543 can be tightly attached to the side wall of the debris collecting box 50, so as to effectively seal the debris outlet 53.
Likewise, the debris collecting box 50 is provided with a debris inlet 51, an air outlet 52, and a debris outlet 53, all of which need to be hermetically connected with the wall of the assembly chamber 15. Specifically, referring to
It should be noted that when the debris collecting channel 13 is used for discharging garbage such as debris and paper scraps for a long time, the garbage such as debris and paper scraps will adhere to the inner wall surface of the debris collecting channel 13, and in the long run, the thickness of garbage such as debris and paper scraps on the inner wall of the debris collecting channel 13 will increase, thereby affecting the discharge of garbage such as debris and paper scraps in the debris collecting chamber 12. In view of this, referring to
When it is necessary to clean the inside of the debris collecting channel 13, the cover plate 60 can be removed from the housing 10, so that a large area of the debris collecting channel 13 can be exposed to the outside, which is convenient for the user to remove the attachments on the inner wall of the debris collecting channel 13 by a tool, thereby facilitating the maintenance of the debris collecting channel 13.
It should be noted that the above-mentioned cover plate 60 and the housing 10 can be connected in a variety of ways. The two can be connected by screws, the two can also be connected by snaps, and the two can also be plugged together by pins and jacks. The connection methods between the cover plate 60 and the housing 10 are not listed here.
Based on the above embodiments, in order to facilitate the arrangement of parts of the cleaning robot 100, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, referring to
According to the present disclosure, the housing of the cleaning robot is provided with a debris collecting channel inside, one end of the debris collecting channel is communicated with the debris collecting chamber, the other end of the debris collecting channel penetrates through the rear end of the housing, and at the same time, a first door capable of opening or closing the debris collecting channel is disposed on the housing. With this arrangement, when the cleaning robot executes the cleaning work and is docked with the cleaning base station that is paired with the cleaning robot, garbage such as debris, paper scraps in the debris collecting chamber can be sucked out by opening the first door so that the cleaning robot can be paired with the cleaning base station in tradition, which improves the adaptability of the cleaning robot.
The present disclosure also provides a cleaning machine system 1000. Referring to
The above description is only an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure and is not thus limit the scope of the patent of the present disclosure, and the equivalent structural transformation made under the inventive concept of the present disclosure, utilizing the contents of the description and the drawings, or direct/indirect application in other related technical fields, is included in the scope of the patent protection of the present disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021116583984 | Dec 2021 | CN | national |
