Patent Application
20250000317
The present disclosure relates to the technology field of cleaning equipment, and in particular, relates to a maintenance base station and a cleaning system.
With the continuous improvement of people's living standards, cleaning systems with cleaning robots and maintenance base stations are becoming more and more widely popular. Cleaning robots have the function of cleaning autonomously, and the maintenance base stations can charge the cleaning robots and vacuum the garbage collected by the cleaning robots, and in general, the cleaning robots can autonomously navigate to the maintenance base stations for charging.
A maintenance base station is typically provided with a recharging assembly for charging the cleaning robot and a suction system for sucking garbage collected by the cleaning robot, wherein the suction system typically includes a suction pipe, a dirt collection component, and a suction device.
In related art, the maintenance base station is large in size and occupies a large space, and the production cost, packaging cost, and transportation cost become high, and at the same time, the center of gravity of the maintenance base station becomes high, the maintenance base station becomes less stable, such that the maintenance base station is easy to be tilted over when it is subjected to an external force.
An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a maintenance base station for maintaining a cleaning robot. The maintenance base station includes a housing, a dirt collection component, a recharging assembly and a suction device. The housing defines an internal space and includes a dirt entry pipe. The internal space includes a first sub-mounting cavity and a second sub-mounting cavity. The dirt entry pipe spans the first sub-mounting cavity and the second sub-mounting cavity. A dirt inlet end of the dirt entry pipe is exposed on a surface of the housing for connecting with a dust discharging opening of the cleaning robot. The dirt collection component is positioned in the first sub-mounting cavity, and the dirt collection component is in communication with a dirt outlet end of the dirt entry pipe. The suction device is positioned in the second sub-mounting cavity. An air inlet end of the suction device is pneumatically communicated with the dirt collection component. An air outlet end of the suction device is communicated with an external environment. The recharging assembly and the suction device are arranged side by side in a horizontal direction. The recharging assembly is configured to charge the cleaning robot.
Another embodiment of the present disclosure provides a cleaning system. The cleaning system includes the above-mentioned maintenance base station and a cleaning robot. The cleaning robot defines a dust discharging opening. The dirt inlet end of the maintenance base station is configured to connect with the dust discharging opening of the cleaning robot.
In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure or prior art, the accompanying drawings to be used in the description of the embodiments or prior art will be briefly introduced below, and it will be obvious that the accompanying drawings in the following description are only some of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and that other drawings can be obtained according to the structures illustrated in the drawings by a person of ordinary skill in the field, without creative labor.
The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure, and it is clear that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art without making creative labor fall within the protective scope of the present disclosure.
In the present disclosure, unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, the terms “connection”, “fixation”, etc. are to be understood in a broad meaning, for example, “fixation” can be a fixed connection, a removable connection or a one-piece connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; it can be a connection within two elements or an interaction between two elements, unless otherwise expressly specified. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present disclosure may be understood on a case-by-case basis.
Furthermore, descriptions in the present disclosure involving “first”, “second”, and the like are used for descriptive purposes only, and are not to be construed as indicating or implying their relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. As a result, a feature defined as “first” or “second” may include at least one such feature, either explicitly or implicitly. In addition, the technical solutions between the various embodiments can be combined with each other, but it must be based on the fact that the person of ordinary skill in the field can realize it, and when the combination of technical solutions is contradictory or unattainable, it should be considered that the combination of such technical solutions does not exist and is not within the protective scope of the claims of the present disclosure.
With the continuous improvement of people's living standards, cleaning systems with cleaning robots and maintenance base stations are becoming more and more widely popular. Cleaning robots have the function of cleaning autonomously, and the maintenance base stations can charge the cleaning robots and vacuum the garbage collected by the cleaning robots, and in general, the cleaning robots can autonomously navigate to the maintenance base stations for charging.
A maintenance base station is typically provided with a recharging assembly for charging a cleaning robot and a suction system for sucking garbage collected by the cleaning robot, wherein the suction system typically includes a suction pipe, a dirt collection component, and a suction device.
The present disclosure provides a maintenance base station 100 for use with a cleaning robot, which is mainly used to connect with a dust discharging opening of the cleaning robot to suck garbage collected by the cleaning robot into the maintenance base station 100. Please referring to
It should be noted that there are various types of the above cleaning robot, the above cleaning robot may be a sweeping robot, the above cleaning robot may also be a mopping robot, the above cleaning robot may also be a vacuuming robot, the above cleaning robot may also be a mopping and sweeping machine with vacuuming and mopping functions, and the above cleaning robot may be other types of cleaning robot, and no specific limitation is made on the type of the cleaning robot herein. The type of the cleaning robot is not specifically limited.
The housing 10 defines an internal space 10a and includes a dirt entry pipe 11. The internal space 10a includes a first sub-mounting cavity 10b and a second sub-mounting cavity 10c. The dirt entry pipe 11 spans the first sub-mounting cavity 10b and the second sub-mounting cavity 10c. The dirt entry pipe 11 includes a dirt outlet end 111 and a dirt inlet end 112. The dirt outlet end 111 of the dirt entry pipe 11 is in communication with the first sub-mounting cavity 10b. The dirt inlet end 112 of the dirt entry pipe 11 is exposed on a surface of the housing 10, so as to connect with a dust discharging opening of the cleaning robot.
The outer contour of the housing 10 may be a cylinder shape, a cube shape, etc., and the outer contour of the housing 10 may be specifically referenced to the outer contour of the cleaning robot used in conjunction with the maintenance base station 100, so as to better connect with the dust discharging opening of the cleaning robot. In this embodiment, the outer contour of the cleaning robot is in the shape of a flattened disk, for which the surface of the dirt inlet end 112 of the dirt entry pipe 11 exposed on one side of the housing 10 is a concave curved surface, so as to make the outer contour of the housing 10 fit with the outer contour of the cleaning robot. Wherein the manufacturing material of the housing 10 may also be various, such as plastic, alloy, etc., the present disclosure does not make specific limitations on the shape and the manufacturing material of the housing 10.
The dirt entry pipe 11 and the housing 10 may be integrally or separately formed with each other. When the dirt entry pipe 11 and the housing 10 is separately formed with each other, the two may be fixedly or detachably connected with each other. The dirt inlet end 112 of the dirt entry pipe 11 is exposed on the surface of the housing 10. The dirt entry pipe 11 may partially extend out of the surface of the housing 10 to connect with the dust discharging opening, or the surface of the housing 10 may be partially concavely provided with a recess, the dirt entry pipe 11 is partially exposed on the surface of the housing 10 in the recess, and the cleaning robot partially extends into the recess, such that the dust discharging opening connects with the dirt inlet end 112 of the dirt entry pipe 11.
The dirt collection component 20 is positioned in the first sub-mounting cavity 10b, and the dirt collection component 20 is also communicated with the dirt outlet end 111 of the dirt entry pipe 11. The dirt collection component 20 may be a dust collection box, when the dust collection box needs to be cleaned, the housing 10 is opened and the garbage inside the dust collection box is dumped. The dirt collection component 20 may also be a dust collection bag, when cleaning is required, the dust collection bag is directly replaced with a new one.
The suction device 40 is positioned in the second sub-mounting cavity 10c, an air inlet end of the suction device 40 is pneumatically communicated with the dirt collection component 20, an air outlet end of the suction device 40 is communicated with the external environment, and the recharging assembly 30 and the suction device 40 are arranged side-by-side in a horizontal direction, wherein the recharging assembly 30 is used for recharging the cleaning robot.
The recharging assembly 30 charges the cleaning robot in a variety of ways, either in a charging method that uses electrodes 32, wherein the electrodes 32 of the recharging assembly 30 are at least partially exposed on the surface of the housing 10 to cooperate in contact with the cleaning robot, or in a charging method that uses coils with no contact, wherein the recharging assembly 30 does not need to have the electrodes exposed on the surface of the housing 10. The recharging assembly 30 can either include a battery to provide electrical power to the cleaning robot via the battery, or can be an external power source for the maintenance base station 100 to provide electrical power to the cleaning robot.
In practical application, the suction device 40 starts to work to generate suction force, and the suction device 40 drives the air to flow, forming a negative pressure at the dirt inlet end 112 of the dirt entry pipe 11, so as to suck dust, scraps of paper and other garbage collected by the cleaning robot, and the dust, the scraps of paper and other garbage enters into the dirt collection component 20 through the dirt entry pipe 11. Due to gravity and other reasons, the dust, the scraps of paper and other garbage is temporarily stored in the dirt collection component 20, while the air continues to be driven to flow to the external environment by the suction device 40.
Considering that the air is driven by the suction device 40 to flow into the environment, the air usually needs to pass through the inside of the suction device 40, and lighter dust, scraps of paper, and the like may thus be sucked into the inside of the suction device 40, in this regard, in the pneumatic communication of the air inlet end of the suction device 40 with the dirt collecting component 20 may be provided with a dust net to block the dust, the scraps of paper, and the like from entering into the suction device 40, and a dust net holder is provided to hold the dust net.
The present disclosure, by means of the above technical solution, provides the internal space 10a and the dirt entry pipe 11 in the housing 10 of the maintenance base station 100, the internal space 10a includes the first sub-mounting cavity 10b and the second sub-mounting cavity 10c, the dirt collection component 20 is positioned in the first sub-mounting cavity 10b, and the suction device 40 is positioned in the second sub-mounting cavity 10c, the dirt inlet end 112 of the dirt entry pipe 11 is exposed on the surface of the housing 10, the dirt outlet end 111 of the dirt entry pipe 11 is communicated with the dirt collection component 20, the air inlet end of the suction device 40 is pneumatically communicated with the dirt collection component 20, and the air outlet end of the suction device 40 is pneumatically communicated with the external environment. The recharging assembly 30 and the suction device 40 are arranged side-by-side in the horizontal direction, so as to reduce the utilization of the housing 10 in height, and the layout structure of the suction device 40 and the recharging assembly 30 is more compact, conducive to reducing the height of the maintenance base station 100, realizing the miniaturization of the maintenance base station 100, lowering the center of gravity of the maintenance base station 100, and improving the stability of the maintenance base station 100 in use. The maintenance base station 100 is not easy to fall over when subjected to an external force, because the mounting position of the dirt collection component 20 is lowered, and the length of the dirt entry pipe 11 becomes shorter, thereby reducing the loss of vacuum suction generated by the suction device 40, and conducive to improving the efficiency of the suction device 40 in suctioning garbage.
Referring to
In this embodiments, the first sub-mounting cavity 10b and the second sub-mounting cavity 10c are arranged side by side in the vertical direction, and the first sub-mounting cavity 10b is positioned below the second sub-mounting cavity 10c.
The partition board 50 is positioned in the internal space 10a in a variety of connection means, which may be detachably connection means, such as threaded connections, snap-fit connections, and the like. It can also be non-removable fixed connection means, such as welding, riveting, bonding and the like. The partition board 50 can be used to support the dirt collecting component 20, and can also be used to mount the recharging assembly 30 and the suction device 40 thereon. Therefore, the material of the partition board 50 can be selected from alloy, hard plastic material, etc., and herein the present disclosure does not limit the material of the partition board 50 and the connection means of the partition board 50 mounted in the internal space 10a.
By these means, the partition board 50 can separate the dirt collection component 20 from other components to facilitate modular assembly, and the partition board 50 can act as a mounting platform for other components.
Referring to
In some embodiments, the shell 41 is hollow cylindrical in shape. The air outlet vent 41c is defined on the circumferential sidewall 412 of the shell 41 and faces the air exhaust opening 10d.
Wherein, an upper end of the shell 41 is fixedly connected to a side of the partition board 50 facing back from the first sub-mounting cavity 10b in a variety of ways, which may be threaded connections, snap fit connections, etc., and a stepped groove may be defined on the partition board 50 and configured to the position of the shell 41.
A sidewall of the second sub-mounting cavity 10c defines the air exhaust opening 10d communicated with the air outlet vent 41c. The housing 10 may define an air outlet channel 41d communicated with the accommodating cavity 41a and the air outlet vent 41c, and the air outlet channel 41d is communicated with the air exhaust opening 10d. Alternatively, the housing 10 includes a pipe communicating the air outlet vent 41c with the air exhaust opening 10d. In some embodiments, the air outlet vent 41c of the shell 41 is directly exposed through an outer surface of the housing 10.
Considering that when the suction device 40 is in a working state, the rotation of the fan 42 will cause the suction device 40 to vibrate, which will lead to the connecting relationship of some components of the maintenance base station 100 becoming loose, especially the gap between the shell 41 and the partition board 50, if the gap between the shell 41 and the partition board 50 becomes larger, the sealing will become worse, which will further lead to the negative pressure generated by the fan 42 on the dirt collection component 20 becoming smaller, affecting the dirt collection effect of the dirt collection component 20. Referring to
In some embodiments, a bottom wall of the accommodating cavity 41a defines a groove 410, and the second vibration damping pad 62 is fixedly positioned in the groove 410, wherein the second vibration damping pad 62 is fixedly positioned in the groove 410 in a variety of ways, such as locking the second vibration damping pad 62 in the groove by means of a threaded connection, bonding a side of the second vibration damping pad 62 facing back away from the fan 42 in the groove 410, or any other way. By these means, it is not prone for the second vibration damping pad 62 to deviate even when the second vibration damping pad 62 is subjected to the vibration of the fan 42.
In order to make the first and second vibration damping pads 60, 62 have better sealing performance, the first and second vibration damping pads 60, 62 may be made of rubber-like material, the first and second vibration damping pads 60 may be made of silicone rubber, EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer) rubber, polyurethane rubber, etc., and the type of rubber material used for the first and second vibration damping pads 60, 62 is not specifically limited here. At the same time, to ensure that the first and second vibration damping pads 60, 62 also have a better buffer vibration, the first and second vibration damping pads 60, 62 can be made of one or more materials, or can also be set into a layer or multi-layer structure.
Referring to
The noise reduction board 43 may be part of the shell 41. The circumferential sidewall 412 is a sidewall of the noise reduction board 43.
In some embodiments, the noise reduction board 43 may be made of a wooden sound-absorbing board or may be made of other materials, such as gypsum board, magnesium board, calcium silicate board, and the like. The material of the first noise reducing cotton 44 and the second noise reducing cotton 45 may be a sponge, or may be sound-absorbing cotton, or the like.
In some embodiments, the noise reduction board 43 does not define the array of noise reducing holes, the noise reduction board 43 is provided with a sound-absorbing material on a surface thereof, and the noise reduction board 43 is arranged along the air outlet channel 41d, thereby separating the air outlet channel 41d into a plurality of smaller air outlet channels.
After the maintenance base station 100 has been used for a long time, the inside of the dirt entry pipe 11 may accumulate garbage and generate bacteria, which may corrode the maintenance base station 100, etc. Referring to
In some embodiments, the base board 12 is detachably mounted on a bottom portion of the housing 10.
By these means, the base board 12 can be detached to separate the second pipe 114 from the first pipe 113, so as to observe or maintain of the inside of the first pipe 113, while the second pipe 114 located on the base board 12 can be detached, the second pipe 114 can be flushed to clean the inside of the second pipe 114, and the second pipe 114 can be cleaned and dried, and then assembled back. It also facilitates maintenance of the components installed in the internal space 10a.
There are various ways in which the base board 12 can be detachably mounted, and in this embodiment, the base board 12 is detachably mounted by means of a threaded connection. In other embodiments, the base board 12 may be detachably mounted by means of snap-fit. The base board 12 and the second pipe 114 may be integrally formed by injection mode, so as to improve the processing efficiency and improve the economic benefits.
In some embodiments, the housing 10 includes an upper housing 110 and a lower housing 120. The upper housing 110 and the lower housing 120 cooperatively define the internal space 10a. The partition board 50 is positioned between the upper housing 110 and the lower housing 120. The upper housing 110 and the partition board 50 cooperatively define the first sub-mounting cavity 10b. The lower housing 120 and the partition board 50 cooperatively define the second sub-mounting cavity 10c. The upper housing 110 and the lower housing 120 are detachably connected to each other, whereby the maintenance base station 100 can be divided into two or more modules, reducing mutual interference during processing of the modules, improving the processing efficiency of the modules, and then assembling the modules after processing is completed, thereby improving the production efficiency of the maintenance base station 100.
Referring to
There are various ways in which the cover board 70 is detachably connected to the base board 12, which may be that one side of the cover board 70 is rotatably connected to the base board 12, and the other side of the cover board 70 is detachably connected to the base board 12, whereby the opening and covering of the maintenance window 12a is simplified. The cover board 70 may also be fixed to the base board 12 by means of a detachable fixed connection, such as a threaded connection, a snap-fit connection, etc. Wherein, in order to improve the sealing of the second pipe 114, a sealing ring may be positioned between the cover board 70 and the base board 12.
Referring to
Similar to the first and second vibration damping pads 60, 62 described above, in order to make the sealing sleeve 80 have better sealing performance, the sealing sleeve 80 may be made of rubber-like material, and the sealing sleeve 80 may be made of silicone rubber, EPDM rubber, polyurethane rubber, and other materials. The type of rubber material that the sealing sleeve 80 is made of is not specifically limited herein. At the same time, to ensure that the sealing sleeve 80 also has a better buffer vibration, the sealing sleeve 80 may be made of one or more materials, and may also be set into a layer or multi-layer structure.
Referring to
In one embodiment, the recharge sensor 31 may transmit a signal of positional information by which the cleaning robot moves itself to the maintenance base station 100 for charging. In another embodiment, the recharge sensor 31 may transmit a control command, and the cleaning robot receives the control command and moves to the maintenance base station 100 for charging in accordance with a predetermined moving route. The present disclosure does not specifically limit how the recharging assembly 30 controls the cleaning robot to perform the charging.
One of the two electrodes 32 is a charging positive electrode, and the other one of the two electrodes 32 is a charging negative electrode. The charging positive electrode and the charging negative electrode may be two contacts spaced apart in a horizontal direction or in a vertical direction. The charging positive electrode and the charging negative electrode may also be spaced apart internally and externally. The installation of the charging positive electrode and the charging negative electrode is not limited herein. The two electrodes 32 can be cooperated with the cleaning robot by magnetic suction, or the two electrodes 32 can be controlled to pop up and engage with the cleaning robot for charging when the recharging sensor 31 senses that the cleaning robot is at an appropriate position.
When the cleaning robot moves to the maintenance base station 100 and engage with the electrodes 32 for the charging, the cleaning robot is usually in a state of shutdown. When subjected to an external force, the cleaning robot may be detached from the maintenance base station 100, resulting in an interruption of the charging. In this regard, in some embodiments, the maintenance base station 100 may include a locking mechanism, such that the locking mechanism locks the position of the cleaning robot in relation to the maintenance base station 100 when the charging of the cleaning robot is in progress, thereby ensuring charging continuity.
The maintenance base station 100 may further include a supporting module, and the supporting module is positioned at the dirt inlet end 112 of the dirt entry pipe 11 exposed on the surface of the housing 10. The supporting module defines a docking space for docking the cleaning robot. The docking space may allow all or part of the cleaning robot to enter and dock. The docking space may be an opening defined on a top portion or on a side portion of the maintenance base station 100, or may be a closed space that may be opened and closed. No specific limitations are made herein. The supporting module may also be arranged obliquely downwardly from the side close to the housing 10 to the side away from the housing 10, such that the docking space is sloped and includes a sloped surface, whereby it is easy for the cleaning robot to dock. In some embodiments, a non-slip mat may be positioned on the sloped surface, so as to avoid the cleaning robot from sliding out. Wherein, the supporting module may be mounted by way of snap-on connection, so as to facilitate transportation, cleaning, and the like.
The material of the supporting module is generally plastic, such as ABS, PC, PP, etc., which is lighter in quality, easy to carry, and suitable for the maintenance base station 100 for home use. The material of the supporting module can also be metal, such as aluminum, iron, copper, etc., which is higher in strength, has a larger weight-carrying capacity, and is suitable for the large-scale maintenance base station 100. The material of the supporting module is selected according to the specific situation, and no specific limitation will be made herein.
Referring to
What described above are only the embodiments of the present disclosure, but are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. It should be understood by those skilled in the art: they may still modify the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or make equivalent substitutions to some of the technical features thereof; such modification or substitution shall not separate the essence of the corresponding technical solution from the spirit and scope of the technical solution of each embodiment of the present disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202310643680.8 | May 2023 | CN | national |
The present disclosure is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/CN2024/081893, filed on Mar. 15, 2024, which claims priority of Chinese Patent Application No. 202310643680.8, filed on May 31, 2023, titled “maintenance base station and cleaning system”, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/CN2024/081893 | Mar 2024 | WO |
| Child | 18786685 | US |
