Patent Application
20240084612
The present invention refers to a robotic cleaning apparatus for exterior glass walls of high-rises that includes a means for hanging the system to the exterior wall in a manner that allows the system to step up or down in an efficient and safe manner.
In practice it is common to clean exterior glass walls of high-rises using a team of workers descending along the wall using abseiling or lifting platforms. These methods are not applicable when there are strong winds, which are common at altitudes, and In addition to that these methods are not very safe for the staff. In addition to the practical methods and systems, there are many publications regarding robotic systems for cleaning high-rise glass walls. One of the problems that exist in systems known today is the fact that the way the system is attached to the wall and climbs or descends along it is cumbersome, complicated and expensive. The present invention discloses and provides good solution for this problem and others.
The intention of the drawings attached to the application is not to limit the scope of the invention and its application. The drawings are intended only to illustrate the invention and they constitute only one of its many possible implementations.
The object of the present invention is to provide a robotic cleaning apparatus (1) for exterior glass walls (100) of high-rises that includes a means for hanging the system to the exterior wall in a manner that allows the system to step up or down in an efficient and safe manner.
The main parts of the robotic cleaning apparatus (1) includes a chassis (2), a cleaning subsystem (3), four or six telescopic legs (4) of which two or three are left legs (4a, 4b and 4c) and two or three are right legs (4d, 4e and 4f), an operating system (5), and a power source (6) that may be a rechargeable battery or a connection to external power source.
The cleaning subsystem (3), as depicted for example in
The cleaning subsystem (3) may also include a water sprinkler (33) connected with a hose and a rod (34) to a water tank (35) with a pump (36), so that the cleaning subsystem can spray water on the section of the wall that is cleaned by the cleaning arm and the sponge. The cleaning subsystem can work automatically and controlled by the operating system.
Each leg (4) is a telescopic leg as explained above and it can be shortened and lengthened depending on the degree of the telescopic opening of the leg that is controlled and operated by a telescopic actuator (41). Each leg (4) is connected to the chassis (2) in axial or articular connection (42) and it can be rotated by rotating actuator (43). A hook (71) is connected to the bottom of each leg (44) wherein this hook (71) corresponds with rings (72) that are fixed to the wall (100) as explained later in this paper.
The standard ways that a robot with legs steps and moves forward on a vertical wall or on a horizontal floor are known to experts in the field so there is no need to explain things known to any average expert. Each leg in such robots is connected to the chassis by an axial or articulated connection, is controlled by an operator, and each leg in turn moves from one grip point to another grip point in a manner that progresses the robot up or down the wall on which it is mounted. The most popular way in which the legs of robots known today cling and tread on vertical walls is based on nipples attached to the bottom of each leg that cling to the vertical glass wall using a vacuum. The present invention discloses a better and efficient way for doing so.
The external walls of skyscrapers (100) are usually made of glass panels wherein in the connecting strip of one column of glass panels to an adjacent column of such panels there is a vertical aluminum profile (101) about five centimeters maximal width. The invention includes the step of fixing the rings (72) along these vertical profiles preferable from the top of the building to its bottom, possible each one meter for example, as illustrated in the drawings accompanied with this specification.
The hook (71) of each leg (4) fits into the plurality of rings (72) that are designed to be fixed along those vertical aluminum profiles (101) and by that enables the robotic cleaning apparatus (1) to be hanged and anchored to the vertical wall (100) and to move, step up and down, along the wall, this by releasing one leg from its grip point, rotating the leg and changing its length and anchoring it at another anchoring point, and repeating this action in a way that enables the robotic cleaning apparatus to moves up and down along the wall and to the sides.
As stated above, the hooks (71) should correspond with the rings (72). The hooks can include a closure mechanism (721) that is designed to close each hook on a ring to which the hook is connected, such as snaps and the like as depicted in an open state in
The operating system (5) that can include sensors (51) for orientation in space and in relation to the anchoring points where the rings (72) are fixed is designed to operate and control the operation and the actions of the robotic cleaning apparatus (1), the operation and the actions of each leg (4), and the operation and the actions of the cleaning subsystem (3). The operating system is designed to move each telescopic leg according to a desired direction of progress of the robotic cleaning apparatus on the exterior glass walls in such a way that the hooks of the telescopic legs can be connected to nearby rings that are fixed to the vertical profiles of the exterior glass walls.
It is clear from the explanations that the robotic cleaning apparatus has at least two telescopic legs. However, for safety and other reasons the robotic cleaning apparatus can has four or six or more legs that few of them are left and few are right. The rings are designed specifically to correspond with the hooks of the telescopic legs, and they are designed specifically to serve as anchors of the robotic cleaning apparatus and they are fixed to the vertical profiles of the exterior glass walls to serve as the anchors of the robotic cleaning apparatus.
Another embodiment of the invention discloses a system (1000) that comprises the robotic cleaning apparatus for the exterior glass walls of high-rises and plurality of rings that are fixed to the vertical profiles of the exterior glass walls that are designed to serve as the anchors of the robotic cleaning apparatus to the glass walls of the high-rises.
