WO2007142487A1 - External battery structure for robot cleaner - Google Patents

External battery structure for robot cleaner Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2007142487A1
WO2007142487A1 PCT/KR2007/002778 KR2007002778W WO2007142487A1 WO 2007142487 A1 WO2007142487 A1 WO 2007142487A1 KR 2007002778 W KR2007002778 W KR 2007002778W WO 2007142487 A1 WO2007142487 A1 WO 2007142487A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
battery
cleaner body
mounting part
charging
robot cleaner
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/KR2007/002778
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Heeyoung Lee
Junseok Lee
Original Assignee
Robostem
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Robostem filed Critical Robostem
Publication of WO2007142487A1 publication Critical patent/WO2007142487A1/en

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Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L—DOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L9/00—Details or accessories of suction cleaners, e.g. mechanical means for controlling the suction or for effecting pulsating action; Storing devices specially adapted to suction cleaners or parts thereof; Carrying-vehicles specially adapted for suction cleaners
    • A47L9/28—Installation of the electric equipment, e.g. adaptation or attachment to the suction cleaner; Controlling suction cleaners by electric means
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L—DOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L9/00—Details or accessories of suction cleaners, e.g. mechanical means for controlling the suction or for effecting pulsating action; Storing devices specially adapted to suction cleaners or parts thereof; Carrying-vehicles specially adapted for suction cleaners
    • A47L9/28—Installation of the electric equipment, e.g. adaptation or attachment to the suction cleaner; Controlling suction cleaners by electric means
    • A47L9/2889—Safety or protection devices or systems, e.g. for prevention of motor over-heating or for protection of the user
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L—DOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L9/00—Details or accessories of suction cleaners, e.g. mechanical means for controlling the suction or for effecting pulsating action; Storing devices specially adapted to suction cleaners or parts thereof; Carrying-vehicles specially adapted for suction cleaners
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L—DOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L9/00—Details or accessories of suction cleaners, e.g. mechanical means for controlling the suction or for effecting pulsating action; Storing devices specially adapted to suction cleaners or parts thereof; Carrying-vehicles specially adapted for suction cleaners
    • A47L9/28—Installation of the electric equipment, e.g. adaptation or attachment to the suction cleaner; Controlling suction cleaners by electric means
    • A47L9/2857—User input or output elements for control, e.g. buttons, switches or displays
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L—DOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L9/00—Details or accessories of suction cleaners, e.g. mechanical means for controlling the suction or for effecting pulsating action; Storing devices specially adapted to suction cleaners or parts thereof; Carrying-vehicles specially adapted for suction cleaners
    • A47L9/28—Installation of the electric equipment, e.g. adaptation or attachment to the suction cleaner; Controlling suction cleaners by electric means
    • A47L9/2868—Arrangements for power supply of vacuum cleaners or the accessories thereof
    • A47L9/2873—Docking units or charging stations
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L—DOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L9/00—Details or accessories of suction cleaners, e.g. mechanical means for controlling the suction or for effecting pulsating action; Storing devices specially adapted to suction cleaners or parts thereof; Carrying-vehicles specially adapted for suction cleaners
    • A47L9/28—Installation of the electric equipment, e.g. adaptation or attachment to the suction cleaner; Controlling suction cleaners by electric means
    • A47L9/2868—Arrangements for power supply of vacuum cleaners or the accessories thereof
    • A47L9/2884—Details of arrangements of batteries or their installation
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L—DOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L2201/00—Robotic cleaning machines, i.e. with automatic control of the travelling movement or the cleaning operation

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an external battery structure for a robot cleaner, and more particularly, to an external battery structure for a wireless self-moving robot cleaner that is capable of detachably mounting a battery at the outside of a cleaner body in a simple manner.
  • a robot cleaner Many kinds of wire and wireless self-propelled robot cleaners (hereinafter, referred to as a robot cleaner ) have been recently proposed.
  • the wireless robot cleaner with a charging battery mounted therein needs a large amount of power consumption for driving a motor having a strong absorbing strength and its movable wheels, and thus, many studies have been made so as to consume a relatively short period of time for charging a sufficient amount of electric power and to have a substantially long period of usage time.
  • the robot cleaner has a large capacity of battery, but it needs relatively long time for recharging the battery.
  • the charger becomes complicated in its structure and also should be made of expensive materials, which of course causes the production cost of the battery to be raised. Further, it is not easy for the battery to endure the consumption of high power for driving the robot cleaner.
  • the robot cleaner generally makes the use of a rechargeable battery (that is, an internal battery) mounted in the cleaner body thereof.
  • the battery is mounted at the inside of the robot cleaner and is then covered by an outer surface material constituting the cleaner body, such that it does not need to match with the color or surface of the outer surface of the cleaner body.
  • the battery is provided in the lower surface of the robot cleaner, and the battery assembly has a battery-mounting space portion and a separate cover for covering the battery-mounting space portion, such that the screws securing the separate cover are unfastened at a time of exchanging the battery into new one.
  • the structure has a battery-charging terminal exposed to the outside, such that a manually operating charging system is adopted wherein the battery-charging terminal is connected to a power code from the outside, thereby conducting the charging operation. Otherwise, a mapping method or a sensing method is adopted wherein when the power of the battery is consumed to a predetermined level, the battery automatically moves to a charging station and comes into contact with the charging terminal provided at the charging station, thereby conducting an automatic charging operation.
  • the robot cleaner using the manually operating charging system is made with a simple construction and at low costs, but in a case where the power of the battery is consumed, it should be recharged in a manual-operating manner.
  • the robot cleaner using the automatic charging structure needs the mapping system for the movement to the charging station and the position-detecting structure through the sensor, such that as the docking structure at the charging station is made, the robot cleaner is very complicated in its structure and raised at the product costs.
  • the conventional robot cleaner has another problem related to the charging system.
  • a connector jack of an adaptor is connected to a connector disposed at the cleaner body at a state where the battery is mounted at the robot cleaner, and the direct current power applied through the jack is sent to a battery terminal through a battery-protecting circuit mounted at the inside of the cleaner body, thereby conducing the battery-charging operation. Therefore, if the charging station charging only the battery separated from the cleaner body is not prepared, the battery should be recharged at a state of being mounted at the cleaner body of the robot cleaner, which makes it inconvenient to recharge the battery. Disclosure of Invention
  • an object of the present invention to provide an external battery structure for a wireless self-moving robot cleaner that is capable of providing a detachable mounting part at the upper surface or the side surface of a cleaner body, such that a charging battery is easily exchanged by turning power on/off, without having a process of unfastening screws, and is capable of providing an auxiliary battery structure, such that while the charging operation of the charging battery is being carried out, the battery in the auxiliary battery structure enables the robot cleaner to be continuously driven during the cleaning operation, thereby preventing the loss of time consumed for the charging operation and economically obtaining the power needed for the driving of the robot cleaner, without using a very expensive and high efficient battery.
  • an external battery structure for a wireless self- moving robot cleaner including: a battery-mounting part disposed at one portion surface of a cleaner body in such a manner as to be opened to the outside, for detachably mounting a battery therein; and a case adapted to cover an exposed portion of the cleaner body at a state where the battery is mounted in the battery-mounting part, for constituting the outer surface of the cleaner body, the case having an outer cover having one or more surfaces continuously formed in the color, surface, and line shape thereof to the cleaner body.
  • the case has a detachable mounting structure coupled and separated simply with and from the cleaner body, and the battery covered with the case has an inside ground terminal connected to a power ground electrode of the cleaner body and an outside ground terminal connected to a charging station at a state of being mounted or demounted at/from the cleaner body.
  • the present invention further has an auxiliary battery structure disposed to be paralleled to the external battery structure thereof and having the same structure as the external battery structure. Also, the present invention has a connector formed at a battery itself, for connecting a connector jack of an adaptor, and a battery -protecting circuit formed in the battery.
  • an external battery structure for a wireless self- moving robot cleaner that is capable of providing a detachable mounting part at the upper surface or the side surface of a cleaner body, such that a charging battery is easily exchanged and the charging operation through the charging station is easily carried out, and that is capable of providing an auxiliary battery structure, such that the stand-by time for charging the battery can be drastically reduced and the performance weakness (memory effect) of the battery can be prevented.
  • the present invention can reduce the cost for a battery material having relatively high costs among the cleaner parts and the cost for the charging type, and especially, the detachable mounting assembly where the magnets are adopted makes the battery detachably mounted at the cleaner body in an easy and stable manner, which can be effectively applied to an automatic battery-exchanging structure.
  • the auxiliary battery of the present invention can prevent the initialization for the cleaning information at a time of the battery-exchanging, thereby effectively controlling the cleaning operation, can extend the driving time of the robot cleaner, even though it is not formed of very expensive battery having a high capacity, and enables the cleaning operation to be continuously conducted, while one battery is being recharged in the charging station.
  • FIG.l is an exemplary view showing an external battery structure for a wireless s elf- moving robot cleaner according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG.2 is an exemplary view showing the external battery structure of the robot cleaner according to the present invention.
  • FIG.3 is an exemplary view showing a magnetic detachable mounting assembly adopted in the external battery structure of the robot cleaner according to the present invention.
  • FIG.4 is an exemplary view showing the detachable mounting assembly of FIG.3 applied to a charging station.
  • FIG.5 is an exemplary view showing the external battery structure of the robot cleaner having an auxiliary battery structure mounted to be paralleled thereto according to another embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG.6 is an exemplary view showing another example of charging the battery of the external battery structure of the robot cleaner according to the present invention.
  • FIG.7 is an exemplary view showing a battery structure of the external battery structure of the robot cleaner according to the present invention.
  • Mode for the Invention
  • FIGS.l and 2 show an external battery structure for a wireless self-moving robot cleaner according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, wherein the robot cleaner includes a cleaner body 10, wheels 20 movably mounted at the lower portion of the cleaner body 10, and a suction hole 30 connected to an internal dust- collecting chamber (which is not shown in the drawings).
  • the cleaner body 10 has a variety of shapes, and in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is a semispherical shape that is capable of entering a relatively small space like a space under a bed and easily absorbing the impact applied from an obstacle.
  • the external battery structure for the robot cleaner of the present invention has a battery-mounting part 40 formed opened on a portion surface of the cleaner body 10, such that a battery is mounted at the battery-mounting part 40 opened thereon.
  • the battery-mounting part 40 is like a recess formed in the cleaner body 10, which may be formed on the upper portion surface, the side surface, or the lower portion surface of the cleaner body 10.
  • the battery-mounting part 40 has a detachable mounting assembly 60 for detachably mounting the battery therein.
  • the charging battery is formed in such a manner as to surround a charging element
  • the charging element 51 by a case 52, and in more detail, the charging element 51 is covered with the case
  • the outer surface of the battery of the external battery structure 50 (that is, the exposed portion at a state where the battery is mounted at the battery-mounting part 40) has a structure having continuity to the color, surface and line shape of the cleaner body 10.
  • the battery-mounting part 40 is exposed on the cleaner body 10
  • only the outer cover of the case 52 is exposed from the cleaner body 10 and is united with the cleaner body 10, thereby having a unitary body with the cleaner body 10.
  • the outer cover of the case 52 has a shape formed continuously to the shape of the upper portion surface of the cleaner body 10, and contrarily, in a case where the battery-mounting part 40 is disposed on the side surface of the cleaner body 10, the outer cover of the case 52 has a shape formed continuously to the shape of the side surface of the cleaner body 10. On the other hand, in a case where the battery- mounting part 40 is disposed on the lower surface of the cleaner body 10, the outer cover of the case 52 has a shape formed continuously to the shape of the lower surface of the cleaner body 10.
  • the detachable mounting assembly 60 that is disposed for detachably mounting the battery at the battery-mounting part 40 formed on the cleaner body 10 has a variety of battery-mounting manners.
  • an elastic element is provided at a ground terminal of the battery.
  • the connection of the ground terminal is conducted at a state of applying a predetermined pressure to the battery, and the pressure applied from the elastic element for escaping the battery from the battery- mounting part 40 is limited by means of a locker 61 mounted on the surface portion of the cleaner body 10.
  • the electromagnets 63 are operated by means of a switch 64 formed on the cleaner body 10 or the charging station, and thus, the electricity is applied to the electromagnets 63, such that a magnetic force is generated in a direction of pushing the battery 50, thereby conducting the separation of the battery from the electromagnets 63.
  • FIG.4 shows another detachable mounting assembly of the present invention applied to the charging station 100, and in this case, after the recharging is completed, the power is applied automatically to the electromagnets 63, thereby conducting the separation of the battery from the electromagnets 63.
  • the battery-mounting part 40 of the cleaner body 10 has a ball 65 formed at the inner side surfaces thereof and a protrusion 67 formed protrudedly at the lower portions of the ball 65.
  • the case 52 has upper and lower ball grooves 66 formed at the corresponding portions to the balls 65 and the protrusions 67 of the battery-mounting part 40.
  • the coupling state is kept at the state where the balls 65 are fittedly inserted into the upper ball grooves 66, and contrarily, when the battery 50 is separated from the battery-mounting part 40 by the electromagnets 63, the balls 65 are fittedly inserted into the lower ball grooves 66, such that the lower portion surfaces of the battery are locked to the protrusions 67 and the battery is at a protruded state, thereby preventing the re-coupling of the battery with the battery-mounting part 40.
  • the coupling is kept stably by the operations of the ball grooves and the protrusions, and at the state where the battery is separated from the battery-mounting part 40, the case surface is somewhat protruded from the cleaner body, which makes it easy to separate the battery from the battery-mounting part 40.
  • the ground terminal is connected by means of the magnetic force generated from the permanent magnets 62, thereby supplying the power required to drive the robot cleaner or conducting the charging operation through the charging station, and only if the switch 64 is depressed after full charging, the electromagnets 63 push the permanent magnets 62 disposed at the battery, thereby separating the battery from the battery-mounting part 40.
  • the battery is inserted vertically and fixed by a locker, or it is inserted horizontally and fixed by the locker.
  • the charging element 51 disposed in the case 52 has an inside ground terminal 54 connected to the power connection contact of the cleaner body 10 and an outside ground terminal connected to the charging station at a state of being mounted or separated at/from the cleaner body 10.
  • the outside ground terminal 55 is exposed to the outside at a state where the battery is mounted at the cleaner body 10, and the exposed outside ground terminal 55 is connected to the ground terminal of the charging station, such that the charging operation can be performed at the state where the battery is coupled with the cleaner body 10.
  • FIG.5 shows another embodiment of the present invention, wherein an auxiliary battery structure 80 is disposed to be paralleled to the external battery structure.
  • the auxiliary battery structure 80 has the same configuration as the external battery structure wherein a charging element is surrounded with the case.
  • the charging element is covered with the case, and the case is adapted to cover an exposed portion of the cleaner body at a state where the battery is mounted in the battery- mounting part, for constituting the outer surface of the cleaner body, the case having an outer cover having one or more surfaces continuously formed in the color, surface, and line shape thereof to the cleaner body.
  • the outer surface of the battery has a structure having continuity to the color, surface and line shape of the cleaner body 10.
  • the battery-mounting part has a detachable mounting assembly for detachably mounting the battery therein, and the battery has an outside ground terminal formed at a position corresponding to the ground terminal of the cleaner body 10, for connecting with the charging station at a state where the battery is mounted at the cleaner body 10.
  • the battery of the auxiliary battery structure 80 remains on the cleaner body, while the battery of the external battery structure is being exchanged into new one, thereby making the mapping information related to the cleaning being done kept still therein, without having any initialization, such that the cleaning operation is efficiently carried out. Further, the auxiliary battery structure 80 can extend the driving time of the robot cleaner, even though it is not formed of a high expensive battery having a high capacity, and while one battery is recharged in the charging station, the other battery enables the cleaning to be continuously conducted.
  • FIG.6 shows another example of charging the battery of the external battery structure of the robot cleaner according to the present invention, wherein the battery itself is provided with a connector 56 for connecting the connector jack 91 of an adaptor and with a battery -protecting circuit 57 that is formed therein, as shown in FIG.7, for protecting an internal battery 51.

Abstract

The present invention relates to an external battery structure for a wireless self-moving robot cleaner including: a battery-mounting part disposed at one portion surface of a cleaner body in such a manner as to be opened to the outside, for detachably mounting a battery therein; and a case adapted to cover an exposed portion of the cleaner body at a state where the battery is mounted in the battery-mounting part, for constituting the outer surface of the cleaner body, the case having an outer cover having one or more surfaces continuously formed in the color, surface, and line shape thereof to the cleaner body.

Description

Description
EXTERNAL BATTERY STRUCTURE FOR ROBOT CLEANER
Technical Field
[1] The present invention relates to an external battery structure for a robot cleaner, and more particularly, to an external battery structure for a wireless self-moving robot cleaner that is capable of detachably mounting a battery at the outside of a cleaner body in a simple manner. Background Art
[2] Many kinds of wire and wireless self-propelled robot cleaners (hereinafter, referred to as a robot cleaner ) have been recently proposed. The wireless robot cleaner with a charging battery mounted therein needs a large amount of power consumption for driving a motor having a strong absorbing strength and its movable wheels, and thus, many studies have been made so as to consume a relatively short period of time for charging a sufficient amount of electric power and to have a substantially long period of usage time.
[3] So as to obtain the long usage time, thus, the robot cleaner has a large capacity of battery, but it needs relatively long time for recharging the battery. To reduce the recharging time, the charger becomes complicated in its structure and also should be made of expensive materials, which of course causes the production cost of the battery to be raised. Further, it is not easy for the battery to endure the consumption of high power for driving the robot cleaner.
[4] On the other hand, the robot cleaner generally makes the use of a rechargeable battery (that is, an internal battery) mounted in the cleaner body thereof. The battery is mounted at the inside of the robot cleaner and is then covered by an outer surface material constituting the cleaner body, such that it does not need to match with the color or surface of the outer surface of the cleaner body. So as to detachably mount the battery, further, the battery is provided in the lower surface of the robot cleaner, and the battery assembly has a battery-mounting space portion and a separate cover for covering the battery-mounting space portion, such that the screws securing the separate cover are unfastened at a time of exchanging the battery into new one. The structure has a battery-charging terminal exposed to the outside, such that a manually operating charging system is adopted wherein the battery-charging terminal is connected to a power code from the outside, thereby conducting the charging operation. Otherwise, a mapping method or a sensing method is adopted wherein when the power of the battery is consumed to a predetermined level, the battery automatically moves to a charging station and comes into contact with the charging terminal provided at the charging station, thereby conducting an automatic charging operation.
[5] The robot cleaner using the manually operating charging system is made with a simple construction and at low costs, but in a case where the power of the battery is consumed, it should be recharged in a manual-operating manner. To the contrary, the robot cleaner using the automatic charging structure needs the mapping system for the movement to the charging station and the position-detecting structure through the sensor, such that as the docking structure at the charging station is made, the robot cleaner is very complicated in its structure and raised at the product costs.
[6] The period of time consumed for the manual-charging structure and the automatic- charging structure is relatively long, and during the charging time, furthermore, the cleaning operation can not be conducted at all.
[7] The conventional robot cleaner has another problem related to the charging system.
That is, in the conventional robot cleaner, a connector jack of an adaptor is connected to a connector disposed at the cleaner body at a state where the battery is mounted at the robot cleaner, and the direct current power applied through the jack is sent to a battery terminal through a battery-protecting circuit mounted at the inside of the cleaner body, thereby conducing the battery-charging operation. Therefore, if the charging station charging only the battery separated from the cleaner body is not prepared, the battery should be recharged at a state of being mounted at the cleaner body of the robot cleaner, which makes it inconvenient to recharge the battery. Disclosure of Invention
Technical Problem
[8] Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an external battery structure for a wireless self-moving robot cleaner that is capable of providing a detachable mounting part at the upper surface or the side surface of a cleaner body, such that a charging battery is easily exchanged by turning power on/off, without having a process of unfastening screws, and is capable of providing an auxiliary battery structure, such that while the charging operation of the charging battery is being carried out, the battery in the auxiliary battery structure enables the robot cleaner to be continuously driven during the cleaning operation, thereby preventing the loss of time consumed for the charging operation and economically obtaining the power needed for the driving of the robot cleaner, without using a very expensive and high efficient battery.
[9] It is another object of the present invention to provide an external battery structure for a wireless self-moving robot cleaner that is capable of repairing the failures or malfunctions caused by the weakness of the performance of the battery itself by a user and utilizing an external battery and an auxiliary battery in turn, thereby preventing the performance of the batteries from being weakened early, such that the external battery and the auxiliary battery are disposed to be paralleled to each other, so as to prevent the power from being turned off during the exchange of battery.
[10] It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an external battery structure for a wireless self-moving robot cleaner that is capable of charging the battery by using a connector provided at the battery itself, not through a cleaner body, such that as the robot cleaner is driven, the auxiliary battery can be easily recharged. Technical Solution
[11] To achieve the above objects, there is provided an external battery structure for a wireless self- moving robot cleaner including: a battery-mounting part disposed at one portion surface of a cleaner body in such a manner as to be opened to the outside, for detachably mounting a battery therein; and a case adapted to cover an exposed portion of the cleaner body at a state where the battery is mounted in the battery-mounting part, for constituting the outer surface of the cleaner body, the case having an outer cover having one or more surfaces continuously formed in the color, surface, and line shape thereof to the cleaner body.
[12] According to the present invention, the case has a detachable mounting structure coupled and separated simply with and from the cleaner body, and the battery covered with the case has an inside ground terminal connected to a power ground electrode of the cleaner body and an outside ground terminal connected to a charging station at a state of being mounted or demounted at/from the cleaner body.
[13] The present invention further has an auxiliary battery structure disposed to be paralleled to the external battery structure thereof and having the same structure as the external battery structure. Also, the present invention has a connector formed at a battery itself, for connecting a connector jack of an adaptor, and a battery -protecting circuit formed in the battery.
Advantageous Effects
[14] As described above, there is provided an external battery structure for a wireless self- moving robot cleaner that is capable of providing a detachable mounting part at the upper surface or the side surface of a cleaner body, such that a charging battery is easily exchanged and the charging operation through the charging station is easily carried out, and that is capable of providing an auxiliary battery structure, such that the stand-by time for charging the battery can be drastically reduced and the performance weakness (memory effect) of the battery can be prevented.
[15] In addition, the present invention can reduce the cost for a battery material having relatively high costs among the cleaner parts and the cost for the charging type, and especially, the detachable mounting assembly where the magnets are adopted makes the battery detachably mounted at the cleaner body in an easy and stable manner, which can be effectively applied to an automatic battery-exchanging structure.
[16] Further, the auxiliary battery of the present invention can prevent the initialization for the cleaning information at a time of the battery-exchanging, thereby effectively controlling the cleaning operation, can extend the driving time of the robot cleaner, even though it is not formed of very expensive battery having a high capacity, and enables the cleaning operation to be continuously conducted, while one battery is being recharged in the charging station. Brief Description of the Drawings
[17] FIG.l is an exemplary view showing an external battery structure for a wireless s elf- moving robot cleaner according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[18] FIG.2 is an exemplary view showing the external battery structure of the robot cleaner according to the present invention.
[19] FIG.3 is an exemplary view showing a magnetic detachable mounting assembly adopted in the external battery structure of the robot cleaner according to the present invention.
[20] FIG.4 is an exemplary view showing the detachable mounting assembly of FIG.3 applied to a charging station.
[21] FIG.5 is an exemplary view showing the external battery structure of the robot cleaner having an auxiliary battery structure mounted to be paralleled thereto according to another embodiment of the present invention.
[22] FIG.6 is an exemplary view showing another example of charging the battery of the external battery structure of the robot cleaner according to the present invention.
[23] FIG.7 is an exemplary view showing a battery structure of the external battery structure of the robot cleaner according to the present invention. Mode for the Invention
[24] A preferred embodiment of the invention will be described in detail below by referring to the accompanying drawings.
[25] FIGS.l and 2 show an external battery structure for a wireless self-moving robot cleaner according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, wherein the robot cleaner includes a cleaner body 10, wheels 20 movably mounted at the lower portion of the cleaner body 10, and a suction hole 30 connected to an internal dust- collecting chamber (which is not shown in the drawings).
[26] The cleaner body 10 has a variety of shapes, and in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is a semispherical shape that is capable of entering a relatively small space like a space under a bed and easily absorbing the impact applied from an obstacle. [27] The external battery structure for the robot cleaner of the present invention has a battery-mounting part 40 formed opened on a portion surface of the cleaner body 10, such that a battery is mounted at the battery-mounting part 40 opened thereon.
[28] The battery-mounting part 40 is like a recess formed in the cleaner body 10, which may be formed on the upper portion surface, the side surface, or the lower portion surface of the cleaner body 10. The battery-mounting part 40 has a detachable mounting assembly 60 for detachably mounting the battery therein.
[29] The charging battery is formed in such a manner as to surround a charging element
51 by a case 52, and in more detail, the charging element 51 is covered with the case
52 having an outer cover having one or more surfaces continuously formed in the color, surface, and the line shape thereof to the cleaner body 10, such that an exposed portion 53 of the cleaner body 10 at a state where the battery is mounted at the battery- mounting part 40 of the cleaner body constitutes the outer surface of the cleaner body 10.
[30] The outer surface of the battery of the external battery structure 50 (that is, the exposed portion at a state where the battery is mounted at the battery-mounting part 40) has a structure having continuity to the color, surface and line shape of the cleaner body 10. Thus, at a state where the battery is separated from the battery-mounting part 40, the battery-mounting part 40 is exposed on the cleaner body 10, but at a state where the battery is mounted at the battery-mounting part 40, only the outer cover of the case 52 is exposed from the cleaner body 10 and is united with the cleaner body 10, thereby having a unitary body with the cleaner body 10.
[31] In a case where the battery-mounting part 40 is disposed on the upper portion surface of the cleaner body 10, the outer cover of the case 52 has a shape formed continuously to the shape of the upper portion surface of the cleaner body 10, and contrarily, in a case where the battery-mounting part 40 is disposed on the side surface of the cleaner body 10, the outer cover of the case 52 has a shape formed continuously to the shape of the side surface of the cleaner body 10. On the other hand, in a case where the battery- mounting part 40 is disposed on the lower surface of the cleaner body 10, the outer cover of the case 52 has a shape formed continuously to the shape of the lower surface of the cleaner body 10.
[32] The detachable mounting assembly 60 that is disposed for detachably mounting the battery at the battery-mounting part 40 formed on the cleaner body 10 has a variety of battery-mounting manners.
[33] According to the detachable mounting assembly 60 as shown in FIGS.l and 2, an elastic element is provided at a ground terminal of the battery. Thus, when the battery is coupled at the battery-mounting part 40, the connection of the ground terminal is conducted at a state of applying a predetermined pressure to the battery, and the pressure applied from the elastic element for escaping the battery from the battery- mounting part 40 is limited by means of a locker 61 mounted on the surface portion of the cleaner body 10.
[34] According to the detachable mounting assembly as shown in FIG.3, permanent magnets 62 having poles S and N are disposed at the inside ground terminals 54 of the battery, and electromagnets 63 are disposed at the battery ground terminals 70 of the battery-mounting part 40 of the cleaner body or a charging station in such a manner as to abut with the poles N and S of the battery, such that upon coupling with the cleaner body 10 or the charging station, the contacts are formed by the attaching force between the permanent magnets 62 and the iron cores of the electromagnets 63, thereby driving or charging the robot cleaner. Upon the separation of the battery from the battery- mounting part 40, on the other hand, the electromagnets 63 are operated by means of a switch 64 formed on the cleaner body 10 or the charging station, and thus, the electricity is applied to the electromagnets 63, such that a magnetic force is generated in a direction of pushing the battery 50, thereby conducting the separation of the battery from the electromagnets 63.
[35] FIG.4 shows another detachable mounting assembly of the present invention applied to the charging station 100, and in this case, after the recharging is completed, the power is applied automatically to the electromagnets 63, thereby conducting the separation of the battery from the electromagnets 63.
[36] Further, so as to keep the coupled or separated state of the battery-mounting part 40 with or from the battery, the battery-mounting part 40 of the cleaner body 10 has a ball 65 formed at the inner side surfaces thereof and a protrusion 67 formed protrudedly at the lower portions of the ball 65. Also, the case 52 has upper and lower ball grooves 66 formed at the corresponding portions to the balls 65 and the protrusions 67 of the battery-mounting part 40. Under the above structure, when the battery is coupled with the battery-mounting part 40 by the generation of the magnetic force, the coupling state is kept at the state where the balls 65 are fittedly inserted into the upper ball grooves 66, and contrarily, when the battery 50 is separated from the battery-mounting part 40 by the electromagnets 63, the balls 65 are fittedly inserted into the lower ball grooves 66, such that the lower portion surfaces of the battery are locked to the protrusions 67 and the battery is at a protruded state, thereby preventing the re-coupling of the battery with the battery-mounting part 40. According to the above-mentioned structure, the coupling is kept stably by the operations of the ball grooves and the protrusions, and at the state where the battery is separated from the battery-mounting part 40, the case surface is somewhat protruded from the cleaner body, which makes it easy to separate the battery from the battery-mounting part 40.
[37] According to the above structure, if the battery pushes into the battery-mounting part 40, the ground terminal is connected by means of the magnetic force generated from the permanent magnets 62, thereby supplying the power required to drive the robot cleaner or conducting the charging operation through the charging station, and only if the switch 64 is depressed after full charging, the electromagnets 63 push the permanent magnets 62 disposed at the battery, thereby separating the battery from the battery-mounting part 40.
[38] In addition to the above-mentioned detachable mounting assemblies, as well known, the battery is inserted vertically and fixed by a locker, or it is inserted horizontally and fixed by the locker.
[39] The charging element 51 disposed in the case 52 has an inside ground terminal 54 connected to the power connection contact of the cleaner body 10 and an outside ground terminal connected to the charging station at a state of being mounted or separated at/from the cleaner body 10.
[40] The outside ground terminal 55 is exposed to the outside at a state where the battery is mounted at the cleaner body 10, and the exposed outside ground terminal 55 is connected to the ground terminal of the charging station, such that the charging operation can be performed at the state where the battery is coupled with the cleaner body 10.
[41] FIG.5 shows another embodiment of the present invention, wherein an auxiliary battery structure 80 is disposed to be paralleled to the external battery structure.
[42] The auxiliary battery structure 80 has the same configuration as the external battery structure wherein a charging element is surrounded with the case. In more detail, the charging element is covered with the case, and the case is adapted to cover an exposed portion of the cleaner body at a state where the battery is mounted in the battery- mounting part, for constituting the outer surface of the cleaner body, the case having an outer cover having one or more surfaces continuously formed in the color, surface, and line shape thereof to the cleaner body. Further, the outer surface of the battery has a structure having continuity to the color, surface and line shape of the cleaner body 10. Thus, at a state where the battery is separated from the battery-mounting part, the battery-mounting part is exposed on the cleaner body 10, but at a state where the battery is mounted at the battery-mounting part, only the outer cover of the case is exposed from the cleaner body 10 and is united with the cleaner body 10, thereby having a unitary body with the cleaner body 10. The battery-mounting part has a detachable mounting assembly for detachably mounting the battery therein, and the battery has an outside ground terminal formed at a position corresponding to the ground terminal of the cleaner body 10, for connecting with the charging station at a state where the battery is mounted at the cleaner body 10.
[43] The battery of the auxiliary battery structure 80 remains on the cleaner body, while the battery of the external battery structure is being exchanged into new one, thereby making the mapping information related to the cleaning being done kept still therein, without having any initialization, such that the cleaning operation is efficiently carried out. Further, the auxiliary battery structure 80 can extend the driving time of the robot cleaner, even though it is not formed of a high expensive battery having a high capacity, and while one battery is recharged in the charging station, the other battery enables the cleaning to be continuously conducted.
[44] FIG.6 shows another example of charging the battery of the external battery structure of the robot cleaner according to the present invention, wherein the battery itself is provided with a connector 56 for connecting the connector jack 91 of an adaptor and with a battery -protecting circuit 57 that is formed therein, as shown in FIG.7, for protecting an internal battery 51.

Claims

Claims
[1] An external battery structure for a wireless self-moving robot cleaner comprising: a battery-mounting part disposed at one portion surface of a cleaner body in such a manner as to be opened to the outside, for detachably mounting a battery therein; and a case adapted to cover an exposed portion of the cleaner body at a state where the battery is mounted in the battery-mounting part, for constituting the outer surface of the cleaner body, the case having an outer cover having one or more surfaces continuously formed in the color, surface, and line shape thereof to the cleaner body.
[2] The external battery structure for a wireless self-moving robot cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the battery comprises a charging element disposed in the case, an inside ground terminal connected to the charging element, and an outside contact extended to the outer cover of the case.
[3] The external battery structure for a wireless self-moving robot cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the battery-mounting part comprises a detachable mounting assembly for detachably mounting the battery therein, the detachably mounting assembly being configured wherein permanent magnets having poles S and N are disposed at inside ground terminals of the battery and electromagnets are disposed at battery ground terminals of the battery-mounting part of the cleaner body in such a manner as to abut with the poles N and S of the battery, such that upon coupling with the cleaner body, the contacts are formed by the attaching force between the permanent magnets and the iron cores of the electromagnets, and upon the separation of the battery, the electromagnets are operated to push the battery by means of a switch formed on the cleaner body.
[4] The external battery structure for a wireless self-moving robot cleaner according to claim 3, wherein the battery-mounting part of the cleaner body comprises a ball formed at the inner side surfaces thereof and a protrusion formed protrudedly at the lower portions of the ball, and the case of the battery comprises upper and lower ball grooves formed at the corresponding portions to the balls and the protrusions of the battery-mounting part, such that when the battery is coupled with the battery-mounting part by the generation of a magnetic force, the coupling state is kept at the state where the balls are fittedly inserted into the upper ball grooves, and when the battery is separated from the battery- mounting part by the electromagnets, the balls are fittedly inserted into the lower ball grooves and the battery is at a protruded state at the state where the lower portion surfaces of the battery are locked to the protrusions, thereby preventing the re-coupling of the battery with the battery-mounting part.
[5] The external battery structure for a wireless self-moving robot cleaner according to claim 1, wherein a charging station for charging the battery is disposed in such a manner that the battery has permanent magnets having poles S and N disposed at inside ground terminals of the battery, the inside ground terminals being connected to the battery contacts of the charging station, and the charging station has electromagnets disposed at the battery contacts thereof in such a manner as to abut with the poles N and S of the battery, such that upon coupling with the charging station, the contacts are formed by the attaching force between the permanent magnets and the iron cores of the electromagnets, and upon the full charging of the battery, the electromagnets of the charging station are operated to push the battery.
[6] The external battery structure for a wireless self-moving robot cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein an auxiliary battery structure is disposed to be paralleled to the external battery structure.
PCT/KR2007/002778 2006-06-08 2007-06-08 External battery structure for robot cleaner WO2007142487A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

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KR2020060015408U KR200433967Y1 (en) 2006-06-08 2006-06-08 Robot cleaner using exterior battery
KR20-2006-0015408 2006-06-08

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CN113425028A (en) * 2021-07-24 2021-09-24 常州高翎未来科技有限公司 Helmet with a detachable head

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CN113425028A (en) * 2021-07-24 2021-09-24 常州高翎未来科技有限公司 Helmet with a detachable head

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