WO2010099968A2

WO2010099968A2 - Checking system and cleaning output measure device for floor washer-dryer machine

Info

Publication number: WO2010099968A2
Application number: PCT/EP2010/001366
Authority: WO
Inventors: E Cagna; Mauro Liffredo
Original assignee: Ghibli S.P.A.
Priority date: 2009-03-03
Filing date: 2010-03-01
Publication date: 2010-09-10
Also published as: EP2403391A2; IT1393249B1; WO2010099968A3; ITMI20090307A1

Abstract

A checking system for the cleaning output of an operating machine from the cleaning field, particularly a floor washer-dryer machine (10), comprising a measure device of said cleaning output and at least one transducer of a kinematic parameter of the machine, said device acquiring said kinematic parameter in real time and computing on the basis thereof and other parameters, that can be input into said device by a proper user interface, the value of the current output of the washer-dryer machine.

Description

CHECKING SYSTEM AND CLEANING OUTPUT MEASURE DEVICE FOR FLOOR WASHER- DRYER MACHINE Text of the description

The present invention relates to a checking system of the output of a floor washer- dryer machine and to a measure device of said output.

Currently, as regards selection of a floor washer-dryer machine, a particular attention is paid to the cleaning output R said machine can assure, said output being defined as the size of the washable surface S within the time unit Δt. On the basis of simple kinematic observations it will be possible to verify that the provided definition of die output of a washer-dryer machine corresponds to the product of the speed v thereof by the width L of the brush unit of the same machine.

The value of die output R, however, is nowadays provided as rated data of the floor washer-dryer machine, diat is die output value corresponding to die maximum linear speed achievable by the machine. It is fully clear diat a so-computed value does not represent die actual output of die machine since it is absolutely dieoretical and rough in respect of die real operating conditions. In order to realize it, it is sufficient to consider that die operator driving the washer-dryer machine is necessarily forced to do maneuverings, such as U-turns and curves allowing him to clean all the floor of a given environment: in such situations, therefore, the value of die output R of the machine varies noticeably in respect of die provided rated data, since the speed v of die washer-dryer machine surely will not always correspond to die maximum speed, due to obvious reasons of machine and operator inertia and less stability of the same machine as well. A further element not considered in computing the rated data regarding die washer- dryer machine output is the overlapping of the areas of the cleaned surface, that is the areas the operator causes the machine to return in order to avoid leaving dirty strips between a just cleaned zone and the adjacent zones still to be cleaned.

Main object of the present invention is therefore to provide a checking system of the cleaning output of a floor washer-dryer machine able to highlight the actual output value in respect of the value that said washer-dryer machine theoretically could reach.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a real-time measure device for measuring said output value.

Still another ob_ject of the present invention is to provide a real-time measure device for measuring the output of any operating machine used in the cleaning field adapted to remove dirt not sticking to the floor, and particularly the so-called sweepers.

These and further advantages of the checking system and the floor washer-dryer machine output measure device according to the present invention will become clear from the following detailed description taken with reference to the annexed drawings, wherein: fig. 1 is a schematic view of a portion of the surface cleaned by a floor washer-dryer machine during its linear motion, fig. 2 is a schematic view of a portion of the surface cleaned by a floor washer-dryer machine during its curvilinear motion, and fig. 3 is a diagram of the output checking system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring now to figs. 1 and 2, in case of a linear run of the floor washer-dryer machine, the surface S cleaned by the machine in a time interval Δt is easily computable as the ratio between the space Δx covered by the machine, in the same time interval Δt, and the width L of the machine brush unit, therefore: = v L

instead, in the case of a curvilinear run having a radius r and width Δθ (see fig 2), the surface S within the previous expression can also be written as shown below:

5 r Δr Δθ T &θ i

R m — = = \ω * — ; v * ω r-. Δr ≡ L \ = v L

Δt Δt

Therefore, as anticipated, the output R is a function of the speed v of the machine in both cases of linear motion and curvilinear motion, thus not being able to be rounded off by a steady value corresponding to the maximum speed achievable by the floor washer- dryer machine.

Turning now to fig. 3, the checking system of the output R according to the present invention provides on board of a floor washer-dryer machine 10 for the installation of a angular position transducer, in this particular case, provided with a stationary part 2a and a mobile part 2b: the stationary part 2a is integral with the frame of the floor washer-dryer machine 10, the mobile part 2b is mounted on a driving wheel, on which the torque C_M of said machine 10 acts. Typically, said position transducer can be an absolute encoder, an incremental encoder or of any type known by those skilled in the art, that is capacitive/inductive, magnetic, potentiometric or even optical. The system of the present invention further provides for a measure device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprising an electronic board (not shown) installed on board of the machine and operatively connected with said angular position transducer, able to compute, on the basis of the position electric signal from said transducer, the corresponding revolutions N performed by the driving wheel. Next, also by a software suitably coded in order to accomplish the needed operations, said electronic board computes the distance Δx covered by the wash-dryer machine 10 using a simple product operation of the distance Δx by the diameter D of the driving wheel ΔΛ = π N_gιrι D

Said electronic board is also operatively connected with the electronic management system of the on-board brush unit and, therefore, once it sensed the operative mode of said brush unit, proceeds to the computing, in accordance with the software coding, the cleaned surface S through the product of the distance Δx covered by the width L of said brush unit: S = Δ\ L

Now the value of the cleaning output R of the washer-dryer machine 10 is immediately obtainable dividing the previous width value of the surface S by the sampling time interval Δt:

S

R = - Δf

By the computing operations, performed by the system of the present invention, it is possible to obtain also the value of the average output R_m, that is the average value of the output R computed within the time interval Δt_s. corresponding to a given surface S', which is.

Rm ⁼

In analogous manner, the electronic board will be provided with a counter for storage of the total surface S_tot cleaned by the machine in its life-cycle.

In the disclosed embodiment the floor washer-dryer machine 10 comprises said electronic board operatively connected also with the pump necessary for delivering water/water solution from the on-board tank, said board acquiring signals proportional to the rotation speed of the pump and, therefore, the flow rate of water/water solution delivered. Therefore, besides the current R or average R_m output value, the water/water solution consumption corresponding to the cleaning operation being performed by the machine will be also available. The computing system implemented by coding into the electronic board provides further the opportunity for the operator of the washer-dryer machine 10 to input a likely overlapping coefficient η that is a value in percentage terms of the surface S that will be washed again in the next cleaning step, thus the value of the actual output R_cff will predictably be closer to the real value: R_leff = ( R

The measure device is completed by an user interface, possibly removable, for inputting data necessary for coding the same board and by a display 1 (in fig. 3) on which all data previously computed are shown, thus providing the operator, in real time, with information useful for the cleaning operation, such that it can be performed seeking to optimize the liquid consumption of the machine.

It is clear to those skilled in the art that several functions can be added to the electronic board of the measure device of the present invention, as well as other and different sensors can be added to the output checking system of the present invention without falling for these reasons out of the scope as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A cleaning output measuring device for an operating machine of the cleaning sector, said cleaning output defined as ratio of cleaned surface to time taken to clean it, comprising:

(i) a programmable electronic board provided with a plurality of ports for connecting transducers of matter quantities and signals coming from the electronic managing system just present onboard,

(u) a display (1) adapted to visualize data calculated on the basis of said matter quantities and said signals, and

(in) a possibly detachable interface for programming said electronic board, c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y t h e fa c t t h a t said matter quantities are kinematic quantities of said operating machine and said signals are indicative of the operating status of said operating machine, said board calculating the value of said cleaning output.

2. The measuring device according to claim 1 , wherein said operating machine of the cleaning sector is a floor washer-dryer machine (10).

3. The measuring device according to claim 2, wherein said matter quantities are angular positions and displacements of a wheel of said floor washer-dryer machine (10).

4. The measuring device according to claim 3, wherein said wheel of said floor washer-dryer machine (10) is a driving wheel.

5. The measuring device according to claim 1, wherein said signal indicative of the operating status of the machine indicates the activation or deactivation status of the cleaning brush unit.

6. The measuring device according to claim 1 , wherein said electronic board comprises storage devices for the matter quantities and history of the signals indicative of the operating status of the floor washer-dryer machine (10).

7. The measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the calculation model within said electronic board can be updated by said user interface about data distinctive of the machine such as the brush unit width (L), the wheel diameter (D), the delivery section size of the cleaning fluid and about data distinctive of the operating conditions such as the coefficient of overlap (η).

8. A checking system for the cleaning output of an operating machine of the cleaning sector, comprising: (i) a cleaning output measuring device according to any of the claim 1 to 7,

(ii) at least one transducer of kinematic quantities of said operating machine, operatively connected to said measuring device.

9. The checking system according to claim 8, wherein said transducer is an angular displacement transducer (2a; 2b) such as an incremental or absolute rotary encoder.