DE102019210971B4 - Mobile cleaning robot - Google Patents

Abstract

Self-propelled vacuum/cleaning robot (1) with a suction mouth (2), a rib (4) arranged essentially transversely to the direction of travel (3) of the vacuum/cleaning robot (1) and height-adjustable in the suction mouth (2), and with a sensor device ( 5), which is connected to a control device (6), the control device (6) being designed in such a way that it adjusts the height of the rib (4) as a function of signals received from the sensor device (5), characterized in that the rib (4) essentially divides the suction mouth (2) in the middle and that the sensor device (5) has a gyroscope sensor which, when approaching an obstacle, for example a door sill, detects an inclined position and transmits a corresponding signal to the control device (6), whereupon this moves the rib (4) upwards..

Description

The present invention relates to a mobile cleaning robot with a suction mouth. The invention also relates to a method for operating such a cleaning robot.

In modern households, the proportion of carpeted floors is steadily decreasing. As a result, relatively more hard or smooth floors have to be cleaned than carpeted floors. Similar to robotic lawnmowers, for example, more and more cleaning robots are being used in modern households in order to be able to delegate routine cleaning work. In principle, there are two different types of cleaning or vacuum robots, with the majority of the vacuum robots available on the market cleaning with at least one rotating brush roller and an air flow. Such vacuum or cleaning robots achieve a satisfactory cleaning performance on carpets and hard floors. A few devices are also available that do not have a rotating brush roller and only clean with the air flow. Such suction or cleaning robots achieve an average cleaning result on a hard floor, but only a poor cleaning result on a carpeted floor. Tests have shown that a vacuum or cleaning robot that can be used universally, i.e. both on a hard or smooth floor as well as on a carpet, does not necessarily require a brush roller, in particular for cleaning hard or smooth floors, to pick up dust to achieve good cleaning results, but such a brush roller brings a significant advantage on a carpet. The reason for this is probably that the sucking air flow can only pick up dirt that it comes into contact with. On a hard or smooth floor, all the dirt lies on the surface and can therefore be easily vacuumed up. On carpets, on the other hand, there is little dirt on the surface, so most of the dirt lies between the individual carpet fibers and is not directly reached by the airflow.

However, the disadvantage of a vacuum or cleaning robot with a rotating brush roller is that this increases the energy consumption of the vacuum/cleaning robot sharply and also the noise emissions and the construction-related costs are significantly higher than with a pure vacuum robot without a rotating brush roller. A vacuum/cleaning robot with a rotating brush roller, on the other hand, delivers a significantly improved cleaning result, especially on carpeted floors.

From the DE 103 02 728 A1 discloses a vacuum cleaner nozzle with a suction channel opening in the floor surface, which is coupled to a suction pipe connection via a suction channel, the vacuum cleaner nozzle having a brush whose bristles are at least in the plane of the floor surface or protrude beyond it when activated. The brush is arranged inside the suction channel opening and can be adjusted in height by means of an actuating button.

From the KR 10 2003 0015 015 A another vacuum cleaner nozzle with a brush arranged in a suction opening is known.

From the DE 10 2010 000 577 A1 a generic suction/cleaning robot for the care of carpets and/or hard floors is known, with an electric motor and one or more rollers driven by it, the brush roller being movably supported by a spring in the vertical direction for different effects on the floor.

From the DE 10 2013 001 853 A1 a vacuum cleaner with a brush head is known, in which the brush head can be operated in at least two operating modes, in which one or more brushes of the brush head are each in different positions, the brush head having detection means for detecting the surface condition of the surface currently under the brush head located surface uses.

From the US 2019 / 0 117 028 A1 , the CN 104 138 238 A , the DE 10 2012 107 765 A1 and the US 2019/0 038 105 A1 other vacuum robots are known.

The present invention is therefore concerned with the problem of specifying an improved embodiment for a cleaning robot that combines the advantages of a suction/cleaning robot with and without a brush roller.

According to the invention, this problem is solved by the subject matter of independent claim 1 . Advantageous embodiments are the subject matter of the dependent claims.

The present invention is based on the general idea of providing a height-adjustable rib and a sensor device in a self-propelled vacuum/cleaning robot, with the sensor device detecting the condition of a substrate to be cleaned and adjusting the rib in height as a function of this, as a result of which such a suction / cleaning robot can optimally clean both hard floors and carpets without a rotating brush roller. The mobile suction / cleaning robot according to the invention has a suction mouth with an im Rib which is arranged essentially transversely to the direction of travel of the vacuum/cleaning robot and which is arranged in the suction mouth so that it can be adjusted in height, as well as with the aforementioned sensor device which is connected to a control device which in turn is designed in such a way that it controls the rib depending on the signals received from the sensor device height adjusted. The suction mouth is designed as narrow as possible, as a result of which a sucking air flow can be directed away from the substrate to be cleaned in a concentrated manner. Essentially in the middle of the suction mouth is the rib, which is also arranged essentially transversely to the direction of travel of the vacuum/cleaning robot. When cleaning a hard floor, for example parquet or a tiled floor, it is arranged close above the subsurface and thereby loosens coarse dirt and enables reliable suction due to the higher air flow generated by the rib. The rib, which is only approx. 2 mm above the hard floor when cleaning a hard floor, creates a constriction at which the sucking air flow reaches high speeds and can therefore remove dirt better. If, on the other hand, the vacuum/cleaning robot according to the invention moves on a carpet, this is also detected by the sensor device, whereupon the rib is adjusted upwards, preferably to the extent that it easily engages in the carpet fibers and fans them out, whereby the sucking air flow also removes dirt particles between the fibers, as well as dirt lying directly on the carpet. Such a vacuum/cleaning robot is therefore optimized both for cleaning hard floors and for cleaning carpets, but compared to a vacuum/cleaning robot with a rotating brush roller, it is not only more economical in terms of energy consumption, but also quieter, which is particularly evident in use in the household proves to be a great advantage. Compared to vacuum/cleaning robots without a brush roller, the height-adjustable rib achieves a significantly improved cleaning result for carpeted floors.

According to the invention, the sensor device has a gyroscope sensor. A gyroscope sensor can be used, for example, to record the exact position of the vacuum/cleaning robot, for example an inclined position of the same if it drives onto a doorstep, in which case the gyroscope sensor transmits a corresponding signal to the control device, which then moves the rib at least slightly upwards drives to reliably prevent the vacuum/cleaning robot from getting caught on the doorstep.

In an advantageous development of the solution according to the invention, the sensor device has a fall sensor and/or a current consumption sensor. By means of a power consumption sensor, the sensor device can, for example, detect the power consumption of a drive device and determine from this whether the vacuum/cleaning robot is driving on a smooth surface, for example a hard floor, or a carpeted floor. If the power consumption is low, the vacuum/cleaning robot usually drives on a hard floor, whereupon the power consumption sensor transmits a corresponding signal for a low power consumption to the control device, whereupon the latter can lower the rib to almost above the floor in order to create a narrow air gap there that increases the cleaning effect to create. If the current consumption of the traction drive increases, this may indicate that the vacuum/cleaning robot is driving on a carpeted floor, whereupon the increased current consumption is transmitted from the current consumption sensor of the sensor device to the control device, which then raises the rib. This reduces the driving resistance, while the height of the rib is nevertheless adjusted in such a way that it engages with the fibers of the carpet and raises or fans them out in order to be able to better suck off dirt particles arranged in them or in between. A crash sensor can be used, for example, to determine the roughness of the subsurface on which the vacuum/cleaning robot is moving, which means that the vertical position of the rib can also be adjusted to the respective subsurface.

Of course, it is also conceivable for the self-propelled vacuum/cleaning robot to have additional sensors, such as an optical sensor, by means of which the roughness of the subsurface can also be detected. If the vacuum/cleaning robot drives from a hard floor to a carpet, for example, this is detected by the fall sensor and/or the power consumption sensor, whereupon the control device positions the rib so that it engages in the carpet fibers of the carpet. Due to the resistance of the rib, the power consumption of the travel drive increases further until a defined value is reached. By varying the lowering depth of the rib, the power consumption can be kept largely constant. The control device controls the position of the rib in such a way that, on the one hand, the vacuum/cleaning robot can move forward on the carpet and, on the other hand, the rib penetrates deep enough into the carpet fibers to fan them out and thus achieve a good cleaning result.

In an advantageous development of the solution according to the invention, the rib is arranged essentially vertically in the suction mouth and can be adjusted in height essentially in the vertical direction with respect to a substrate to be cleaned. Due to the vertical orientation of the rib, the carpet fibers can be fanned out particularly reliably and thus a high cleaning result can be achieved.

An adjusting device, in particular an electric motor and/or a gear, which is connected to the control device in a communicating manner, is expediently provided for adjusting the rib. In order to achieve an optimal cleaning result both on a hard floor and on a carpeted floor, the height-adjustable rib provided according to the invention must be both reliable and maintenance-free and quickly adjustable in height. This can be implemented, for example, by means of a simple electric motor, in particular via a gear, with such a gear contributing to being able to use a less powerful electric motor that has a lower power consumption and thus reduces the energy consumption of the vacuum cleaning robot.

According to the invention, the rib divides the suction mouth essentially in the middle. The essentially central arrangement of the rib in the suction mouth offers the great advantage that when cleaning a hard floor both loosening coarse dirt particles and creating a thin air gap with a high suction effect can be achieved, while when cleaning a carpeted floor it can be straightened up without any problems or fanning out of the carpet fibers can be achieved, whereby a high cleaning result can also be achieved.

The present invention is also based on the general idea of specifying a method for operating the robot vacuum/cleaner described above, in which the sensor device transmits signals to a control device and the control device then controls the rib of the robot vacuum/cleaner depending on the signals received from the sensor device adjusted in height. This makes it possible to independently and automatically adjust the height of the rib depending on the surface to be cleaned, for example a hard floor or a carpet, and thus to be able to achieve both optimal cleaning of the hard floor and optimal cleaning of the carpet. The sensor device detects features of the substrate to be cleaned, for example its roughness, from which the control device concludes that a hard floor or a carpet is present and accordingly adjusts the height of the vertically adjustable rib. The sensor device can also determine the power consumption of a travel drive, from which it can also be concluded whether the self-propelled vacuum cleaning robot is driving on a smooth surface with a low power consumption or on a carpeted floor with a higher power consumption, whereupon the sensor device transmits corresponding signals to the control device and this rib adjusts the vertical positions according to the surface to be cleaned.

According to the method according to the invention, the sensor device detects via a gyroscope sensor when the vacuum/cleaning robot encounters an obstacle, for example a door sill, an inclined position of the same and then transmits a corresponding signal to the control device, whereupon the latter moves the rib upwards. This can prevent the rib, which is extended far down when cleaning hard floors, from getting caught when driving over the door sill and preventing the vacuum/cleaning robot from continuing.

In a further advantageous embodiment of the solution according to the invention, the sensor device detects the roughness of the subsoil via a fall sensor and transmits a corresponding signal to the control device, whereupon the latter moves the rib downwards on a smooth subsoil, for example a hard floor, preferably up to only 2 mm above the subsoil , and in the case of a carpet it moves further upwards, but so far that it fans out the carpet fibers and thus enables both an optimal cleaning of the hard floor by creating a small air gap between the rib extended downwards and the subsurface and an optimal cleaning of the carpet.

In a further advantageous embodiment of the solution according to the invention, the sensor device detects a current consumption of a traction drive of the vacuum/cleaning robot via a current consumption sensor and transmits corresponding signals to the control device, whereupon the latter moves the rib up or down depending on the current consumption. The power consumption is an indicator of whether the vacuum/cleaning robot is driving, for example, on a hard floor with a low power consumption or on a carpet with a higher power consumption and the rib has to be extended or moved up slightly accordingly.

Further important features and advantages of the invention result from the dependent claims, from the drawings and from the associated description of the figures with reference to the drawings.

It goes without saying that the features mentioned above and those still to be explained below can be used not only in the combination specified in each case, but also in other combinations or on their own, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the drawings and are explained in more detail in the following description, with the same reference symbols referring to identical or similar or functionally identical components.

• 1 eine Schnittdarstellung durch einen erfindungsgemäßen selbstfahrenden Saug-/Reinigungsroboter auf einem Hartboden,
• 2 eine Darstellung wie in 1, jedoch auf einem Teppichboden.

They show, in each case schematically,

• 1 a sectional view through a self-propelled vacuum/cleaning robot according to the invention on a hard floor,
• 2 a representation as in 1 , but on a carpeted floor.

According to the 1 and 2 , a self-propelled vacuum/cleaning robot according to the invention has a suction mouth 2 and a rib 4 which is arranged essentially transversely to the direction of travel 3 of the vacuum/cleaning robot 1 and is height-adjustable in the suction mouth 2 . Also provided is a sensor device 5 which communicates with a control device 6 , the control device 6 being designed in such a way that it adjusts the height of the rib 4 as a function of signals received from the sensor device 5 and thus as a function of a substrate 7 .

The sensor device 5 can include, for example, a crash sensor, a gyroscope sensor and/or a power consumption sensor. The rib 4 is arranged essentially vertically in the suction mouth 2 and essentially vertically to the base 7 and is also height-adjustable in the vertical direction. The rib 4 is adjusted in this case via an adjustment device 8 which is connected in a communicating manner to the control device 6 and has, for example, an electric motor and/or a gear mechanism for adjusting the rib 4 .

Looking at the 1 and 2 further, one can see that the rib 4 is arranged essentially in the middle of the suction mouth 2 .

Now drives the self-propelled vacuum / cleaning robot 1 over a hard floor 13, as in accordance with the 1 is shown, the sensor device 5 recognizes this and moves the rib 4 far down, so that it is only moved 2 mm above the base 7, for example. As a result, a small gap 9 with a high air speed can be achieved between the rib 4 and the base 7 , which contributes to sucking up dirt particles 10 lying on the base 7 . In addition, according to the 1 The rib 4 extended comparatively far downwards breaks up larger dirt particles 10' lying on the substrate 7 into smaller dirt particles 10 when driven over, which means that these smaller dirt particles 10 can also be sucked off better. Connected to the suction mouth 2 is a suction channel 11, via which the dirt particles 10 are fed to a dirt collection container.

If the sensor device 5 now detects that the self-propelled vacuum/cleaning robot 1 is driving on a carpeted floor 12 and not on a hard floor 13, it moves the rib 4 slightly upwards in order to reduce a driving resistance. However, the rib 4 is only moved up so far that it can be used to fan out individual carpet fibers 14, which makes it possible to loosen dirt particles 10 located between these individual carpet fibers 14 and suck them off by means of a suction air flow.

For example, if the robot vacuum/cleaner 1 drives into a doorstep or another obstacle, a gyroscope sensor of the sensor device 5 can, for example, detect an inclined position of the robot vacuum/cleaner 1, whereupon the latter transmits a corresponding signal to the control device 6, which then moves the rib 4 continues to move upwards in order to easily drive over the obstacle, such as a door sill. The roughness of the subsurface 7 can be detected via a fall sensor of the sensor device 5 , whereby it can be determined comparatively easily with such a fall sensor whether the vacuum/cleaning robot 1 is driving on a hard floor 13 or a carpet 12 . If the fall sensor detects that the vacuum/cleaning robot 1 is driving on a carpet 12, it moves the rib 4 up far enough so that on the one hand it does not impede the driving movement of the vacuum/cleaning robot 1, but on the other hand a reliable fanning out of the carpet fibers 14 and thereby allows dirt particles 10 arranged therein or between them to be sucked out.

The sensor device 5 can of course also have a current consumption sensor, which determines the current consumption of a drive of the vacuum/cleaning robot 1 and, depending on the determined current consumption, sends a corresponding signal to the control device 6 transmitted, whereupon this causes an associated vertical position of the rib. For example, the vacuum/cleaning robot 1 on a carpeted floor 12 requires a significantly higher current consumption in the traction drive, which is detected by the current consumption sensor of the sensor device 5 and the rib 4 can thus be adjusted accordingly. In contrast, the power consumption on a hard floor 13 is lower, which can be detected by the power consumption sensor, whereupon the control device 6 moves the rib 4 further down based on the corresponding signal transmitted by the sensor device 5, for example until there is only a very small gap 9 between the hard floor 13 and the tip of the rib remains.

All in all, the advantages of a cleaning robot equipped with a rotating brush roller and the advantages of a purely suction cleaning robot can be combined with the vacuum/cleaning robot 1 according to the invention, with the vacuum/cleaning robot 1 according to the invention being more cost-effective and economical in terms of energy consumption and also having lower noise emissions due to the missing rotating brush roller.

Reference List

1

Vacuum/cleaning robot

2

suction mouth

3

driving direction

4

rib

5

sensor device

6

control device

7

underground

8th

adjusting device

9

gap

10

dirt particles

11

suction channel

12

carpeted floor

13

hard floor

14

carpet fibers

Claims (8)

Self-propelled vacuum/cleaning robot (1) with a suction mouth (2), a rib (4) arranged essentially transversely to the direction of travel (3) of the vacuum/cleaning robot (1) and height-adjustable in the suction mouth (2), and with a sensor device ( 5), which is connected to a control device (6), the control device (6) being designed in such a way that it adjusts the height of the rib (4) as a function of signals received from the sensor device (5), characterized in that the rib (4) essentially divides the suction mouth (2) in the middle and that the sensor device (5) has a gyroscope sensor which, when approaching an obstacle, for example a door sill, detects an inclined position and transmits a corresponding signal to the control device (6), whereupon this moves the rib (4) upwards.. vacuum/cleaning robot claim 1 , characterized in that the sensor device (5) has a fall sensor and / or a current consumption sensor. vacuum/cleaning robot claim 1 or 2 , characterized in that the rib (4) is arranged substantially vertically in the suction mouth (2) and is adjustable in height in the vertical direction. Vacuum/cleaning robot according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that an adjusting device (8) communicating with the control device (6), in particular an electric motor and/or a gear, is provided for adjusting the rib (4). Robot vacuum cleaner/cleaner according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the rib (4) can be lowered to 2 mm above a base (7) on which the robot vacuum cleaner/cleaner (1) moves. Method for operating a vacuum/cleaning robot (1) according to one of the preceding claims, in which the sensor device (5) transmits signals to a control device (6) and the control device (5) controls the rib (4) as a function of the sensor device ( 5) received signals is adjusted in height and in which the sensor device (5) detects an inclined position via a gyroscope sensor when approaching an obstacle, for example a door sill, and transmits a corresponding signal to the control device (6), whereupon the rib (4) drives up. procedure after claim 6 , characterized in that the sensor device (5) detects the roughness of the subsoil (7) via a fall sensor and transmits a corresponding signal to the control device (6), whereupon the latter moves the rib (4) downwards, preferably up to a hard floor (13). 2mm above the hard floor (13), and with a carpeted floor (12) the rib (4) moves upwards, in particular completely out of the suction mouth (2). Procedure according to one of Claims 6 or 7 , characterized in that the sensor device (5) detects a current consumption of a traction drive via a current consumption sensor and transmits a corresponding signal to the control device (6), whereupon the latter adjusts the rib (4) downwards or upwards depending on the current consumption.

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