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
  • A47L11/00—Machines for cleaning floors, carpets, furniture, walls, or wall coverings
  • A47L11/40—Parts or details of machines not provided for in groups A47L11/02 - A47L11/38, or not restricted to one of these groups, e.g. handles, arrangements of switches, skirts, buffers, levers
  • A47L11/4077—Skirts or splash guards
• • 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
  • A47L11/00—Machines for cleaning floors, carpets, furniture, walls, or wall coverings
  • A47L11/02—Floor surfacing or polishing machines
  • A47L11/10—Floor surfacing or polishing machines motor-driven
• • 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
  • A47L13/00—Implements for cleaning floors, carpets, furniture, walls, or wall coverings
  • A47L13/10—Scrubbing; Scouring; Cleaning; Polishing
  • A47L13/20—Mops
• • 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
  • A47L13/00—Implements for cleaning floors, carpets, furniture, walls, or wall coverings
  • A47L13/10—Scrubbing; Scouring; Cleaning; Polishing
  • A47L13/40—Cleaning implements actuated by electrostatic attraction; Devices for cleaning same; Magnetic cleaning implements
• • 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 non-circular portion is the widest portion of the design, there will still be a space between the cleaning element and nearby objects such as a wall, chair, table leg or other obstacle encountered while cleaning.
• Such devices therefore do not optimally clean around these types of surfaces and obstacles, and require a separate manual operation near them, regardless of the accuracy of the programming.
• Other autonomous cleaning devices have both a circular body portion and a non-circular body portion. They typically position a control and drive system in the circular portion, and a cleaning device in or on the non- circular portion.
• the non-circular portion is made wider than the diameter of the circular portion and therefore extends significantly horizontally outward from the sides of the circular robot body to provide a wide back or trailing end.
• the present invention provides a robotic surface treating device such as a vacuum cleaner, floor polisher, floor waxer, lawn mower, or dispenser of agricultural materials.
• a robotic surface treating device such as a vacuum cleaner, floor polisher, floor waxer, lawn mower, or dispenser of agricultural materials.
• the leading portion houses a control system for directing movement of the robotic cleaning device, and the trailing portion is linked to a surface contact element.
• the trailing portion has a widest side-to-side width which is equal to or less than the widest side-to- side width of the leading portion.
• the device is a duster and the surface contact element is a dust sheet/dust ruffle combination where the combination is made of a cleaning cloth which can be an electrostatic or dust-attractant material.
• the dust sheet is positioned so as to contact a surface being treated by the device when the device is moved over the surface, and the ruffle also contacts the ground when present along the rear and sides of the trailing portion.
• the ruffle is impregnated with at least one of a fragrance, an insecticide, an insect repellant, a polish, or a cleaning fluid, and thus acts to also dispense materials thereby treating the surface and/or the surrounding environment.
• the trailing portion is constructed to provide pressure on the dust sheet to assist its contact with a surface to be treated by the device.
• the duster is a preferred form, the device might also be selected from the group of vacuum cleaners, floor polishers, floor waxers, mowers and dispensers of agricultural chemicals.
• Another form of the invention is a disposable dust ruffle for use with such devices .
• the ruffle has an essentially cup-shaped portion made at least in part of an electrostatic material, a fastener attached along an upper rim of the cup, and a skirt made at least in part of an electrostatic material and extending radially outward and downward from the upper rim of the cup.
• the ruffle may also have the fastener be an elastic band.
• Another aspect of the invention is to provide methods for using the above devices to clean a surface.
• the device has a trailing portion which is no wider than the leading portion, the device is resistant to becoming hung up on furniture legs or at corners. Further, the rounded nature of the front of the device provides an opportunity for the device to avoid furniture legs, while the less round nature of the trailing section insures coverage along walls. Also, the electrostatic nature of the skirt insures that the region between the edge of the contact element (e.g. the rotary brush) and the housing outer surface will be treated.
• the bottom of the trailing section can be provided with a plate having a soft cover made of rubber, foam or other material which expands and contracts depending on the shape of the surface being cleaned. In such a case, the contact element can be a sheet of the electrostatic material in total, or in part. Further, the skirt can be an additional section of the electrostatic material.
• the skirt can be a dust-attracting material sized and dimensioned to be stretch-fit over the trailing portion of the robotic cleaning device.
• a rotary brush need not be used and there can be a central portion and a skirt.
• the central portion encloses a bottom surface of the non-circular portion of the robot to provide a cleaning function on the floor, and the skirt extends outwardly and downwardly from the periphery of the trailing portion.
• the skirt attracts dust and particulate matter from the surface surrounding the robotic cleaning device where traditional cleaning elements do not reach.
• FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a robotic cleaning device constructed in accordance with the present invention.
• FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view thereof;
• FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 4;
• FIG. 4 is an lower rear perspective view of a dust cover for use with the present invention.
• FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view similar to FIG. 2, but of the device after the FIG. 4 dust cover has been installed.
• FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view of a robotic leaning device constructed in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 7 is a bottom plan view of the robotic cleaning device of FIG. 1, illustrating a brush cleaning element .
• a robotic cleaning device 10 in the form of a cleaner or surface treating device has a forward, generally circular top view, housing portion 12, and a trailing, generally non-circular top view, housing portion 14.
• Portion 12 houses a computer controller, a motor, a steering mechanism, and linkages to the drive wheels 30 and 32.
• Portion 14 is generally rectangular in shape, with the side-to-side width Y/16 of the trailing housing portion no greater than with the side-to-side width X/18 of the front housing portion. Corners 20 of the non-circular portion 14 may be slightly rounded such that, in operation, contact with surfaces such as walls, table legs, chair legs, etc.
• the robotic cleaning device 10 is shown as having two separate pieces, it will be apparent that the circular and non-circular portions can be constructed as a single piece (See Fig. 6) .
• the non-circular portion 14 can be constructed to be wider than the portion 12, and in this configuration a spring mechanism or other device for retracting the sides of the trailing portion 14 to provide and to reduce the width when the device is stuck or otherwise caught in a corner or other small partially enclosed area.
• a skirt 42 in accordance with the present invention is constructed of cleaning cloth which can comprise, for example, a dust-attractant material or a cloth impregnated with a treating material such as a cleaning fluid or other treating fluid as described below.
• the skirt 42 extends around and from the non- circular portion 14 of the robotic cleaning device.
• control and drive system can include programming, circuitry and linkages for determining a route for the robotic cleaning device based on a pre-programmed route, as well as providing feedback loops and corrections based thereon.
• the wheels 28, 30, and 32 permit the device to roll over most essentially flat surfaces, with the rear wheels 30 and 32 providing traction and the front wheel 28 being pivotable to provide steering.
• the non-circular trailing portion 14 comprises a plate 34 that can be constructed of a heavy material to provide a selected pressure on the surface to be dusted (e.g. it can be made of steel, fiberglass, or another heavy plastic) . To prevent scuffing of some surfaces (e.g.
• a compressible material 36 such as a foam rubber provided on a bottom side of the plate 34.
• the soft facing material 36 is preferably sized and dimensioned to cover the plate 34, and may be coupled to the plate 34 with an adhesive or other material.
• Cleaning cloth 38 is sized and dimensioned to be stretch-fit over the trailing portion 14. It has a central sheet 40 sized and dimensioned to enclose facing material 36, as well as an elongated elastic material 41 surrounding the perimeter of the central sheet 40. There is also a hanging skirt portion 42 that extends radially outward from the elongated elastic material 41 to drag along the floor.
• any dust kicked up by the movement of the device tends to be trapped by the trailing skirt 42.
• the skirt is bunched like a dust ruffle it can wedge into room corners and close to table legs and pick up dust from those areas even though the main dusting portion 40 never rides over those areas.
• the device improves the coverage of a dusting system.
• the cleaning cloth 38 is constructed from a cleaning cloth material, and can comprise an electrostatic or electret material. Examples of such materials are those described in WO 02/00819, the publication for PCT/USOO/20074 filed June 22, 2001. This disclosure is incorporated herein by reference for a description of these types of materials.
• the cleaning cloth 38 can also provide a treating or dispensation function.
• the cleaning cloth can be treated cleaning fluid or polishes to treat the floor, with insecticides, insect repellants, and fragrances to be dispersed to a room, or with a combination of these treating elements.
• various sections of the cleaning cloth 38 can comprise different types of material, providing, for example, a cleaning section and a polishing section. Other combinations will be apparent .
• the dust attractant materials employed in the present invention will attract dust even when not in contact with them. This is to be distinguished from a mere adhesive which preserves contact once made, but does not attract contact from a distance.
• the cleaning cloth material is typically disposable, but can also be a reusable material which can be cleaned or washed and reused.
• the cleaning cloth 38 can also be impregnated with a polish, fragrance, insecticide, insect repellant cleaning fluid or other material.
• the device can provide both a cleaning function and a treating function.
• the cleaning cloth 38 can be designed specifically to disperse treating elements in the room, as noted above.
• FIG. 5 the cleaning cloth 38 is shown installed on the device.
• the central portion 40 encloses the bottom cleaning surface 35, and the skirt 42 extends radially from both the right and left sides and from the back of the non-circular portion 14.
• the robotic device 10 In operation, as the robotic device 10 traverses a floor or other surface to be cleaned, the central sheet 40 of the cleaning cloth 38 is applied to the floor or surface in order to pick up dust and other particulate matter.
• the weight of plate 34 of the non- circular portion 14 applies a pressure on the central sheet 40 of the cleaning cloth 38.
• the robotic device 10 can also include a rotary or other brush-driven cleaning element 33. In this application, particulate matter collected by the brush can be directed to a location under the cleaning cloth 38, wherein the cleaning cloth 38 provides an additional function of collecting particulate matter.
• the proximity sensors and control system determine a path which maximizes coverage. For example, when the circular section approaches a corner the device may turn to project towards the corner the rectangular section.

Landscapes

• Cleaning In General (AREA)
• Manipulator (AREA)
• Cleaning Implements For Floors, Carpets, Furniture, Walls, And The Like (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=31714621

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (7)

Families Citing this family (77)

Family Cites Families (22)

• 2002
  • 2002-08-14 US US10/218,843 patent/US20040031113A1/en not_active Abandoned
• 2003
  • 2003-08-07 AU AU2003255233A patent/AU2003255233A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2003-08-07 MX MXPA05001768A patent/MXPA05001768A/es not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2003-08-07 CA CA002495264A patent/CA2495264A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2003-08-07 EP EP03788364A patent/EP1528887A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2003-08-07 WO PCT/US2003/024941 patent/WO2004016146A2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2003-08-07 CN CNA038237865A patent/CN1688239A/zh active Pending

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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